Atlanta Injury Lawyers BlogUnderstanding Traumatic Brain Injury in Georgia
Many serious accidents result in Traumatic Brain Injury (“TBI”). TBI results in abnormal cognitive behavior which affects the injured person’s ability to communicate, remember, analyze, think or interact with others. While most people focus on the physical injures that are suffered in a wreck, the mental and emotional injuries can sometimes be more severe than the physical injuries. Since the TBI injury is not as apparent (in other words, a physical injury such as a gash on the head or a broken leg can be seen, but TBI cannot), it often goes undetected.
Many serious brain injuries are not accompanied by outward signs of injury (these are called closed-head injuries), it is critical to recovering the appropriate damages to be able to prove the extent of the injury. This is often achieved through the use of standardized tests, employment records, IQ tests, neurology records, psychological records, CT scans, MRI’s, and PET scans.
According to the Mayo Clinic, one helpful test for TBI is called the Glasgow Coma Scale. This 15-point test helps a doctor or other emergency medical personnel assess the initial severity of a brain injury by checking a person’s ability to follow directions and move their eyes and limbs. The coherence of speech also provides important clues. Abilities are scored numerically in the Glasgow Coma Scale. Higher scores mean less severe injuries.
Mild traumatic brain injury is often a multi-factored condition that includes neurological, psychological, and psychosocial factors. A neuropsychological assessment can be extremely helpful in identifying and quantifying the deficits that may be present as well as identifying and defining the many other factors contributing to the clinical presentation of mild traumatic brain injury. This can be conducted by many different types of doctors such as a neurologist or neural-psychologist.
A typically large element of damages in brain injury cases is the amount of future economic damages resulting from the supportive care needed because of the injured person’s loss of earning power or diminished capacity to work.
The last, but certainly not least, major element of damages in a brain injury case is pain and suffering. Is there anything worse than not being able to think clearly and “be yourself” after being injured by someone else’s negligence? The tremendous agony and frustration warrants substantial compensation. Many times, this could be the largest portion of the damages that we seek in an automobile accident or other type of personal injury case. In fact, due to the nature of how most people slip and fall, TBI is very common in those cases as well.
Attorney Robert J. Fleming has been handling wrongful death cases, automobile accident cases, personal injury cases, dental malpractice and medical malpractice lawsuits for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 20 years in and around Atlanta, Georgia and its surrounding areas, including Alpharetta, Austell, Avondale Estates, Chamblee, College Park, Conyers, Duluth, Decatur, Doraville, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, and Smyrna. If you have suffered a dramatic brain injury in an accident and would like quality legal representation, contact Robert J. Fleming directly on (404) 525-5150 or contact us online.
