A traumatic brain injury or "acquired brain injury" or "head injury" happens when sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. Symptoms of a mild traumatic brain injury can include headaches, dizziness, lightheadedness, confusion, tired eyes or blurred vision, fatigue, and ringing in the ears. Sometimes victims also experience a change in sleep patterns and their moods. They also have trouble with memory, attention, concentration, or thinking.
Individuals with severe traumatic brain injuries will also often experience headaches that do not go away, seizures, repeated nausea or vomiting, an inability to awaken from sleep, coma, loss of coordination, weakness or numbness in the extremities, slurred speech, pupil dilation, and increased restlessness or agitation. Proving traumatic brain injuries can be tough as they do not always show up immediately after an accident, so patients are often sent back home by physicians. Sometimes it can take weeks for any symptoms and signs of a traumatic brain injury to appear and even then, it may be difficult to identify that the injuries were related to the accident.
However, if you were injured due to someone else’s reckless or negligent actions, you can recover monetary damages for past, present, and future medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages and diminished earning potential, and punitive damages. If you or someone you love is suffering from a traumatic brain injury caused by another party's negligence and you are considering filing a claim, you should keep a log of your or their symptoms to provide additional relevant case information. When doctors are reluctant or unable to make a clear diagnosis, insurance companies often try to ignore or minimize your injury. They employ investigators and attorneys that use many tactics to diminish claims, including asking victims a multitude of leading and deceptive questions to try to get statements implicating responsibility for the accident, as well as offering seemingly great settlements, typically well below the amount you deserve. Therefore, you need to document your injury well, along with the accident that caused it. You should also obtain copy of the incident or accident report, the names, telephone numbers, and addresses of any witnesses, as well as any photographs from the scene.
Filing deadlines vary depending upon when the injury is discovered, the age of the victim, and the party against whom the suit is filed. If a government agency is responsible for your injury, you must notify them in writing, generally within sixty days of the injury’s occurrence, about your intent to file a claim.
A personal injury attorney with experience in handling traumatic brain injury cases can ensure you meet all the legal requirements to file such a claim. They will make sure to file your claim on time and in the proper court, assess a claim’s value, help protect its value and your rights, and fulfill necessary evidence requirements to obtain full compensation for your injuries. They will file your claim in the most effective manner and do all they can to help you be as prepared. They also specialize in documenting injuries and describing what an individual’s life was like prior to his or her traumatic brain injury in order to obtain appropriate insurance settlements or favorable jury verdicts.
Please feel free to visit our Traumatic Brain Injury page for more information on traumatic brain injuries.