Establishing who had the right of way can be extremely important in this situation, particularly for the Hyundai driver who sustained brain injury.  If the Chrysler driver is found to be at fault he could file a personal injury claim and receive due financial compensation.

If you have been hurt in a car accident take nothing for granted.  Contact an experienced car accident attorney right away for a free consultation and fight for your rights.  The veteran personal injury lawyers at Slaughter and Slaughter can help you do just that.  Pick up the phone and call us today.

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When a pedestrian knock down accident like the one above occurs, legally speaking the vehicle driver is  almost always at fault.  This is because pedestrians have the right-of-way, even if they are jaywalking.  Of course, certain behaviors may mitigate a driver’ culpability, but the fact remains that vigilant drivers will most likely avoid hitting a pedestrian.

When you or a loved one has been hurt in a pedestrian crosswalk accident, you may need the assistance of a qualified personal injury lawyer.  If so, contact the law offices of Slaughter and Slaughter today for a free consultation.  We just may be able to help you obtain financial compensation for your accident related injuries.

Don’t delay, call  now.

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The Fall Out from Brain Injury

The aftermath of an accident that results in a brain injury is tremendous.  The overwhelming psychical stress that the victim has to deal with as they struggle to regain their independence coupled with the emotional toll that overtakes them can leave lasting scars on the psyche.  If the brain injury is severe enough to impede their normal behaviors or ability to care for themselves, family members are also adversely affected as they grapple with the devastating change to their lives.  To make matters worse, survivors of horrible collisions or slip-and-falls, may soon face the possibility of losing their life’s savings as costly rehabilitation treatments and medical related bills begin to pile up.

The nest egg that they were saving for a rainy day or for the children’s college fund could be gone in the blink of an eye, all due to someone else’s reckless behavior.

Civil Tort Laws Aid TBI Victims

Tort laws, which are namely laws that give victims the right to pursue monetary damages in civil court, can aid those who have been hurt in a car or premise related accident. Most of these lawsuits fall under the heading of personal injury litigation and can encompass any type of injury.

Prior to pursuing a case against the responsible party, it would be good to make sure you have a strong personal injury case. You can always start by making an appointment for a free consultation with a reputable personal injury lawyer.

With the right personal injury attorney representing you, you can rest assured that an investigation into the matter will be thorough.  Most attorneys will take your case on a contingency basis as well, meaning they do not get paid unless you are awarded damages.  This arrangement is beneficial on many levels since you will not have to pay any upfront fees and your lawyer basically casts his lot in with yours.  This means he will try his best to win the case, and more than likely, will not take it on unless her or she believes it is winnable.

Protect You and Your Family’s Future

Don’t allow someone else’s  negligence to influence you and your families security.  If you or someone you care about sustained a brain injury through no fault of their own, they have the right to pursue the matter in court.  Not only can you obtain financial compensation to take care of your medical costs, you will be able to punish the individual who caused the accident and hold them accountable.

Contact our law offices today for a free consultation to discuss your brain injury related personal injury case.   You can talk one on one with one of our experienced attorneys and get the info you need to get the monetary compensation you need to secure your financial future.

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A closed head injury can occur when the brain is suddenly and violently bounced against the skull from sudden acceleration or deceleration, such as when a passenger, properly wearing his or her seatbelt, in a vehicle going 65 suddenly crashes into the back of a stopped car, causing the passenger’s brain to suddenly hit the skull. This intracranial impact causes the brain to swell, which quickly increases the pressure within the skull (“intracranial pressure”). The increased pressure causes more damage to the brain, which causes more swelling, which causes more injury, etc. Some of the more frequent and dangerous injuries that can be suffered in closed head injury are:

• Concussion
• Brain contusion
• Epidural hematoma
• Subdural hematoma
• Increased intracranial pressure

The most common causes of a closed head injury include traffic accidents, motorcycle and bicycle accidents, falls, physical assaults, and accidents at home (shaken baby syndrome is a example of a closed head injury), work, outdoors, or while playing sports. Some head injuries result in prolonged or non-reversible brain damage. This can occur due to bleeding or blood clots inside the brain or forces that damage the brain directly.
Some of the common injuries involved in a closed head injury include a concussion, a violent jarring or shaking that results in a disturbance of brain function, and may occur when the head strikes or is struck by an object; a concussion may cause temporary loss of consciousness or bleeding in and around the brain; and a contusion, which is essentially a “bruise” on the brain. When there has been a closed head injury, the brain is susceptible to bleeding and blood clots. A number of conditions can occur, such as a subarachnoid hemorrhage, an epidural hematoma, and a subdural hematoma, resulting in blood leaking into the brain or its adjacent structures.

