Kansas City Brain Injury Lawyer
Human brains are responsible for almost everything we do. The brain regulates our breathing, heart rate, and blood circulation. It also commands us to walk, talk, and eat, and it gives us the ability to take in and remember information, feel emotions, speak, and make decisions.
When a person suffers a traumatic brain injury, the symptoms can often be quite terrifying and, in many cases, life-altering. Brain injury victims often notice that their cognitive abilities and motor functions are impacted, resulting in memory loss and difficulty carrying out daily tasks.
If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury that was caused by someone else’s negligence, you should with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. At Wendt Law, we have a team of brain injury attorneys who have helped our clients get compensation for brain injuries resulting from car accidents, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, workplace accidents, and more. We know how terrifying brain injuries are, and the impact that it has on not only the injured person but also their entire family.
We can help you file a brain injury claim to ensure you get fair compensation and that the responsible party is held liable for the harm you suffered. Our priority is ensuring that you get justice in your brain injury case.
Schedule a free consultation with our law firm today at 816-542-6734.
What is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury is a head injury caused by an external force that causes a person’s brain functionality to be affected. This brain injury can be mild, like a concussion that goes away after a few days, or much more serious, resulting in paralysis or even permanent brain damage.
Brain injuries are, unfortunately, quite common in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2.5 million Americans suffer some form of brain injury each year, and nearly half a million of those injured require hospitalization. Of these, more than 50,000 brain injury victims die due to their injuries, which is a startling number.
In many cases, victims are unaware that they have suffered a brain injury because there are no immediate physical symptoms. Even severe brain injuries may not manifest until some time after the accident. However, if a person who has suffered an injury or a severe blow to the head does not get medical attention, they can risk developing a serious brain injury that will affect them for the rest of their life.
Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries
Brain injury cases vary significantly. Usually, the severity of the external force that caused the brain injury will determine how serious the damage is. There are two main types of head injuries, closed head injuries and open head injuries.
A closed head injury is when your brain is severely rocked back and forth in your head due to an external blow, such as an object striking your head or hitting your head off an object.
An open head injury can also be described as a penetrating head injury. This type of injury happens when an object penetrates through the skull, causing damage to the blood vessels and brain tissue.
Some common examples of brain injuries include:
- Skull fractures.
- Concussions.
- Bleeding in the brain or a contusion.
- Brain injuries caused by penetration.
- Diffuse axonal injuries, which happen when your brain is torn by an external force.
- Ischemia, or blood deprivation.
- Hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation.
- Stroke.
- Swelling of the brain or cerebral edema.
- Brain death.
The life-altering effects of a traumatic brain injury can be devastating, and the victims and their families deserve the best possible chance of recovering and rebuilding their lives. Speak with an experienced brain injury attorney to find out what options are available to you for recovering compensation in your brain injury case.
Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injuries
Unlike most personal injury cases, brain injuries are quite different in that the symptoms vary and can often be difficult to detect. Even doctors can find it difficult to detect a severe brain injury because the patient can often appear “normal” while they are suffering from an injury.
Additionally, some traumatic brain injuries do not appear immediately; in fact, they may go undetected until weeks or even some months later. Victims and their family members may be completely unaware that they are suffering from a traumatic brain injury because they are exhibiting no signs of injury. For this reason, it is important that you get medical assistance as soon as possible if you have suffered any form of injury to your head.
Some common brain injury symptoms include:
- Headaches.
- Confusion & disorientation.
- Anxiety.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Blurred vision.
- Issues with concentration.
- Short-term memory loss.
Some more severe symptoms of traumatic brain injury can include:
- Loss of consciousness.
- Long-term memory loss.
- Seizures or convulsions.
- Optic dilation.
- Loss of motor skills.
- Loss of coordination.
- Coma.
- Vertigo.
- Brain death.
If you or someone you love is experiencing any of the above symptoms following an accident that caused an injury to the head, you should seek medical attention immediately. Failing to get medical treatment for a brain injury can result in serious complications, and can lead to further brain damage down the line.
What Can Cause a Kansas City Brain Injury?
Traumatic brain injuries can happen in an instant and can be caused by a wide range of different accidents. A person could simply go to play a sport that they play every week, and suffer a severe injury due to the negligence of another person, or they may suffer a brain injury in a car accident on the way to work.
Some common accidents that cause brain injuries include:
- Motor vehicle accidents.
