​Medical Advances: Ensure you have the best chance

As specialist solicitors in brain and spinal injury claims, we here at PotterReesDolan are always aware of the need to ensure that our clients have every opportunity to access cutting edge treatment which may potentially improve their injury or disability and lead to a better quality of life.

This is something which I feel is particularly important in spinal injuries as medical advances are being made rapidly and the treatment options which are available today may be considered outdated in just 10 years’ time.

It was the recent BBC article commenting on the successful trial where it was shown that brain WiFi was able to reverse leg paralysis in a primate for the first time which got me thinking about medical advances.

The article confirmed that a team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology were able to bypass an injury to the rhesus monkey’s spinal cord sending instructions straight from the brain to the nerves controlling leg movement such that the monkey was able to regain useful movement in the leg despite a spinal cord injury. The article also reported that the experts indicated that such technology could be ready for human trials within a decade.

There is clearly a long way to go with the development of WiFi signals going straight from the brain to bypass injuries in the spinal cord of humans, but such advances must surely offer tantalising glimmers of hope for those patients who have been left paralysed due to spinal cord injury. Obviously this type of technology will have limited applications, but, as this study shows, developments will keep on occurring and it is therefore very important that those individuals who suffered such an injury have the opportunity to access these treatments.

Experimental or indeed new technological advances within medicine is nothing new, but whilst something remains an advance or even an experimental procedure, it is normally not available through the NHS and can only be funded through private means.

It is important therefore that as solicitors we ensure our clients recover a specific sum of money which reflects the chance of new technologies developing during the course of their lifetime and ensures that they have the funds available to determine whether or not they would be a good candidate for new technologies and procedures and go ahead should that be the most appropriate thing for them.

Advancement in medical science and technology is not limited to spinal cord injury and indeed there are advances being made in all aspects of medicine each year. Perhaps one of the clearest areas where such advances are being made, is that in the world of prosthetics.

Prosthetic legs are becoming more and more advanced with electronically controlled devices enabling realistic-like movement of joints such as ankle and knees which can drastically alter an individual’s ability to use the prosthetic in a variety of circumstances. It is often the joints rather than the limbs themselves which cause the most problems for amputees and such developments present a better quality of life.

We are of course already in a world where there are huge differences between the type of prosthetics available and often prosthetics available through the NHS are the more basic; tried and tested prosthetics which offer some functional ability to the patient, but have limited applications in terms of their ability to mimic real-life limbs and joints.

A specialist report from an expert in prosthetics should therefore always be obtained so as to not only weigh up the prosthetics currently available, but also to consider what might be available in years to come and the likely cost of the same, thus ensuring that those who have been injured and suffered amputation as part of a personal injury or clinical negligence claim, recover the compensation necessary to give them access to the best possible technology and try, as much as money can, to put them back into the position they were in before their injury or negligence.

Hannah Bottomley is a clinical negligence solicitor with PotterReesDolan. Should you have any queries about clinical negligence issues or indeed any other aspect of this article and wish to speak to Hannah or any other member of the team please contact us on 0161 237 5888.