Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury vary on the type of injury, severity, and what part of the brain that is affected. Unconsciousness tends to last longer for people with injuries on the left side of the brain than for those with injuries on the right. With mild TBI, the patient may remain conscious or may lose consciousness for a few seconds or minutes. Other symptoms of mild TBI include headache, vomiting, nausea, lack of motor coordination, dizziness, difficulty balancing, lightheadedness, blurred vision or tired eyes, ringing in the ears, bad taste in the mouth, fatigue or lethargy, and changes in sleep patterns. Cognitive and emotional symptoms include behavioral or mood changes, confusion, and trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking.
A person with a moderate or severe TBI may have a headache that does not go away, repeated vomiting or nausea, convulsions, an inability to awaken, dilation of one or both pupils, slurred speech, aphasia (word-finding difficulties), dysarthria (muscle weakness that causes disordered speech), weakness or numbness in the limbs, loss of coordination, confusion, restlessness, or agitation. Some common long-term symptoms of moderate to severe TBI are changes in appropriate social behavior, deficits in social judgment, and cognitive changes, especially problems with sustained attention, processing speed, and executive functioning. Alexithymia, a deficiency in identifying, understanding, processing, and describing emotions occurs in 60.9% of individuals with TBI. Cognitive and social deficits have long-term consequences for the daily lives of people with moderate to severe TBI, but can be improved with appropriate rehabilitation.
The most common causes of TBI include violence, transportation accidents, construction, and sports.
In many accidents the major injury to the victim is a brain injury. Not only does the individual suffer, but the entire family will be affected in that the person may dramatically change his or her personality and could be restricted from conducting everyday tasks. A traumatic brain injury can have very serious results and could alter a person forever.
There are a few types of brain injuries. It is a complex injury which could have a range of disabilities. They are unique to every person who suffers from this injury, and most brain injuries affect people differently. You should note that symptoms may not be immediate and may present days or even weeks after the injury. In some cases, the individual may not realize they have a brain injury, but it is obvious to people who know the individual in that they would see the changes in a person’s personality who was injured.
A mild traumatic brain injury results in loss of consciousness and causes confusion. The person may have cognitive difficulties such as memory problems, headaches, inattentiveness, difficulty in thinking clearly, mood swings, all which result in frustration to the victim.
A severe brain injury is a result of, sometimes, not just trauma to the brain, but actual penetration of the scalp. A person who is injured in this manner would have a significant cognitive function deficit and may be in a comatose state. If it is severe enough, it could cause a wrongful death of that individual. Symptoms include but are not limited to the following:
The long term effect can be very significant for the individual and will have a great impact on the person’s social interactions and employment.
Studies indicate that almost 1.5 million people in the United States suffer traumatic brain injuries every year. These injuries usually are the result of an accident where there is external force impacting the brain. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, a traumatic brain injury occurs every 21 seconds in the United States and over 5 million Americans currently live with disabilities resulting from this type of injury.
Common accidents which lead to traumatic brain injury include but are not limited to the following:
If someone has a traumatic brain injury, the long term affect can cost millions of dollars. If the accident is the result of someone’s negligence, an experienced lawyer is necessary to prove your case.
You should also be aware that brain injuries often result due to inappropriate medical care where there are early warning signs. A confident doctor should recognize the problem immediately to reduce a risk of damages. Early treatment is critical in that even a slight delay can prevent victims from incurring more serious damages. Testing and treatment will ultimately save a person’s life.
There are many medical misdiagnoses which often lead to tragic consequences. Studies show that about 20 percent of all fatal illnesses are misdiagnosed. Doctors must act quickly when medical symptoms are present. If they fail to do so, the law provides that injured victims have a remedy.
One of a medical provider’s obligations is to refer a brain injury to a specialist to perform medical testing. Our medical negligent lawyers are aware of brain injuries and have secured verdicts and settlements which resulted in awards of multi-million dollars. One client of the Kremin Law Firm had x-rays done for an unrelated matter and the x-ray indicated there should have been a follow up by other doctors. Failure to diagnose our client’s injuries in a timely basis resulted in almost a 15 million dollar verdict in that the doctors, essentially, said the information “fell through the cracks”.
Our lawyers and affiliated lawyers have successfully represented individuals who sustained traumatic brain injuries. Our brain injury attorneys have 20-30 years of experience handling sophisticated brain trauma cases. Our lawyers understand the complex medical issues involved in this type of injury.
The lawyer must be qualified in medical matters and secure neurologists to prove a case. Contacting our firm about this type of injury would trigger us to start a comprehensive investigation into the cause of brain injury. A thorough preparation must be done immediately in order to prove a case before a jury.
If you believe you or a loved one has a brain injury, please contact David K. Kremin & Associates at 1(800) ASK-A-LAWYER or 1(800) 275-2529. You can contact us 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
David Kremin has been rated by Rue Ratings that only name 1% of lawyers in America.
Our clients received these awards. This firm solely resolved some of these cases and also works with other lawyers and refers some clients to other law firms that prosecute some of its cases but Mr. Kremin is co counsel and professionally responsible for all these cases.
This means that if it was a case where the claim was able to prove and there was insurance coverage we received fair compensation but if in my opinion it was not a case we could prove or not enough Insurance or I or my referring lawyers could not get compensation or fair compensation, we would withdraw or with the clients consent accept offers. Information on this website is provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.Your case may be different. Call us or contact a lawyer in your area for further guidance. FULL DISCLOSURE
