Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, often referred to as CRPS (or sometimes RSD), is a condition causing pain in certain areas of the body. CRPS can range from relatively mild to severe cases that seriously impede the function of a body part and diminish a victim’s quality of life. At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, our Boulder personal injury lawyers have experience successfully helping victims of CRPS recover financial damages when the onset of CRPS has been caused by a traumatic event like a car accident, bicycle accident, pedestrian accident, or a slip and fall. Even if your CRPS pain symptoms developed indirectly from treatment related to your accident, such as after a surgery, we may still be able to help you. We invite you to call us today at 303-543-1000 for a free consultation with one of our experienced Colorado CRPS attorneys.

If you or a loved one suffers from CRPS that you may wonder what a CRPS claim is worth. From a CRPS lawyer’s perspective, the analysis of a CRPS case’s value begins with who or what entity may be responsible for your condition. Quite simply, did someone’s negligence or carelessness lead to you having CRPS?

In clear cut cases, CRPS symptoms may have begun immediately or soon after a traumatic event like a car accident, slip and fall, electric shock, or an assault. In those scenarios it is a relatively straightforward to link your CRPS symptoms to an event where someone was careless, negligent, or otherwise at-fault.

In other situations, the onset of CRPS symptoms may not occur until a relatively long period of time after the initial traumatic event. For example, maybe you broke a bone or tore a ligament in an accident but your CRPS symptoms did not begin until several months later, after you had surgery to repair the broken bone or torn ligament.

In a “who is at fault” analysis, an experienced CRPS attorney in Colorado knows that, if it was the accident that required you to have surgery in the first place, the careless or negligent person or entity that caused the accident is still liable for your damages related to CRPS. In other words, a negligent driver is not “off the hook” because you did not develop symptoms until after a surgery related to an injury for which the bad driver was initially responsible.

Once a skilled Boulder CRPS lawyer has established a link to an at-fault or liable party, the question becomes one of damages. Damages are determined by asking “how has your CRPS impacted your life?”

This is where it is essential that your personal injury attorney plays two roles: first, helping to make sure that you are receiving the best possible care to treat your CRPS; and second, working with your doctors, medical providers, and family members, friends, and colleagues to help gain an understanding of the effect your CRPS has had on you. For example:

• Does your CRPS keep you from working completely?
• Are you still able to work, but at a different or lower-paying job?
• Can you still participate in your hobbies or recreational activities?
• What are the daily limitations you have now that you are living with CRPS?
• What are your pain levels?
• Where on your body are you experiencing CRPS?
• How has your CRPS impacted your relationships with others?
• And many, many more areas of inquiry.

Regarding helping you get the best possible care for your CRPS, a good CRPS lawyer in Colorado can point you to various physicians and therapists (including occupational therapists, rehabilitation specialists, physical therapists, cognitive therapists, and psychotherapists) to help you treat your pain and related CRPS symptoms.

As you may know already, the treatment for CRPS can include wide-range of options ranging from psychotherapy, medications, and nerve blocks and spinal cord stimulators, to more experimental treatment like Ketamine infusions. While your medical treatment is always a decision between you and your doctors, at Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, we can offer you suggestions to discuss with your providers based on our own experience and the experience of other lawyers in our community. In short, we are a resource for you.

When you have reached a level of consistent recovery, it is generally time to present your claim to the insurance company. This is where months or years of evidence-gathering and hard work building your case comes to fruition. A knowledgeable Colorado CRPS attorney knows that the value of your claim is a direct reflection of how your CRPS has impacted your life. The more your life has been affected the more value your claim has. Factors outside of your control, such as how much insurance or assets the negligent person or entity has, becomes important, as your financial recovery is limited by these factors.

A skilled Boulder personal injury attorney who understands the true impact CRPS has had on your life will make sure that every available recovery option is analyzed. This may involve doing asset searches as well as checking for every angle of possible insurance coverage. For instance, if your accident was caused by a collision with a commercial vehicle, then a larger insurance policy is usually at play. But what if you were hit by an employee of a large corporation who had stopped on his way to work to pick up bagels for his colleagues? That is the type of question that Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, lawyers will examine closely, and we will attempt to connect that driver to being within the “scope of employment,” and hence, a potentially large insurance policy that can cover the full extent of your damages.

At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, our Boulder personal injury lawyers have experience handling CRPS cases in Colorado. We encourage you not to go through this process alone, but to give us a call today at 303-543-1000 for a free consultation. If we can help, you will get a Colorado CRPS lawyer who cares about you and knows how to maximize your financial recovery.