Bleeding and blood clots in the brain are serious conditions since the increase in intracranial pressure can cause damage to brain tissue and loss of brain function, even death. In some cases, it is necessary for the victim to undergo brain surgery to drain the bleeding or remove the clot.

The symptoms of a serious closed head injury include:

• Loss of consciousness, either momentarily or for an extended period of time
• Inability to wake the victim
• The person stops breathing
• Changes in, dilated, or unequal pupils
• Short-term memory loss
• Nausea and vomiting, especially of the person vomits more than once
• Chronic headaches and/or a stiff neck
• Symptoms improve, then suddenly get worse (a change in consciousness)
• Restlessness, clumsiness, or lack of coordination
• Loss of change in sensation, hearing, vision, taste, or smell
• Dizziness
• Inability to move one or more limbs (paralysis)
• Seizures and convulsions
• Cerebrospinal fluid leaking from the mouth, ears, or nose (the fluid may be clear or bloody)
• Bruising of the face, swelling at the site of the injury, or a scalp wound
• Emotional, behavioral, and personality changes
• Irritability (especially in children)
• Slurred speech and other speech and language problems, or blurred vision
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Very high blood pressure
• Very slow pulse

In all cases of injury to the head and neck, DO NOT move the victim’s neck and head unless absolutely necessary. Support the victim’s head in the position you found it. The bones of the spine (“vertebrae”) can be injured from movement of the head during trauma. Broken or displaced spinal bones can cut or put pressure on the nerves running through the middle of the vertebrae, which, if severed or pressured, can cause temporary or permanent paralysis and loss of feeing, resulting at its worst in quadriplegia or paraplegia, and even death.

The symptoms of a serious closed head injury usually show up immediately, while symptoms of a more mild case of closed head injury may take several days to weeks before they become apparent. Even if the skull is not fractured, the brain can bang against the inside of the skull and be bruised. The head may look fine, but complications could result from bleeding or swelling inside the skull. Brain injuries can range from mild to severe. A closed head injury can be diffuse, meaning that it affects cells and tissues throughout the brain, or the closed head injury may be focal, in which case the damage affects only a limited area, such as the speech center. In all cases involving serious trauma to the head, you should always assume the spinal cord is injured and take the proper precautions.

Some types of closed head injury will usually go away fairly quickly on their own, such as a slight concussion. Other closed head injuries left untreated will continue to get worse until the victim dies, such as from an untreated blood clot or bleeding in the brain. The only way for certain to tell the difference between a slight closed head injury and a serious one is with a cranial computed axial tomography scan (a “CT scan”), which looks at the brain and the skull using x–rays. If you suspect a person has suffered a severe closed head injury, you should call 911 immediately so the paramedics can assess the person and arrange for an ambulance to take the person to the hospital immediately if necessary.

People with serious closed head injuries are almost always admitted to the hospital for observation and checked on regularly. Closed-head injury patients are usually given repeated studies to ensure that the victim’s condition has not worsened. Occasionally, a closed head injury may cause elevated blood pressure within the skull. An intracranial pressure (ICP) monitor may be surgically inserted into the brain through the skull to measure the pressure. If the pressure rises too high, it may be necessary to do surgery to relieve and to decompress the brain. Death is a possibility. Intravenous medications may be used to control intracranial pressure as a temporary measure until the crises resolves on its own or surgery is performed.

When there is a closed head injury with bleeding inside the skull, the doctor must consider a number of factors to determine the correct treatment. Some of the factors the doctor will consider include the location of the bleeding, the severity of the symptoms, the presence of any other injuries, and the progression of the symptoms. Surgery may be required in some cases to remove a blood clot or release pressure on the brain. Other options include pressure monitors, medications to prevent seizures, and antibiotics to prevent infection. People with this type of injury often need a breathing tube inserted to help prevent further brain damage (“intubation”).
Often the victim of a closed head injury can start vomiting, which can lead to problems with the victim’s airway. If the victim is unconscious, support his or her head, neck and back and roll them as a unit to put the person on his or her side to allow the vomit to drain from the victim’s mouth so the person does not get asphyxiated by his or her own vomit. Again, because of the possibility of damage to the spinal cord, roll the person to one side by turning his or her head, neck, and back as one unit.

