Our Nashville Personal Injury Lawyers Explain Key Facts About Traumatic Brain Injury Cases
The experienced legal team at GriffithLaw understands the devastating impact a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have on families. We’ve seen firsthand how the financial burden of lost wages and mounting medical bills can feel overwhelming. This is why it is so important to know your legal rights in this type of case.
Your family may be entitled to compensation if someone else is to blame for the accident or incident that caused your loved one’s TBI injury. Our Nashville area personal injury attorneys are committed to helping you explore all available options and ensuring your loved one’s future needs are secured. Below, we explain common causes and potential consequences of TBI and what’s involved in seeking the justice your loved one deserves.
Common Causes of TBIs Involving Negligence or Misconduct
Traumatic brain injuries can arise from many kinds of accidents or events that involve injury to a person’s head, including instances where the head itself does not suffer a direct impact. Whiplash, which can cause the brain to strike the inside of the skull, is a common example. Common causes of TBI arising from negligence or misconduct include:
- Car and truck accidents, like hitting the dashboard in a head-on car crash
- Slip and fall injuries, like slipping on the wet floor in a fast-food restaurant
- Workplace incidents, like accidents caused by unsafe equipment
- Sports injuries, like a particularly devastating tackle in football
- Medical malpractice, such as errors during surgery that lead to brain injury
- Bike accidents, like being struck by the opening door of a parked car
- Physical assault, like acts of domestic violence or street crime
- Pedestrian accidents, like being hit by a distracted driver in a marked crosswalk
Traumatic Brain Injury Types and Categories
Not all TBI symptoms look alike. They may not always appear immediately following an accident or incident, and they can worsen over time. The type, nature, and location of the TBI influence how it may affect your injured family member. Recovery can take months or even years. Some victims of severe TBIs never fully recover.
TBI Levels of Severity
The Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham confirms that a concussion is recognized as a mild TBI. It can still have serious consequences but rarely causes permanent brain damage. Victims may lose consciousness for up to 30 minutes.
Not all TBI’s are minor. They can also be classified as moderate or severe by members of the medical community. Moderate TBIs may cause up to 24 hours of unconsciousness, with additional symptoms that may last much longer. Victims with severe TBIs may enter a coma and suffer permanent brain damage.
Open Traumatic Brain Injury
Along with severity, traumatic brain injuries are also categorized by whether they are open or closed. An open TBI involves an object penetrating the skull and entering brain tissue. Damage may be localized but dire.
Closed Head Injury
By contrast, a closed head injury does not involve penetration. An external force causes the brain to strike the inside of the skull. This type of TBI is more common and can be equally serious in consequence.
The Profound Impact and Costs of TBIs
Traumatic brain injuries can dramatically affect many aspects of a victim’s life. The long-term effects of TBI can include ongoing medical or assistive care, reduced earning capacity, and diminished quality of life. The Tennessee Department of Education (TN DOE) published a TBI evaluation guidance resource that outlines some impairments that TBI victims may experience, including:
- Physical impairments, such as headaches and lack of coordination
- Language impairments, like as slurred speech or difficulty understanding others
- Cognitive impairments, including an inability to concentrate or think abstractly
- Psychosocial impairments, such as mood swings or impaired impulse control
The TN DOE guide referenced above notes that TBI results from acquired injuries caused by external physical forces rather than being congenital or degenerative in nature.
Recovering Fair Damages in a TBI Case
Seeking recovery following a TBI-causing accident can be complex, which is why it is so important to have an experienced personal injury attorney on your side throughout your case. In a TBI case, it’s not unusual for at-fault parties to resist admitting liability, but our personal injury lawyers will conduct a thorough investigation that uncovers the facts of what happened, along with establishing equally important details about the total cost of the injury, including long-term consequences like medical or assistive care, reduced earning capacity and wages, and emotional trauma.
When you choose GriffithLaw to handle your TBI case, we will work diligently to help you receive the fair compensation that you and your loved one deserve. Our attorneys have experience representing and securing compensation for injured clients in Tennessee who have been hurt in various types of accidents and incidents, including those that result in TBI. For example, in one case, we represented a client who was thrown from a vehicle and suffered a TBI. We secured a $1.25 million settlement for them, the maximum limit of the applicable insurance policy. Want to learn more about how the GriffithLaw team can help you seek compensation in relation to a TBI that happened in Tennessee? Contact us today to schedule your free case review.