Traumatic Brain Injuries

Our law firm is privileged to work with a board certified physician who will assist you in understanding the full scope of your injuries. He will also help to explain the treatment chosen by your doctors for the recovery of your health and well being.

Each year in the United States, 2 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury, or TBI. Of those, 500,000 suffer some form of disability, and about 80,000 are left with significant, irreversible, long-term impairment, according to the Center for Brain Injury and Repair, University of Pennsylvania. The number of deaths from TBI each year vary from 100,000 (Center for Brain Injury) to 50,000 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

The Brain Injury Association of America has adopted the following definition of traumatic brain injury:

Traumatic brain injury is an insult to the brain, not of a degenerative or congenital nature, but caused by an external physical force, that may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness, which results in an impairment of cognitive abilities or physical functioning. It can also result in the disturbance of behavioral or emotional functioning. These impairments may be either temporary or permanent and cause partial or total functional disability or psychosocial maladjustment.

Although traumatic brain injuries are traditionally divided into one of the three levels, based on the seriousness of the injury, namely mild, moderate, or severe brain injury, these classifications can be misleading, since the symptoms of a mild brain injury may be devastating and extremely debilitating for both the victim and the victim’s family and friends.

A traumatic brain injury is caused by an unexpected force to the head, either by the head hitting an object, or an object splitting the skull and coming into contact with the brain. TBI can also be caused when the head suddenly stops, causes the brain to strike the skull, without the skull ever striking any object.

The Abelson Law Firm represents traumatic brain injury victims in the greater Washington DC, Maryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania areas. If you have suffered a TBI, please contact us. Our law firm is privileged to work with a board certified physician who will assist you in understanding the full scope of your injury. He will also help to explain the treatment chosen by your doctors for the recovery of your health and well being.

There are many serious consequences that result from a brain injury, which may include:

Paralysis

Loss of voluntary or involuntary motor functions

Loss of reasoning and thinking abilities

Memory loss

Sensory loss such as sight, speech or hearing

Emotional disabilities including depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, etc.

Speech impairment

Seizures

Communication difficulties

Traumatic Brain Injury – TBI - treatment is catered to an individual’s specific impairment. Long-term traumatic brain injury care often involves a team of professionals who specialize in the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial aspects of rehabilitation. The aftermath of traumatic brain injury can be arduous for the patient and his or her loved ones, emotionally and financially.

The leading causes of traumatic brain injury are motor vehicle accidents. As we know, many motor vehicle accidents are caused by the negligence of another driver. When that negligence of is the cause of a traumatic injury, the victim of that brain damage may be entitled to recover for all current and future medical costs, pain, suffering, loss of current and future earnings, loss of enjoyment of life, and in some (but rare) cases, punitive damages, Families of the victim may also be entitled to be compensated if forced to care for their loved one.

Known causes of traumatic brain injuries:

Sports injuries (concussions)

Contre-coup injury

Secondary impact injury

Shaken baby syndrome

Hypoxic or anoxic insult

Traumatic birth injury

Motor vehicle accidents

Axonal shear injury

Chiropractic manipulation (stroke)

The following diagnostic techniques are used to diagnose a traumatic brain injury:

CT scan
A CT, or computerized tomography scan, which is similar to an X-ray of the brain, is often used to test for the presence of intracranial bleeding. In some cases of traumatic brain injury, a CT scan may not be positive and may fail to detect any brain injury.

MRI scan
An MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging scan, gives a three-dimensional image of the brain. It often detects cranial bleeding, lesions, and contre-coup damage, which may not show up on a CT scan, and can therefore be useful in cases of traumatic brain injury. However, even the MRI may not detect the shearing injury which often results from trauma.

EEG
An electroencephalogram is used to chart seizure activity, but does not always yield positive findings in the case of mild traumatic brain injury.

CT Scans and MRIs
A traditional CT or MRI of the brain is an image in which images are taken in multiple slices to study the structure of the brain. These images can be presented in many planes or orientation, though most often they are presented as if the brain were sliced perpendicular to the face. There are three keys, however, to understanding the significance of these images:

1. Traditional MRIs and CTs show structure, and not function, of the brain. An MRI may not distinguish whether a person is dead or alive, or asleep or awake, much less whether there has been a loss of cognitive function or memory. It is the equivalent of taking a picture of the engine of a car and trying to ascertain whether the car will run or how it will perform on the road.

2. The resolution of CT and MRI images is a function of the quality of the equipment and how long the machine is gathering data. But even under the best of circumstances, the resolution of these images is far too low to see diffuse damage to the brain that is occurring on an axonal level. There are literally millions of brain cells between the pixels of even the best traditional MRI machines.

3. Many, if not most of the CTs and MRIs that are taken when the patient presents in the emergency room are not intended to reveal the often subtle findings of brain injury. The physicians are looking for acute life-threatening problems that require immediate attention, such as evacuating a bleed that is placing pressure on the brain. If the MRI is normal immediately after the accident, it does not mean that it will remain normal after some of the possible results of brain injury, such as brain atrophy, evolve thereafter.

Thus, in many if not most cases of traumatic brain injury, the initial imaging studies are abnormal. If there are abnormalities on a CT or MRI, so much the better to establish an injury – especially in correlation with impact vectors, neuropsychologic evaluation, and functional imaging. But if these studies are normal, other accepted techniques may help to demonstrate the brain injury.

It is important to consult with an attorney regarding a traumatic brain injury. Our attorneys will investigate the facts and determine whether or not you have a right to just and fair compensation. We know every situation is different. Please contact The Abelson Law Firm to speak to an experienced attorney who can help you determine your rights. Please contact us online or by phone at 202-331-0600 or toll free 1-888-797-4242 for a free consultation.