Navigating Complex Brain Injury Cases
TBIs don’t just occur in car wrecks or skiing accidents. Studies
show that an estimated 300,000 traumatic brain injuries occur annually
in the United States due to high school and collegiate sports injuries.
In 2014, a study presented at the American Academy of Neurology demonstrated
that more than 40 percent of retired National Football League players
had signs of TBI based on MRI scans called Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Other
studies have indicated that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a
condition only verifiable on autopsy, was present in 96% of NFL players examined.
In April of 2015, the United States District Court for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania approved the settlement between the NFL and retired players.
The lawsuit alleged that the NFL failed to warn players and hid the risk
of brain injuries they faced. In July of 2016, a group of NFL players
sued Riddell, Inc. alleging the equipment manufacturer failed to warn
about the long-term health effects their helmets could not protect them from.
Lifetime Costs of a Brain Injury
The brain is an incredibly important part of the body, but it is also extremely
delicate, meaning even a slight amount of damage can lead to long recovery
times and possibly permanent consequences physically, emotionally, and
even financially. These costs are why you should discuss your case further
with a Dallas personal injury attorney when you or a loved one suffer
from a TBI.
Financial Costs
The financial costs of a brain injury are perhaps the easiest to comprehend,
but also probably the hardest to calculate. Brain injuries are unique
in that it’s almost impossible to diagnose their true nature. How
severe is it? What impact will it have in the short term, as well as the
long term? Will you ever fully recover? Will there be any lasting side
effects? Each of these questions could have an impact on the financial
damages sustained through this injury.
Medical Care
Medical care for the treatment of a TBI can be extensive. Brain scans,
examinations, and continual procedures needed to properly treat a brain
injury add up quickly, particularly because much of the technology used
to treat brain injuries is still new and cutting-edge, involving highly
sophisticated equipment. Additionally, the physical, emotional and behavioral
components of a brain injury can create additional treatment needs that
last forever, long after the need for acute care. It’s easy to run
up large medical expenses in this way, particularly if you’re going
to need continual treatment for months or even years after the injury
initially occurs. By some measures, the lifetime costs of treatment for
a TBI can vary anywhere between hundreds of thousands for a mild issue
and into the tens of millions for a more serious condition. The attorneys
at Lyons & Simmons work with respected and qualified Life Care Planning
experts to determine the scope of future care needs based upon the extent
of the injuries and functionality as well as to determine the cost of
that healthcare based upon life expectancy and future care needs.
Lost Earnings
Loss of earnings for victims of a traumatic brain injury can be significant.
Often times, victims of a brain injury can never fully return to work.
Some may be severely limited in their functionality that hinders their
ability to earn a living as they once did before the injury. The attorneys
at Lyons & Simmons work with respected physical medicine and rehabilitative
physicians as well as vocationalist to properly assess the victim’s
condition, limitations and ability to enter the workforce. Economists
can quantify, based on the work of these other experts, to ascertain the
net loss to the brain injury victim resulting from their inability to
work or to fully return to work. The economic model created from these
experts is used as a basis to seek recovery for damages.
Lost Earning Capacity
Brain injuries have been shown to have a number of other effects and consequences
as well. The unemployment rate for average adults two years after their
diagnosis is 60 percent. People who suffer from brain injuries may lose
the ability to work in the same capacity as they did previously, meaning
they may never be able to return to work again. This can substantially
complicate your case and dramatically increase the cost of the injury.
Non-Financial Costs
A TBI also has other costs that do not necessarily have a financial value
but could make you eligible for financial compensation. Pain and suffering
and emotional trauma are two of the largest costs of TBI, as they often
lead to turmoil physically and emotionally.
TBIs also can lead to other side effects, such as mood swings or changes
in personality, which can have a dramatic impact on your relationships
with everyone from your spouse to your kids to your co-workers. Sometimes
a brain injury can lead to these relationships eroding for one reason
or another until they collapse, resulting in a loss of companionship or consort.
We're Your Attorneys For Complex Injury Cases
Handling cases involving TBIs requires an understanding of the evolving
medical science as well as sophisticated
neuroimaging. Recent technological and neuroscience developments have made it possible
to be able to quantify brain injuries to such a degree that juries no
longer have to infer from neuropsychological testing whether or not a
person has a significant brain injury. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
and fractional anisotropy (FA) have enabled neuroradiologists and neurologists
the ability to identify and quantify abnormal patterns within the brain
that when paired with a history of trauma, can help to establish the existence
of a brain injury.
Lyons & Simmons, LLP has extensive experience with brain injury cases
and is committed to retaining respected experts in the fields of Neurosurgery,
Neurology, Neuroradiology, Neurosphychiatry, Vocational Rehabilitation,
Life Care Planning, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for complex
brain injury cases. Let us handle your brain injury case.
Need to discuss your case with a Dallas TBI attorney? Call (844) 297-8898.
We have handled ample amounts of
personal injury cases.
Recommended Reading:
Each year, TBIs are responsible for a substantial number of
deaths and cases of permanent disability. According to a report by the Center
for Disease Control, estimates indicate that between 3.2 million and 5.3
million persons in the U.S. are living with a TBI disability. Additionally,
adolescents and adults who are affected by moderate/severe TBI and discharged
from rehabilitation facilities were more than twice as likely to die 3.5
years after their injury. Published, peer-reviewed literature indicates
that 2 in 10 adolescents and adults who are treated for TBI and receive
rehabilitation therapy will die within 5 years post-injury and nearly
4 in 10 will have declined in function from the level of recovery attained
1 to 2 years after their injury.