Whiplash Claims, Brain Injuries and Seat Belts

The most common of all compensation cases involving road accidents are for whiplash claims. Even at incredibly low speeds, two cars nudging each other can invoke whiplash in an individual.

With UK roads bursting at the seams from congestion, people racing to be someplace else 5 minutes ago and the unknown waiting around every turn even a short 5 minute journey to the shops can be a hazardous one to take sometimes. In the unfortunate event of a road accident happening what are the likely outcomes? We’ll hopefully any damage sustained is to the vehicle or vehicles involved in the road accident. Unfortunately, even at low speeds, injury, even serious injury, can happen to an individual.

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The most common of all compensation cases involving road accidents are for whiplash claims. Even at incredibly low speeds, two cars nudging each other can invoke whiplash in an individual. Take for example our head and brain are extremely vulnerable to receiving any type of heavy blow or knock and in the majority of road accidents when our head is whiplashed, even without striking any object, severe damage and brain injury can ensue.

Our brain is a complex area and although protected by our skull, delicate nerve cells within it are easily damaged by vigorous movement or shaking action. Once a moving head stops suddenly the brain continues its path and strikes the inner skull wall with damaging effect. If the head impacts with an object at force there may be fracturing to the skull and bone splinters can embed themselves within the brain causing internal bleeding and damage.

Wearing seat belts or safety belts in a car has been the law in the UK since 1967. It has saved an estimated 50,000 lives and possibly hundreds of thousands from serious injury since its introduction. In 1991, back-seat passengers must now belt-up as well. I’m sure we all have seen the television ads showing the effects of a back seat passenger being hurled forward and impacting with the back of the drivers head. Extremely Fatal.

At The Injury Lawyers we are experienced professionals in dealing with clients who are seeking compensation for Brain Injury Claims and also Whiplash Claims. Our help, however, comes after the unfortunate road accident. Enforcing all passengers in your vehicle to wear safety belts is common sense preventative action to keeping you, your family and friends safe on the roads.

By Paul Steven Published: 3/13/2008

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Brain Injuries - How Can You Be Affected?

An impact brain injury is a bang to the head that causes the brain to move within the skull and is assessed in different degrees of severity. What’s more if you are thinking of legal action related to this type of injury you will need to deal with a specialist brain injury lawyer in order to receive the maximum level of compensation possible.

A skull fracture is when the skull is broken or crushed due to impact. The damage can range from a simple linear fracture, which shouldn’t require surgery, to depressed and basilar factures that often lead to hospitalisation, surgery and observation. What’s more skull fractures can result in open head injuries or closed head injuries depending on the severity of the impact. Of course all of these fractures can be temporary, leaving no lasting brain damage, or can lead to lasting brain damage.

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Survivors and Treatment Providers:

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Personal Injury Lawsuits & Statute Limitations

About personal injury lawsuits. Defines statute of limitations which is dependent on who is the defendant - the government, business or person. Factors to consider in a personal injury lawsuit are negligence, strict liability and intentional wrong. Defined types of damages are compensatory damages (actual or estimated) or punitive damages.

Personal injury lawsuit’s statute of limitations vary from state to state and dependant on who is the defendant. This article delves into the elements involved in filing a personal injury lawsuit and the types thereof.

The purpose of personal injury law is to protect the victims of negligence, inaction, or recklessness of another individual. Personal injury law extends to a wide variety of cases which can include: dog bites, car/boat accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, defective products, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, nursing home abuse, and slip and fall injuries. Before you file a personal injury claim it is important to consult with a knowledgeable personal injury attorney who will be familiar with state specific regulations for filing and will help you understand your rights under the law.

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STATUE OF LIMITATIONS ON PERSONAL INJURY LAWSUITS

If you are contemplating filing a personal injury claim it is important to file in a timely manner. All claims are subject to statutes of limitations which will vary from state to state. The statute of limitations is the timeframe a plaintiff has to file for damages, and often this time period is from one to three years.

The only exception to the statute of limitations is when the plaintiff is filing for damages against the government. In this case, the statute of limitations is often reduced to thirty days up to one year after the injury. Typically, the statute of limitations begins on the day of the injury. If a dog bit you yesterday, then your statute of limitations began yesterday as well.

However, sometimes as is the case with certain medical malpractice and drug injury lawsuits, the cause of injury is not identified for weeks, months, or years afterwards. For example, a form of birth control has recently been linked to an increase in cancer among some women. The statute of limitations for those women affected by this side affect begins when their symptoms are linked to taking this drug, and not when they initially began taking the medication.

