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New York Brain Injury Lawyers
Wilson, Grochow, Druker & Nolet
Attorneys at Law
 Traumatic
Brain Injury (TBI) cases may be obvious - as in Penetrating Head Injuries
(when something passes through the skull and pierces the brain), or
harder to diagnose - like Closed Head Injuries (when there may not
be any visible wound, but the brain damage will be evidenced by physical,
mental and behavioral changes). Every year, about 1.5 million Americans
suffer a Traumatic Brain Injury. That's about every 21 seconds. A
Traumatic Brain Injury may result from Auto Accidents, Medical Negligence
(during Labor and Delivery, Drug Administration Errors, or Surgical
Misadventure), Construction Accidents, Inadequate Security incidents
or other Premises disasters.
A tragedy of brain injuries is that
many victims are unsure of whom to pursue for recoveries, and are
hesitant to contact a New York brain injury attorney because of a
perception that they cannot afford to have their case well represented.
Because of this failure to seek legal help, many brain injury victims
and their families face enormous medical and rehabilitation costs
without the compensation to which they are entitled. If a traumatic
brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or birth asphyxia has affected
you or a loved one, please take a moment to contact The Law Firm of
Wilson, Grochow, Druker & Nolet. We will be able to offer you
direction in this frightening time and have a New York brain injury
attorney who will fight to win the financial compensation you need
now, and in the years to come. A New York brain injury lawyer at the
Law Firm of Wilson, Grochow, Druker & Nolet will represent you
on a contingency fee basis only. So if we don’t win there will
be no charge to you.
Brain Injury:
An estimated 5.3 million Americans, a little more than 2% of the U.S.
population currently lives with disabilities resulting from traumatic
brain injury. Some causes of traumatic brain injury are impacts to
the head that are hard enough to cause the brain to move within the
skull. Also the skull can break and directly hurt the brain.
The Problem.
Though not always visible and sometimes seemingly
minor, brain injury is complex. It can cause physical, cognitive,
social, and vocational changes that affect an individual for a short
period of time, or permanently. In many cases recovery becomes a lifelong
process of adjustments and accommodations for the individual and the
family.
Depending on the extent and location
of the injury, impairments caused by a brain injury can vary widely.
Among the most common impairments are difficulties with memory, mood,
and concentration. Others include significant deficits in organizational
and reasoning skills, learning, cognitive, and executive functions.
Recovery from a brain injury can be
inconsistent. In many cases gains may be closely followed by setbacks
and plateaus. A "plateau" is not evidence that improvement
have ended. Typically, plateaus are followed by gains. This pattern
of gains and setbacks can continue indefinitely. Changes in memory
and organizational skills after a brain injury make it difficult to
function in complex environments.
About the brain.
The brain has been described as a three pound universe. It has come
to be thought of in those terms because quite literally; we live in
our brains. The brain is our personal, private universe. It is through
our brains that we experience ourselves and the environment. It is
though our brains that we understand our relationship to others. Scientists
think of the brain as the organ of reason, language, complex social
relations, and morality. It is, after all, what makes us distinctly
human.
The brain can be thought of as a sensory
processor. Our experience of ourselves and our environment is dependent
on the brain's ability to receive, process, store, retrieve and transmit
sensory information. The ability to think, see, smell, feel, remember,
and behave appropriately is dependent on an intact brain. Even minor
brain damage can result in permanent impairments in these functions.
Such impairments can interfere with normal everyday activities.
Brain damage, whether from surgery,
strokes, tumors, disease, and toxins, near drowning, electric shock,
lightning strike, or head injuries can rob a person of a
sense of self. It can turn a person into a mere shadow of his or her
former self at the very least brain damage can seriously compromise
quality of life. While brain damage may strike a single individual,
in reality it is the family that bears the brunt of its destructive
impact.
Memory mood and fatigue are common
complaints of brain injury patients. Intellectual dullness and mental
rigidity are obvious signs of brain injury. Personality changes are
common, and rapid mood swings alternate with waxing and waning energy
levels. Taken individually, such impairments might not amount to much.
