Articles Posted in Brain Injury

If you are in an accident in New York or otherwise suffer a serious blow to the head, you or your physicians may be concerned with whether you also suffered a traumatic brain injury. TBIs are frequently linked to cognitive problems, and these problems can be relatively minor in nature and improve over time, or they might be far more serious, and leave you with permanent medical issues that require considerable long-term care. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, we understand the devastating effects of TBIs, and we have assisted many brain injury sufferers who have developed limitations as a result of their injuries.

Among the cognitive issues you may experience following your brain injury is trouble communicating your feelings, needs and wants. Many who suffer a serious blow to the head find that they struggle to communicate in the manner in which they are accustomed. It is also common to have trouble formulating sentences, expressing thoughts and interpreting the communications of others.

As a TBI sufferer, you may also find that your memory and ability to concentrate also take hits. It is common to have trouble staying focused on lengthy conversations or finishing tasks after they are started, and you may also find that your attention is easily pulled in several different directions at once. This inability to fully concentrate can also make it harder for you to process information as you typically would, which may make it hard for you to keep up with conversations, television show plots, material you read and so on.

Increased awareness regarding the concussion risks kids can face and the dangers head injuries can pose to children is a very important thing. It could help on several fronts. For one, it can help with encouraging proper prevention efforts in things like youth sports. Also, it could help increase the likelihood of kids who suffer a potentially concussion-causing head injury promptly getting the medical care they need.

Increased concussion awareness might be a contributor to a recent trend that has occurred when it comes to kids in the 10 to 19 age group. This trend is an increase in concussion diagnoses among such kids. This trend can be seen in recent Blue Cross and Blue Shield research.

The study, which looked at medical claims data, concluded that between 2010 and 2015, individuals 10 to 19 saw a 71 percent concussion diagnoses increase. The study also found an increase in such diagnoses among the 20 to 64 age group, but that increase was much more modest.

Some might assume that a problem with a stroller or baby carrier is a relatively minor thing, unlikely to cause much in the way of real harm. However, stroller/carrier accidents can inflict some substantial injuries on children. Such injuries sometimes even rise to the level of necessitating emergency care.

A recent study looked at stroller/carrier injuries among young children. The study analyzed data regarding these injuries, covering the 1990 to 2010 period. According to the study, stroller/carrier accident injury rates went down over this period.

However, the total amount of stroller/carrier accident injuries that led to kids five or under going to an emergency room still amounted to a pretty big number for the period. Specifically, the period as a whole saw around 361,000 children of that age group suffer such injuries, according to estimates.

Traumatic brain injury can have a variety of serious effects for those who suffer from it. It is estimated that around 30 percent of injury-related deaths are caused by traumatic brain injury. This is why it is so important for those who may have suffered a traumatic brain injury to be checked out by a competent physician and promptly treated.

Traumatic brain injury occurs because of a blow to the head which disrupts the ordinary functioning of the brain, and is very common among veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unfortunately, the Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t always offer the quality of care vets need to address head injuries. 

For example, the VA recently came out and acknowledged that around 24,000 veterans were not properly treated for traumatic brain injuries between 2007 and 2015. According to a letter sent out to VA patients, VA hospital staff failed to conduct adequate initial examinations for traumatic brain injury on thousands of veterans. Specifically, qualified specialists were not provided to review vets’ condition and patients may not have been properly diagnosed as a result.

In our last post, we began looking at the topic of brain and spinal cord injury, the effects of such injuries on a motor vehicle accident victim’s life and the costs involved with such injuries. As we noted, new and sometimes experimental treatments are emerging which hold out the hope of improving and accelerating recovery for brain and spinal cord injury victims, but these treatments are not available to many and can be costly.

All of this has relevance to the issue of damages in personal injury litigation, because one of the goals of damages is to compensate the accident victim for the costs of the injury the defendant caused. Compensatory damages come in two basic types: economic and non-economic. Economic damages are awarded for things like medical costs, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, and losses that can be easily monetized. 

Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are awarded for losses and injuries that are more difficult to measure, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and such injuries. Non-economic damages can be an important avenue of recovery for accident victims, particularly when unique circumstances result in an economic damages award that doesn’t adequately compensate the victim for his or her injuries.

Last time, we spoke briefly about the potentially severe long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury. As we noted, brain injury can cause major changes in a victim’s life, impacting everything from work to family to recreation. Seeking appropriate damages for these losses is a critical aspect of personal injury litigation, and an experienced attorney will be able to increase a victim’s chances of maximizing his or her damages award.

The damages that may be available in brain injury cases fall into several general categories. One of these is compensatory damages, which encompasses things like medical costs, lost wages or income, and other damages that can be readily monetized. Another important category of damages in brain injury cases is non-economic damages. This includes damages that cannot be readily monetized, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of independence, and other such losses. 

As important as economic damages are in brain injury cases—and medical bills can be significant and ongoing—noneconomic damages can be particularly important to help ensure a brain injury victim is adequately compensated. This is especially true in cases where the victim may not have had a very significant income.

Brain injury can have a lot of long-term consequences, depending on the severity of the injury and the victim’s recovery. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, brain injury can cause long-term changes in cognition, sensation, language, and emotion, and can increase the chances of developing epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Parksinson’s disease and other brain disorders.

According to a recent study, brain injury may also cause sleep problems. The study found that the majority of those who suffered a traumatic brain injury experienced long-term sleep disturbances, yet were unaware of sleep disturbance. These findings were found to be true regardless of the severity of the injury. 

The study is interesting not only from the perspective of public health and epidemiology, but also from the standpoint of personal injury liability. Serious automobile accidents often result in traumatic brain injuries, which leave the crash victims with long-term consequences such as those mentioned above. The full impact of brain injury on a crash victim’s life can be enormous, affecting a crash victim’s financial situation, business opportunities, family life, recreational activities, and general enjoyment of life. Not to mention the enormous medical costs that can be involved in brain injury situations.

In our last two posts we discussed the growing concern over assaults that lead to injuries in New York City correctional facilities. We discussed the various statistics that have been collected showing the increase in cases and payouts. But sometimes what can really highlight the severity of the problem is a real-life story.

Recently, a man settled a lawsuit for $750,000 after he was beat by correctional officers while he was at Rikers. The man was admittedly a crack addict but has since cleaned up and is working to make a better life for himself.

The man explained that the incident happened one day after some inmates threw food at officers in the prison. He was apparently in his cell listening to music on his headphones. An officer came into his cell and told him to take off the headphones, sit down on the bed and to “stop being so loud.” The man said he did just that. Suddenly, the started punching him in the face. More officers came into the cell and beat the man, who is now 53, in the ribs, face and back.

According to statistics provided by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, there were 47 bicyclists killed in our state in 2014. On top of that, more than 5,600 bicyclists were injured that year. That’s a hefty number to consider. In terms of deaths, even one bicycle-related death is one too many.

A large proportion of those bicyclists were in the 25-to-29 age range and in the 60-to-64 age range. The rest of the fatalities were scattered from age 5 to 74. In the majority of those cases, the bicyclist was not wearing a helmet. While adults are not required to wear a helmet while on a bicycle, those under the age of 14 have to wear one as law.

Unfortunately, as statistics show, even when someone does wear a helmet, it may be no match for the actions of a negligent motor vehicle driver. Many bikers are very experienced and use all types of safety equipment, but are still unable to avoid being hit by a driver.

Head injuries can be quiet culprits when it comes to bodily injuries. Someone may collide with another person while playing football or hit their head on the window after being T-boned by another vehicle. While the individual may realize that they have been injured, the severity of the injury is often unknown.

These incidents could result in someone getting a concussion. This is a type of traumatic brain injury that can severely affect the way a person’s brain functions. While symptoms are often temporary, a concussion can have more severe symptoms that may need medical attention or rehabilitation.

How does one know if they have had a concussion? There are some signs that often appear which our readers should watch out for. After a concussion, a person may feel confused or have amnesia. They may also experience a headache or some pressure in the head. Other symptoms include nausea, fatigue, slurred speed, and vomiting.