Traumatic brain injury is a serious condition that could impact a person on a cognitive level for the rest of their life. The external force responsible for the condition can result in a lifelong disability where the person’s quality of life is impacted. TBI cases can include long-term, lingering symptoms following the incident as well as scenarios where there are no ongoing complications.
Each year, an estimated 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries occur each year that result in hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and deaths. Devastating injuries like these result for sports activities, workplace accidents, falls, and car crashes. Any type of trauma experienced can result in bruising, tearing, swelling, or bleeding.
Four things to know about a traumatic brain injury
A traumatic brain injury is caused by trauma. There are two major categories of head injuries. The open injury refers to a fracture resulting from an accident or fall that causes trauma. An external force like a blow to the head causes a traumatic brain injury. A closed head injury results in a fracture, and its complications can last for years to come. With a closed head injury, swelling and blood clots can develop and lead to paralysis, death and lapse in consciousness. Acquired brain injuries result in cellular level disturbances that can result from causes unrelated to trauma.
Juries are more sympathetic to brain injury victims. When traumatic brain injury cases are taken before a jury, they do better. These companies are quite aggressive in avoiding paying any claims pertaining to brain injury victims in general. This is especially the case where the scans performed are clean. Hiring a brain injury attorney to pursue a formal trial usually results in a better outcome for the victim. When using a brain injury attorney, the victim’s complete medical history is presented as a part of a compelling case to increase chances of a settlement. In general, juries lean more toward the claimant than the insurer.
Insurance companies record calls. It isn’t uncommon for insurance companies to set the stage to discredit the viability of a claimant’s case. They may resort to tactics like recording calls without the claimant’s knowledge. The reason why is that they are trying to present a case that demonstrates that the person is functioning as what can be perceived to be as normal. If the claimant isn’t exhibiting strong symptoms or if the condition hasn’t resulted in any visible complications yet, this tactic is beneficial for the insurance company.
Claimants can be awarded a settlement if a condition has been aggravated. Most people are under the impression that the jury bases their award solely off of a newly developed condition resulting from trauma. A claimant can be awarded a settlement if the correlation can be made between the traumatic event and the change in the person’s existing condition. Medical records used as a basis for comparison present the compelling argument that any pre-existing condition affecting the victim has worsened as a result of the traumatic brain injury.
Loss of cognitive reserve is a little-discussed complication of a brain injury. This complication affects the person long-term, elevating the risks for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. The loss of brain cells affects loss of cognitive reserve. The lawyer should be well-versed in the basics of loss of cognitive reserve that they may be better able to present the case for the decline in quality of life and overall well-being as a result of the traumatic brain injury.
A traumatic brain injury case should be managed by an experienced trial attorney. A trial attorney will know how to present a strong case on the victim’s behalf, improving chances of a favorable setting. A traumatic brain injury case involves current symptoms exhibited and lasting implications that may not be easily measured. Having an attorney that can address all aspects of a person’s health improves chances of a win.