brain injuries

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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Last week marked the 10th Annual Neuroscience of Brain Injury: Research Informing Medical Treatment and Legal Practice Conference and Fundraising Golf Tournament in Napa Valley hosted by the California Brain Injury Association.

The Brain Injury Association of America indicates that 1.4 million Americans suffer from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) each year. Motor-vehicle accidents are one of the leading causes of TBI, accounting for 280,000 sustained cases in the U.S. each year.

Brain damage and injury can have long-lasting and devastating effects for many victims and families. TBIs encompass a range of injuries from mild changes in mental condition or consciousness to severe cases of prolonged amnesia or unconsciousness including both short- and long-term effects. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.17 million people who have suffered from TBI require long-term or lifelong help in performing daily activities.

Common disabilities associated with TBI are problems with cognition such as changes in thinking and learning, sensory processing, language and communication, behavior, and emotions. TBIs have also been known to increase a patient’s risk for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other mental diseases and disorders that are prevalent with age.

Many auto accident victims can attest that brain injuries can be life altering, painful and expensive. It is important to protect yourself and your brain by wearing helmets when riding bicycles and motorcycles, driving within speed limits, and reducing driving distractions such as phone calls and loud music.

If you or someone you know suffers TBI because of a California car accident, assault or any other cause resulting from another person’s negligence, you have the right to seek compensation for medical bills, suffering or loss. Accidents involving head injuries can be upsetting and complicated. Learn your rights by contacting an experienced California brain injury lawyer at the Mandell Law Firm for a free consultation. Call (818) 886-6600 today.