Head Injuries
The Colorado Springs attorneys at the law firm of Sears & Swanson, P.C. have handled many cases involving head injuries. Head injuries can range from the catastrophic traumatic brain injury (TBI) to the mild. Yet even a “mild” head injury can cause serious and dramatic changes in the life of the person who sustained it.
Head injuries can occur in many ways, from direct trauma (bicycle or motorcycle accident without a helmet) to indirect trauma (bruising of the brain from a whiplash after a rear end collision). Except for the catastrophic head injury, traumatic brain injuries are not usually diagnosed in the emergency room, or even in the doctor’s office after the accident. TBI may disguise itself as depression or confusion from pain medication initially. However, after the initial physical trauma has healed, often the injured person or his family will begin to notice characteristic symptoms of TBI: memory loss, personality changes, excessive and quick anger, confusion, lack of focus and problems with numbers or with reading. It is extremely rare for any diagnostic test such as a CT scan or MRI to show any brain injury in a mild TBI.
A head injury is best diagnosed through neuropsychological testing by a psychologist who is trained in, and specializes in, particular testing to uncover limitations of brain functions. Yet even among neuropsychologists, there is no generally accepted battery of tests to diagnose mild TBI, also known as “post-concussive syndrome”. A new test, called a SPECT, much more sensitive than a CT or MRI, has now been developed that can assist the neuropsychologist in a TBI diagnosis and, more importantly, assist the clinician in prescribing rehabilitation and medication for improved functioning of the impaired individual.
One of the most life-changing aspects of TBI, even mild TBI, is the cognitive fatigue. It just takes a lot more energy to think and use an injured brain than it did before the injury. The fatigue is a permanent characteristic of TBI and will affect the injured person’s life as long as he lives.
Our trial lawyers appreciate the challenge of representing a client with a head injury. We understand that our head injured clients may not always remember everything they are to do for their case and that their frustration of the legal or the medical system may make them angry, even when they don’t want to be angry. We also appreciate the challenge of representing head injured clients in front of a jury, who questions whether our clients are really injured when they “look” just fine on the outside. We work with our clients’ medical providers to explain to the jury what is really going on inside the brain and help the jury to understand that this injury has changed this client forever.
If you, or your loved one is suffering from a head injury, please contact Sears & Swanson, P.C. Our firm will work to get the compensation necessary to protect long-term interests and we will also protect your privacy. Our attorneys will work to protect your rights.