Herniated Disc Injury Lawyer in Massachusetts

Herniated Discs as Accident Injuries in Massachusetts

A herniated disc, also called a ruptured disc, slipped disc, or disc herniation, occurs when the soft inner core of an intervertebral disc protrudes through the outer fibrous ring, potentially pressing on adjacent nerve roots or the spinal cord. Herniated discs are a well-documented consequence of motor vehicle accidents, falls, workplace injuries, and any event that subjects the spine to sudden compressive or flexion-extension forces. Attorney Jeffrey C. Lavey represents herniated disc accident victims throughout Massachusetts and challenges every insurer attempt to minimize or dismiss these injuries.

How Accidents Cause Disc Herniations

The sudden forces involved in a car accident, particularly rear-end crashes, which cause rapid cervical flexion-extension, and frontal crashes, which create significant compressive loading of the spine, are capable of herniating discs that were intact or minimally degenerated before the accident. A disc that was mildly degenerated is more susceptible to herniation under traumatic force. Both the new herniation of a previously healthy disc and the traumatic herniation of a previously degenerated disc can be caused by accident forces and are compensable injuries.

Symptoms of a Herniated Disc

The symptoms of a herniated disc depend on which level is affected and whether the herniated material is pressing on nerve roots. Cervical disc herniations cause neck pain and may produce radiating pain, numbness, and weakness in the shoulder, arm, and hand in a pattern corresponding to the compressed nerve root. Lumbar disc herniations cause low back pain and may produce sciatica, radiating pain, numbness, and weakness down the buttock, thigh, leg, and foot. These radiating symptoms are an objective finding that provides clinical evidence of nerve root involvement.

Treatment for Herniated Discs

Initial treatment for herniated discs typically involves physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, and activity modification. Epidural steroid injections may be used when conservative care provides insufficient relief. Surgery, discectomy or microdiscectomy for lumbar herniations, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for cervical herniations, is recommended when conservative treatment fails to provide adequate relief or when significant neurological deficits are present. The full course of treatment, including any surgical intervention, is compensable from the at-fault party.

Countering the Pre-Existing Degeneration Defense

The most common insurer challenge to herniated disc claims is the argument that the disc was already degenerated before the accident and that the herniation was therefore not caused by the accident. This argument ignores the eggshell plaintiff doctrine, the at-fault party takes the victim as they find them, and the well-established medical principle that traumatic forces can herniate even degenerated discs. Attorney Lavey works with spine specialists to document the pre-accident disc condition versus the post-accident herniation and to establish the accident’s causal role.

Frequently Asked Questions