Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer

A traumatic brain injury is one of the most devastating injuries a person can suffer. A TBI may be caused by a fall, a car accident, a sports injury, a violent assault, child abuse or an explosion or blast. Many traumatic brain injuries that occur in Orlando are preventable and are the result of carelessness, disregard for safety or misconduct. If you have sustained a traumatic brain injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may have legal rights to demand compensation from the at-fault party to cover your losses.

Our experienced Attorney's at Katzman, Wasserman, Bennardini & Rubinstein, offer professional and compassionate legal assistance to brain injury victims whose injuries were caused by others’ negligence. We help Floridians who have had the misfortune of sustaining a head injury recover compensation to assist with medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and other losses. We are committed to helping those who are struggling to recover from a brain injury due to negligence.

What Is A Traumatic Brain Injury?

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow to the head that jostles the brain inside the skull or penetrates the skull and brain tissue. The injury may be either a closed head injury that is not visible or an open head injury. A brain injury may affect the function of the neurons or nerve tracts in the lobes of the brain, leaving them unable to transmit nerve signals to parts of the body. A TBI may cause temporary or permanent dysfunction, resulting in short-term or permanent loss of the ability to perform certain functions such as moving arms and legs or speaking.

A severe brain injury is marked by an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. The victim may remain in a coma for days or weeks.

Severe traumatic brain injuries can cause temporary or long-term changes that affect:

  • Thinking (memory and reasoning)
  • Sensation (touch, taste and smell)
  • Language (communication, expression and understanding)
  • Emotion (depression, anxiety, personality changes, aggression, acting out and social appropriateness).

The five lobes of the brain control various bodily functions. General patterns of dysfunction can occur depending on whether the location of the injury is in the right or left side of the brain. An injury to the left side of the brain may cause visual-spatial impairment, memory deficits and loss of big picture thinking, according to the Brain Injury Association of America. A right brain injury may damage speech, the ability to understand language and logical thinking, and may cause emotional problems like depression and anxiety.

 

Causes Of Brain Injuries

If you or someone you love has suffered a traumatic brain injury, it is important to speak with an experienced traumatic brain injury lawyer in Florida to understand your legal options.

The most common causes of brain injuries include:

  • Falls
  • Motor vehicle accidents
  • Struck by/struck against accidents
  • Assaults

If a person falls and sustains a brain injury due to an unsafe condition on another’s property, the accident victim may have a right to seek compensation from the property owner if the accident was preventable and was caused by failure to correct the property hazard.

Many people in Orlando suffer brain injuries in car crashes, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents and pedestrian accidents caused by other drivers’ carelessness or disregard for safety. The at-fault driver’s insurance company may be liable for your medical bills and other losses related to the accident.

Serious head injuries also occur in workplace accidents. An injured worker may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits and Social Security Disability benefits after an accident causing a significant TBI.

Someone else caused your TBI, either because they were unreasonably careless in their behaviour or because they hurt you on purpose, then you could recover compensation for medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress and other damages. If the TBI caused death, then the surviving family members could sue for wrongful death damages, including loss of companionship of the deceased.

It is very important to make sure you know the full extent of the injuries before agreeing to a final settlement, especially since it is often not clear what the lasting effects of a TBI will be until weeks or months after the accident. Never sign anything or waive any of your legal rights without talking to a traumatic brain injury lawyer in Orlando first.

Types Of Traumatic Brain Injuries

A mild brain injury may cause a temporary disruption in brain function. More serious brain injuries may cause bruising of brain tissue, tearing of tissue and swelling, resulting in longer-term complications.

  • Concussion —A concussion is a mild brain injury resulting from a blow or jolt to the head. A concussion causes a brief change in consciousness and is the most common type of brain injury. A concussion leaves an individual more susceptible to a later blow to the head. The symptoms of a concussion include:
    • Headache
    • Nausea
    • Sleep disturbance
    • Fatigue
    • Sensitivity to noise
    • Difficulty paying attention
    • Memory problems
    • Loss of balance
    • Mood swings
    • Depression

Repeated concussions can cause changes to the brain and cognitive deficits. Other types of brain injuries include:

  • Coup-Contrecoup Injury—In accidents involving high-speed impacts or forceful movement of the head, an accident victim’s brain may strike against one side of the inner skull, then the other side, causing bruises on opposite sides of the brain. A brain injury survivor who is diagnosed with a coup-contrecoup injury has two separate areas of internal brain bleeding.
  • Penetrating Head Injury— When a foreign object breaks through the skull, it can cause an open head injury in which bone fragments or projectiles penetrate brain tissue. High-speed crashes may cause skull fractures and penetrating head injuries. Gunshots can cause penetrating injuries. If the injury is not fatal, penetrating injuries can damage an individual’s ability to think, cause loss of coordination or balance and harm vision.
  • Diffuse Axonal Injury— A diffuse axonal injury is a type of TBI that involves stretching or tearing of nerve fibers throughout the brain. It is caused by forceful rotation of the head such as often occurs in a motor vehicle accident and shearing of layers of brain tissue.
  • Shaken Baby Syndrome—A baby or toddler may suffer head trauma if the child is shaken violently, causing his or her head to be thrown back and forth and damaging brain tissue. Babies who are victims of shaken baby syndrome may suffer serious injuries including bleeding behind the eyes, bleeding between the skull and the brain and brain swelling. If a baby suffers shaken baby syndrome at a day care, New York law permits parents of the injured baby to file a civil lawsuit against the daycare. The parents may seek compensation for the child’s medical treatment and other losses.
  • Closed Head Injury—A closed head injury is an internal injury that may involve brain swelling and an increase in pressure within the skull, which can increase the extent of the brain injury. It does not involve penetration of the skull.

