DESTROYS FAMILIES
Brain damage destroys families. Brain injuries can occur in a variety of ways and range from traumatic or severe to mild. The road to recovery is long and expensive.
Whether the brain injury results from medical malpractice, a motor vehicle accident, a fall, a sports injury, a stroke, a drowning incident, or other circumstances, the cost for dealing with a brain injury is staggering. And even young children have lost future income. Understanding the impact that these costs will have is important in getting the compensation that you deserve. Finding financial relief is an important step in the right direction for many families.
The attorneys at McGehee ☆ Chang, Landgraf, Feiler are highly experienced in working traumatic brain injury cases and can ensure that you and your family receive the compensation to which you are legally entitled. If you are suffering from a brain injury, please contact us today at 713-864-4000.
Most Common Reasons for Head Injury
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Motor vehicle accidents are a top category for causing brain injuries every year.
Approximately 280,000 people in the U.S. receive a motor vehicle induced traumatic brain injury every year. Twenty percent of all brain damage is motor vehicle related and constitutes the second-largest causative method, behind falls. Traffic accident brain damage also accounts for the greatest number of hospitalizations. These accidents can be traumatic and have life-long consequences. Some types of brain injuries caused by auto accidents include:
- Concussion – most common and is from sudden impact, momentum or movement change.
- Contusion – another word for a bruise but can be serious enough that it could require surgical removal.
- Coup-Contrecoup – contusions on both sides of the brain and is a result of the brain ‘bouncing’ off the inside of the skull. Happens at the site of impact, and on the opposite side.
- Diffuse Axonal – caused by a strong rotation of the head resulting in brain structure tears.
- Penetration – where an object has penetrated through the head and into the brain.
Medical Malpractice
Every year there are millions of brain injury-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States.
Nearly one million of these health events are among children. The brain can be injured in a number of ways in a medical or hospital setting and the mechanism of injury may not be immediately obvious. Examples include failures to detect blood clots and strokes, failures to perform sedation vacations, failures to perform neurologic exams, undiagnosed and untreated infections, hypoxia, anoxia, birth trauma, anesthesia, and surgical errors, other misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose and many others. A timely diagnosis of brain damage symptoms is crucial when considering an injured patient’s long term outcomes. Great care and expertise are required to identify all possible causes.
Children & Adolescents
Brain injuries in infants can occur before, during, or after birth. They can last a lifetime and leave children mentally handicapped or physically disabled forever. Treatments can improve the quality of life but are expensive and not easy to obtain.
Brain injuries resulting from birth can include:
- Cerebral Palsy
- Infant Hematoma
- Bleeding in the Brain
- Hydrocephalus
- Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
- Intraventricular Hydrocephalus (IVH)
- Hypoxia or Lack of Oxygen to the Brain
- Stroke
A common reason for a head injury in adolescents is due to contact sports and strenuous physical activity that sometimes result in impacts to the head that can produce short-term or long-term physical and mental effects.
These injuries may require extended periods of treatment and recovery for adolescents, as the brain is rapidly developing in these formative years. In some cases, the damage done can persist over a lifetime. If a head injury is suspected in adolescents, it is essential to get medical attention as soon as possible to diagnose these issues and to prevent further damage to brain tissue and nerve cells.
Falls and Other TBI’s
Traumatic brain injury (commonly known as TBI) is a brain injury caused by
an external physical force such as a fall or other blunt force trauma to the skull. Brain trauma may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness and it can also result in the disturbance of behavioral or emotional functioning. Closed brain injury occurs when a person receives an impact to the head from an outside force, but the skull does not fracture or displace. Both types of brain injuries may be either temporary or permanent and cause partial or total functional disability or psychosocial maladjustment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, there are currently 5.3 million individuals suffering from a traumatic brain injury that will have lifelong effects.
The Cost of Traumatic Brain Injuries
The road to recovery for traumatic brain injuries can be long and painful. These injuries can also require extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation. The physical, mental, and emotional costs of TBI are difficult to manage. Dealing with the expenses incurred for medical treatment can add even more to the burdens of families dealing with issues related to the injury.
You and your family may incur a number of costs resulting from a traumatic brain injury. Some of the most common expenses include the following:
- Emergency room visit fees
- Hospital stays and specialized treatment plans
- Outpatient rehabilitation visits
- Diagnostic testing
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity over the lifetime of the patient
- At-home care and nursing visits for an extended period of time
- Prescription drugs and durable medical equipment
Traumatic brain injuries are responsible for more than 288,000 hospitalizations and about 2.5 million emergency room visits each year in the United States. Finding financial relief for those affected is an important step in the right direction for many families.
Protecting Your Legal Rights
A few simple steps will help you to protect your right to recover damages from the person or persons responsible for a traumatic brain injury.
- Seek medical attention as soon as a head injury occurs. This will not only protect your health but will allow you to document any injuries to yourself or your family members for future legal action.
- Keep all receipts and bills from the hospital, doctors, rehabilitation personnel, and other medical facilities and healthcare providers.
- Follow all recommendations from the medical providers you consult.
- Limit or stop your use of social media during the aftermath of the injury. Attorneys on the other side of your case may attempt to use this information against you to downplay the extent of your injuries or those of your family members.
Consult McGehee ☆ Chang, Landgraf, Feiler as soon as feasible after a traumatic brain injury to ensure that all steps in the legal process are handled properly and that you receive the highest compensation possible for your case.
The Value of an Experienced Brain Injury Attorney
The attorneys at McGehee ☆ Chang, Landgraf, Feiler are highly experienced in working traumatic brain injury cases and can ensure that you and your family receive the financial compensation to which you are legally entitled. Your attorney will look at the facts in your case and will provide you with the assertive and effective representation needed to present your case both in and out of court.
- If your injury was caused by a collision with a semi-trailer truck, for example, your personal injury lawyer may subpoena the records of the transportation company to determine whether the driver has a history of recklessness on the road or had been driving more than the federally allowable hours when the accident occurs.
- A trip-and-fall accident that results in a traumatic brain injury will require photos of the scene and any contributing factors that were present at the location of the fall. This will help to support your case for compensation from business owners in the court system.
Enlisting the help of a qualified and knowledgeable attorney at McGehee ☆ Chang, Landraf, Feiler will ensure the best support for you and your family during this difficult time. Our attorneys will work closely with you to collect the necessary evidence and to present your case for financial compensation. By entrusting your case to a law firm with experience in these types of cases, you can achieve the best financial outcomes for you and your family.
