What Causes Traumatic Brain Injury?

Hitting your head violently or an object piercing your brain can cause a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

TBIs can range from mild concussions to serious injuries that cause chronic complications and can lead to death. If negligence caused your TBI, you might be able to file an insurance claim or lawsuit against the party responsible and recover compensation for your losses.

Most Common Traumatic Brain Injury Causes

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are many ways one can suffer a TBI. The following are some of the most common:

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Car, truck, bus, and bicycle accidents all pose great risks for injury, especially TBIs. Motor vehicle accidents are often sudden, leaving you unprepared. If someone hits your car and you hit your head on something inside the vehicle or are jolted violently, you could suffer a TBI.

Slip and Fall Accidents

Falls are also common causes of TBIs. Many hazards can cause a slip and fall accident, including:

• Wet or slippery floor
• Loose floorboard
• Torn carpet
• Broken handrail
• Cluttered walkway

Abuse

Sometimes, people suffer TBIs from abuse, whether it’s domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, elder abuse, or assault. Regardless of the circumstances, if you suffered a TBI due to abuse, you could file a personal injury case against your abuser or a property owner.

Gun Violence

Mayo Clinic notes that if a bullet pierces your skull and reaches your brain, it can cause serious damage and be classified as a TBI.

When Negligence Causes Your TBI

When someone else’s negligence causes your TBI, you could file a personal injury claim or lawsuit. All of the above instances could have been caused by another person or entity’s negligence—we just have to be able to prove it.

Proving Negligence

In order to qualify for a personal injury claim or lawsuit, you have to show four criteria.

The first thing you have to prove is that the other party owed you a duty of care. For example, in a car accident case, each driver owes it to one another to act in a reasonable manner to keep others safe. This might be more nuanced in other cases, and a personal injury attorney can help you.

You also have to show that the other party did something to breach this duty of care. With the same car accident scenario, you could show that they failed to come to a stop at a red light, meaning they did not do everything in their power to keep other drivers safe.

The breach of duty had to have directly caused your accident. So, by running the red light, the driver blindsided your vehicle. Lastly, you have to show that the accident caused your injuries and damages. You could do this by presenting medical records indicating you suffered a TBI from the accident. You could also present medical bills and vehicle repair costs showing you have tangible losses.

Compensation You Could Be Entitled To

If you can prove the above circumstances in your TBI accident, you might be entitled to financial recovery for your losses. Some of the losses you might be able to recover compensation for include:

• Medical bills: These are any bills related to the medical treatment for your TBI. This could include hospital bills, emergency transportation costs, medical device costs, prescription medication, and more.
• Lost wages: If your TBI is keeping you out of work, you might be able to recover compensation for your lost paychecks. If you aren’t able to return to the same job following the accident, you could be entitled to compensation for your lost earning capacity.
• Property damage: During the accident, some of your property might have been damaged, including your phone, watch, purse, or car. You can recover compensation for the repair or replacement of these losses.
• Pain and suffering: You might also be entitled to non-economic damages. This is compensation for the ways in which your injury affected your life, including physical pain, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and mental anguish.

Traumatic Brain Injury Complications

According to Mayo Clinic, some of the complications related to TBIs include physical symptoms, mental health issues, cognitive diseases, and loss of consciousness.

TBIs can cause blood clots, seizures, brain pressure and swelling, chronic dizziness, and frequent headaches. People with TBIs have also been known to have changes in their emotions and behavior. Some suffer from depression, anxiety, social issues, and impulse-control issues.

Mayo Clinic also indicates that TBIs might cause cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. TBIs can cause people to go into comas and vegetative states. They can also suffer from brain death.

Berger and Green Can Help You

If you suffered a TBI caused by someone else’s negligence, a Pittsburgh personal injury lawyer from Berger and Green might be able to take on your case. We can gather evidence to prove liability, negotiate a settlement, and take your case to court.

Call a member of our legal team today at (412) 661-1400 for a free consultation.