The consequences of a serious brain injury are unpredictable. But many people who have experienced significant brain injuries will have changes in their ability to concentrate and process information. Some people lose their ability to control their emotions and are more susceptible to mood swings and angry outbursts.

Long-Term Costs Of Brain Injuries

A serious traumatic brain injury can create a great deal of financial stress because of the medical treatment costs, long-term rehabilitation costs and loss of income. Inpatient care can run $8,000 a day, and rehabilitation costs can average $1,000 a day, according to the Brain Injury Association of America.

A brain injury survivor may have to live with the effects of a serious injury for a lifetime. The stress of accumulating medical bills may be compounded by a loss of income. A brain injury survivor may be unable to work for an extended period of time and may have diminished earning capacity in the years afterwards, depending on the severity of the injury. It may be a struggle to manage personal finances in some cases because of cognitive impairments.

The lifetime cost of care for a person who has sustained a catastrophic brain injury can exceed $3 million, according to Research America, a health alliance.

A brain injury survivor and his or her family will need to explore all possible financial resources. One of those options may be a brain injury lawsuit if the injury was caused by someone else’s negligence or disregard for safety.

Every brain injury has unique contributing factors. If your injury was caused by someone else’s negligence or misconduct, you may have a legal right to demand compensation to help with your medical bills and recoup your other losses.

By filing a brain injury lawsuit, you may be entitled to claim compensation for:

  • Medical bills
  • Future medical expenses
  • Rehabilitation costs
  • Lost wages
  • Diminished future earnings
  • Loss of consortium
  • Pain and suffering
  • Punitive damages in special cases.

Traumatic Brain Injuries In Sports

Recent news reports have focused on concussions, a form of TBI, among athletes. But sports-related TBIs among professional athletes are not the same as TBIs among children playing sports in school, civic or club leagues in New York City.

Concussions happen most often in contact sports such as football, rugby and hockey, but can happen in any sport or recreational activity.

Over the past decade, emergency room visits in the U.S. for sports- and recreation-related TBIs among children and adolescents increased by 60 percent, according to the CDC.

If a child sustains a TBI during supervised sports activities, it is important to determine whether the injury was caused by negligence. Any injury requiring a hospital visit will be costly, but a TBI can be a long-lasting and financially devastating injury.

Adults in charge of youth sports have a duty to ensure the safety of the children. The family of a child harmed through negligence may be eligible for compensation to assist with their child’s recovery or life with a disability

Sports-Related TBIs And Children

Children and teenagers are more likely to get into accidents that cause TBI and take longer to recover than adults, the CDC says. Adults playing recreation league sports or otherwise taking part in recreational activities risk TBI as well.

Bicycling, football, playground activities, basketball and soccer are associated with the greatest number of TBI-related emergency room visits among children. A national survey of all sports- and recreation-related injuries among all ages found that 31 percent occurred at a sports facility and 20 percent happened at a school, according to the CDC.

Athletic directors, coaches and others have begun to recognize the risk of TBI among young athletes. In recent years, 43 states passed laws on concussions in sports for youth and high school athletes.

In New York, the Concussion Management and Awareness Act require the development of rules and regulations related to students who sustain a concussion or a mild TBI at school or at any school-sponsored activity. Guidelines must address the injured student’s return to school and certain school activities after a concussion, regardless of where the concussion occurred.

The law also requires that students who have sustained or are suspected to have sustained a concussion during athletic activities be immediately removed from such activities and not return until they have been symptom-free for a minimum of 24 hours and have been evaluated by, and received written and signed authorization to return to activities from, a licensed physician. School coaches, physical education teachers, nurses and certified athletic trainers must complete a state-approved course about concussions and concussion management every two years.

Liability For Sports-Related TBIs

Parents who let their children play sports at school or in recreational leagues sponsored by local governments or private clubs should be able to rely on the adults in charge to ensure a reasonable level of safety. There are risks inherent in sports, but coaches, trainers, teachers, camp counselors, etc., have a responsibility to instruct young players and athletes, and to ensure they are properly trained and equipped to participate in sports.

The principle of “in loco parentis” is often applied to the responsibility of teachers, coaches and others responsible for the safety of children under their supervision. A coach or other supervisor who lets a player engage in sporting activities that they are not physically or mentally able to undertake in a safe manner may be guilty of negligence and is potentially liable for any injuries the child sustains. The coach as an individual or the sponsoring organization may be compelled to compensate the injured child or the child’s family.

If a student-athlete or any other player has suffered a TBI while playing sports or participating in other supervised recreation, it is important to determine whether someone else’s negligence led to the injury. The costs related to TBI can run into millions of dollars, especially after a severe injury to a child or teenager.