Concussion Injuries-An Overlooked Epidemic

Car accidents are known to be the #1 cause of concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries.

It is well known that more than 50% of the concussion injuries that happen in car accidents “fly under the radar” of our medical community.

It is well known that emergency doctors can’t reliably assess the victims of car accidents to determine whether they have sustained a concussion injury.

CONCUSSION INJURY CAR ACCIDENT LAWYERS MINNESOTA recognize this problem.  Many car accident victims have suffered a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury that has not been recognized by medical doctors. Bill Coughlin has successfully produced a $2.5 million jury verdict for the victim of a brain injury and several settlements of $900,000.00 for patients that left the emergency room without a concussion diagnosis, but were later determined to have a significant brain damage.

Concussion Injuries-A Potentially Severe Problem.

A concussion injury is a mild Traumatic Brain Injury. But there is nothing “mild” about its severe impact in terms of incidence and severity-in terms of lost function and total economics loss.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there are 1.4 million TBIs which result in hospital and emergency department visits every year. 50% “fly under the radar”, never seeking medical attention. That means that there were really more than 2.8 million, 75 to 90% of which fall into the mild category.

Yet, there is nothing mild about a “mild” TBI. That term is used in the medical literature to reference those TBIs that do not involve a skull fracture, a closed head injury without a hematoma or bleeding, and those that do not show positive organic damage on MRI or CT scanning.

Mild TBIs can often result in severe disability, including cognitive dysfunction, severe visual impairment, and severe balance and dizziness disorders. They can result in delayed major health problems, including delayed seizure disorders, Parkinson’s disease, early Alzheimers and dementia, and even infectious diseases.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury-Major Permanent Disability

A concussion injury is a mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) but there is nothing mild about its severe impact in terms of incidence and severity in terms of lost function and total economics loss. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there are 1.4 million TBIs which result in hospital and emergency department visits every year.  50% “fly under the radar”, never seeking medical attention. 75 to 90% of all TBIs fall into the mild category.

Yet, there is nothing mild about a “mild” TBI.  That term is used in the medical literature to reference those TBIs that do not involve a skull fracture, a closed head injury without a hematoma or bleeding, and those that do not show positive organic damage on MRI or CT scanning.

The Concussion Report of the US Department of Veterans Affairs reports that the long term consequences of concussion injuries are, in the majority of cases, more serious than with moderate to severe brain injuries!!!  Mild TBIs can often result in severe disability, including cognitive dysfunction, severe visual impairment, and severe balance and dizziness disorders.  They can result in delayed major health problems, including delayed seizure disorders, Parkinson’s disease, early Alzheimer’s and dementia, and even infectious diseases.

The most respected Neuropsychologist states that “there is no such thing as a complete recovery from a concussion injury.”  Respected studies reveal that the victims of a concussion injury are 3 times more likely to have a second concussion and the victims of a second concussion are 8 times more likely to have a third.

Concussions are a serious and overlooked problem.  60% of the clients of the Coughlin Law Firm who have been in a moderate to severe motor vehicle collision have suffered a concussion injury.  A high percentage of those cases have been overlooked by the by the medical community.   No wonder! The VA Concussion study determined that the symptoms of a concussion injury do not show up until 3-7 days after the trauma.