Brain injuries not only impact the person who is experiencing the injury, but the damage can ripple out, destroying families and friendships. Brain injuries can be mild or severe, and the path to recovery is usually expensive and time-consuming.
According to the Brain Injury Alliance, every 21 seconds, someone suffers a traumatic brain injury in the United States.
Here are some shocking statistics from the Brain Injury Alliance:
- On average, 2.8 million Americans suffer a traumatic brain injury.
- The average number of deaths from traumatic brain injury, as reported by the CDC, reaches over 50000 annually.
- Brain injuries disable six times more people than spinal injuries, MS, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDS combined.
- Over 5.3 million Americans suffer from lifelong brain injuries that render them unable to perform daily activities.
- On average, over 300k sport and recreation concussions are diagnosed. The CDC reports that the possible number of concussions is likely seven times the reported amount annually.
- Assaults are responsible for 10% of traumatic brain injuries.
- Car accidents are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries.
- Children, young adults, and seniors are at a higher risk of experiencing a brain injury.
- Males are 1.5 more likely to suffer from a brain injury and 3x more likely to die.
Brain injuries can result from a variety of unfortunate reasons, including medical malpractice, road accidents, sports, strokes, drowning, or even a simple fall. The costs associated with brain injuries can be incredibly high and add to the overall stress.
Brain injuries are linked to losses in future income, and understanding the impact they have on a life is critical in getting the right legal team to represent you. At TorkLaw, we will work hard to ensure that you or a loved one is compensated fairly.
Common Reasons for Brain Injury
Brain injuries can be caused by a variety of unfortunate reasons, as mentioned in the previous section.
Motor Accident Brain Injuries
Car accidents are one of the leading reasons behind many brain injury cases. The most common brain injuries caused by car accidents include:
- Concussion injuries that are the result of a sudden impact.
- Contusions injuries that are caused by impact and are described as severe bruises, sometimes requiring surgical removal.
- Coup-Contrecoup injuries are caused when the brain gets a contusion on both sides and result from the brain bouncing from side to side inside the skull.
- Penetration injury occurs when an external object penetrates the head and injures the brain during the accident.
- Diffuse axonal injuries are caused when the head is forcefully rotated and can result in tears in the brain structure.
Medical Malpractice Brain Injuries
It is estimated that the average annual medical malpractice brain injury incidents among children are close to 1 million cases nationwide. Sometimes the injuries from medical malpractice are not obvious or straightforward. This is generally attributed to the fact that most people are in the hospital already experiencing another injury, and it might be hard to separate medical malpractice, especially if the patient is in a critical situation to begin with.
Brain injury examples from medical malpractice incidents include:
- Failure to detect blood clots
- Failure to detect strokes
- Failures to perform the necessary neurological exams
- Untreated infections
- Hypoxia / anoxia
- Trauma resulting from a difficult birth
- Surgical errors
A timely diagnosis is critical when dealing with brain injuries. If you are suffering from a brain injury caused by negligence or malpractice, TorkLaw can help you.
Birth and Sports-Related Brain Injuries
Brain injuries in infants can be caused before birth, during birth, or even shortly after birth. In many instances, these injuries are a lifelong situation, preventing the child from experiencing a ‘normal’ lifestyle; many times, leaving the child depended on others forever. Some treatments can help improve the quality of life, but these treatments can be costly.
Birth-related injuries can include:
- Infant hematoma
- Cerebral palsy
- Brain bleeds
- Hypoxia
- Hydrocephalus
- Stroke
In a perfect world, we would not have to deal with little children suffering the consequences of medical malpractice; however, unfortunately, these incidences occur. TorkLaw would like to help you to get the right compensation and provide any available treatment to your child as soon as possible.
Adolescents can sometimes suffer from brain injuries that can occur during an accident while playing sports. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the following sports carry the highest risk to cause a brain injury:
- Cycling
- Football
- Baseball
- Softball
- Basketball
- Recreational vehicles (ATVs Dune Buggies, Go-Carts, etc.)
- Soccer
- Skateboards
- Exercise equipment
- Golf
- Horseback riding
- Hockey
- Trampolines
- Rugby
- Lacross
- Skating
- General playground equipment
Brain injuries are generally the result of an impact, whether that means that the person fell and hit their head, or a stray ball hit the, or someone accidentally punched or kicked them, etc.
Head injuries, like all injuries, respond better to treatment if there are no delays. Brain injuries can require long-term care and extensive hospital stays, resulting in staggering medical bills. Unfortunately, in some cases, brain injuries can cause lifelong damages. If you suspect that you have suffered a brain injury, or if someone close to you appears to have signs of brain injury, seek medical attention immediately.
Once you are in a safe place, receiving treatment, get in touch with your legal team to see how seeking compensation can help with the bills and any other expenses that have resulted from the injury.
Mayo Clinic outlines the following signs and symptoms of a possible brain injury:
- Lack of consciousness that can last seconds, minutes, or longer
- Feeling dazed, confused and disoriented
- Headaches
- Vomiting and nausea
- Speech problems
- Sleeping more than usual or difficulty falling asleep
- Loss of balance
- Sudden sensitivity to light and sound
- Sudden changes in taste, smell, or vision
- Memories issues
The list of symptoms is quite extensive, and we advise you not to panic as many of these symptoms can also be unrelated to brain injury. There is a cause of concern if any of these symptoms arise after an injury to the head.
Costs Connected to Brain Injuries
Recovering from a brain injury is rarely a straightforward process. Most brain injuries require extensive care, and sometimes rehabilitation services need to get involved.
Here are some of the most common expenses associated with a brain injury:
- Emergency room care fees
- Hospital stay fees
- Rehabilitation fees
- Diagnostic tests
- Lost income
- At-home care fees
- Medication required for treatment
General Information on Protecting Your Legal Rights
Here is some general information that will help you protect your legal rights and recover damages when a third party is involved in your injury:
- Look for medical attention as soon as possible after the injury occurs. This way, you can better document the situation.
- Always keep any receipts and bills that will occur from visiting doctors, buying medication, and receiving any other care during recovery.
- If possible, stop using social media after the injury occurs. The defendant’s attorneys can use any activity they see on your social media to downplay your injuries’ severity.
Choosing the Right Legal Team
TorkLaw attorneys can help you get the right compensation and alleviate the stress relating to financial matters after a brain injury. We ensure that you will receive fair compensation, and we want to help you recover faster by removing any stress related to documenting and building your case.