Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers Explain How A TBI Requires Experienced Legal Help

Four or five decades ago our country could only offer limited rehabilitative resources to someone suffering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Times have changed explains Arkady Frekhtman, one of the traumatic brain injury lawyers at the F&A accident law firm in New York City. Advanced medical training and new forms of treatment now help many people lead longer and better quality lives after they incur a brain injury due to a major car accident, a fall occurring at construction site job, a war-related event or countless other incidents.

Today, there are about 5.3 million people battling the physically challenging aspects of TBIs in this country. Many are trying to hold down jobs, care for their families or simply cope with extensive pain. While estimates for caring for a person’s lifelong TBI needs vary, they can easily range (based on the severity of the injury) from $85, 000 to three million. In fact, other experts estimate that a young person who lives a full life-span with a TBI may wind up incurring as much as $15 million in medical expenses.

Now that about 1.7 million of us are incurring (new) traumatic brain injuries each year, all of us must do more to help prevent these tragedies – and monitor where all of the money is going to treat the afflicted. Fortunately, experienced personal injury attorneys are aware of these costly medical trends and do all they can to recover the maximum amount of compensation available to help those who develop a TBI due to someone else’s negligence.

Early Stages of Diagnosis and Treatment Can Be Very Costly

While some TBI survivors only require minimal care shortly after their injuries, many need numerous tests run so conclusive diagnoses can be made and useful treatments provided. Early tests run in emergency rooms can include computerized tomography (CAT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) tests. The amounts billed for these diagnostic tests are frequently very high, especially when the injured party is without generous healthcare coverage that can help drive the costs down.

As time passes for patients with moderate to severe TBIs, they may be moved through a long-term continuum of care. If the person with the TBI doesn’t have a family member who can offer their free services to care for the patient’s many daily physical needs – that person may require short-term or permanent care in independent or assisted living facilities – or possibly even a nursing home. The daily fees charged for such services are often well into the thousands. Patients will also be billed for all of medications and medical supplies (including ventilators, nasogastric tubes, and Foley catheters).

The most severely-afflicted TBI patients may move through various levels of acute-stage rehabilitation, requiring many hours of often painful exercises to help them regain mobility and become more physically self-reliant.

Common Specialists Who Work with TBI Patients

• Physiatrists. These doctors are specially trained to oversee all aspects of the disabled patient’s care. They must be ready to address the many complications or challenges encountered as patient needs change;
• Occupational and physical therapists. These highly-skilled professionals help TBI patients learn to perform critical daily tasks with their hands and gain better control over all their bodily movements. Specially designed exercise programs help increase flexibility and muscle tone for patients;
• Speech and language pathologists. Besides having to learn how to move and walk steadily after an accident (unless a wheelchair is permanently required), many brain injury patients face the challenge of learning to speak properly again;
• Neuropsychologist. This professional helps to assess each patient’s moods and behaviors, providing psychotherapy when needed in many cases.

The professionals just named always work as a team with many highly-qualified nurses, social workers, case managers and other rehabilitation specialists.

Our law firm has helped many clients suffering from traumatic brain injuries obtain the full compensation they deserved to try and reclaim their former lives. Please contact us if you or a loved one need help in pursuing a brain injury lawsuit caused by someone else’s negligence.