Building a Legal Case for Traumatic Brain Injuries
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a disruption in normal brain function caused by an external force, such as a blow or jolt to the head. Diagnosing this type of injury presents unique challenges, particularly when symptoms are subtle and often escape conventional detection methods. This type of injury is critically important to the legal field, as victims could see a brain injury emerge years after the event but not receive any compensation related to the injury.
The good news is that there are now medical solutions that can help identify TBIs earlier on, resulting in better medical care and a superior legal case.
Understanding Traumatic Brain Injuries
To recap, traumatic brain injuries are disruptions in normal brain function caused by external forces, impacting a person’s cognitive, physical, and emotional health. They can range from mild concussions, often seen in sports injuries, to severe brain trauma.
Noticeable Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury
Symptoms can vary based on the severity of the TBI, with more mild injuries often presenting with headaches, nausea, fatigue, or dizziness. More severe injuries may include symptoms like:
- Several minutes or hours of unconsciousness
- Seizures
- Eye dilation
- Numbness in the extremities
- Slurred speech
- Unusually combative behavior.
If you have any of these symptoms, it’s important to seek medical attention immediately.
Common types of accidents that may result in a TBI include:
- Falls: From heights or slip-and-fall incidents, especially common in children and the elderly.
- Vehicle-related collisions: Including car accidents, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents.
- Violence: Such as gunshot wounds, domestic abuse, or assaults.
- Sports injuries: Especially in contact sports like football, boxing, hockey, or soccer.
- Explosive blasts and combat injuries: Particularly relevant for military personnel.
- Child abuse: Shaken baby syndrome is a tragic example.
- Work-related accidents: Especially in construction, manufacturing, or industrial settings.
- Recreational accidents: From activities like skateboarding, horseback riding, or skiing.
- Penetrating wounds: Injuries where an object pierces the skull and enters the brain.
Some Injuries Are Difficult to Diagnose
Historically, TBIs have been challenging to diagnose, especially when the symptoms are subtle or delayed. It is also difficult for doctors to directly examine damage to the brain itself. CT scans and MRIs are crucial for identifying major brain injuries, but these methods often miss subtler, micro-level damage, especially in the brain’s white matter, where axonal fibers are susceptible to harm.
Due to the brain’s complex architecture, these minor yet undetected injuries can lead to significant, enduring consequences, affecting everything from motor skills to behavior.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging: Improving Diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injuries
Given the challenges of detecting more subtle brain injuries, new technology has long been needed. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) represents a significant leap forward in brain imaging, offering a nuanced view of the brain’s white matter tracts that traditional scans can’t provide. By tracking the movement of water molecules along neural pathways, DTI reveals the brain’s intricate network, highlighting disruptions caused by TBIs. This method allows for the detection of injuries at a microstructural level, identifying areas where axonal fibers, crucial for transmitting signals across the brain, are damaged or disrupted.
The insights gained from DTI are invaluable. They enable healthcare professionals to pinpoint the specific locations and extent of brain injuries, crucial for devising targeted treatment strategies. By providing a detailed map of brain connectivity, DTI aids in understanding the profound impacts of this type of injury, leading to a deeper comprehension of its potential long-term effects on cognitive and physical functions and improving patient treatment plans.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Personal Injury Claims
One of the most significant challenges in legal claims related to DTI in court is the fact that it can be very hard to prove that the injury under consideration resulted in damages. It may take a long time for symptoms of a TBI to emerge, or the symptoms might be subject to a degree of subjectivity.
For example, the other side may argue that changes in balance or personality existed before the injury, and the subjectiveness of these measures can make it challenging to prove that the changes are real or that they result from the accident itself. The lack of proof that an accident resulted in a brain injury is a common type of evidence gap that can sink a personal injury case. In the realm of personal injury law, DTI stands as a powerful ally for victims of TBIs, offering concrete, objective evidence that bolsters their legal cases by providing indisputable visual proof of brain damage, even when traditional MRI or CT scans show no abnormalities.
Such definitive evidence can be pivotal in establishing that an incident resulted in a patient’s symptoms, a critical element in personal injury claims. Lawyers can leverage DTI results to demonstrate the severity of brain injuries, substantiating claims for compensation related to medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. As courts increasingly recognize the importance of DTI findings, this technology is becoming an indispensable tool in the legal arsenal, enabling more accurate assessments of injury impacts and fairer resolutions for those affected by TBIs.
How Hipskind and McAninch Helps with Traumatic Brain Injuries
At Hipskind and McAninch, we believe that every client should have the best chance possible to receive the maximum compensation for their injuries. For us, that means embracing the latest technology to help our clients get the outcome they need from a given case. In addition to helping you get the treatment you need at the moment, we want to ensure that we have the best possible picture of your overall health and can help you receive compensation for injuries that may not have otherwise been known about until later in life. If you or a loved one has been in an accident and is wondering what your legal case may be, reach out to us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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