For a moderate to severe head injury, take the following steps:

• Call 911
• Check the person’s airway, breathing, and circulation. If necessary, begin CPR and rescue breathing

If the person’s breathing and heart rate are normal but the person is unconscious, treat the person as though he or she has suffered a spinal cord injury.

• Stabilize the victim’s head and neck by placing your hands on both sides of the person’s head, keeping the head in line with the spines and preventing movement. Wait for medical help.
• Stop any bleeding by firmly pressing a clean cloth on the wound. If the injury is serious, be careful not to move the person’s head. If blood soaks through the cloth, DO NOT remove it. Rather, place another cloth on top of it.
• If you suspect a skull fracture, DO NOT apply direct pressure to the bleeding site, and DO NOT remove any debris from the wound. Cover the wound with sterile gauze dressing.
• If the person is vomiting, roll the head, neck, and body as one unit to put the person on his or her side to prevent choking.
• Children often vomit only once after a head injury This may not be a problem but you should call the doctor or paramedics for further guidance.
• Apply ice packs to swollen areas.

It is an old-wives’ tale that a victim of a closed head injury should not be allowed to sleep. If a victim of trauma to the head does not exhibit any of the signs or symptoms of a closed head injury, there is no need to keep him or her awake. The sleeping victim who has suffered a closed head injury should be woken 30 minutes after falling asleep to ensure that he or she can be aroused. If you cannot wake the victim of a closed head injury 30 minutes after he or she has been asleep, call 911 immediately if you haven’t done so already.

For a mild head injury, no specific treatment may be needed. However, you should watch the person for the next 24 hours to see whether he or she displays any conduct symptomatic of a head injury. It is suggested that the person, while sleeping, be awaken every two to three hours and asked a simple person, such as “What’s your name?” If a child begins to play or run immediately after getting a bump on the head, serious injury is unlikely. Still, as with anyone who has suffered a head injury, the child should be watched closely for the next 24 hours. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) may be given to the person for a mild headache. Do not give aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), or naprosen (Aleve), as these can increase the risk of bleeding. NOTE THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE A CHID ASPIRIN BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF DEVELOPING A SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITION CALLED REYE’S SYNDROME.

The degree and rate of recovery of a victim who suffers a closed head injury varies from person to person. The amount of time spent unconscious or in a coma, as well as how much of normal activity is recovered in the first month, are good indicators of long-term recovery.

Many closed head injuries are preventable if the person uses due care before engaging in the activity. For instance, wearing a seat belt will often save you from serious injury or death if you are involved in an automobile accident. Always wear a proper-fitting helmet during activities that could result in head injury, such as when operating or a passenger when operating or being a passenger on a motorcycle or bicycle. Helmets can prevent serious head injuries if you get into an accident. Children should be wearing an appropriate helmet when skateboarding, inline skating, or engaging in bicycle motocross. It may not be “cool” among his or her rebellious skateboarding and motocross buddies, but it is immensely more cool than falling off the skateboard or motocross cycle and sustaining a serious closed head injury that leaves the person in a persistent vegetative state. Bicyclists should obey all traffic rules and regulations, and at night they should wear bright, reflective clothing and equip their bikes with proper headlights and rear red flashers.

If you have been injured or a loved one killed in an accident causing a serious closed head injury due to another person’s carelessness (“negligence”), you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. The attorney will want to send his or her investigator to the scene of the accident as soon as possible to gather evidence, take pictures of the scene before it has been cleaned up or altered in any way, and get statements from witnesses while their memories are still fresh.  Call now and speak with a lawyer for a free legal consultation.

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Injuries at amusement parks can be caused by many things including a product defect in the ride itself, brake failures, improper maintenance and  a whole host of other defects in the rides themselves.  Injuries can range from whiplash all the way to brain injuries, broken bones, amputations and even death.

The law does not allow nor does it allow an amusement park to get away with having a dangerous ride or improperly maintained rides for use by its patrons.  Amusement parks are required to ensure that each ride is safe and properly maintained.  Since these amusement parks charge each guest to enter its park, the law has established that each ride as a the same as a commercial bus, or train or plane.  The law calls this a “common carrier.”

