Traumatic Brain Injuries
We understand the subtleties of mild, moderate, and severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and their consequence to the injured person and to his or her family. We are committed to ensuring that our clients are fully and fairly compensated for all aspects of their injury, including potential difficulties that may not arise until years after the injury was sustained.
Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries
A more mild brain injury often classified as an MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury), while less severe than some other types of brain injuries, can still have a significant impact on the victim’s life.
A mild traumatic brain injury is a head injury that causes a loss of consciousness and/or a period of confusion or disorientation that lasts 30 or fewer minutes.
Common effects of an MTBI include:
- Difficulty finding words
- Mental confusion
- Memory problems
- Attention and concentration deficits
- Difficulty finding words
- Chronic Fatigue
- Headache
- Sleep disturbances
- Dizziness, loss of balance
- Nausea
- Sensitivity to light and sounds
- Mood changes, irritability
- Getting lost or confused
- Slowness in thinking
As with most types of serious injuries, the first 12 to 18 months following injury are crucial for maximizing recovery. For this reason, we make every effort to secure early financing from the appropriate insurer for cognitive remediation programs in addition to attendant care and other medical and rehabilitative needs.
Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries
A person with moderate or severe brain injury may have many of the same symptoms as those with a mild traumatic brain injury. In addition, they may experience:
- Persistent headache
- Repeated vomiting or nausea
- Convulsions or seizures
- Inability to awaken from sleep
- Dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes
- Slurred speech
- Weakness or numbness in the extremities
- Loss of coordination
- Increased confusion, restlessness or agitation
- Coma
- Death
While definitions vary, moderate brain injury is generally held to be a brain injury resulting in loss of consciousness for 20 minutes to six hours while severe brain injury causes loss of consciousness for more than six hours.
In moderate or severe brain injury cases, the legal question is not whether the person suffered harm, but rather the extent of the impairment to the individual and his or her daily living, the lifetime financial costs associated with it and the level of care that the injured person should receive.
