Head Injuries

Have You Suffered a Head Injury?

Seek Free Legal Advice From an Injury Lawyer

Head injuries are often the result of car accidents, violent acts, and falls. While workers’ compensation can be sought in injuries occurring while on the job, there is often complicated paperwork, stipulations, and statutes of limitation on the amount of time you have to file a claim.

It can be difficult to know at first whether you or a loved have sustained a head injury. Sometimes symptoms do not appear until some time after the injury was sustained. Symptoms to look out for which could indicate injury to the head or brain are unusual fatigue; nausea; dizziness; headache; and weakness or numbness on just one side of the body. If you or a loved are exhibiting any of the symptoms above, or even if you have a feeling something might be wrong due to a head injury, the safest thing to do is see a doctor right away so you can receive medical treatment, and then consider contacting an attorney to get the compensation you deserve.

What are the Statistics on Head Injuries?

The head and brain are very fragile parts of the body, so it’s easy to injure even if traveling at a relatively low rate of speed or striking an object with very little impact. Most severe head injuries are categorized as traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and can be very serious. If you suspect you or a loved one might have suffered a head injury/TBI, seek medical help right away.

Let’s go over some important head injury statistics from the Centers for Disease Control:

• On average, there are about 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and related deaths every year.
• Falls, car accidents, sports, assaults, military service, and on-the-job accidents are some of the most common reasons for head and brain injuries.
• From 2006 to 2014, the number of registered TBIs increased by 53%. On average, 155 people in the United States died each day from head and brain injuries in 2014.
• The effects of a head or brain injury can be long-reaching, including permanent impairment to a person’s thought-process, memory, ability to move, ability to feel sensations, sight, hearing, and even emotional and mental disorders.
• In 2014, head and brain injuries had a part in the deaths of 56,800 people, including the deaths of 2,529 children.

Who is Responsible for a Head Injury?

It can be hard to know who is responsible for a head or brain injury..

Depending on the circumstances surrounding your injury, there may even be several parties involved in your particular case.

These may include:

• Another driver. Head and brain injuries are often caused by an accident in which the other driver exhibited negligent operation of their vehicle, or incapacitation as the result of DUI or DWAI. Additionally, drivers may violate traffic controls, fall asleep at the wheel, or have their attention diverted by distractions. In a situation like this where the victim sustains a head or brain injury as a result of a car crash, the at-fault driver may be held personally accountable for the crash and its resulting injuries and/or fatalities.
• An employer. If you or a loved one sustained a head or brain injury at work, whether due to unsafe working conditions or sheer negligence on the part of the employer, the employer may be liable not only to pay workers’ compensation, but could be subject to a personal injury lawsuit as well.
• A colleague. If a head or brain injury occurred as the result of the actions of a colleague, that colleague could be held liable for damages. Or the employer of that colleague may be held accountable for not providing proper safety training or enforcing safety rules.
• A doctor. In the case where a head or brain injury occurs as the result of medical malpractice, you may have a personal injury lawsuit against the doctor who performed the surgery in which the injury was sustained.
• A government entity. If a head or brain injury occurred as a result of service to the government outside the scope of accepted risk, or if the injury was sustained as a result of unsafe conditions on a public road, the government may be held liable for damages.
• An attacker. If a head or brain injury occurred as a result of an altercation with another person, that person may be liable for damages.

Do You Have a Claim for a Head Injury?

There are two main types of head injuries; open and closed. While open head injuries may sound more severe and are usually the result of a fall, these can actually be less dangerous than a closed head injury due to how pressure in the skull is balanced. Closed head injuries don’t involve a fracture of the skull and can be more dangerous due to the danger of blood clots and added pressure on the brain. Regardless of whether a head or brain injury is open or closed, the consequences can be dire. Depending on the nature of you or your family member’s head or brain injury, your lawyer may identify possible claims for:

• Medical expenses. Injuries resulting from a head injury may include: whiplash; broken bones and/or fractures; spinal cord injury; impairment of brain function; internal bleeding; paralysis; and, in the worst case scenario, death.
• Lost wages (or impairment of earning capacity) as a result of hospital stay-time, or, for the loved one of a head injury victim, the necessity to temporarily or permanently extricate themselves from work in order to provide care. Workers’ compensation may also be claimed in these cases if the injury occurred at work.
• Lifecare expenses, such as life support or ongoing medical expenses for chronic injuries.
• Vocational rehabilitation.
• Pain and suffering, for both emotional and physical distress.
• Wrongful death.
• Funeral expenses.

If you or a loved one are the victim of a head or brain injury, whether due to negligence or otherwise, you need a personal injury attorney that understands the emotional and physical toll this kind of injury can take on a victim’s life. An experienced attorney will be aggressive in seeking the compensation that your loved one deserves.