A common carrier is typically a business that provides its services to the general public.  As such, a common carrier is subject to special laws holding them to the highest degree of care.  In a landmark case, which was taken up to the appellate level here in California, the court agreed that amusement parks will be held by the law to owe the highest degree of care to their guests that ride their rides and are liable for injuries or death.  Hence confirming the theory that amusement park rides are considered as common carriers.

County fairs and traveling roller coaster events would also need to follow the laws as provided by common carriers.

Common Types of Injuries on Amusement Park Rides:

• Closed Head Injuries (including brain damage)
• Amputation (loss of limb)
• Broken Bones
• Death
• Soft Tissue Injuries

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured while visiting an amusement park, call now or use the contact form on this page to speak with an attorney about your case.  Our firm routinely works with expert witnesses, engineers, doctors and engages the use of technology in proving our cases.

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Richardson’s condition is what emergency room doctors refer to as “walk and die” syndrome, in which the person who has suffered a minor blow to the head at first feels fine, but within an hour or two begins to feel symptoms that indicate the possibility of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that requires immediate treatment to prevent serious damage. The arteries in the brain are under high pressure, and blood can accumulate rapidly in the area, pushing the brain to one side and leaking blood down into the brainstem. There it can cause a change in mental status, including a coma that can result in the person’s death. This is why it is important that if you have hit your head in an automobile accident, a slip-and-fall, or any other type of incident in which you struck your head, you should always go to the emergency room to get checked out.

Note that it is not necessary to actually hit your head on something to suffer a serious TBI. For example, having your head snap violently back and forward in whiplash injury in a traffic accident or even while riding a roller coaster at an amusement park can result in damage to the brain.

Ideally, when a person goes to the emergency room after suffering a blow to the head, the best thing for doctors to do is admit the person for observation for 24 hours. Unfortunately this is not always feasible and the ER doctor must use his or her best judgment in deciding whether to admit a patient for observation. If the doctors do not admit you to the hospital, they will ordinarily discharge you with a “head sheet” telling you to return immediately to the emergency room if any of the symptoms on the head sheet occur. Some signs of a serious head or brain injury are:

• Headaches or neck pain that won’t go away

• Dizziness

• Disturbances in your speech, such as slurring your words

• Disturbances in your vision, such as blurriness or double-vision

• Feeling nauseous

• Feeling tired and fatigued for no reason

If you have struck your head or suffered a whiplash-type injury and have any of the above symptoms, you should promptly seek emergency medical care.

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Injuries are considered to be catastrophic when they occur suddenly and without warning and are so devastating, that they may change the victim’s life for ever, due to the tremendous impact. Active people can suddenly find themselves without limb, or permanently disabled and incapacitated, needing to be taken care of for the rest of their lives. Catastrophic injury and illness in Los Angeles, California, may include, traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury, accidental amputation, severe burns, multiple fractures, and neurological disorders, which in turn are responsible for other malfunctions in the body, such as loss of feeling, loss of bladder control, inability to breathe independently, loss of memory, inability to speak, blindness; temporary or permanent, paralysis, and loss of communicative and cognitive abilities.

Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) each year in the United States:
• 50,000 die;
• 235,000 are hospitalized; and
• One million are treated and released from an emergency department.1

Among children ages 0 to 14 years, TBI results in an estimated:
• 2,685 deaths;
• 37,000 hospitalizations; and
• 435,000 emergency department visits annually.1

The leading causes of TBI are:
• Falls (28%);
• Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%);
• Struck by/against events (19%); and
• Assaults (11%).1

Victims of such catastrophic injuries may recover if given proper medical treatment early enough; others, may not be as fortunate, no matter how fast they receive initial care; their injuries being so devastatingly severe, they will be left permanently disabled, suffer a reduced lifespan, and be dependent on caregivers for their most basic needs, such as bladder and bowel function, feeding, dressing and bathing. Whether you sustained your catastrophic injuries from a fall, a car accident, through medical malpractice, defective products, including autos, mechanical failure, premises liability or animal attack, amusement park accidents, construction site accidents, motorcycle accidents, boating accidents, burn injuries, or birth injuries; you need to consult with, and secure, effective legal representation by Slaughter & Slaughter.

While victims are hospitalized, they will require a skilled professional team of medical staff, and after discharge from hospital, there will be years of therapists bills, counselors, medical check-ups, medication, medical equipment and specialized transportation bills to pay.

