Throughout the years, traumatic brain injuries have begun to gain recognition as a significant public health problem.
Based on a study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, an estimated 69 million individuals worldwide suffer from traumatic brain injuries or traumatic brain injury-related disabilities each year.
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an externally inflicted injury to the brain that leads to the total or partial impairment of cognitive, physical, or psychosocial function. Depending on the clinical results, it may be open or closed and classified as mild, moderate, or severe.
Accordingly, a traumatic brain injury diagnosis is best determined at the time of injury or within 24 hours from the date of the injury.
Unlike moderate and severe traumatic brain injury cases, mild traumatic brain injury may be hard to prove because the symptoms are not apparent, and there may not be a visible head wound. In many cases, most people who sustain mild traumatic brain injury lose consciousness for more or less 20 minutes or do not lose consciousness at all. Consequently, the same people fail to seek the required medical treatment.
Understanding the severity and incidence of a traumatic brain injury is complex. It requires effective strategies to identify the main causes of traumatic brain injury and the factors contributing to its severity.
To establish a strong traumatic brain injury case, a skilled TBI lawyer must be hired.
Evidence to Consider
Sustaining a traumatic brain injury is one thing, but proving the injury is another.
Whether you are claiming compensation through your own or another insurance company or through the Social Security Administration, it requires sufficient evidence to support your claim.
Hiring the best traumatic best injury in Houston, Texas, is the answer to your problem.
Read on to learn what to do if you sustain a traumatic brain injury and what evidence you should need to prove your compensation claim.
Police or Incident Reports
If you were in an accident, call 9-1-1 first and seek immediate medical care.
Usually, a police officer will be dispatched to where the accident occurred. The officer will determine what happened, how the accident happened, and why it happened. The officer will then issue a police report or citation.
The police report will serve as invaluable evidence for your claim because the investigating officer typically reconstructs the accident through a diagram. They can provide essential information regarding the accident. They can also explain the exact sequence of events that lead to your accident. These pieces of evidence will help prove that you sustain a traumatic brain injury because of someone’s fault or negligence.
If you were injured in a slip-and-fall accident somewhere else because of a dog attack, say in a restaurant, you may create an incident report of what happened. The manager of the establishment may help corroborate your story.
Medical Records
Once you start going to treatments, make sure to keep all your records and appointments.
Your medical records will prove how the accident happened, how you sustained the traumatic brain injury, and what treatments you need.
Ensure that the medical providers provide accurate information regarding your accident. If they give the wrong information, the insurance company will use this as an excuse to deny your claim, especially if you do not indicate that you were injured in a slip-and-fall accident.
Keep track of your scheduled doctor appointments and regularly attend treatments and follow-up check-ups, including a chiropractor, pain management, and occupational therapy. Other pieces of evidence include but are not limited to, imaging tests such as CT scans, MRI scans, or X-Rays, rain mapping, diagrams, computer simulations, intracranial pressure monitoring, and diagnostic tests.
It is crucial to avoid any gaps between the date of your injury and the date of diagnosis and treatments because if the insurance company is able to prove that the accident is not the proximate cause of your injury, your claim will surely be denied. A delay in discovering the traumatic brain injury itself or the treatments appropriate for the injury may result in proof of the traumatic brain injury being barred.
Remember that juries tend to be sympathetic if a traumatic brain injury is sufficiently proven.
Visual Evidence
Visual evidence is direct evidence of your claim.
If you have the ability to take pictures of yourself showing your head wound after the accident, it will prove that an external force hit your head. A traumatic brain injury diagnosis will then be unquestionable.
If you can obtain CCTV footage of your accident showing that you slipped and fell on the floor after a dog attacked you in a restaurant, it will be a valuable addition to your claim.
Eyewitness Statements
Individuals who sustain a traumatic brain injury show memory deficits often. However, remember that your inability to recall specific facts does not exactly bar you from pursuing a claim for your injury.
If you can track down the witnesses, their statements will be helpful to your claim for compensation.
They could corroborate your story and back up your version of events. They can also report to the investigating officers that your head was injured in some way or another.
Your doctor or any medical expert, mental health expert, or traumatic brain injury expert may also qualify as a witness to your case. According to the National Institute of Health, medical professionals have many methods for diagnosing a traumatic brain injury.
The diagnostic methods are as follows:
- Computerized Tomography or CT scan is a scientific method that would detect brain damage, bleeding, and other injuries to the brain;
- Glasgow Coma Scale is commonly used during rehabilitation to monitor and assess the traumatic brain injury victim’s performance;
- Intracranial Pressure is the most invasive method used among the recognized methods, such as swelling of the brain; and
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI is a more in-depth method than a CT scan, commonly used when the CT scan result is insufficient to spot the brain injury.
From at least 1600 BCE up to the present, scientific methods or diagnostic methods evolved, and many medical professionals are mindful of the seriousness and severity of a traumatic brain injury, whether mild, moderate, or severe. Consequently, medical professionals and providers utilize wide-reaching methods to diagnose traumatic brain injury conditions, including disabilities associated with traumatic brain injury. With this, a traumatic brain injury can be easily spotted compared to the early years because of how science has advanced.
Traumatic Brain Injury-Related Expenses
A traumatic brain injury can leave you with a disability and debilitating symptoms which will continue for the rest of your life, such as migraines, memory problems, dizzy spells, depression, and vertigo.
Most people who suffer from a traumatic brain injury or any disability related to it require rehabilitation to relearn basic skills, such as talking, walking, or balancing.
Due to therapy and inpatient rehabilitation, having a traumatic brain injury may require you to spend much on lifelong medical care and treatment. It may even compel you to spend your life savings.
If you plan to claim for compensation, be sure to keep copies of your medical bills, prescriptions, and receipts for out-of-pocket expenses. You can also include a report of your lost wages and other benefits because of your traumatic brain injury or TBI-induced disability.
To determine the right amount of compensation, it is essential to prove the long-term impact of your traumatic brain injury. If your injury results in work opportunity losses and loss of income earning capacity, among others, you must be able to prove these losses to the court or the insurance company.
In traumatic brain injury cases, it is important to show adequate proof that the costs you incurred were associated with your injury.
Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuit
If you plan to claim compensation, file a traumatic brain injury lawsuit. In order to prove a personal injury lawsuit, you must prove that the party at fault is negligent.
In Houston, Texas, negligence is a critical element of shifting the burden of proof because once negligence is established, the burden of proof shifts from you to the person at fault.
In general, negligence has four elements:
- Duty of care is the first element to establish that the party-at-fault has the responsibility of not to cause harm or damage to your well-being;
- The party-at-fault has breached that duty;
- The plaintiff must establish that the party-at-fault breach of duty is the proximate cause of the injury; and
- The plaintiff must be able to establish damages caused by the injury, such as monetary compensation for loss of income or loss of income capacity, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.
Hire a Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer Now
If you have the slightest inclination that you sustain a traumatic injury from a car crash, a workplace incident, a slip and fall incident in a restaurant, or any other incident, do not hesitate to contact a traumatic brain injury lawyer and seek the maximum compensation you deserve.