Traumatic brain injuries are a leading cause of death and disability in Georgia. A traumatic brain injury, or head injury, occurs when sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. It may be the result of a car or truck accident, a fall, a blow to the head or of an object piercing of the skull and brain tissue. Symptoms may be mild to moderate, ranging from headaches to seizures, changes in thinking and behavior, and other serious neurological problems.
Traumatic brain injury is most common among those between the ages of 15 and 24 and above 75. Young children are also at high risk for head injury.
Treatment of traumatic brain injuries may include surgery, pharmaceuticals, rehabilitation (including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy), and psychological counseling.
Approximately half of those with severe head injuries require surgery. Common disabilities resulting from severe head injury include problems with thinking, memory, and reasoning; problems with sensory processing of sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell; changes in behavior or mental health, including depression, anxiety, and aggression. Serious brain injuries may also lead to unresponsive states, coma, or vegetative states.
Traumatic brain injuries may also cause personality changes; in fact, this may be the most noticeable symptom. In 1848, for example, railway worker Phineas Gage suffered a severe head injury when an explosion sent a three-foot iron rod through his skull. He never lost consciousness. While he survived the accident; Mr. Gage, a formerly quiet, mild-mannered man became a totally different person – crude, obscene, and self-absorbed. His personality problems persisted until he died nearly 20 years later.
Often, only close friends and family members notice the personality changes that result from traumatic brain injury. These changes may not appear until days or weeks after the injury.
If you or someone you love has suffered a traumatic brain injury, you can learn more from the Brain Injury Association of America. You may also be interested in Traumatic Brain Injury: Hope Through Research, a booklet about traumatic brain injury prepared by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
Unfortunately, people with traumatic brain injuries often face economic hardship on top of physical, mental, and emotional problems. In the United States, direct medical costs of brain injury plus indirect costs (like lost productivity) total over $60 billion per year!
A life-changing head injury can make you feel helpless, hopeless, and frustrated – but you do not have to face it alone. Michael Lawson Neff can help. As an experienced Atlanta traumatic brain injury lawyer, he has the expertise and resources to help you win your claim. Michael Neff will help you conquer those feelings of helplessness and hopelessness by securing your future with just compensation.
Situations in which someone else may be at fault for a traumatic brain injury include vehicle crashes, sports-related accidents, work-related injuries, assault, slips and falls, and product liability. Additionally, children may suffer brain injury from poisoning by lead paint dust in older homes and apartments.
In Georgia, if someone else’s action (or lack thereof) contributed to a traumatic brain injury, victims and their survivors may sue for damages including medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property loss.
My personal injury clients are not “cases” to me; they are people whose lives have been forever changed through no fault of their own. – Michael Lawson Neff, Atlanta Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer
If you believe that someone else may be legally responsible for your head injury or that of a loved one, contact Michael Neff as soon as possible. He will help you get the compensation you deserve. It’s important to act now because evidence may be compromised or lost as time passes. Contact Michael Neff now at (404) 531-9700 or lawyer@mlnlaw.com. For more information, see Traumatic Brain Injury.