If you’ve suffered from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and you feel the incident may have been caused by the negligence of another person, group, or entity’s behalf, you may be eligible to take legal action. To do this, you need a trusted representative at your side. A Louisville traumatic brain injury lawyer may be able to help.
Our lawyers at Thomas Law Offices have the experience and passion to fight for the rights of people who were wrongfully hurt. We’re proud to represent Kentucky citizens, and we will make sure that your rights are protected and that you get the help you need.
We understand how a TBI can completely upend your life and disrupt your ability to work, complete your everyday tasks, or participate in activities or hobbies that you enjoy. The consequences can also lead to chronic issues that you may have to manage for the rest of your life. While this can feel overwhelming, you can seek legal options. With our help, you can hold the people who caused your injury responsible for their actions and get the justice you deserve. Contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your rights today.
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How Do Brain Injuries Occur?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 214,110 TBI-related hospitalizations and 69,473 deaths occurred in 2020 and 2021. Based on those numbers, as many as 586 hospitalizations and 190 deaths from brain injuries occur per day.
From slip and fall accidents at a grocery store to a negligent action by a medical professional, there are numerous ways that someone can suffer from a traumatic brain injury. While some of these cases are accidental, there are times when a person’s own actions can cause these serious injuries.
For personal injury cases, negligence and liability are the main focal points. When someone’s negligence or wrongful actions cause harm to another person, that party is liable for all damages. As a result, the responsible party can be held legally accountable for your traumatic brain injury.
However, you and your legal team need to establish liability through the following elements:
- Duty of care: With this, the responsible party is obligated to prevent harm. For example, a driver has a duty to operate their vehicle safely or a health care provider has the duty to provide competent medical care.
- Breach of duty: That party failed to meet that duty through some type of negligence action or inaction. This can include a driver running a red light or a property owner failing to maintain safe premises.
- Causation: As the result of that breach of duty, those negligent actions directly caused the injury (TBI).
- Damages: One of the last elements is damage. You or a loved one must have suffered some type of injury or other type of loss. In these cases, the TBI resulted in physical, emotional, or financial harm.
If you have been a victim of a traumatic brain injury, you have legal options. You may be able to recover compensation for your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses resulting from the incident. Make sure to reach out to a Louisville traumatic brain injury lawyer to discuss your situation.
Brain Injury Symptoms and Implications
TBIs aren’t the only kinds of brain injuries. There are also non-traumatic brain injuries, also called acquired brain injury (ABI), and they can be just as dangerous. They happen because of a person’s physical condition or a response to an illness. Someone who suffers a stroke, infection, or oxygen deprivation can get an ABI. Unfortunately, negligence can also result in someone suffering from a non-traumatic brain injury.
No matter what kind of injury you have, it’s important to know the symptoms that indicate that something is wrong. TBI and concussion symptoms can vary considerably from person to person, as well as be based on the victim’s injury history. A concussion following multiple previous head injuries, for example, can result in symptoms that are much more debilitating.
Common early symptoms of traumatic brain injuries and concussions can include the following:
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Memory loss
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Confusion
- Poor concentration
- Nausea
- Loss of smell
- Dizziness/loss of balance
- Visual disturbances
Not all victims of a brain injury will experience every symptom. In fact, some victims—especially after receiving a concussion—may not experience any negative symptoms at all. In these cases, it’s common for symptoms to have a delayed response, some taking days or even weeks to present fully.
It’s relatively simple for doctors or medical staff to misdiagnose or fail to properly diagnose a concussion or traumatic brain injury. Recovering from a brain injury can involve complicated and long-term medical care, including therapy, surgery, and medication. The initial trauma can set off a cascade of future traumas or injuries. Brain injuries can have serious implications throughout a victim’s entire life. There have been numerous cases of TBI/concussion victims who, years after the original injury, experience brain deterioration and degenerative brain conditions like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
It’s recommended that any victim of a head injury or suspected concussion seek medical care immediately. Oftentimes, the only way to diagnose a TBI is to use brain scans. After experiencing a head trauma or major concussion, it’s also highly recommended to avoid sports or other high-impact physical activities that may cause additional concussions. When a victim experiences subsequent brain injuries, they have a far greater chance of suffering from serious, lifelong implications.
