Brain Injury

In the field of personal injury law, handling a brain injury is considered by most to be the most difficult case of all. This is due to a variety of reasons, sometimes the emergency room doctors fail to initially recognize the injury, or even the subsequent treating physician fails to fully appreciate the nature and extent of the injury.

To compound this problem insurance companies have become very sophisticated in the tactics they utilize to minimize the actual impact of a brain injury on a person through the use of paid company doctors who are often experts at confusing not only the onset of the symptoms, but the actual nature and extent of the symptoms. 

Brain injuries can often be very subtle and even though they may be termed “mild”, recent medical developments have shown that there really is no such thing as a “mild” brain injury. Even so-called “mild” brain injuries, such as concussions, can have prolonged and catastrophic effects on a person’s life, it can change their personality, their family life, their ability to work, or even perform their jobs. 

Often times individuals with brain injuries are not able to remember many of the events of the accident or the onset of symptoms, they frequently even deny the existence of problems, and family members are left to wonder what has happened to their loved one. They may become angry or frustrated, lethargic, clumsy, headaches (even mild ones), sensitive to light, nauseous (even vomiting), and often times do not have any specific complaint, but only recognize a general feeling of illness, not feeling well, and/or that something is wrong. Some or all of these things are common results of what has previously been called a “mild” brain injury. 

Often an emergency room doctor or a primary care doctor will only do what is called a “gross neurological exam”. While this exam may be sufficient to disclose and deal with the emergency situation (moderate, severe, or acute bleeding into the cranial cavity), the exam is not designed to diagnose and find the more subtle and less obvious neurological injuries or deficits. A more detailed or “fine neurological examination” needs to be done by a qualified doctor in the neurology field to discover the more subtle neurological problems. While the gross neurological exam will often diagnose the immediate life threatening injury, the more subtle, life-altering fine neurological deficits will often not be apparent with just a gross neurological examination.

With the advances in medical science we are learning more about the previously missed or ignored fine neurological deficits and how they can have tremendously adverse consequences on a person’s quality of life. The more time that passes between the injury causing accident and the actual assessment of these injuries, the more difficult it is to prove their relationship to the auto accident, and the easier it is for the responsible insurance company to avoid paying what it owes. 

Of course, a so-called “moderate” or “severe” brain injury is more obvious. If you or your loved one you have been told by a physician that you have a “moderate” or “severe” brain injury you need to take immediate action. Such injuries are catastrophic by their very nature, and delay in treating any brain injury, even a so-called “mild” brain injury, can result in treatable symptoms becoming permanent.

Insurance companies love any delay in an injured person seeking treatment, it allows them to utilize a multitude of nefarious tactics agaisnt you. In the situation of a brain injury where the injury may become less treatable with the passage of time, it is particularly despicable for an insurance company to cause or encourage delay, but unfortunately the legal advantage they gain by the delay outweighs common human decency. 

The early diagnosis, treatment, and assessment of a brain injury is crucial to a successful recovery of the case. If you have suffered any sort of head injury or trauma in an accident, you, or your loved one, needs to be seen by experienced neurologists and specialists in the field of traumatic and catastrophic brain injuries.

Furthermore, you should not delay consulting with an attorney, but make sure the lawyer has substantial experience in handling brain injury claims. An inexperienced doctor can cause you to have a less successful recovery from a brain injury, it is equally true that an inexperienced lawyer that does not recognize the tactics employed by the insurance company, and is unfamiliar with the medical aspects of the case, can have a very catastrophic impact on the successful prosecution of your case.

In choosing an attorney to represent you, or your loved one, concerning a brain injury, not only is it important that you retain counsel immediately, but you need to make sure that the lawyer you retain has sufficient expertise, in not only personal injury law, but in the actual prosecution of brain injury cases.

The Cooper Personal Injury Law Firm has successfully handled, prosecuted, and recovered millions of dollars for brain injury victims, and upon evaluating your individual case will be able to promptly advise you of the necessary case strategies that need to be under taken.