However, such impairments usually appear in groups or clusters. In
many cases the impairments are widespread and disrupt many brain systems.
The overall effect can be profoundly disabling.
Acquired Brain Injury,
(ABI), results from damage to the brain caused by strokes, tumors,
anoxia, hypoxia, toxins, degenerative diseases, near drowning and/or
other conditions not necessarily caused by an external force.
Head Injury. The
terms head injury; traumatic brain injury and acquired brain injury
are often used interchangeably. However, most people associate the
term "head injury" with some type of external physical damage
to the head. Many such head injuries are superficial, and amount to
nothing more than a temporary, although bothersome, injury and associated
discomfort.
Concussion. A concussion
results from the brain being battered or violently shaken. Typically,
it is followed by an alteration in consciousness. That is, the person
is knocked out, loses consciousness, or remains conscious, but appears
dazed, witless, disoriented. The term concussion is often used interchangeably
with the terms: head injury, mild brain injury, head dinged, or bell
rung. It is important to note that a blow to the head is not required
for brain damage to occur.
Concussion Symptoms.
Early symptoms of concussion include headache; dizziness or vertigo;
lack of awareness of surroundings; and nausea and vomiting. Late symptoms
of concussion include: persistent low-grade headache, lightheadedness,
poor attention and concentration, memory dysfunction, difficulty doing
simple math, difficulty finding words, slowed reaction time, fatigability,
irritability and low frustration threshold, intolerance of bright
lights, difficulty focusing vision, intolerance of loud noises, occasional
ringing in the ears, anxiety, depression, mood swings, and sleep disturbances.
Severe Head Injury.
Severe head injuries usually result from crushing blows or penetrating
wounds to the head. Such injuries crush, rip and shear delicate brain
tissue. This is the most life threatening, and the most intractable
type of brain injury.
Typically, heroic measures are required
in treatment of such injuries. Frequently, severe head trauma results
in an open head injury, one in which the skull has been crushed or
seriously fractured. Treatment of open head injuries usually requires
prolonged hospitalization and extensive rehabilitation. Typically,
rehabilitation is incomplete and for most part there is no return
to pre-injury status. Closed head injuries can also result
in severe brain injury.
Moderate and Minor Head Injuries.
Most brain injuries result from moderate and minor head injuries.
Such injuries usually result from a non-penetrating blow to the head,
and/or a violent shaking of the head. As luck would have it many individuals
sustain such head injuries without any apparent consequences. However,
for many others, such injuries result in lifelong disabling impairments.
Recognizing the Problem.
Often, the effects of minor to moderate brain injuries are not immediately
apparent. Many months may go by before brain injury changes become
apparent. Even then, special training and expertise are required to
properly diagnose such impairments. Such fields of specialization
are known as Neurophysiology and Neuropsychiatry.
Recognizing such problems is made
even more difficult by perceptual and expressive impairments caused
by brain injury. Brain injury causes diminished self-awareness that
interferes with the ability to recognize changes in the self. It also
causes mental confusion and a sense of uncertainty about experiences.
Difficulties finding familiar words to communicate thoughts and desires
hinder communication and fuels frustration. Many individuals do not
report such symptoms out of fear of being thought of as mentally unsound.
Others are shamed by such symptoms in themselves.
Additionally, the very nature of brain
injury interferes with the ability to recognize the problem. Frequently,
brain injury causes memory impairments and expressive disorders. In
real terms, this means that even when the memory survives the words
might become elusive. Such impairments can hamper the ability to provide
the doctor an accurate symptom picture.
Here at Wilson, Grochow, Druker &
Nolet we use our many years of experience in handling New York Brain
Injury cases to investigate every possible factor that would cause
an injury, and to ensure that you receive full compensation for you
or your loved one’s injuries.
If you or one of your loved one’s
has been injured and might have a brain injury please call or click here to ensure you take the right measures. The
initial consultation is free so call immediately.
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