Traumatic brain injuries have the potential to cause devastating life changes. Research has shown that people who have suffered from head injuries have an increased risk of death in the years following the injury, however, there are still unknowns as far as what exactly links the head injury to the cause of death.
International studies have shown that even mild brain injuries make people almost twice as likely to die within the following fifteen years than people who have never had a brain injury. Researchers have not been able to determine why this likelihood is so high.
Other studies suggest that the increased risk of death is the greatest within the following seven years of the brain injury.
Some theories of why traumatic brain injuries increase the survivor’s chance of death are that the symptoms caused by the brain injury are actually what cause the fatalities. For instance, rain injuries can cause seizures, which can develop into epilepsy, and any uncontrolled seizures can lead to death.
What Is the Life Expectancy of Someone With a Traumatic Brain Injury?
According to the Centers for Disease Control, despite initial hospitalization and inpatient rehabilitation services, about 50% of people with traumatic brain injuries will experience further decline in their daily lives or die within five years of their injury.
What Are the Long-Term Effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries?
Head injuries have been known to cause a multitude of symptoms. Some people see their symptoms fade away quickly, while others have to endure them for many years or possibly for the rest of their lives.
Traumatic brain injuries can leave people with the following long-term effects:
- Cognitive Impairment
- Chronic Pain
- Speech Difficulties
- Trouble Speaking
- Debilitating Headaches
- Disabilities in Moving and Walking
Survivors of more severe brain injuries are faced with drastic changes in their lives. They may lose their ability to work, causing an extreme financial crisis when they have to pay their medical bills.
Rehabilitation and recovery treatments like physical and speech therapy are highly beneficial for many people, but some may never recover to their former level of ability. These rehabilitation programs are expensive, and most insurance policies have a limit to how much they will pay.
There are many brain injury patients who need treatment and are just beginning to see improvements when their insurance companies stop paying, and they are forced to stop.
How Will a Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer Help You Get the Treatment You Need?
Navigating life after a traumatic brain injury is overwhelming. Your health insurance may not cover all the treatments, equipment, or care you need, and you may find yourself unable to work because of your injury and subsequent disabling symptoms.
Not being able to work leads to being unable to pay for expensive rehabilitation services. When your brain injury is the result of someone else’s negligent actions, trying to get them or their insurance company to pay can often be a long and difficult battle that only leaves you feeling frustrated and exhausted.
If this situation sounds familiar to you or someone you love, a traumatic brain injury lawyer will be able to help you. Insurance companies regularly offer better settlement offers when you have a lawyer involved in your case, and they are quicker with the process as well.
Your lawyer will combat any excuses they try to use to avoid paying. Our aggressive attorneys at Tatum & Atkinson will negotiate and fight on your behalf to get you the full amount of compensation that you are legally entitled to receive for your damages.
Arguing with insurance companies without any experience or knowledge about your legal rights or the complexities of insurance policies is not advisable, and the majority of people are not equipped to appeal a denial of their claim.
Many people accept insufficient settlement offers because they do not realize how expensive their treatments are going to be or how much they are actually entitled to receive as compensation for the damages they have suffered.
Insurance companies often use loopholes to avoid paying for claims. They will also use anything you say against you.
They will use the recordings of your phone calls with them by taking what you say and twisting it into something that you did not mean, but they will use it to justify the denial of your claim. This is why it is so important to have an experienced lawyer correspond with the insurance companies on your behalf.
Lawyers know all the insurance company’s tricks, and they know what to say to avoid causing new problems.
Insurance adjusters may also attempt to place some of the blame for your injury onto you. According to the North Carolina Pure Contributory Negligence law, as stated in Legal Knowledge Base, if you had any part in causing the accident that caused your injuries, you are not entitled to any compensation.
This is a common way for insurance companies to avoid paying for the damages you have suffered.
Determining who was at fault for an accident can be difficult, and you should not believe an insurance company’s accusations. Your best course of action is to discuss your accident report with your lawyer. Your lawyer will investigate and determine whether you are eligible for compensation.
How Long Do Traumatic Brain Injuries Take To Heal?
Recovery from traumatic brain injuries depends on the type and severity of the damage. Some patients make a full recovery within weeks or months of the injury, while others take much longer.
Immediate medical attention serves to get an early diagnosis so you can begin treatment sooner, which will help your chances of making a fast and complete recovery. When complete recovery is not possible for your type of injury, treatment therapies improve your condition and help prevent other problems.
Sadly, there are people who have to endure chronic or long-term symptoms. Some brain injury survivors are left with permanent impairments like cognitive deficits or difficulties with speaking, walking, or moving.
Although many people make improvements with rehabilitation programs, some conditions worsen over time.
Most people make their greatest improvements within the first two years following their injury, but progress is also possible five and even ten years later. Occupational and physical therapies are proven to be beneficial as long as the patients continue their treatments.
Long-term disabilities commonly associated with traumatic brain injuries include:
- Balance and coordination difficulties that contribute to movement issues.
- Movement problems, including issues with fine motor skills, gait, walking, or talking.
- Speech or language deficits. This can easily prevent a person from continuing their work in many settings.
- Mental health challenges. Depression and anxiety are so common that many people do not consider that they are caused by their brain injuries. The brain’s ability to regulate emotions and moods is affected by head injuries and is a common symptom of brain damage.
- Cognitive issues, such as trouble with memory or critical thinking.
- Visual disturbances or deficits. These deficits sometimes cause the injured person to no longer be able to drive or do their job.
- Coma or persistent vegetative state. When an injured person falls into a coma or a deep state of unconsciousness, these are the most severe cases aside from those that cause death. The patient is considered to be in a permanent vegetative state when the unconsciousness does not resolve within three weeks. People in this condition are able to remain alive for many years using intensive medical support. The expense of the required medical support is often financially devastating for their families.
Contact the Heavy Hitters to Support Your Case for Compensation
Traumatic brain injuries cause some of the most devastating injuries imaginable. Many people experience long-term symptoms and lose their ability to control their emotions and behaviors.
Victims and their families often feel overwhelmed, isolated, stressed, frustrated, and confused about what to do next to be able to continue with their lives.
Personal injury attorneys help by ensuring victims receive full compensation for their injuries, so they can receive the treatment, medication, and care that they need.
By hiring Tatum & Atkinson: The Heavy Hitters, you will have a lawyer who is fully invested in your case. They will ensure a full investigation into the accident that caused your injury.
They will collect evidence to prove negligence and build a strong case using medical evaluations, police reports, and witness statements.
The lawyers at Tatum & Atkinson are experienced and will help you determine an accurate assessment of the damages you have suffered. Traumatic brain injuries affect every aspect of your life, including your finances.
Rehabilitation is expensive, and you should not have to worry about being able to afford your treatment, medications, special equipment, or other care that you need as a result of someone else’s negligent actions. Our lawyers will make sure your compensation is enough to cover everything you need.
You should not have to fight for what you are legally entitled to receive, especially while you are in recovery. Tatum & Atkinson are aggressive and will not stop fighting on your behalf until you recover everything that is rightfully yours.
If you or your loved one has suffered from the effects of a traumatic brain injury or if your loved one has died, you should have all the support you can get. For a free consultation about your case, call (800) LAW-0804 today to get your process started.
When we take your case, we won’t charge you anything until we win or settle it for you.
