Traumatic Brain Injury

A Guttlaw Report ^TM

Traumatic brain injuries can be among the most serious and frustrating injuries people experience as a result of an accident. The problems are often misdiagnosed by doctors, misunderstood by family and unappreciated by friends. As an example, imagine your loved one was in a minor car accident a few weeks ago, but now complains about being unable to focus. They don't react quite the way they did before the accident. They can't add, subtract, multiply and divide with either the speed or the accuracy they used to have. The list goes on and everyone is frustrated. The emergency room said there was nothing seriously wrong and the accident was relatively minor. Your family doctor prescribes muscle relaxants. Time goes by and there's no improvement. What has happened?

First of all, even a relatively minor impact collision can result in closed head injury. The Guttman Files contain numerous examples of people who were in minor accidents but who sustained closed head injuries with life-altering consequences. Even so-called "whiplash" may cause a closed head injury when the brain is jolted inside the skull and bruised. Internal bleeding may occur and the accumulating fluid may cause swelling and pressure on the brain or a nerve, causing pain, dizziness, numbness, double vision, balance problems and more. If unchecked, this pressure can lead to impairment, paralysis and even death.

Proving a closed head injury involves sophisticated neuropsychological and neurological diagnostic techniques, as well as tests such as EEGs, EMGs, CT Scans, PET Scans and others. Once the injury has been diagnosed, vocational evaluation and economic projections are done in order to determine the impact of the injury upon the victim's ability to live, learn and earn. Family members, coworkers and friends are often interviewed to determine changes in personality and the like. At Rubin Guttman & Associates, we are very sensitive to possible brain injuries and are able to refer our clients to an interdisciplinary team of specialists with whom we have worked on many cases in order to assess and prove the often devastating consequences of traumatic brain injury.

Proving your case is the job of an experienced law firm like Rubin Guttman & Associates, L.P.A. We have been representing injured people hurt by medical malpractice or serious accidents for 32 years and would welcome the opportunity to have you consult with us. (For a free consultation and review of your case, please feel free to call us at (216) 696-4006).