Traumatic brain injury is a growing problem that causes long term struggles for victims and their families. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can alter the lives of victims and their families and what is normal in an instant. TBIs result from the head of the victim striking an object or an object striking the head of the victim such as in a car accident. Brain injuries can be open or closed in nature.
Motor vehicles accidents and pedestrian injuries are major causes of TBI. Victims of TBIs can experience short- and long-term negative consequences of a traumatic brain injury. Victims can experience struggles related to thinking and cognitive function; decision-making challenges; limited hearing; vision and speech deficits; as well as behavioral problems.
Victims of TBIs may require rehabilitation related to mobility, caring for themselves, job skills or education-related assistance. Victims of TBI may require emergency care, hospital inpatient care, inpatient rehabilitative care and outpatient rehabilitative care, including vocational rehabilitation, job counseling, special education services, personal care assistance, independent living assistance and other basic, and sometimes advanced, healthcare services.
The costs associated with TBIs can be especially high as medical expenses mount and victims face job-related challenges following a traumatic brain injury. Families may also be significantly impacted by the serious consequences associated with a TBI. Because of the serious personal and financial costs associated with a traumatic brain injury, legal options are available to victims who have suffered harm to help them recover compensation for the damages they have suffered which can include medical costs, lost wages, lost-earning capacity and pain and suffering damages, as well as other types of damages depending on the circumstances.
Source: OK.gov, “Traumatic Brain Injury Program,” Accessed Nov. 2, 2015