Complex regional pain syndrome can turn an injury that should have healed into an ongoing source of pain, sensitivity, swelling, and problems with movement. When CRPS starts affecting your work, sleep, mobility, or everyday routine, dealing with an insurance claim can become another problem you do not need.
A California Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) lawyer from Sweet James can look at how the original injury happened and what the condition has meant for you since. If someone else’s negligence caused the injury that led to CRPS, a San Bernardino Complex Regional Pain Syndrome lawyer can help you understand your options for pursuing compensation.
Founding lawyer James Bergener previously represented insurance carriers in personal injury cases. That experience gives our team useful insight into how insurers assess injury claims and where disagreements may arise.
How a San Bernardino CRPS Lawyer Can Help
CRPS claims can be difficult because the symptoms may continue long after the original injury has changed or healed. There may also be disagreement about what caused the condition, how serious it is, or what treatment you will need in the future.
Our Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) lawyers can help you handle this. We review your medical history, the accident that caused the initial injury, your treatment, and how your symptoms have developed over time.
We can also gather evidence of lost income and other ways CRPS has affected your daily life, then use that information when dealing with the insurance company or pursuing a claim.
What Is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?
CRPS is a chronic pain condition that usually affects an arm or leg after an injury or other physical trauma. The pain can last much longer or feel much more severe than would normally be expected from the original injury.
These cases fall within the broader work handled by a San Bernardino personal injury lawyer when another person’s negligence caused the underlying injury.
Symptoms can include burning or throbbing pain, extreme sensitivity, swelling, changes in skin temperature or color, stiffness, weakness, and changes affecting the skin, hair, or nails.
How Do Doctors Diagnose CRPS?
Doctors generally diagnose CRPS by looking at your symptoms, what they find during an examination, and whether another condition could better explain what is happening.
Clinicians commonly look for changes involving sensation, skin temperature or color, swelling or sweating, and movement in the affected limb.
Tests such as imaging or nerve studies may provide useful information or help rule out other conditions, but CRPS is primarily diagnosed from the clinical picture.
What Types of Accidents Can Lead to CRPS?
CRPS can develop after several kinds of physical injury. Whether you have a legal claim depends on how that original injury happened and whether someone else was responsible for causing it.
Cases may involve:
- Motor vehicle crashes: Collisions that result in fractures, crush injuries, or other trauma to an arm or leg
- Serious falls: Falls that damage bones, joints, or surrounding tissue
- Crush or fracture injuries: Significant trauma to an extremity that is later followed by persistent CRPS symptoms
The original injury does not always have to look catastrophic. What matters legally is whether another party caused it and whether the medical evidence connects that injury with the condition that followed.
What Compensation Can a San Bernardino CRPS Lawyer Pursue?
Living with CRPS can create costs that continue well beyond the first hospital visit. You may need ongoing treatment while also losing income because pain or limited movement prevents you from doing the work you previously performed.
Depending on your circumstances, compensation may account for:
- Medical treatment and reasonably necessary future care
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Mobility equipment or other support made necessary by the injury
A San Bernardino CRPS injury lawyer can use medical records, employment information, and evidence of your day-to-day limitations to build a clearer picture of those losses.
Why Can CRPS Claims Become Disputed?
CRPS does not always produce the kind of obvious injury an insurance company can see on an X-ray. Symptoms such as pain and sensitivity can also be difficult for someone who has never experienced the condition to understand.
That can lead to disputes about how serious the condition is, whether it resulted from the accident, or how much treatment you will need in the future.
Sweet James uses the medical evidence and the history of your symptoms rather than relying on broad descriptions of chronic pain. James Bergener’s previous work representing insurance carriers also gives our team experience with how these claims may be evaluated from the other side.
What Evidence Can Support a CRPS Injury Claim?
Medical records are particularly important. They can establish when your symptoms appeared, how they changed, what your doctors observed, and what treatment has been recommended.
You can also show how CRPS has changed your day-to-day life. Pay records may show time you have missed from work or a drop in earnings, while people close to you may be able to describe changes in how easily you move around or manage everyday tasks.
We also investigate the accident itself. A CRPS diagnosis does not remove the need to establish who caused the original injury and why that person or business may be legally responsible.
How Long Do You Have to File a CRPS Lawsuit in California?
California generally gives an injured person two years to bring a lawsuit for personal injury caused by another person’s wrongful act or negligence.
California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 contains that general two-year limitation period. Certain circumstances can affect the deadline, so you should not assume every claim has exactly the same filing date.
CRPS can also take time to diagnose, which makes the timeline worth reviewing carefully. Sweet James can examine when the underlying injury happened and determine which filing deadline applies to your claim.
Should You Accept an Early Settlement if You Have CRPS?
Be careful about resolving a claim before you have a clearer idea of how the condition is likely to affect you.
An early offer may account for treatment you have already received without fully reflecting future medical care, lost earning capacity, or the possibility of long-term limitations. Once you sign a settlement and release the claim, you generally cannot return later simply because your condition became harder to manage.
Sweet James can review an offer alongside your medical evidence and documented losses so you understand what you would be accepting before making that decision.
What Does It Cost to Hire Sweet James?
Sweet James handles personal injury cases on a contingency-fee basis. You do not pay an upfront legal fee to have us begin working on your case.
Our firm reports more than $1 billion recovered for clients and has more than 400 legal professionals supporting its injury practice. Past results do not guarantee what will happen in your case, and every claim depends on its own facts.
Our team is available 24/7 for a free case review, and Spanish-language assistance is available.
Talk to a San Bernardino Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Lawyer
CRPS can be difficult enough to manage without also trying to prove your injury to an insurance company. Sweet James can take over the legal side of the claim while you continue focusing on your treatment and daily life.
Our team can investigate how the original injury occurred, review the medical evidence, calculate your documented losses, and handle communications with the insurer.
Contact Sweet James for a free case review with a San Bernardino Complex Regional Pain Syndrome lawyer. You pay no fees or costs unless we recover compensation for you.