FILING A PERSONAL INJURY LAWSUIT

Prior to filing a personal injury claim, a plaintiff must always be able to prove that the person charged (the defendant) is legally responsible for the injury and that the injury suffered is truly the result of wrongdoing on the part of the defendant. In other words you cannot file a claim against a doctor who never treated you, nor can you seek damages for a broken leg you received while mountain biking from a doctor that treated you for gum disease.

There are several elements which may be helpful in establishing whether the person you are charging is actually responsible for your injury:

Negligence - the defendant failed to prevent your injury, and is therefore responsible for causing it. An example might be a horseback riding instructor who asks you to take your horse over a series of jumps without first warning you that the ground is muddy. If your horse slips and falls on you, perhaps resulting in a broken arm or debilitating back pain, your instructor may be deemed negligent and therefore responsible for your injury.

Strict Liability - this type of liability applies regardless of negligence, and is also known as product liability. If you use your electric razor as instructed in the owner’s manual and you get electrocuted or suffer cuts/bruises then the manufacturer of the razor may be held liable for your injury.

Intentional Wrong - civil claims for an intentional wrong may be filed in addition to criminal charges. Most often victims of sexual assault or other forms of abuse will file their personal injury claims based on intentional wrong.

TYPES OF DAMAGES FROM PERSONAL INJURY LAWSUITS

When seeking damages for a personal injury, your accident lawyer may pursue compensatory or punitive damages. In some cases a judge may award both types of damages depending on the severity and type of crime committed.

1) COMPENSATORY DAMAGES - ACTUAL OR ESTIMATED

Compensatory damages can be actual or estimated and are meant to reimburse the plaintiff a pre-determined monetary value.

(i) Actual values for compensatory damages can be calculated based on medical bills, lost wages, or money paid to repair damaged property from the accident (a boat or car, for example).

(ii) Estimated damages are calculated based on the pain and suffering endured by the plaintiff as a result of the accident. An indirect victim, such as a spouse, may also seek compensatory damages for lost wages to their spouse’s household contributions. Punitive damages are meant to punish the person responsible for the accident.

2) PUNITIVE DAMAGES

Punitive damages do not provide any monetary gain to the plaintiff.

If you feel that you are the victim of a personal injury it is important to consult an accident attorney as soon as possible. An accident attorney in Phoenix will offer much different advice than an accident attorney in Boston with regards to statutes of limitations and determining the at-fault party. Failure to file your claim in time and present proper evidence may cost you the case entirely and prevent you from filing for damages altogether.

Suffering from back pain?

Rocco Beatrice, CPA, MST, MBA, Award-winning trust & estate-planning expert
71 Commercial Street #150 Boston, MA 02109 tel: 508.429.0011 fax: 508.429.3034
Click here for more info: original article on the UltraTrust site Personal Injury Lawsuit, Irrevocable Trust, Asset Protection

By Rocco Beatrice Published: 8/16/2007

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Handling the Brain Injury Case

The most complex case a plaintiff’s lawyer can face is one where his client suffers a brain injury as a result of an accident. It is difficult because 9 out of 10 traumatic brain injury cases involve injuries that are not visible to ordinary people. So how will a jury believe that your client suffered a brain injury?

Obviously there are the straightforward brain injury cases where the plaintiff suffered a fracture to his or her skull and all experts agree that there was organic damage which is causing the plaintiff’s symptoms.

The problems lie in the case where the physical damage does not show up on CT scans or MRI’s. The plaintiff often looks normal, and this appearance can be terribly deceptive. He or she may speak well, and this is an even greater problem to overcome. But the brain, like an atom if broken or split, causes an explosion of misery and pain that is horrendous. When the brain is damaged, there is no tool available for the surgeon to come and fix it. We depend on nature and nurture and the ability to compensate.

Family and friends of the person who suffered a brain injury will feel the devastation sometimes as much or more than the injured party.

The overall objective for a lawyer in a brain injury case is to convince a jury that an organic injury has occurred, that it is permanent, and that it is the main reason for your client’s impairment.

As much has been written with respect to proving liability, economic loss and family loss related to a negligence case, this paper is only intended to cover aspects of preparing a brain injury case for trial.

Taking the Case

Agreeing to take a brain injury case is a dramatic investment for a lawyer in many ways.

Consider the following case:

Your client, Mrs. Reynolds, was a driver in a car accident that occurred on a relatively busy road. The accident occurred at night. Mrs. Reynolds was proceeding on a road when a van pulled out from a side road to make a left turn. Mrs. Reynolds slammed into the right front corner of the van as the driver of the van made his turn. Both drivers were seriously injured. When the ambulance arrived, Mrs. Reynolds was dazed but able to respond to verbal and physical stimuli. She scored 11 out of 15 on the Glascow Coma Scale for her loss of awareness. She was lucky to survive the accident.

