Nerve Damage Compensation Claims

If you have sustained nerve damage because a medical professional failed to meet the required standards of treatment, you may be eligible to claim compensation.

At JMW, our expert solicitors can help in relation to any type of nerve injury, including accidental nerve injury and spinal accessory nerve damage caused by medical negligence, and can help you secure compensation which can help you to maximise your recovery and to move forward with your life. Our track record of success in nerve damage claims means that we understand the nuances of these different types of injury, and can pursue the maximum compensation for your specific circumstances.

Our specialist medical negligence solicitors are happy to answer your questions regarding any aspect of the process. To find out more about how we can help you today, get in touch with JMW by calling us on 0345 872 6666 or by completing our online enquiry form to enable a member of the team to contact you at a convenient time. We can handle cases we accept on a no win, no fee basis.

How JMW Can Help

JMW's medical negligence team can help you to claim the compensation you deserve following an incident that has left you with nerve damage or nerve injury. Our specialist solicitors are here to guide you through the intricacies of medical negligence law, collect medical evidence and build the strongest possible case to make sure you receive the best settlement for your claim.

The clinical negligence team at JMW is very highly regarded and includes members of the Law Society's specialist panel for clinical negligence, as well as members of the Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) solicitors’ panel. Our team is headed by Eddie Jones and Angharad Hughes, who are leading clinical negligence lawyers with strong reputations across England and Wales.

If you suspect that medical negligence is responsible for your nerve injury, get in touch with us today to discuss a potential claim. We take on most medical negligence claims under a no win, no fee agreement, which means that there is no financial risk involved in pursuing a compensation claim.

Meet Our Team of Nerve Injury Claim Experts

JMW offers legal advice to individuals who have suffered nerve injuries due to surgical errors, nerve compression mismanagement or other types of medical negligence. Our team brings a wealth of experience and a strong track record of success in handling complex nerve injury claims.

How Can Medical Negligence Lead to Nerve Damage?

Nerve damage is one of the most common problems that can arise from surgical errors. The very nature of surgery means that a surgeon will often be working very close to nerve endings and any miscalculation or accident can cause damage that can have very serious consequences, ranging from loss of sensation through to paralysis. Among the more common errors are:

• The accidental injection of certain drugs - such as steroids, antibiotics, antipsychotics and analgesics - into or near the nerve
• Bleeding from a punctured artery following the taking of a blood sample, leading to compression of the nerve
• Failure to notice ischaemia (reduced blood supply), often following a fracture
• Tourniquet paralysis caused by applying a tourniquet wrongly or leaving it on too long during certain types of orthopaedic surgery
• Pressure on nerves from poor positioning on the operating table when a patient is unconscious
• Traction during manipulation of the back or neck
• Direct damage to a nerve during surgery from cutting, burning, stretching or compressing

Nerve injuries can also be caused by the use of needles by medical professionals, such as when taking blood or giving an injection. This could include a caudal epidural and facet joint injection causing a spinal cord injury or the median nerve being damaged when blood is taken from the arm.

Local anaesthetic errors may be made if the correct precautions are not made when using a syringe or needle. Damage can also be caused by the use of inadequate surgical equipment, which can lead to nervous inflammation.

If you have experienced a nerve damage injury due to a medical error such as those listed above, you may be able to make a claim to compensate for the pain and suffering caused.

Why Should I Claim Compensation for Nerve Damage?

Nerve damage can have lasting effects on your quality of life and can affect your ability to work. Even minor nerve injuries can have a big impact on your day-to-day life and, if the injury was caused by negligence, you may be entitled to claim compensation to help you secure financial support.

Financial compensation will allow you and your family to mitigate the financial impact of your nerve injury by paying for various expenses, including:

• Medical care
• Rehabilitation
• Bills incurred during a period spent out of work

It is also intended to compensate you for a loss of quality of life and can help to pay for any lifestyle adjustments you may need to make following your injury. The vast majority of our cases are funded by a no win, no fee agreement, known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). While your solicitor will of course discuss this with you and advise on the best options available, the important thing to remember is that if the case is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay any legal fees, so there is no financial risk to you We will stand beside you throughout the nerve damage claims process and pursue the maximum compensation to meet your needs.

How Much Compensation Can I Receive in a Medical Negligence Claim?

The nerve damage compensation amount is different in every single claim, as it is personalised to you and calculated based on things like the injury severity, the specific circumstances in which the injury occurred and the long-term impact on your quality of life.

In general, nerve damage involving severe physical trauma that affects the central nervous system or motor nerve injuries that cause paralysis will result in significantly more compensation than an injury to the nerves in the hand, for example, but it is impossible to provide an estimate without a full understanding of your circumstances. However, it is possible to outline the different factors that affect how much compensation you could expect.

