Have You Sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury?

When TBI (traumatic brain injury) patients need long-term care, what options are available, and how can TBI patients and their families afford that care? If your own traumatic brain injury is the result of another person’s recklessness or negligence, a Texas personal injury lawyer can help.

Anyone in the State of Texas who has sustained a traumatic brain injury may have a number of long-term care options to help with the recovery from the behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical effects of the injury.

After a TBI patient’s initial condition has been stabilized, access to follow-up and rehabilitation services becomes imperative. However, according to the National Academy of Sciences, the current TBI long-term care and rehabilitation system cannot be accessed by many TBI patients.

What is the Goal of Long-Term TBI Care?

While immediate traumatic brain injury care focuses on sustaining life and preventing any additional damage to the brain, long-term TBI care is aimed at optimizing a patient’s day-to-day functioning and the patient’s ability to return to living in his or her home and community.

Long-term traumatic brain injury treatment also seeks to reduce post-TBI complications and any negative interactions between a traumatic brain injury’s long-term effects and any comorbidities that the patient may have.

Research studies have indicated that initiating TBI rehabilitation as quickly as possible usually leads to substantial improvements in function, but many traumatic brain injury patients who begin rehabilitation therapy later may still make remarkable recovery progress.

How Does Long-Term TBI Care Begin?

For those who begin their TBI care with hospital-based treatment, long-term rehabilitation may start almost at once. Subsequent stages of long-term TBI care may involve different types of facilities, including inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, nursing homes, and residential care.

Patients who have the most serious traumatic brain injuries may be referred to long-term hospital care or to an inpatient rehabilitation facility, followed up by support services that allow traumatic brain injury patients to return home or to transfer to a residential care facility or nursing home.

What Are the Different Types of Long-Term TBI Care?

TBI patients who return home may receive in-home care or additional outpatient rehabilitation. For traumatic brain injury patients who begin their long-term care without hospital-based treatment, the extent and types of long-term care that may be available vary considerably.

Types of rehabilitation may include speech-language pathology services, cognitive rehabilitation, occupational or physical therapy, oculomotor and vestibular rehabilitation, cervical strain treatment, treatment for specific symptoms, and counseling for psychological concerns.

While many patients with concussions or “mild” traumatic brain injuries may fully recover with no rehabilitation, most TBI patients benefit from some amount of long-term care. Again, timing is crucial. Early evaluation and early access to specialized care usually mean a better recovery.

Can You Afford Long-Term TBI Care?

The many options for long-term care after a traumatic brain injury ensure the best possible recovery for the patients who can afford those options. Health insurance coverage is one factor that will determine whether a TBI patient receives the long-term care that he or she needs.

But even with health insurance, traumatic brain injury patients and their families may struggle with enormous costs over the course of a lifetime. However, if your traumatic brain injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, a Texas TBI attorney can help you deal with those costs.

Should You File a Personal Injury Claim?

If your TBI lawyer can demonstrate that another party caused the accident that injured you, you may recover compensation from that party (or that party’s insurance company) for pending and projected medical bills, your lost wages and projected future lost wages, and related damages.

You may have sustained a TBI due to another person’s recklessness or negligence in a traffic crash. Traffic collisions are the number one cause of TBI in the United States. You may have been injured on private property because a property owner was negligent, or you may even have been injured in an incident of medical malpractice.

If your Texas personal injury lawyer can prove that another party is liable for the accident that caused your traumatic brain injury, your personal injury claim will prevail, and you will receive the compensation that you are entitled to by Texas law.

Will Your TBI Case Go to Trial?

Most traumatic brain injury claims are resolved with privately negotiated, out-of-court settlement agreements, but if the liability for your brain injury is contested or no acceptable settlement is offered during the private negotiations, your Texas TBI attorney will take your claim to trial.

At a TBI trial, your lawyer will explain to a jury exactly how (and how severely) you were injured and how the at-fault party was reckless or negligent and responsible for the injury. Your TBI lawyer will then ask the jurors to order the at-fault party to compensate you.

When Should You Contact a TBI Attorney?

In Texas personal injury cases, the statute of limitations (meaning the deadline) for bringing a personal injury claim arising from a brain injury is two years. Exceptions to this deadline are extremely narrow.

The two-year clock usually starts when the injury happens, but if your injury is latent or hard to detect, the two-year period begins when the injury is discovered.

Don’t wait two years. Over time, evidence in these cases may deteriorate or disappear, and the memories of witnesses begin to fade. Contact a personal injury attorney as soon as you have been examined and you have received initial or emergency treatment for a traumatic brain injury.

Mike Massey Law Fights for TBI Patients and Their Families

Texas TBI lawyers represent their clients on a contingent fee basis. An attorney at Mike Massey Law will review your TBI case with no obligation or cost. If you proceed with an injury claim, you’ll owe no lawyer’s fee to Mike Massey Law unless and until we recover your compensation.

At Mike Massey Law, our goal is to resolve your injury claim quickly and smoothly and to win the best possible result on your behalf – out of court or at a TBI trial.

After a traumatic brain injury or any injury caused by another party’s recklessness or negligence, call Mike Massey Law immediately – in Austin at 512-400-4430 or in Houston at 713-489-7360 – to discuss your rights and options or to begin the personal injury process.