- Motorcycle accidents.
- Slip and fall.
- Pedestrian accidents.
- Sports accidents including surfing, horseback riding, skiing, diving, baseball, football, and roller-skating accidents.
- Work accidents.
If you frequently play extreme sports or work in the construction industry, you are at a higher risk of serious brain injury. It is important that those who are exposed to high-risk situations take all the necessary precautions, such as wearing protective gear, to ensure their safety.
How a Brain Injury Attorney Can Help
After a serious accident, head and brain injuries may not be immediately obvious. Because of their late appearance, there can be a delay in being diagnosed. Even though you may feel “off” and your family may sense that you are acting different, it can be difficult to prove this to the insurance company or jury. Brain injuries bring more than just medical problems with them, such as expensive medical bills and lost wages from missing time at work.
Consulting with a brain injury attorney can help you plan your next steps. If your brain injury was caused by the reckless actions or negligence of another party, you may have a right to compensation. Since all injury cases are unique, it would be beneficial to have an experienced brain injury attorney to guide you through the process. The experienced personal injury attorneys at Wendt Law Firm P.C. can answer any questions you may have and provide helpful guidance.
Traumatic Brain Injury Statistics
You aren’t alone if you or a loved one is living with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). In fact, TBI is one of the most common injuries in the United States. TBIs cause about 30% of all injury-related deaths in the country, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). TBIs take an average of 153 lives per day in the U.S. Traumatic brain injuries to cause approximately 2.8 million trips to the emergency room, 282,000 hospitalizations, and 50,000 deaths every year.
TBIs aren’t only common – they’re increasing. Over the span of six years, the CDC reported that TBI-related hospital visits increased by 47% and fatality rates increased by 5%. The number of hospitalizations for TBI, however, decreased slightly (2.5%). The rates of brain injuries in children during sports and recreation more than doubled over the span of one decade. Statistically, the leading causes of unintentional traumatic brain injuries are falls (47%), struck-by object (15%), and motor vehicle accidents (14%).
How Do I Recover Financial Compensation for a Kansas City Traumatic Brain Injury?
Depending on the way in which your brain injury was caused, you may be entitled to recover damages from your insurance company in Kansas City. If you were injured in a car accident, you could make a claim with your car insurance company for damages you sustained. In many cases, however, the compensation offered by insurance companies is not substantial, and you may need to file a lawsuit to recover extra compensation for long-lasting injuries.
If this is the case, or if you are unable to file a claim with an insurance company, you can file a brain injury lawsuit to recover compensation for the harm you have suffered. Brain injury claims work in the same way that a personal injury lawsuit does, provided that your harm was caused by someone else and that your case meets the requirements of negligence.
At Wendt Law, we strongly recommend that you speak with a Kansas City brain injury lawyer who is experienced in dealing with cases similar to yours. Although it is not required that you have a legal representative to file a lawsuit, it will increase your chances of winning your case substantially. Further, the amount of compensation you receive will most likely be a lot higher if you are backed by an experienced attorney.
It may be the case that your injury was caused by an assault, whereby the perpetrator is facing a criminal trial. Even if this is the case, you can still file a civil claim for your injuries that is separate from the criminal trial. This way, you can ensure that the victim is found guilty under criminal law for the harm they have caused you and that you get the compensation you are owed through a civil claim.
Proving Negligence in Kansas City
As noted above, brain injury cases follow the same negligence principles as all personal injury claims. When filing a brain injury claim on your behalf, an attorney must demonstrate the following:
- Duty of care – It must be shown that another party owed you a duty of care. This means that the other party had a reasonable obligation to keep you out of danger. This party could be the other driver in a car accident, for example.
- Negligence – There must be an element of negligence present, i.e. that the other party acted negligently or recklessly when exercising this duty of care. An example of negligent behavior could be drunk driving, failing to properly maintain sports equipment, or not providing workers with adequate safety gear.
- Causation – An attorney must then demonstrate that your injuries were directly caused by the other party’s negligence. So, if your brain injury was caused by a blow to the head sustained in a car accident with a drunk driver, the driver can be held liable for your injuries.
- Damages – Finally, you must have suffered damages to be able to recover financial compensation. Examples of damages could include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, or a loss of consortium.
