Traumatic Brain Injuries(TBIs) can drastically impact a person’s life. They often come with neurological, psychological, and physical consequences and change a person’s behavior, physical capabilities, and quality of life.
If you or a loved one has suffered from a TBI after a Florida accident, you may be entitled to compensation for damages. We recommend hiring a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney who can fight to help you maximize your financial recovery.
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How Common Is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?
Traumatic brain injuries account for more than 2 million emergency room visits every year. Furthermore, about 230,000 annual cases of TBI require hospitalization and result in over 50,000 deaths. Additionally, it’s one of the leading causes of death and disability in the country.
What Causes Traumatic Brain Injuries?
Accidents or other types of intentional violence can result in a traumatic brain injury. The most common causes of traumatic brain injuries in Tampa include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Violent assault involving gunshot wounds
After fall injuries, motor traffic collisions are the second leading cause of TBIs.
How Can a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney Help Me?
Traumatic Brain Injuries have life-long consequences. They usually inflict physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems on the injury victim. Sadly, many TBIs are preventable and caused by someone’s negligence. If so, the responsible party should be held accountable. That’s where a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney can help you.
Insurance companies are less likely to make a shoddy offer when injury victims have strong legal representation. When you have one of our Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys on your side, you don’t have to settle for a lowball offer. Additionally, a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney can serve you by:
- Providing solid legal guidance and support to you and your family
- Arrange a private investigation with top-notch investigators to find out who and what caused your TBI
- Work closely with other experts to assess your case and determine the maximum value
- Build a strong case to support your claim
- Negotiate on your behalf to secure you the best possible settlement
- Represent you in court if necessary
By letting an experienced Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney handle your case, you can rest easy and focus on getting back on track. Recovering from a TBI is not easy for anyone and can take a toll on their families.
While money won’t make your injuries go away, it can make your life easier and help you adapt to your new circumstances. We will handle your pursuit of compensation and help you regain a sense of hope for the future. This is an opportunity to focus on healing and securing financial recovery for you and your family.
Overview of Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries are serious injuries that can result from a fall, a forceful blow to the head, or an object penetrating the brain. The degree of injury will depend on how hard the head gets struck.
Sometimes, symptoms of a TBI may not show up immediately. It could take days for a TBI symptom to present. Therefore, getting prompt medical attention after any head injury is crucial. After receiving appropriate medical care, you need to protect your rights. That may involve seeking legal counsel from an experienced Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney.
Different Types and Levels of Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain juries are caused by trauma from an external force. On the other hand, an acquired brain injury (ABI) is caused by internal factors like a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Traumatic injuries are categorized as open or closed injuries. An open TBI penetrates the skull and pierces the brain, whereas a closed injury is nonpenetrating. Furthermore, they can be primary or secondary. A primary TBI is when a sudden and forceful blow causes trauma, while a secondary injury develops over time.
TBIs are classified by type and severity as follows:
- Concussions
- Localized brain injuries
- Diffuse brain injuries
- Diffuse axonal injuries (DAI)
- Brain contusions
- Coup-contrecoup
- Intracranial hematomas
The Signs and Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury
Medical professionals use the Glasgow Coma Scale (GS) to measure the severity of a TBI. The scale uses various measures to assess the patient’s consciousness. For example, a lower GSC scale indicates a more severe injury (4 to 8 is low, with three or below being a vegetative state). On the other hand, a higher scale (13 to 15 is mild and 9 to 12 is moderate) classifies less severe injuries.
Every person will experience TBIs differently. As such, some may experience all symptoms while others only experience a few. Depending on the severity and location of a traumatic brain injury, patients may experience the following symptoms:
- Mild to moderate brain injury symptoms
- Blurry vision
- Persistent headaches
- Sleep disturbances
- Vertigo
- Mood changes or mood swings, including irritability
- Confusion
- Difficulty with memory and concentration
- Trouble balancing
- Severe brain injury symptoms
- Unconsciousness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Personality and behavioral changes
- Unilateral pupil dilation
- Weakness or loss of sensation on one side of the body
- Memory loss
- Uncontrollable seizures
- Trouble walking
- Difficulty speaking
Some people can fully recover from a brain injury, but not everyone is that lucky. In the worst cases, injury victims live with life-long symptoms from their TBI.
An injury victim who experiences a disabling or catastrophic TBI is usually entitled to a higher damage award. That’s because they often leave people with life-long consequences that drastically change their lives. A Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney can assess your case circumstances and help determine a fair value.
Here are some of the potential long-term effects of a TBI:
- Behavioral, cognitive, and emotional changes
- Physical impairment
- Disrupted development (for younger injury victims)
- PTSD
- “Locked-in” syndrome
- Coma
- Vegetative state
- Death
How Much Can I Get for a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury?
It depends on how serious your injury was. No two cases of TBI are identical, so you will need a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney to evaluate your case individually for an accurate claim value.
Our Florida personal injury attorney team will consider the following factors to help you reach an amount that fairly reflects your losses.
However, there are a lot of different factors that are important to consider during the valuation process:
- To what extent has your injury affected your ability to work or your earning capacity?
- Did you suffer permanent disabilities from your traumatic brain injury?
- Are you able to carry out daily tasks unassisted? Or do you need nursing care to shower, eat, use the restroom, etc.?
- Does your injury necessitate medical support devices?
- To what extent has your TBI affected your mental health? Did you experience emotional trauma or other mental health issues from your injury?
You may be able to recover compensation for future damages as well. Our Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys will work closely with medical professionals and TBI specialists to understand the full extent of your trauma.
What Type of Compensation Can I Seek for a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury?
In addition to the physical, psychological, and emotional damages caused by a TBI, injury victims face significant financial tolls. On the positive side, traumatic brain injury victims in Tampa are entitled to seek compensation from the responsible parties.
Damage compensation can be economic or non-economic. Economic damages help relieve injury-related financial strains, whereas non-economic damages cover damages without fixed costs.
Examples of recoverable economic damages:
- Medical costs
- Lost income
- Future lost income due to diminished earning capacity
- Future medical costs
- Nursing care
- Assistive devices
- And more
Examples of non-economic damages:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Reduced quality of life
- Loss of companionship
A Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney can help you identify and pursue all damages you are entitled to.
How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Florida?
Under Florida law, TBI victims can file a personal injury claim up to four years after the accident. However, there are a few exceptions to the time limit.
To avoid missing the deadline and avoiding delays, it’s best to have a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney start working on your case right away. They will ensure you gather and preserve all necessary evidence to build a strong case in your favor.
Contact a Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney Today
No one deserves to face a traumatic brain injury alone or without recourse, especially if another person’s negligence caused it. That’s why our Tampa Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys are prepared to fight for you. We care about our clients and will treat you respectfully and with compassion during these difficult times. But, most importantly, we will not rest until we recover the compensation you deserve.
Contact us today for a free initial consultation.