The Initial Visit

When the client visits the lawyer for the first time, the lawyer usually has little or no information about the case. These first meetings are extremely important. Both the client and the lawyer have to like each other right away. Clients, for the most part, are not familiar with the intricacies of the legal system and don’t know the lawyer, so they are usually a little apprehensive and uneasy. The lawyer, being familiar with the system and cases like this one, should help put the client at ease.

During the interview, the lawyer thinks of two main issues in an accident case: liability and damages; whereas a client may be thinking of any number of things and is anxious just to tell the entire story. Therefore, the lawyer in an initial interview must be a good listener as well as a persuasive speaker.

Once mutual trust is established, the client and lawyer can work well together.

The client should get information from the lawyer such as:

"Have you handled cases like this before?" … "How many?"
"Are you familiar with the medical aspects of a case in which there is a brain injury?"
"Have you written any articles?"
"What references can be supplied?"

Finally, the lawyer should satisfy himself or herself that the client has a genuine injury by examining the most reliable evidence. It is essential to speak to the family members and friends closest to your client in order to find out how your client was before the accident. In brain injury cases, you will often hear that your client was high functioning before the collision and now is unable to concentrate in a busy environment. They may also tell you that your client is no longer the same person, lacks motivation and fatigues easily. Finally, you are told that your client’s personality has changed, gets frustrated easily and lacks confidence, traits rarely displayed before this accident.

Clients Dissatisfied with Prior Counsel

Many plaintiffs who have suffered traumatic brain injuries have unrealistic expectations regarding how their lawsuits should be handled or how they should eventually turn out. Most lawyers are contacted by brain injured plaintiffs who are dissatisfied with the legal counsel they have previously employed. The most common complaint heard is that the present lawyer doesn’t understand the client’s brain injury and the problems that flow from such an injury. Lawyers should be guarded in taking on these cases. The lawyer should, in most cases, get the client’s consent to discuss the case with the previous lawyer before agreeing to handle the case.

Acquiring Documentation

In building your case for trial, you must obtain all relevant records relating to your client’s accident. In brain injury cases, a lawyer will have to assemble massive amounts of documentation. Medical, employment, school and accident benefits documentation will comprise the bulk of such evidence.

From the outset, the lawyer must thoroughly investigate the facts surrounding the case. Obtaining a copy of the Motor Vehicle Accident Report and police field notes will provide a basic understanding of the factual circumstances surrounding the accident. If liability is an issue, an investigator will need to be retained to interview any witnesses, police and visit the accident scene to assist in accident reconstruction.

Evidence of Vehicular Damage

Whenever your client’s vehicle or the defendant’s vehicle is obviously damaged, photographs of the vehicle’s damage are powerful. Photos may have been taken by witnesses, newspapers, the client, family members, police or the insurance company for property loss insurance. Any obvious damage to the interior of the car caused by your client’s head should be demonstrated visually and discussed by every witness who can do so.

If there is no vehicular damage, a biomechanical engineer, supported by a reconstruction engineer’s estimate of speeds, can explain how the force of the collision can cause a brain injury notwithstanding minimal damage.

Photos of Injuries

Not surprisingly, jurors find it easier to believe the brain is injured if the head or face is injured. Not infrequently, there are very early photos available which record black eyes and cuts to the head. These photographs are important corroborative evidence which are especially effective when enlarged or when projected.

Later, when an expert is explaining the area of the brain which has been affected, it is persuasive to refer to the photograph and have the expert confirm that the affected part of the brain is in the general area to the laceration or bruising.

Ambulance Call Report

The first record to review is the Ambulance Call Report. If the Ambulance Call Report contains any evidence which demonstrates a brain injury, it presents demonstrative evidence which is objective. This evidence, once shared with a Court, will be important for describing your client’s condition shortly after the accident.

You may highlight a reference to disorientation or recording of a period of unconsciousness. Secondly, there may be a record of bruising or lacerations to the head. Finally, you will want to emphasize the Glasgow Coma Scale that supports your case.

Every expert who comments on your client’s injuries will refer to the Ambulance Call Report and this is why this document may be one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case.

Hospital Records

Next, the emergency records of the hospital where the client was taken must be carefully reviewed. The records will contain the initial history taken and nurses’ notes and assessments while at the hospital. Records that indicate a low Glasgow Coma Scale score or disorientation will help demonstrate the continuation of the injury at the hospital. Oftentimes a patient with an acquired brain injury may become violent or aggressive to the hospital staff, which can demonstrate a frontal lobe injury.