It is important that you consult with an experienced catastrophic injury lawyer at the first instance. If you delay your case, your rights may be violated or severely compromised by unscrupulous insurance companies, out to protect their own wealth. Fast, effective representation is promised by experienced, compassionate attorneys who want to protect your rights, and help you receive the maximum compensation allowable by law, to ensure your recovery and the financial future of your family. Let our attorneys delve into your case, and investigate who is to take responsibility for your catastrophic injuries, consult expert medical witnesses, and get justice for you, and all those affected by the negligent party.

Call our team of experienced catastrophic injury attorneys today for a free consultation: 888.222.8286

References:

1. Langlois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2004.

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Each year, 80,000 to 90,000 people will sustain a long-term disability as the result of a TBI. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that at least 5.3 million Americans currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of TBI.

The leading causes of traumatic brain injury are falls, motor vehicle accidents, being struck by or against an object, and assaults by another person. TBI need not be caused by a blow to the head; a violent jolt of the head such as one might experience in a rear-end automobile collision (“whiplash”) may result in serious brain injury. In a violent collision, the head snaps forward and the brain hits the front of the skull; then the head snaps backward and the brain hits the back of the skull. These impacts can cause serious brain injury. Shaken-baby syndrome is an example of a serious brain injury being inflicted without a direct blow to the head. Even in this age of advanced medicine, there is no cure for a TBI. Recovery from a brain injury depends on the brain’s “plasticity,” that is, the brain’s ability for other areas of the brain to take over the functions of the damaged areas, to “rewire” itself.

If you have suffered a blow or jolt to the head, it is important that you get medical evaluation and treatment as soon as possible. There are some new drugs and procedures available today that can help to limit the “secondary” damage caused by swelling of the brain. However, these procedures are effective only when administered soon after the injury is sustained.

Traumatic brain injuries are classified into three categories: mild, moderate, and severe:

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury – A person with a mild TBI is one who has had a traumatically induced physiological disruption of brain function as manifested by any period of loss of consciousness and/or confusion and disorientation less than 30 minutes and/or posttraumatic amnesia (loss of memory for events immediately before or after the accident) or confusion of not more than 30 minutes. Mild traumatic brain injury is the most common TBI and is often missed at the time of the initial injury. 15% of people with mild TBI have symptoms that last one year or more.

Symptoms common to mild TBI include fatigue, headaches, visual disturbances, memory loss, poor attention and/or concentration, sleep disturbances, dizziness and/or loss of balance, irritability, feelings of depression, and, rarely, seizures. Other symptoms associated with mild TBI include nausea, loss of smell, sensitivity to sound and lights, getting lost or confused, and slowness in thinking. Sometimes the cognitive symptoms are not readily identified at the time of the injury, but instead may show up as the person returns to work, school, or housekeeping. Friends and colleagues may notice changes in the person’s behavior before the injured person realizes anything is wrong.

Moderate Brain Injury – Brain injuries are classified as moderate when the Glasgow Coma scale (a measure of various functions, altertness, responsiveness, and such) is between 9 and 12, and with a loss of consciousness at least 20 minutes to six hours and/or posttraumatic amnesia of greater than 30 minutes but less than 24 hours and/or a skull fracture.

There may be long-term physical or cognitive deficits as a result of a moderate TBI. Much will depend on the type and location of the specific injuries to the brain. Rehabilitation will help to overcome some deficits and help to provide skills to cope with any remaining deficits.

Severe Brain Injury – A severe brain injury is one with a Glascow Coma Scale score lower than 9 and accompanied by a loss of consciousness of more than 6 hours or posttraumatic amnesia lasting more than 24 hours. Severe brain injuries are life-threatening. If the person lives, he or she will typically be faced with long-term physical and cognitive impairments. The range of the deficits can vary widely from a vegetative state to more minor impairments that may allow the person to still function independently. The person will require extensive rehabilitation to try to overcome some of the deficits and earn strategies to cope with others.

Cognitive deficits associated with moderate and severe TBI include difficulties with attention, concentration, distractibility, memory, speed of processing information, confusion, impulsiveness, language processing and “executive functions.” Executive functions refers to the complex processing of large amounts of intricate information that we need to function creatively, competently and independently as beings in a complex world. Thus, after injury, individuals with TBI may be unable to function well in their social roles because of difficulty in planning ahead, in keeping track of time, in coordinating complex events, in making decisions based on broad input, in adapting to changes in life, and in otherwise “being the executive” in one’s own life.

