Three routes to a tremor claim
- Trauma: a brain injury, a cervical spine injury, or a peripheral nerve injury that produces post-traumatic tremor or worsens a pre-existing essential tremor
- Medication: drug-induced tremor and tardive movement disorders, including tardive dyskinesia associated with prolonged use of metoclopramide (Reglan), which carries a boxed warning, and tremor associated with antipsychotics, lithium and valproate
- Toxic exposure: solvents, manganese in welding fumes, carbon monoxide, and heavy metals, which produce parkinsonism and tremor years after exposure
What a movement disorder workup has to show
The defense will argue the tremor is essential tremor that would have appeared anyway, or a medication the plaintiff was already taking, or anxiety. The answer is a neurologist, ideally a movement disorder specialist, who documents the phenomenology: resting versus postural versus action tremor, asymmetry, frequency, associated features, and the response to medication. DaTscan or other functional imaging helps separate a neurodegenerative parkinsonian syndrome from drug-induced or post-traumatic tremor. Video, taken repeatedly over months, is unusually persuasive because the jury can see the progression.
The medication cases
Where a prescription caused the injury, the claim is not just against the prescriber. It can reach the manufacturer on a failure-to-warn theory, and the pharmacy records become central: how long the drug was taken, at what dose, whether the boxed warning was communicated, and whether the symptoms were reported and ignored. Latent injury cases raise a discovery rule question rather than a simple two-year clock, which is why the date the plaintiff first had reason to suspect the connection matters so much.
Records that decide the case
- Complete pharmacy history for five years, not just the prescriptions the client remembers
- Neurology notes, including the first mention of tremor and what preceded it
- Video of the tremor at different times and in different settings
- Occupational and exposure history: job duties, safety data sheets, air monitoring
- Family history, which is where the essential tremor argument comes from
- Wage records and any accommodation requests at work
Deadlines
Two years under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 for injury claims, with the discovery rule potentially extending the start date in a latent exposure or delayed-onset drug case. Six months for a written government claim under Government Code § 911.2 where a public entity is the defendant. The medical records take weeks to assemble, so the practical deadline is earlier than the statute suggests.
Common questions
Can trauma cause a tremor that shows up months later?
Yes. Post-traumatic tremor can emerge after the acute injury resolves, particularly with injury to the cerebellum, brainstem or cervical cord. The gap makes the case harder, so the medical records from the event matter.
What if I already had a mild tremor before?
That does not defeat the claim. The question becomes whether the trauma or exposure aggravated a pre-existing condition, and California holds a defendant liable for the aggravation.
Are these cases brought against a doctor or a drug company?
It depends on the cause. A prescribing error is a medical negligence case. A failure to warn about a known risk is a product liability case. An exposure at work may be a third-party claim against the manufacturer of the product or the owner of the site, separate from workers' compensation.
How do you prove the tremor is real?
Video, a movement disorder specialist's examination, response to treatment, and consistency across time and settings. Surface EMG and accelerometry can document frequency objectively.