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The Long-Term Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury on Families

Suffering serious injury in an accident is life-altering enough when the injuries require ongoing medical care. But in the case of a brain injury, the body can be allowed to heal while the mind remains permanently impaired. With little or no hope for full recovery, victims, their families, and their caregivers are forced to dramatically alter their lives in order to accommodate the symptoms of the brain injury.

Unless we are directly affected by a traumatic brain injury (TBI), we typically are not aware of exactly how much they can impact the lives of the victims and those around them. Many people are also not aware of how common these injuries are. Statistics show that TBI occurs at the rate of one every 15 seconds, and that men are almost twice as likely to incur them as women.

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The Medical and Legal Implications of TBI

Accidental injury is so common that it can sometimes be easy to overlook the severity of the injury. When an individual receives a traumatic brain injury (TBI), families find themselves in a totally different situation. Unlike most other medical issues or injuries, these victims are often incapacitated for the remainder of their lives. Since a TBI occurs every 15 seconds, many more families than we are aware of are affected every year.

Considering the potential for prolonged impairment, and the resulting financial strain that it often causes, it’s important to take steps to ensure that you are adequately protected in the event that a member of your family suffers a traumatic brain injury.

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What Does It Cost to Fight a Personal Injury Case?

If you’ve been involved in an accident in which you suffered a personal injury, your first course of action should be to find someone who can represent your legal interests. That probably has you wondering how much a personal injury attorney will cost you and if you will be able to afford it. The good news is that you don’t have to cut corners based on your budget. You can hire the services of an experienced personal injury attorney, if you choose wisely.

The other thing you need to realize is that you really can’t afford to try and fight the case on your own, especially if your injury is anything other than minor. You need someone who knows what they’re doing to try to get you the compensation that you need and deserve for your injuries. Trying to save the attorney fees will only end up costing you in the end.

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Have You Been in a Woodland Hills Bicycle Accident?

Or anywhere else for that matter. Although we are kids when we first learn how to navigate our neighborhoods on a bicycle, mastering that simple task provides us with an accomplishment that we can enjoy throughout the rest of our lives. Even as we age, we are never too old to appreciate this simple pleasure.

But every year bicycle riders put their lives on the line while riding. As a result, they often become injured by automobile drivers who aren’t paying attention. If you’ve been involved in a Woodland Hills bicycle accident, or anywhere else, you should talk to an attorney about the legal remedies that are available to you.

Bicycles Are Invisible

The dangers are the same for bicycle riders as for those who ride motorcycles. Automobile drivers are looking out for other automobiles, not two-wheeled vehicles. A bicycle doesn’t provide much of a visible presence on the road, and therefore can easily become involved in an accident – usually due to no fault of the rider. Since bicycles are required to share the same roads as automobiles, there are bound to be unfortunate incidents where the two come together.

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You’ve Been Injured. What Next?

Personal injury cases are based on the premise that someone was injured by the act of another person or entity. If you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, you should seek out a top personal injury attorney who can fight for you and your rights. Since these cases are not necessarily clear cut, it is rarely advisable for you to go this alone.

When pursuing your personal injury case, the first thing on your list should be finding a good attorney. Even after you have narrowed down your choices, you still need to do a little research in order to make sure that he or she will be the right fit for you. This means looking for reviews from other clients, complaints, and even pending lawsuits that may have been filed. The Better Business Bureau is a great place to find this kind of information.

The Face to Face Meeting

You will next want to set a meeting with your attorney. Here, you will discuss the details of your case to determine if you do, in fact, have a viable claim. This is when your attorney will instruct you on what can be expected through each step of the process. This is also the time that your attorney will instruct you as to what will be expected of you. This will include any information you may have, the facts of your case, contacts who can help to verify your case, and any other information pertinent to your claim. The defendant’s attorney will also be contacting your attorney to swap information material to the case.

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Ensure Your Best Possible Recovery ~

It can certainly be a life-altering event, and the first thing you should know about spinal cord injury is that it does not always present symptoms immediately after sustaining damage. If you suffer a head, neck, or back injury, even if you feel that it’s minor, get the opinion of a qualified health care professional immediately. If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury, you should know what steps to take to ensure that you’ll receive the best medical care and rehabilitation efforts.

All brain injuries and injuries to the spinal cord are potentially dangerous. They can cause excruciating pain, take away your freedom of movement, speech, or hearing, and can even result in death. If you suffer an injury to the spinal cord due to an accident, on the job or elsewhere, you’ll not only need excellent medical attention but also the counsel of a skilled personal injury attorney. More often than not, there will be an intimidating maze of legalities that must be dealt with before you can get on with treatment and recovery.

Things to Keep in Mind

After you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, take the following steps to ensure that you won’t be left without help and without the means to ensure your best possible recovery.

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Know What to Do Next ~

In the United States, someone suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every 15 seconds. A TBI is the most frequent cause of disability or death among children and adolescents, according to the Brain Injury Association. Approximately five million head injuries occur every year, and most result from what appears to be only a bump or bruise to the head, but is actually quite a bit more serious.