Personal injury cases involving a brain injury can often be quite difficult to prove, particularly if you are unable to properly diagnose your injury. For this reason, we strongly encourage you to seek help from a Kansas City brain injury attorney who can help ensure that you get the compensation you deserve.
What Damages Can I Claim For an Acquired Brain Injury?
Like all personal injury cases, the damages you can claim for brain injuries depend on the level of harm you have suffered. Most mild brain injuries can be easily treated if the injured person was able to seek immediate medical attention.
However, many brain injuries that are left untreated get worse down the line, often leading to permanent damage or even death. This can result in a brain injury victim and their family having to pay substantial medical bills to ensure their recovery. In cases like this, the amount of compensation a victim can recover will be much higher.
Some damages that may be available to you through filing a brain injury lawsuit include:
- Medical bills – You can claim compensation to cover the cost of all medical care you have undergone due to your injuries, including costs of hospital appointments, prescription costs, future medical care, and transport to and from appointments. The lifetime costs of a patient receiving treatment for a TBI can range from $85,000 to $3 million.
- Lost wages – If you have been left unable to work due to your brain injuries, you can make a claim to cover the cost of any wages you have lost as a result, including any future potential wages.
- Pain and suffering – Brain injuries can be extremely traumatic, particularly if you have suffered permanent brain damage, or your life has been altered due to the injury. It is possible to recover non-economical damages to compensate for any emotional or physical distress you have suffered.
- Loss of consortium – In the devastating event that you have lost a loved one due to a traumatic brain injury, our law firm can help you file a claim to cover funeral costs and a loss of income to the family household.
Schedule a free consultation with one of our Kansas City brain injuries lawyers today to discuss what damages you can make a claim for.
Impacts a TBI Can Have on Your Life
TBIs are often “catastrophic injuries” in the eyes of the law in Kansas City. This means they have long-lasting or permanent effects on the victim. Many survivors living with traumatic brain injuries will tell you they impact every aspect of life. Patients with TBIs may or may not be able to improve their status, depending on the type of injury, its severity, and the treatments required. The impacts on their lives could include:
- Cognitive difficulties
- Developmental delays
- Trouble with speech or comprehension
- Impacts to senses, such as loss of vision
- Vertigo or problems balancing
- Motor skill dysfunction
- Neurological changes
- Psychological challenges
- Mood swings or behavioral changes
- Seizures or uncontrolled muscle movement
A traumatic brain injury can change your entire life. You might have to adapt to new levels of physical and mental abilities, as well as undergo months or years of therapies and rehabilitation. Modifications may need to be made to your home, vehicle, or job to accommodate a permanent disability. You may never be able to work again because of your limitations. If you’re someone living with a TBI, you deserve justice against the at-fault party. Contact Wendt Law Firm P.C. for more information.
What to Do After a Brain Injury Diagnosis in Kansas City
Brain injuries are often “catastrophic” in the eyes of the law, meaning they result in permanent disability. Victims of permanent injuries have the most power in the civil court system. The law often entitles them to significant compensation for lifelong medical costs, equipment, lost capacity to earn, and lost enjoyment of life. The long list of economic and non-economic damages surrounding many brain injuries means an opportunity for greater financial recovery.
Brain injuries don’t only come from blunt force trauma – they can also happen when something cuts off the oxygen supply to the brain. This type of brain injury, called brain hypoxia, can happen during a child’s birth, to a patient under anesthesia, or if someone drowns. Lack of oxygen to the brain can lead to permanent damage and death. After a doctor diagnoses you or a loved one with any type of brain injury, seek help from a Kansas City injury lawyer. The right law firm can maximize your compensation after an incident that caused or contributed to your brain injury.
Contact a Kansas City Brain Injury Lawyer Today
If you or someone you love has suffered a brain injury in Kansas City due to someone else’s negligence, you should contact our law office today. We know how stressful and traumatic a brain injury can be, often causing permanent and significant damage and in some cases, even the death of a loved one. We want to ensure that injured clients and their families get fair compensation for the harm they have suffered.
Our team of experienced attorneys has a proven track record in getting our clients the results they deserve, and we have built up a strong attorney-client relationship due to our hard work and dedication. Our Kansas City office offers a free consultation for you to discuss your case with a brain injury lawyer at no cost. We can help ensure that you get the financial recovery that you are owed.
Call us today at 816-542-6734 to schedule a free consultation with one of our Kansas City brain injury lawyers.