A brain injury is a serious injury that can have a lasting impact on your life. It has many possible outcomes that depend on the care you receive, the severity of the initial injury and other factors.
How Do You Know If You Have a Brain Injury Case?
After you suffer a brain injury, you may want to know if you have a brain injury case. There are usually three basic requirements that have to be met to make a personal injury claim. These include showing that:
- The party you want to hold responsible was careless or negligent
- The negligence is what resulted in your injuries
- You suffered compensatory damages as a result of those injuries
Here is an example. If you are involved in a car crash because the other driver was texting, then the at-fault party was negligence. Their negligence led to you being involved in a serious collision. On top of that, you now have a brain injury that impacts your ability to work and that has caused significant debt. In this kind of situation, you’d have a good chance of making a claim and receiving a settlement or award.
You can make a personal injury claim for all kinds of accidents. A head injury that is caused at a sporting event because of ill-fitting gear, one caused by slip-and-fall accidents on a business’s premises or one caused by a car crash can all result in a good claim.
If You’re Hurt at Work, Should You Make a Personal Injury Claim or Workers’ Compensation Claim?
At work, you may be able to seek a personal injury claim or a workers’ compensation claim if you suffer a brain injury. Third-party contractors who are self-employed or contracted in may need to file a personal injury claim against the company. Employees are in a different situation. They are normally covered by workers’ compensation, so that they can file a claim through that insurance.
Workers’ compensation is designed to protect employers against liability when accidents happen on the job, so most of them have it. Additionally, most employers are required to have workers’ compensation coverage by law.
How Do Brain Injuries Happen?
Traumatic brain injuries happen when an external force, like a blow to the head or a penetrating object, causes the brain to move or be damaged inside the skull, according to Shepherd Center. Some of the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries include:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Falls
- Military attacks and bomb blasts
- Violence and gunshot wounds
After the brain is impacted, you may develop a variety of symptoms. Some common symptoms include:
- Seizures
- Personality changes
- Trouble speaking and swallowing
- Trouble with reason, logic or focus
- Memory impairment
- Changes in sensory perception
- Mild vision problems
- Blurred vision
- Trouble with balance
- Headaches
- Coma
- Confusion
These symptoms may be temporary, or they could become chronic. Since a brain injury can be life-threatening, anyone who has suffered a blow to the head should go to the emergency room for an exam and testing.
After you seek medical care, you’ll find out more about the severity of your injury. Some brain injuries are mild, while others are moderate or acute. Acute injuries are the most significant and are the most likely to leave patients with long-term health concerns that make it essential for them to file a personal injury claim.
Why File a Personal Injury Claim After a Crash or Other Incident?
After you suffer a brain injury, you should know that the outcome is unpredictable. For instance, with a mild brain injury, you can expect most of your recovery to occur within the first three months after the impact. Fortunately, with mild injuries, most people will be back to normal within around a half a year.
For moderate or acute injuries, most improvement is seen within the first six months. During this time, you may begin to think better or find that some of your normal functions have returned. After six months, the speed at which you recover will slow, but you will continue to see some improvements over time.
Unfortunately, the rate of improvement for people varies, so it’s impossible to predict if you’ll ever fully recover. That’s why people who have suffered from brain injuries need to make sure that they hold those who injured them accountable. They may need ongoing medical care, support for lost wages in the past as well as lost future wages and other support.
In the long-term, people with brain injuries may recover some but never fully get back to where they were prior to the incident. After two years, Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center has found that those with moderate to severe TBIs still need support from others in around 30% of cases. Around half of these individuals will go back to driving, and only around 30% will be able to return to work.
If you are a patient who will continue to need support as a result of someone else’s negligence or mistakes, then that puts you in a position where you may want to file a claim. Dallas brain injury lawyers can help you learn more about your rights as a victim.
Sources
https://www.shepherd.org/patient-programs/brain-injury/about/causes
https://bianj.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/recoveringfrommildtbi.pdf