Compensation is broken into two types of damages: general damages and special damages.

General damages compensate you for the injury itself and how it affects your life. This usually covers any pain and suffering caused by the nerve damage, and takes into account the long-term outlook, including any symptoms that are likely to be permanent and any resulting disability. This aspect of your compensation will also account for any loss of amenity, meaning the impact on day-to-day life. If you have experienced reduced mobility, weakness, numbness, neuropathic pain, loss of sensation or reduced independence due to your injury, you can expect more general damages.

Special damages compensate you for the financial impact of the nerve damage, both past and future. This can cover:

• Loss of earnings due to time off work, a reduced ability to work, or any long-term career impact
• Medical costs for private treatment, medication, physiotherapy and pain management
• Care and support costs, including both paid carers and help from family members
• Travel expenses to medical appointments
• Equipment and adaptations, such as any mobility aids or home adjustments that are needed to accommodate your condition

Your solicitor will help you to gather medical evidence and use the Judicial College Guidelines (used by judges) to estimate how much you could be owed in general damages. Special damages are determined by any receipts, invoices or other evidence you can provide to show your financial losses.

Is There a Time Limit to Claim Nerve Injury Compensation?

There are typically time limits that apply to all medical negligence cases. In most situations, you will have three years from the date of your negligent treatment to start the claims process. If the nerve damage you experienced was not clear immediately after the incident, the time limit will still be three years, but may begin from the date that you realised that there was a connection between negligent treatment and your later symptoms of nerve damage.

There are also exceptions. If the injured person is under the age of 18, a parent can act as a litigation friend to claim on their behalf at any time. Once the person turns 18, they will have three years to claim compensation on their own behalf if a claim has not already been made. If the injured person lacks the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves, there will usually be no time limit unless their capacity returns.

What Evidence Do I Need to Support a Claim?

For a nerve damage medical negligence claim, you usually need evidence that shows the negligence involved in your medical treatment, how it caused the nerve injury and what the injury has cost you in terms of both physical impact and financial losses. When you work with JMW, our medical negligence experts will help you to gather evidence, which might include:

• Your medical records regarding any GP appointments, hospital treatment or other procedures. These show what symptoms you reported, what treatment you received, and what decisions were made. They may also contain details that will determine how much compensation you could receive, such as details of diagnosis and prognosis (eg whether the symptoms may be permanent).
• Neurology, orthopaedic reports, imaging results from MRI scans, nerve conduction studies or EMG results to provide evidence of the nerve damage itself. These may accompany a doctor's notes confirming numbness, weakness, tingling, neuropathic pain or loss of function.
• A report from an independent medical expert. We will instruct an independent expert to review your medical records and provide their opinion on whether the care you received fell below an acceptable standard. They can show that any breach in standards was the cause of your nerve damage (or made it worse) and prove your entitlement to claim.
• Notes from occupational therapy or physiotherapy assessments, or any personal notes you have taken that indicate how the condition has affected your daily life. It can be useful to maintain a pain diary to record your symptoms during your recovery and keep any relevant text or WhatsApp messages.
• Financial evidence to prove losses, for which you can use wage slips, P60s, invoices and receipts.

The team at JMW will advise you of the evidence you may need based on your description of your experience, but it can help to secure as much of this evidence as you can at the beginning of the process to make sure things move quickly and give you the best chance of securing the compensation you need.

For more information, read our guide on how to prove medical negligence.

Q

What is spinal accessory nerve damage?

A

Damage to the spine or spinal cord can impact almost every aspect of life, from a career to personal relationships. In the most serious cases, it may be life-limiting, and in all cases will affect your day-to-day life.

There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves that lead directly from the brain to various parts of the head and neck. The spinal accessory nerve is the 11th nerve pair and is responsible for movement in a variety of vital muscles, including the upper shoulders, head and neck.

Damage to these nerves can cause severe, long-term problems and if it can be shown that this damage was caused by the negligence of medical professionals, compensation could be an option.

There are various symptoms of spinal accessory nerve damage, which include:

• Drooping of the shoulder
• Localised shoulder and neck pain
• Limitation in range of movements of arm and shoulder, including difficulty raising arm above the head
• Increased risk of developing a frozen shoulder

Damage to the spinal accessory nerve can be caused by certain vigorous athletic activities in rare cases, but it more commonly occurs during surgical intervention in the neck area, including:

• Dissection of a tumour
• Removal of lymph nodes
• Insertion of a cannula into the carotid artery
• Removal of a clot from the carotid artery (carotid endarterectomy)

Microsurgical reconstruction of a severed spinal accessory nerve is often successful if the interval between the trauma and the surgical revision is less than six months; up to 12 months, a partial recovery can be achieved.

Physiotherapy can also be very beneficial and may considerably improve the range of arm and neck movements in some cases.