Brain injuries can happen in a blink of an eye – whether it’s a car accident, motorcycle accident, pedestrian accident, etc. In many cases, the extent of these injuries is not immediately apparent. Symptoms can take time to show themselves, and the long-term implications are not always clear.
If you (or someone you love) has experienced a brain injury due to an accident, you need to understand how these injuries can impact long-term wellbeing. This analysis determines how much brain injury cases are worth.
At Midwest Injury Lawyers, our personal injury attorneys have been providing legal support to brain injury victims across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin for many years. Our goal in each case is to examine the full extent of the injury and make sure victims get the settlements they deserve – and not a penny less.
In this post, we’ll look at the long-term effects of brain injuries and how you can calculate the future damages in your case.
What Are the Long-Term Effects of Brain Injuries?
Brain injuries vary in severity. The most common types of brain injuries include:
- Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) – typically caused by an external force, such as a blow to the head.
- Concussion – common in sports injuries, concussions are a milder brain injury that can lead to headaches, dizziness, and cognitive difficulties.
- Brain contusions and hematomas – occur when the brain bruises or bleeds due to trauma.
The long-term effects depend on the area of the brain affected during the accident. Even mild concussions can lead to persistent issues, like headaches, sleep disturbances, visual problems, or sensitivity to light. More serious brain injuries may result in lifelong complications, like motor skills disabilities, seizures, or neurodegenerative disorders.
Some of the most common long-term effects of brain injuries include:
Cognitive Changes
Studies from the National Library of Medicine report that around 65 percent of patients who experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) suffer from long-term problems in cognitive function. Many victims experience difficulties with memory, concentration, and decision-making. Tasks that were once simple, such as planning or following instructions, become a daily struggle.
In more severe injuries, these issues can result in a permanent disability.
Endocrine and Hormonal Dysfunction
Brain injuries, which commonly affect the hypothalamus or pituitary gland, can result in hormonal imbalances. Victims may experience growth problems, sexual dysfunction, irregular menstruation, fatigue, or changes in metabolism.
In many cases, these endocrine disorders can require long-term medical management.
Emotional and Behavioral Changes
Brain injuries may also result cause victims to experience mood swings, anxiety, depression, and/or irritability. These changes can make it difficult to maintain relationships or return to work, which adds a layer of complexity to calculating future damages in brain injury cases.
Why Future Damages Matter in a Traumatic Brain Injury Claim
When someone sustains a head injury, the costs usually extend far beyond just medical bills and ongoing treatment. Future damages are calculated to account for the long-term financial, emotional, and physical effects that the injury will have on a person’s life.
Some victims may have to cope with loss of earning capacity, permanent care, and ongoing rehabilitation. Fortunately, these damages are relatively straightforward to calculate.
Other damages are more subjective. For instance, if daily routines become more difficult, relationships get strained, and the victim can no longer enjoy the activities they did before the incident, their quality of life can be greatly reduced.
These damages are categorized into two groups: economic and non-economic.
Economic Impacts in Brain Injury Cases
If a severe brain injury makes it impossible for a victim to perform their job – or return to performing at their previous level – the result can be a loss of income. This can create substantial lifelong financial hardships.
Any future medical care or assistance adds to the overall cost of the injury.
Economic damages generally include:
- Medical bills
- Future medical care (estimates from medical professionals)
- Rehabilitation
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earning potential
When you hire a Chicago brain injury attorney, they will work with you, medical professionals, and financial experts to add up/place a total value on your economic damages – which will be factored into your brain injury claim.
Non-Economic Impact
The emotional, physical, and psychological toll of a brain injury can be just as damaging as the financial losses. Many impacts of brain injuries do not have invoices, estimates, or pay stubs associated with them. Future non-economic damages can be tough to quantify – and more difficult to negotiate for in brain injury lawsuits.
These damages include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional anguish
- Reduced quality of life
- Strained relationships
- Difficulty performing daily activities
When pursuing compensation for brain injury damages, attorneys commonly use the “multiplier method” to quantify non-economic damages, which works like this:
- You rank the severity of your non-economic damages on a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the most severe.
- You and your Chicago brain injury lawyer add up all your economic damages.
- You and your lawyer “multiply” the severity of your non-economic damages by the total amount of economic damages.
Example: Your economic damages (medical costs, lost wages, loss of future earning potential, etc.) add up to $500,000. You rated the severity of your future non-economic damages a “4”. This would place a value of $2,000,000 on your non-economic damages.
The Role of a Brain Injury Lawyer in Calculating Future Damages
A brain injury lawyer in Chicago plays a key role in calculating and negotiating for the future damages in a brain injury case. They work with the respective parties to gather the necessary medical documentation, work with experts, and present a strong case for the compensation you deserve.
Understanding the Long Term Effects of Your Brain Injury
In the initial meetings with a Chicago brain injury attorney, the goal is to gauge how your traumatic brain injury occurred, the severity, and the potential damages – both currently and in the future. They may ask about your medical needs, problems with daily life, and general outlook for the future.
From here, the attorney may direct you to medical professionals and other experts to get a more concrete understanding of the severity of your injury.
Gathering Expert Opinions
To properly calculate future damages, a traumatic brain injury lawyer can collaborate with medical professionals, economists, and vocational experts to determine both the immediate and future severity of your injury.
These experts will help estimate future medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, and the overall impact of the injury on the person’s life. Their professional insights will be used in the personal injury claim as a negotiating tool to earn the maximum traumatic brain injury settlement.
Negotiating for Rightful Compensation
Once all present and future damages are calculated, the lawyer will work to present a comprehensive case to the liable insurance company. From here, there will be a negotiation process between you (and your attorney) and the liable insurance company.
This is THE most important reason to hire a Chicago brain injury attorney.
In most cases, insurance companies start by countering with a low, insufficient settlement. Keep in mind, these are big businesses obligated to maximize their bottom line. When victims choose to negotiate with insurance companies without an experienced brain injury attorney, they usually end up with low settlement that doesn’t cover future damages.
Brain injury lawyers work diligently and aggressively to negotiate for the settlement you deserve – so you can focus on recovering.
The Next Step
The long-term effects of head injuries can be extremely severe – even if it’s a mild traumatic brain injury. Additionally, calculating future damages in brain injury cases one of the most important aspects of the legal process. The depth of these damages tends to be more extensive than many victims assume.
When you work with brain injury attorney, they are trained to exhaust every resource to make sure each damage you endure is accounted in brain injury cases.
If you’ve suffered a brain injury in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin due to someone else’s negligence, the attorneys are Midwest Injury Lawyers are on your side. We work closely with you, medical experts, financial analysts, and other experts to build your claim – and negotiate for every dollar you are owed.
Brain injury lawsuits are challenging, but with the help of a skilled lawyer, you can make sure your case reflects the full impact of the injury on your life. If you are wondering what to do next after suffering a brain injury, schedule a FREE consultation with our team to understand your legal options.