Traumatic Brain Injury
While some individuals will make a full or partial recovery from serious or catastrophic injuries in a short time, others are not so lucky. Sadly, following the negligence of others, many people suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI) that may result in temporary, long-term, or permanent injuries to the victim. While 75% of TBIs are mild, some injuries are serious enough to leave victims in a coma or persistent vegetative state.
Learn more about traumatic brain injuries from the Cleveland Clinic here
While many people assume that traumatic brain injuries only occur in serious motor vehicle accidents, that could not be further from the truth. Traumatic brain injuries frequently occur in cases of medical negligence, aviation accidents, nursing home abuse, sports injuries, product malfunctions, and workplace accidents. The effects of this type of injury are widespread, and the fallout is felt not only by the injured party, but also by their family and loved ones tasked with caring for them.
Regardless of the severity of injuries resulting in TBI, if you can prove some amount of damages due to negligence, you can be compensated. Some examples include:
- A school-sponsored sports activity leaves a player with a TBI
- A workplace accident resulting in a TBI to an employee or customer, leaving them with temporary or permanent physical disability
- Nursing home employee physically abuses a resident, leaving them with a TBI that affects their physical or cognitive abilities
- Product malfunctions, leaving user with a TBI that results in temporary or permeant disability
TBI Resulting in Coma
If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury resulting in a coma, you may have heard physicians utilize the phrase Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). That medical term is used by medical professionals to describe how “deep” the patient’s coma is. The GCS measures how well patients respond to stimuli and tracks eye movement, responses to verbal queues, motor skills, and reflexes. The GCS scores patients on a scale of 1-15. The higher the score the better, and therefore, more functional the patient. For example, a patient who is awake and fully functional would receive a GCS of 15.
Conversely, a patient in a very deep coma could be scored at 4. Calculating a patient’s GCS is not only helpful for a physician in determining the extent of treatment a patient currently needs, but is also a useful predictor in determining and preparing for the level of care a patient may require should they emerge from their coma.
Read more about comas and coma malpractice here.
As with all our catastrophic injury cases, in cases involving traumatic brain injuries resulting in a coma, our office works with a team of medical experts to analyze how negligence in a particular case resulted in such a traumatic injury and the lasting effects that the injury will have on that person and their family.
Contact Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you or a loved one has been affected by injuries resulting in a traumatic brain injury, it is critical to have an informed, detail-oriented, and dedicated medical malpractice attorney who will tirelessly advocate for you and your case. Please contact Andrew G. Slutkin and Ethan S. Nochumowitz for a free consultation at 800-385-2243.
Disclaimer: This page is informative in nature. The information contained herein is not to be considered legal advice and there is no attorney-client relationship formed between Silverman Thompson and the reader.