Helping Individuals and Families Affected By All Types of Brain Injuries
Our Bethlehem TBI lawyers represent individuals who have been diagnosed with all forms of brain trauma. We also represent parents of children diagnosed with TBI resulting from accidents and medical mistakes, as well as families who have lost loved ones to fatal brain injuries. This includes (but is not limited to) the following types of TBI:
- Anoxic and Hypoxic Brain Injuries
- Brain Contusions
- Concussions
- Coup-Countrecoup Injuries
- Diffuse Axonal Injuries (DAI)
- Intracranial Hematomas and Hemorrhages
- Penetrating Injuries
- Secondary Brain Injuries (including Second Impact Syndrome)
- Skull Fractures
Understanding the Severity of Your (or Your Loved One’s) TBI
Medical providers will often describe traumatic brain injuries as either “mild,” “moderate” or “severe.” While there are more precise ways to categorize TBI (such as the Glasgow Coma Scale), this three-tier classification remains popular because of its simplicity.
But, this simplicity also creates confusion. For example, while a concussion may be relatively “mild” in comparison to other types of TBI, it still requires treatment, rest, and recuperation. In fact, all “mild” brain injuries require medical attention, and many will require long and difficult periods of recovery. As a TBI patient, or as a family member of someone who has been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, this is important to understand, and it is important to keep in mind when making decisions about asserting your legal rights.
1. Mild TBI
A traumatic injury is typically classified as “mild” if it does not result in unconsciousness or if it results in unconsciousness lasting no more than a few seconds. However, loss of consciousness is not necessary for brain trauma to have significant short-term or long-term effects. Brain contusions, concussions, and coup-contrecoup injuries are the most likely injuries to be classified as “mild;” however, these injuries can receive higher classifications as well.
2. Moderate TBI
Brain trauma can be considered “moderate” if it results in unconsciousness lasting minutes, or even up to an hour. Lasting effects are to be expected with moderate TBI, and there is a high likelihood that some or all of these effects will be permanent—even with prompt and proper medical care. Moderate TBI is common in serious vehicle collisions, bicycle, and pedestrian collisions, falls from up high, and other serious accidents.
3. Severe TBI
The term “severe TBI” is used to describe injuries that result in extended periods of unconsciousness, coma, or penetration of the skull. These are almost always life-altering injuries; and, tragically, they are life-threatening in many cases. Accident victims who survive severe TBI will often need treatment, therapy, and support for the rest of their lives.
We represent individuals and families in cases involving brain injuries of all levels of severity. Treatment for all forms of TBI is expensive, and victims and their loved ones can face other significant financial and non-financial losses. Recovering just compensation for these losses is an important part of the recovery process, and we are committed to helping ensure that our clients receive the compensation they deserve.
In the context of personal injury, most traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are caused by accidents outside of a healthcare facility or other medical environment. For example, a Bethlehem restaurant owner might be negligent in maintaining the primary set of stairs at the front of their establishment. The poor condition of the stairs may expose visitors to a dangerous tripping hazard. If this hazard causes you to fall and suffer a traumatic brain injury, then you may be entitled to compensation under Pennsylvania law and our Bethlehem TBI lawyers are here to help you pursue that claim.
Traumatic brain injuries can also arise in the medical malpractice context. For example, a negligent surgeon may forget to assess your lifetime medical history before moving forward with brain surgery and may run afoul of a medical condition that has long affected your neurological system (and would have been discovered had they made an effort to examine your medical record more thoroughly), thus causing a life-changing, traumatic brain injury.
Healthcare providers in Bethlehem and elsewhere must adhere to a standard of care that depends on their experience and specialization. Common sense dictates that a diagnostician will be held to a higher standard of care when it comes to diagnosing an illness/injury. If a trained diagnostician misdiagnoses your injury and fails to identify your brain injury, which worsens your condition, you will almost certainly be entitled to damages on the basis of such medical negligence. Thus, it is important to consult with our Bethlehem TBI lawyers.
Our TBI Lawyers Explain How Malpractice May Have Caused Your Brain Injury
Negligent conduct in the medical context can lead to traumatic brain injury in many different ways, including but not limited to:
- Hypoxia is caused by a lack of oxygen
- Anesthesia errors
- Misdiagnosis, or failure to diagnose in a timely manner (which can worsen a condition, or leave a condition untreated, thus developing into a traumatic brain injury)
- Infection of the brain due to poor surgical sanitation
- Serious surgical errors
- Failure to consider lifetime medical history when providing treatment
Except in rare circumstances, traumatic brain injuries are severe enough that — in the medical context — they are usually a consequence of medical malpractice negligence. Traumatic brain injuries generally do not develop without a mistake or negligent failure on the part of treating medical professionals.
Consult With Experienced Bethlehem TBI Lawyers as Soon as Possible
Patients are — to a substantial degree — quite vulnerable to the negligence of their medical caregivers. Not only is healthcare a sphere of knowledge in which many patients lack an informed, thorough understanding, but healthcare providers are accorded a level of respect and deference (thanks to their extensive training) that can make it difficult for a patient to fully contemplate the medical malpractice negligence and accompanying injury risks that they are exposed to.
Traumatic brain injuries (resulting from medical malpractice negligence) can be extremely difficult to litigate without the aid of a skilled lawyer who has specific experience litigating medical malpractice claims against prestigious clients. Call 888-777-7098 to speak with one of the Bethlehem TBI lawyers here at Drake, Hileman & Davis, PC, and to set up a free consultation. During such consultation, our lawyers will assess your medical malpractice and TBI claims and help you figure out a way forward.