Around 2.5 million people suffer from traumatic brain injuries every year, and this number is on the rise. In fact, between 2006 and 2014, the number of TBIs each year rose by an astonishing 53%!
These injuries can occur in a variety of different places – on the road, at home or in the workplace – and their consequences can be devastating. Often they occur as a result of an accident, meaning they might not even be your fault.
If this is the case, then it’s important to know where you stand with brain injury laws. Securing compensation could provide some much-needed financial relief while you recover.
So let’s take a look at how brain injury law and a traumatic brain injury attorney could help you today! Read on to find out more.
What is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Traumatic brain injuries occur when a person receives a sudden head trauma, which results in brain damage. Often something like a jolt or a blow can cause this trauma.
While traumatic brain injury sounds very serious (which it can be) there are several degrees of trauma that a person can sustain.
One of the most common TBIs is a concussion, which is a mild level of injury. When this happens the patient usually remains awake during and after the trauma. Nevertheless, a concussion can result in some very unpleasant side effects including:
- Dizziness
- Memory loss
- Impaired balance
- Nausea
- Headaches
- Vision problems
- Mood swings
- Confusion
These can last anything from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on the injury.
Moderate TBIs can leave you struggling to remain conscious following the trauma. While they share a lot of symptoms of a concussion, they take a lot longer to recover from.
Severe TBIs can lead to comas. A coma can last anything from six hours to months but some comas last for years and leave the patient in a vegetative state.
The most severe TBIs are fatal. Each year around 50,000 people in the USA die from traumatic brain injuries.
How Do They Happen?
These types of injuries can occur anywhere but some of the most common causes include:
- Falls
- Automobile accidents
- The impact from an object (whether you hit it or it hits you)
- Assaults
Regardless of the severity of your injury and how it came about, a TBI can have a huge impact on all areas of your life. An injury could leave you with a physical impairment, such as balance problems or difficulty seeing properly. Or it might leave you with emotional impairment, such as difficulty regulating your emotions resulting in mood swings.
All of these can massively impact your ability to work. In this case, compensation could be a huge relief. And it’s something you’re entitled to.
Let’s take a look at how this works.
Can You Sue for a Brain Injury in California?
When it comes to brain injury legal matters, you can seek compensation for your injury. However, the best way to do this depends a lot on the circumstances in which your injury occurred.
In order to start a lawsuit, you need someone to take it against. This means finding someone culpable. In some cases, this will be more straight forward than in others.
For example, let’s say, you were involved in a car accident that wasn’t your fault and this resulted in you receiving a brain injury. This would mean you could make a case against the driver who caused the accident.
But appointing direct blame for your TBI isn’t the only way to sue someone for it. These injuries can also be a result of a lack of due care in certain environments. If your injury should have been avoidable, then you may still be able to sue for negligence.
This process is all about finding what could have been done to prevent your injury and pinpointing why it didn’t happen. Here’s an example to help you understand the process better.
We can all agree that if someone causes an accident through dangerous driving then they are culpable for what happens as a result of this accident. But let’s say, instead, that the accident occurs because of damage to the road surface which hasn’t been repaired.
In this case, it may be possible to bring a case against the person or persons responsible for road maintenance. By failing to do their job properly – or being negligent – they have inadvertently caused the accident. So it’s possible to bring a case against them.
Product Liability in TBI Cases
In some TBI cases, you may also be able to sue a company for product liability if their product has resulted in the injury.
A manufacturer has a legal responsibility to create products that are safe to use (provided the user follows the instructions.) If a product is poorly made or fails to perform in the way it should, this can result in an injury leaving them open to a product liability claim.
For example, if a car airbag fails to go off properly during an accident then this makes a strong case for product liability. Using unsafe chemicals, such a lead, in certain products can also result in TBIs if the user exposes themselves to them for too long. In this case, it may also be possible to sue a company.
Brain Injury Laws Can Work for You!
To make a strong case, it’s a good idea to have a brain injury lawyer on your side. They know the area inside and out and will be able to advise on the best type of legal action to take.
You should also make sure to collect as much evidence during and after your injury to back up the case. Brain injury laws will support your claim but a case won’t succeed without evidence. For help collecting yours or if you have any questions on making your claim, get in touch with an experienced lawyer from Dan Pruitt Injury Law Firm today!