What Are the Symptoms?

Any head trauma has the possibility of also causing injury to the brain. A head injury can be suspicious for brain damage if the following symptoms are present: unconsciousness, headache, convulsions, dazed expression, drowsiness, vomiting, memory loss or amnesia concerning the injury, as well as unequal pupil size. In addition, more obvious symptoms can include a bloody nose or bleeding from the ear without any noticeable fractures or cuts. Following a head injury, it is important to keep close tabs on any changes and be prepared for questions such as, “When did this change begin?” Try to recall specifics surrounding your fall or accident and when your first noticed impairment. For example, if you’re feeling anxious or disoriented, what do you think may have brought this on?

Brain Injury Checklist

Take a look below at these common changes, including personality, neurological, intellectual and psychological impairments following a head injury.

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Learning Disabilities, Developmental Issues, and Brain Injury

Consumers have long been aware of the dangers of lead in toys and household items. Laws restricting lead use in items manufactured for children have lowered parental concern about safety issues. Even cheap children’s jewelry and toys are thought to be safer in recent years, but in many instances, lead has been replaced by cadmium in these products.

Cadmium is a toxic metal that holds the number seven slot in hazardous materials ranked by the United States Center for Disease Control. Tests show many of the toys manufactured in China over the past several years contain dangerous levels of cadmium, but Chinese factories may not be alone in their use of the metal. Personal injury attorneys in California, and around the country, are beginning to take note of this issue as strong evidence points to some of these products as causing developmental issues, learning disabilities and brain injury in children.

Associated Press Investigations in Product Liability

In 2010, the Associated Press conducted tests on a variety of jewelry and toys. Over one hundred items were purchased from retailers throughout California, Texas, Ohio and New York. Testing indicated that many of the items contained unsafe levels of cadmium. Cadmium levels as high as 80 to 90 percent appeared in a variety of bracelets and other jewelry for girls. The AP findings sparked a number of recalls based on elevated levels of cadmium.

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Unfortunately, every year in the United States millions of people suffer head injuries. Most of those injuries are minor, and usually do not need medical treatment. However, about 500,000 head injuries annually in the U.S. require hospitalization, reports the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

There are some common causes of head injuries, which account for the majority of the head injuries in the U.S. Those include traffic accidents, falls, and accidents at home, work, or outside. Some of those head injuries can result in permanent brain damage. Brain damage usually occurs if there is bleeding inside the brain or if the brain is impacted directly.

It can be difficult to recognize a brain injury, since sometimes symptoms take hours or even days to develop. In other cases, symptoms occur immediately. There are some symptoms that indicate a serious head injury, including changes in pupils, convulsions, severe headache, loss of consciousness, confusion, drowsiness, slurred speech, vomiting, fluid draining from the head, and impaired senses.

It can be hard to know what to do when a head injury occurs. A person might insist they are fine and don’t need medical treatment, even if the head blow seemed severe. If it was a mild head injury, closely watch the individual for 24 hours, and wake the person every two to three hours while sleeping. For moderate or severe head injuries, call 911, begin CPR if necessary, stop bleeding with a clean cloth, and apply ice packs to anywhere that is swollen. If the person is acting abnormally, is drowsy, loses consciousness, or vomits more than once, get medical help immediately, as these are signs the head injury could be very serious.

Many of the common causes of brain injuries involve someone else’s negligence, such as car accidents, falls, and other types of accidents. If you have suffered a brain injury because of the negligence of another person or company, contact the Northridge brain injury lawyers at The Mandell Law Firm at 818-886-6600. Compensation may be available for your brain injury.

Tragically, every year in the United States approximately 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury. Of those, about 52,000 die. About a third of all injury-related deaths in the United States are at least partially caused by traumatic brain injuries. These are significant statistics. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are some steps you can take to prevent traumatic brain injuries.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do to prevent traumatic brain injuries is to wear a seatbelt every time you are in an automobile. You should also buckle your child in the car using the appropriate child safety seat, seat belt, or booster seat, according to your child’s age, height and weight.

You should also make sure that you and your children wear helmets each and every time you ride a bike, motorcycle, and scooter, play a contact sport, bat or run bases in baseball, ride a horse, ride a skateboard or wear in-line skates, or ski or snowboard.

Consider making your home safer for children and seniors, who are particularly vulnerable to brain injuries, to help prevent falls. If you have children, install window guards to keep children from falling out of windows. Also, use safety gates on stairs. If your child has a playground, use shock-absorbing material like mulch or sand. For elderly individuals, remove tripping hazards. Improve lighting in the home, and install handrails on stairways. Also, use nonslip mats in the bathroom and bathtub, and install grab bars next to the toilet and in the shower.

Have you suffered a traumatic brain injury due to another person’s negligence or because of a defective product? If so, depending on the severity of the injury, you may be able to hold negligent parties liable for lifelong physical and financial consequences. If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury due to another party’s negligence, contact the Woodland Hills brain injury attorneys at the Mandell Law Firm. Our attorneys will strive to obtain just compensation for your injuries. Call us today at 818-886-6600 for a free consultation.