Our Michigan brain injury lawyers recently settled an Ann Arbor auto accident lawsuit.  Our client suffered head and spinal injuries and was unable to return to her full time work due to the accident.  The motor vehicle accident involved a truck losing control during a snowfall and rear-ending our client’s vehicle.  The lawsuit settled for damages and injuries suffered by our client. She still continues to suffer from chronic pain and neuropsychological deficits.

If you or a family member suffer brain injuries due to a motor vehicle accident you should contact our office immediately to discuss your legal rights. In Michigan there are statute of limitaions when filing a lawsuit so it is important that you contact a Michigan car accident attorney immediately after the accident so that you do not lose your claim due to time limiations. Call our office now at (800) 606-1717 to speak with an auto accident lawyer about your case.

Finding the best lawyer for your brain injury case may be the most important decision that you make.   The simple fact is that not all personal injury lawyers have the necessary expertise to represent a client who has suffered a traumatic brain injury.  To successfully represent a brain injured client, it is essential for a lawyer to have thorough understanding of the medicine and science behind brain injuries.  This is the only way to understand how the course of a brain injury victim’s life has been altered and how it has affected the family of the victim.  It is also the only way to attack and defeat the “hired gun” experts that will be hand-picked by the insurance company to defeat a brain injury claim.

A brain injury is any injury that results in brain cell death and loss of function.  A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an external trauma to the head or violent movement of the head, such as from a fall, car crash or being shaken.  In fact, car accidents cause about 30% of the traumatic brain injuries in Michigan.

TBI is complex and unpredictable in its outcomes. Serious injury can occur without obvious physical disabilities. Both mild and severe TBI can result in lifelong impairments – requiring long-term care services.  In cases involving motor vehicle accidents, the brain injury victim is entitled to significant benefits under the Michigan No-Fault Laws.  These include lifetime medical expenses, attendant care services, lost wages, and even housing accommodations.

Our lawyers are members of the Michigan Brain Injury Association and the Michigan Brain Injury Provider’s Council.  We work closely with the team of doctors and specialists treating our brain injured clients so that we can best assist the client in their recovery efforts and to ensure that the client receives the best possible settlement in his or her brain injury case.

Not all lawyers do this, which can be a major mistake when it comes to assessing and evaluating a client’s case for settlement.  Without understanding the full impact of the injuries on a client’s life and how it will affect them in the future, a lawyer simply cannot provide the best representation to the client.

The Role Of The Psychiatrist In Treating Closed Head Injury

A victim of a traumatic brain injury or closed head injury often has a team of medical specialists to assist  in the recovery and rehabilitation.  Each member of the team has a different background, specialty, and purpose and it is the teamwork between them all that works best for the patient.

A psychiatrist is a physician (MD or DO) who is a specialist in treating mental illnesses, which could either be a result of genetic factors or an outcome of a trauma or accident. In the event of a closed head injury or a traumatic brain injury, the most inevitable outcome is impairment of the victim’s mental and cognitive faculties. The primary function of the psychiatrist is to diagnose and treat such impairments. The other specialty involved closely with the treatment of closed head injuries is the neurologist, who essentially handles the damages affecting physical abilities like seizures, etc. None of these physicians work independently. They work as a team.

There can be several sub categories of specialization amongst psychiatrists; some specialize in child psychology while others focuses on treating adult mental disorders. Some may even focus their practice on various types of addictions. As far as the psychiatrist treating a patient of traumatic brain injury is concerned, he relies on the test results provided by the neuro-psychologist, before he can give his recommendations for treatment.  His treatment may include medication in conjunction with counseling and therapy which play adjunctive roles. All these combined, help in the diagnosis, treatment and speedy recovery of the patient.

In the event of a lawsuit filed by the victim or his family a psychiatrist plays an even more important role. He usually provides the jury a detailed analysis of the closedhead injury and how it has affected the various critical faculties of his patient. He also narrates his own perspective of the expected outcome of the trauma and how it is likely to affect the patient for life. Such analyses are critical with regard to the final figure of claim settlement of a brain-injured patient.

Michigan brain injury victims are often entitled to attendant care services during their period of recovery if they suffered a work related injury or an auto related injury.  The responsibile insurance company must pay the expense of either a professional staffing agency or an individual selected by the patient for these services.  To qualify for these benefits, a physician must determine that attendant care services are necessary for the patient.

In an accident arising out of a motor vehicle, the responsible No-Fault Insurance Company pays for these benefits.  Typically, attendant care services are needed to supervise the patient, monitor the patient, assist with medications, and to report back to physicians on the patient.  Attendant care services are often required for 24 hours a day for many months after the accident and then lesser amounts after that period.

Insurance companies often refuse to pay these benefits or substantially underpay the proper rate to the attendant care provider.  In these cases, it is necessary to hire an experienced lawyer to file a lawsuit against the insurance company to compel proper payment.  Our law firm has significant experience in these cases and has an excellent track record of success in winning these cases for our brain injured clients.

Understanding Focal Brain Injuries

Michigan brain injury lawyers frequently represent clients who have focal brain injuries injuries.  A detailed knowledge and understanding of those injuries, their treatment, and their affect on the client is essential to achieving the best possible settlement for the injured client.

Why do focal brain injuries happen?

There is a difference between focal and diffuse brain injuries. While the former is limited to a specific region of the brain, the diffused version is spread over the entire cranial area. Focal brain injury can be caused due to trauma caused due to a critical blow to the head, or when the individual is a victim of a grievous and brutal assault. A bullet injury or a dangerous fall could also be reasons behind focal injuries to the brain. It has been seen that there is usually a severe damage of brain tissues at the position where the impact is most.

The varieties of focal brain injuries

Focal brain injuries can be broadly classified into two categories: open and closed. While the open injury happens when broken pieces of the skull hits the tissues of the brain, the closed variety occurs when the skull is broken and the pieces press against the brain. There are some simultaneous medical conditions that happen in such situations. For example, contusion is a condition that happens when the brain tissues are damaged or battered due to the trauma. Internal bleeding within the skull area is called intracranial hemorrhage, the more popular name for which is hematoma. Post trauma bleeding can either happen within the domain of the skull but outside the brain or sometimes it can also happen inside the brain.

How can you know that there has been a focal brain injury?

There is a wide range of signs and symptoms of a focal brain injury. Essentially the symptoms vary according to the location of the brain damage. If for instance, the speech controlling area gets damaged due to an injury, the faculty of speech of the victim would be impaired, again depending on the extent of the damage caused by the trauma. Any focal brain injury can be categorized according to the severity: mild, moderate and severe. The final outcome of the injury would largely depend on the degree of severity of the trauma that the brain has suffered.