Hospital records can also be used to demonstrate the consistency of symptoms of your client. For example, if your client complains of headaches and the nurses’ notes reveal the same complaint, this can be compared to your client’s later complaints to other specialists.

Radiographic Evidence

From the time of a patient’s arrival at the ER through follow-up treatment, a wide variety of complicated testing can be done to help demonstrate the brain injury.

There are two types of neurological tests: those that examine the structure of the brain and those that examine the function of the brain. The CT scan and MRI look at the structure of the brain. The electroencephalogram (EEG), SPECT scan, PET scan and evoked studies examine the function of the brain.

MRI and CT Scans

The MRI and CT scan slice the brain radiographically into slabs. The MRI does this with magnetic fields while the CT scan uses x-rays. The MRI provides more detail than the CT scan. Hence, brain damage as seen on an MRI, as small as 1-2 mm in size, may escape detection by a CT scan. The CT scan is superior to the MRI in detecting fresh blood in and around the brain, while the MRI is better at detecting the remnants of old hemorrhaged blood, called hemosiderin. CT scans are often repeated to ensure that a brain injury is not becoming more extensive, usually in the early stages of ER treatment.

Being so very sensitive, the MRI commonly detects clinically silent (asymptomatic) "brain damage" in the normal population. For example, as we age it is common for myelin in the white matter to degenerate (myelin is a jacket of insulation around axons to help them conduct their electrical discharges quickly down the axon). An MRI can detect this myelin degeneration as white matter hyperintensities. The MRI is also sensitive to cerebral atrophy (shrinkage), another normal phenomenon as we age. Excessive numbers of white matter hyperintensities or excessive atrophy signal a possible neurologic illness or injury.

PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography)

PET scanning is based on the fact that the brain uses glucose for energy. By labeling a glucose molecule with a radioactive "tag" and then inhaling radioactive glucose and placing the patient’s head under a large geiger counter, one can identify abnormal areas of the brain that are underutilizing glucose. Because cyclotrons are needed to generate the radioactive gas, PET scanning is not widely available.

SPECT Scan (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography)

SPECT scanning is similar to PET scanning in that a radioactive chemical is administered intravenously to the patient, but the radioactive chemical remains in the bloodstream and does not enter the brain. As a result, the SPECT scan maps the brain’s vascular supply. Because damaged brain tissue normally shuts down its own blood supply, focal vascular defects on a SPECT scan are circumstantial evidence of brain damage. The advantage of a SPECT scan over a PET scan is it is readily available and is relatively cheap. Recent studies have demonstrated abnormal SPECT scans after head trauma when the CT and MRI were normal, suggesting that the SPECT scan is more sensitive to brain injury then either CT or MRI scans. Because the radioactive chemicals used in SPECT and PET scans are carried to all parts of the body by vascular tree, SPECT scans and PET scans are used judiciously in patients of reproductive age.

A Special Book for Caregivers, Survivors and Treatment Providers:

Obviously there are great limitations to medical science in revealing the intricacies of brain injury. As advocates we must not forget that most jurors will be relying on the evidence of the experts in making their decisions regarding the case. Most jurors will be learning about brain injury for the first time. The lawyer must remind the jurors through expert testimony that although science has come a long way, it is still in its primitive stages. Thus, more reliance can be placed on the lay witnesses who describe how the plaintiff has changed.

Referral to an Expert for an Evaluation

While the plaintiff has probably seen a number of experts since his or her accident, there are often occasions where the plaintiff has not seen the appropriate medical care provider. For this reason it may become necessary for solicitors to refer their clients to additional experts for further clinical evaluation.

Oftentimes while proving that your client’s injuries are caused from an acquired brain injury, a lawyer will retain a neuropsychologist. Test results are open to interpretation and debate. If the client moves about normally, speaks articulately and looks perfectly healthy in the structured environment of the courtroom you can expect the defence experts to disagree with your experts.

Other experts will be retained who are not part of the medical treatment team, some of which may include vocational experts, life care planners and even economists.

Discovery

Before a case goes to trial, the lawyers for both parties know not only the case but also the other side’s position on all the issues. The system is designed to prevent surprises. In the discovery phase, a lawyer will ask questions under oath of the adverse party. This form of oral testimony provides both the plaintiff and defendant with the clearest view of anticipated trial evidence. The views of the deponents become "locked down" and difficult to alter later during trial.

With a brain injured client is important to remind them that all question put to them are assumed answered as if they have a complete and accurate recollection of the evidence. Often the opposite is true. The lawyer representing a brain injured client must take ample time in advance to prepare their client for this examination so that the evidence is not misconstrued.

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