If you feel the injury was caused or allowed to happen by another party– whether it was a sports team official making a poor call or not letting a player rest, or due to an individual acting recklessly, our Louisville brain injury lawyers are on your side.
Recovery and Therapy
Recovering from a brain injury can involve complicated and long-term medical maneuvering. The initial trauma can set off a cascade of future traumas or injuries that may be difficult to detect at the onset. For instance, say you slipped and fell and hit your head on the pavement.
You might experience a concussion and temporary loss of consciousness but then seem to recover. But then, two weeks later, the longer-term effects of the blow to the head might manifest. The brain tissue may respond to the initial force of a blow, for instance, by shearing and releasing a surge of neurochemicals, which can later have crippling or deforming effects on brain function.
Sometimes, your brain injury may be catastrophic or keep you from doing gainful work. This is a difficult fact to process and can completely change your life. With these kinds of severe injuries, you need an attorney who will fight for you to get the compensation you need because you may be depending on that settlement to help pay past medical expenses, afford future care, and maintain a high quality of life.
Unexpected psychological issues may also arise, such as dealing with depression and anxiety. These can occur with TBIs and are just as serious as a physical injury. If you’re dealing with those problems as well, you need to be able to seek professional help. This could mean needing to see a psychiatrist or seek other forms of counseling. These sessions may be expensive, and you don’t know how long you’ll need them because these injuries are different.
Someone may struggle with being near anything that reminds them of their accident, while others may have an unexplained overwhelming sense of dread. Your lawyer will also take this kind of treatment into account, so you never have to face the option of choosing care or paying off an expense.
The Dangers of Putting Your Claim at Risk
After an accident, it’s common for insurance adjusters to try to contact you. Their goal will most likely be to get a statement from you or settle the matter early. It’s imperative that you do not do this because it is not in your best interest. This tactic saves them money because you may not get the full settlement that you would be owed.
If an insurance adjuster speaks to you and asks how you’re feeling, you may say something along the lines of feeling fine because you’re making polite conversation; however, your statement may be used against you as evidence that your injuries really aren’t that severe. This could result in less compensation.
They may also ask you about what you know regarding your injuries. You may say something like you’re experiencing neck pain, and they will take note of that. But what you don’t know is that the neck pain is a symptom of a back injury. They may question later why you didn’t bring up the back injury even though you didn’t know about it at the time.
Right after an accident, you will not know the full extent of your injuries. It may take a while to know what injuries you have and what you will need to do to treat them. You need to get a medical evaluation as soon as possible and have a health care professional go over what’s wrong and what you need to do to heal.
From there, you’ll have an idea of what to expect in the future in terms of how long it will take, the care you will need, and an idea of what your past medical expenses and your future recovery will cost. Your personal injury attorney takes these into account when calculating your settlement.
Don’t let time slip by. Contact us to discuss your case today.
The Legal Help You Need Is Here
Due to the relatively cryptic nature of TBI, its incredible complexity, and its long-term nature, getting the proper medical help can be challenging. If you or someone you love has been a victim of a traumatic brain injury or serious concussion and you feel the incident or its implications were not the victim’s fault, it may be possible to receive the needed financial compensation in order to recover.
By contacting an experienced Louisville traumatic brain injury lawyer, you can receive a free, zero-obligation evaluation and find out if filing a lawsuit is an option for your particular case. Brain injury and concussion-related lawsuits are extremely complicated, but with the right legal team on your side, you can start receiving the help you need. To learn more, get in touch with us at Thomas Law Offices today.
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