Have you or someone you love suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to someone’s negligence? If so, you could be facing a long recovery period and massive medical expenses that could lead to financial hardship, if not bankruptcy. The San Francisco personal injury attorneys of OnderLaw think that’s wrong, and we want to help.
TBIs are often the result of a sudden and preventable accident, such as a fall or a vehicle collision. While TBIs range in severity, even a mild TBI, such as a concussion, can require medical attention and time off work. More severe ones typically require highly specialized medical care. Certain cases require round-the-clock care.
Many San Francisco TBI victims don’t have the financial resources or medical insurance coverage to pay for that type of rigorous care. And why should TBI victims, such as yourself, use up their insurance benefits due to the actions of a sleepy driver or a careless store manager who didn’t adequately mark a wet floor?
At OnderLaw, we work hard to pursue justice for San Francisco traumatic brain injury victims. With just one call, we can get started with your free consultation to discuss your case. We care, and we’ll work hard to prove it to you.
According to the most recent statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), just over 49% of 2017 U.S. hospitalizations for traumatic brain injuries were due to accidental falls, with 24.5% due to vehicle accidents.
While those aged 75 and older made up the majority of these TBI hospitalizations, infants, children, and teenagers from ages 0 to 17 made up almost 8%, most from falls and vehicle accidents. These types of head injuries during such young, formative years can have serious and long-lasting effects.
Other causes include:
There are two primary classifications of traumatic brain injuries:
What distinguishes traumatic brain injuries from other types of brain damage is that for a TBI to occur, the head must experience blunt force or impact trauma. Common causes of this trauma include falls, vehicle accidents, or heavy-contact sports like American football or soccer. These are closed brain injuries. TBIs can also occur by a gunshot to the head, classified as a penetrating injury.
Medical experts who deal with TBIs are also learning more about the impacts of repeated trauma to the head, often experienced by those in contact sports. This can lead to a serious brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Unfortunately, a clear diagnosis for CTE cannot currently be made until after the victim has died, but those receiving the diagnosis reportedly suffered from cognitive, emotional, and behavioral issues.
San Francisco traumatic brain injury victims often experience physical symptoms like headaches, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, and fatigue. They may become sensitive to bright lights and loud noises and have vision problems. In mild cases, these symptoms should fade and eventually disappear.
In addition to the physical symptoms, many people experience emotional, social, and cognitive difficulties. These range from an inability to focus or think clearly, to heightened emotions and irrational behavior, such as being quick to anger. Some people experience temporary or permanent loss of short- or long-term memory.
Children may refuse to eat or cry uncontrollably for long periods of time.
Other symptoms include:
The most severe cases of traumatic brain injuries can lead to death.
One of the dangers of blunt head trauma is that the symptoms that point to a traumatic brain injury don’t always immediately appear. Victims may think they suffered a bump and believe they will feel better in a day or two. Some people may also be reluctant to admit they are having problems, such as vision issues or forgetfulness.
Unfortunately, as additional time passes, the injury can become even more severe without medical intervention and can lead to lifelong problems. Those in San Francisco who are on blood thinners, such as those prescribed after a heart attack or stroke, are especially at risk, as those prescriptions can lead to life-threatening bleeding in the brain.
San Francisco traumatic brain injury victims can suffer permanent disabilities due to their TBIs. Even among those who are able to return to almost-normal lives, some have life-long issues with balance, creating additional concern for future slips and falls, which means putting them at risk for another TBI.
Of additional concern is the link between TBIs and the increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s compared to those who did not suffer an earlier TBI – up to 4.5 times greater. There is some research that suggests the same is true for an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s. Some TBI victims also begin to have epileptic seizures, either shortly after suffering their TBI or several years later.
At OnderLaw, we will thoroughly review your case to make sure that we seek a settlement, judgment, or verdict for every type of financial compensation that you deserve. If your traumatic brain injury occurred due to the negligent or careless actions of another party, you may be able to receive compensation for your current and future medical expenses, including any necessary ongoing care.
Other types of compensation we may pursue, depending on the specifics of your case, include:
While we cannot make any guarantees as to the amount of compensation you may receive, rest assured that we will aggressively fight for you once we take your case. No amount of money can make you whole again, but it can ease the financial stress and worry from your life and allow you to focus on your recovery and healing.
If we decide that a lawsuit is the best course of action to take to pursue justice in your case, California law grants us two years from the date of the event that led to your traumatic brain injury to file that lawsuit. Since some San Francisco traumatic brain injuries aren’t immediately obvious, the law states we can file a lawsuit one year after discovering your TBI.
This may seem like a long time, but it takes time to go over all of the facts of your case, review your medical files, interview any witnesses, and other investigative work that the OnderLaw team will do on your behalf. Additionally, if a government agency is responsible for your traumatic brain injury, we only have six months to file a lawsuit in California.
As your San Francisco traumatic brain injury attorneys, our task will be to prove that the defendant, the one we are suing, was negligent and that negligence caused you to suffer from a TBI. To be successful, we must prove that:
The California Department of Public Health reported almost 33,000 hospitalizations in 2014 due to non-fatal traumatic brain injuries from all causes. Over 750 of these hospitalizations were for San Francisco county traumatic brain injury victims alone.
The U.S. Library of National Medicine of the National Institutes of Health goes even further by analyzing the trend of California traumatic brain injury hospitalizations, readmissions, and emergency room treatment over a 10-year period. Using state data from 2005-2014, they reported 1.2 million California TBI patients over the age of 18 required hospitalization or emergency room visits.
The report also notes other important findings:
These statistics show how important it is to hold those responsible for your TBI accountable. It’s also essential that you receive just compensation for any disabilities you may have because of your traumatic brain injury.
At OnderLaw, we have the experience and resources to perform the type of investigation necessary to build a strong case for you. We know the medical and accident experts to have on hand in case we go to trial. We are used to standing up to big insurance companies who try to pay out as little as possible.
You don’t need “as little as possible.” You need as much as you deserve to compensate you for your San Francisco traumatic brain injury and for your medical care and ongoing needs. It’s time that those who were negligent were held accountable for their actions, and that’s what we aim to do.
Don’t wait another day to get on the road to justice for your San Francisco traumatic brain injury. Call us today for your free consultation.