Speech and language difficulties due to a moderate to severe TBI include not understanding the spoken word, difficulty speaking and being understood, slurred speech, speaking very fast or very slow, and problems with reading and writing. Sensory problems include difficulties with the interpretation of touch, temperature movement, limb position, and fine discrimination. The person with moderate to severe TBI may have partial or total loss of vision, weakness of eye muscles and double vision, blurred vision, problems judging distance, involuntary eye movements, and intolerance of light. Physical changes include paralysis, chronic pain, loss of control of bowel and bladder, sleep disorders, loss of stamina, changes in appetite, regulation of temperature, and menstrual difficulties in women. Moderate to severe TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, language, learning, emotions, behavior, and sensation. TBI can also cause seizures and increase the risk for such conditions as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other brain disorders that become more likely as the person grows older.

One of the most common problems among people who sustain a TBI is fatigue. Studies of people with TBI found that between 37% and 98% of them said they had some type of fatigue. There are three types of fatigue: (1) Physical fatigue, feeling tired and the need to rest; (2) Psychological fatigue, in which the person can’t get motivated to do anything; and (3) Mental fatigue, in which you can’t concentrate after a while and find it hard to stay focused.

Physical Fatigue – this is due to muscle weakness and can come from having to work harder to do things that were easy before the TBI. This include things like dressing, working around the house, even walking. Physical fatigue tends to get worse in the evening, after a busy day, but tends to get better after a good night’s sleep. Often, physical fatigue will get better as you become stronger, more active and get back to your old life.

Psychological Fatigue – psychological fatigue comes with depression, anxiety, and other psychological conditions. This type of fatigue gets worse with stress and usually is not helped by sleep. Psychological fatigue is often at its worse in the morning. To treat psychological fatigue, it is necessary to find its cause. For instance, if the psychological fatigue is due to depression, medication and therapy may be necessary to help treat the condition. Major depression in the general population runs at about 5 or 6%; of persons that have suffered a TBI, that number increases ten-fold, so that 50 to 60% of persons who suffer a TBI also experience a depressive episode. Anxiety seems to occur in twice as many people who suffer a TBI than in the general population. The anxiety may take to form of posttraumatic stress disorder, in which the person has “flashbacks” in which they relive the event, to the development of phobias, in which the person experiences dread centered on a specific situation, such as being in a car or elevator, or flying. Persons who experience a mood disorder such as depression or an anxiety disorder, such as PTSD, a specific phobia, or generalized anxiety, may need to be given appropriate psychiatric medication and undergo months, even years, of psychotherapy.

Mental Fatigue – mental or “cognitive” fatigue after a TBI makes it hard for the person to think or concentrate. The more the person has to concentrate, the more mentally fatigued he or she may become. This happens because the TBI forces the person to concentrate harder to do tasks that used to be easier. Working harder to get dressed or walk can make the person physically tired, and working harder to stay focused can make the person mentally tired In some people, mental fatigue causes them to be irritable; others have headaches. Mental or cognitive fatigue is the type of fatigue that the least is known about of the three types of fatigue associated with TBI.

A TBI may cause the person to have a seizure, a change in behavioral state that results from abnormal activity in the brain. The occurrence of a seizure due to some acute precipitating physiological disturbance does not mean that the seizure will ever happen after the precipitating cause has resolved. When seizures occur without any obvious cause, then the person may be considered to have epilepsy. In a personal injury accident, a seizure is more likely to occur due to brain trauma, especially “open” or penetrating wounds to the brain.

The long-term effects of TBI depend on a number of factors, including the severity of the initial injury, the rate and completeness of physiological healing, the types of functions affected, the meaning of dysfunction in the person’s life in the context of his or her roles, values, and goals, the resources available to aid in the recovery of function, and other factors. Most spontaneous improvement from a TBI occurs within the first month after a brain injury. Some additional gains may occur over the next three to six months. The long-term effects of a TBI are different for every person. Some may experience only subtle difficulties, while others will have moderate dysfunction, while to still others the TBI may be life-threatening.

