Throughout life, the human body and brain are in a constant state of injury and repair. Substance abuse and lack of sleep and exercise decrease brain function, while physical and mental exercise, rest, and good nutrition build up and repair brain cells.
A traumatic brain injury (TBI), as shown on MRI, when severe can cause irreparable damage that leads to lifelong chronic disease. The effects of a TBI then becomes an ongoing problem that gets progressively worse, causing the injured brain to become less able to function physically, mentally, and socially, and may actually shrink, causing further difficulty. Following a TBI, an injured individual becomes less able to cope with and recover from the injury and is more susceptible to oncoming dementia or Alzheimer’s disease (“advanced aging”).
TBI Requires Ongoing Care
When severe, the effects of a traumatic brain injury requires a plan for future medical expenses, which includes part time care and attempted rehabilitation, sometimes followed by years of full time nursing home or nursing care. Faced with a lifetime of physical and mental disability, a victim of a TBI also must cope with denied long term care insurance coverage because of this prior injury, making monetary compensation for the injury essential.
Getting Necessary Compensation
If you have been in a car accident or other type of accident and think you may have sustained a brain injury, keep all medical records and document in a journal the effects of the injury on your daily life. To obtain just compensation for your injuries to cover costs of therapy and medical visits, loss of income, reduced quality of life, and the pain you have suffered you also need to talk to an injury attorney, who can calculate the damages (monetary compensation).
Brain injury claims are unique in that injury is often not obvious to others. Brain injury causes great psychological suffering that many people, including some doctors, just don’t understand. The right attorney will carefully evaluate your injury claim and probabilities of outcome to determine whether a settlement or personal injury lawsuit is the right option for you.