Persons who sustain a moderate-to-severe brain injury usually experience problems in basic cognitive skills: holding their attention, concentrating on the tasks at hand, and remembering newly learned material. They may think, speak, and solve problems solving. They may be confused easily when normal routines are changed, they may persevere at tasks too long, being unable to switch to a different tactic or a new task when encountering difficulties. On the other hand, some victims of a TBI may jump at the first solution they see, substituting impulsive responses for considered actions. They may be unable to go beyond a concrete appreciation of situations, to find abstract principles that are necessary to carry learning into new situations. Their speech and language may be impaired: word-finding problems, understanding the language of others, and the like.

With TBI, the systems in the brain that control our social-emotional lives often are damaged. The consequences for the individual and his or her significant others may be very difficult, as these changes may imply to them that “the person who once was” is no longer there. Thus, personality can be substantially or subtly modified following injury. The person who was once an optimist may now be depressed. The previously tactful and socially skilled negotiator may now be blurting comments that embarrass those around them. The person may also be characterized by a variety of other behaviors: dependent behaviors, emotional swings, lack of motivation, irritability, aggression, lethargy, being very uninhibited, and being unable to modify behavior to fit varying situations.

Any of the ways we have of sensing/perceiving may be affected by TBI. Vision may be affected in many ways: loss of vision, blurred visual images, inability to track visual material, loss of parts of the field of vision, reduced depth perception, and sometimes disconnection between visual perceptions and visual comprehension, so that the person does not now what he or she is seeing. Changes also may occur in the sense of hearing, smell, taste, and touch; the individual may become overly sensitive or insensitive. Further, the person my have difficulty sensing the location of his or her own body in space. Other individuals with TBI may have recurring problems with balance, vertigo, and ringing in the ears.

The severity of the injury and the resulting direct effects on the individual’s body systems may not predict the amount of impact in a person’s life. This follows because each of us draws in different ways on differing parts of our brains For example, a severe injury to the frontal brain area may have less impact on an agricultural worker’s job performance than a relatively mild frontal injury would have on a physicist’s work. In sum the meaning of the various patterns of injury and the associated damages in any person’s life will depend on pre-injury lifestyle, personality, goals, values, resources, as well as the individual’s ability to adapt to changes and to learn techniques for minimizing the effects of brain injury.

It has been suggested that “recovery” is a misnomer and that “improvement” better describes what happens in the long run after TBI. The word recovery suggests that that the effects of TBI will disappear, while the reality of the situation is that improvement is all that can be expected in most, if not all, cases. With TBI, some of the effects may truly disappear after a couple of years or more, but more frequently these long-term changes linger on—subtly or not so subtly—changing only slowly, if at all, over the course of the person’s life. Brains do not heal like broken limbs, and everybody’s brain is different. Although they may superficially appear alike, no two brain injuries are the same and the consequence of two similar traumatic brain injuries may be vastly different.

If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury due to another person’s carelessness – such as an automobile accident caused by another person’s inattentiveness or a slip and fall on a store’s slippery floor – it is important that you promptly seek representation by a personal injury law firm experienced in this type of injury. Monetary damages you are entitled to receive when you have sustained a traumatic brain injury include all of your medical and rehabilitation costs, lost wages because you were unable to return to work, and loss of enjoyment of life due to your impaired condition.

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A brain injury or traumatic brain injury can be the result of a blunt trauma to the head. Every year, over 1.3 million Americans suffer from some form of impact or trauma to the head/skull.

Head injuries and trauma that result in brain damage may require years of consistent rehabilitation, treatment and ongoing medical care. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 1 million victims are treated every year for suffering some type of brain injury. Falls, such as slip and falls, trip and falls or falling over objects account for over 28% of all entire brain injury incidents. Car accidents, traffic accidents and other motor-vehicle accidents make up 20% of brain injury incidents with the remaining roughly 30% being caused by assaults or strikes.

Brain injuries can cause many different types of functional and thought-process effects including the inability to properly speak, think, loss of sensation, loss of mobility and loss of language skills.

If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury it is important to seek proper legal advice and representation for your claim. While no amount of compensation will make up for the traumatic effects of a brain injury, our team of skillful and dedicated attorneys will fight to seek the maximum compensation available at law for your injuries. At Slaughter & Slaughter, we are committed to providing aggressive representation for our clients who have fallen victim to a brain injury.

Call today for a free consultation of your claim: 888.222.8286 or 310.882.6810

Some Accidents that May Cause Brain Injury:

• Auto Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Bicycle Accidents
• Slip and Fall/Trip and Fall
• Falling Objects
• Medical Malpractice
• Electrocution
• Recreational Accidents

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