Traumatic Brain Injury

The human brain is as complex and mysterious as it is powerful. Scientists are constantly making discoveries that completely change our understanding of how our brains manage our senses, emotions and thoughts.

As the brain is the center of every single move that our body makes, every single thought that crosses our consciousness and every single function that keeps us alive, its importance cannot be overstated. This is why an injury to the brain can simply devastate the life of a victim, his family, and his loved ones.

The complexities of the brain make it a particularly difficult organ to fix. Where a heart or spinal surgeon might be able to diagnose and repair an injury or defect with relative ease, an injury to the brain is a different matter altogether. Two people might suffer a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in the exact same area and be affected in two entirely different ways. While most other injuries to the human body can be healed, damage to the brain can have effects that are permanent.

The Numbers

According to the Brain Injury Association of America, approximately 1.4 million Americans suffer from TBI’s every year. Of these victims, 50,000 die while 235,000 are hospitalized for an extended period.

Falls are the leading cause of TBI's, which account for 28%. Car accidents account for 20%. In 1995, the direct medical costs and other factors such as lost productivity were estimated to cost $56 billion. One can only assume that the price has since increased.

The Damage and the Consequences

TBI victims often have their lives irrevocably changed, and simply slipping back into the life that they knew before the accident is not an option. How can a truck driver expect to return to his job if he has difficulty judging spatial relations? How can a preschool teacher return to work when she finds it increasingly difficult to maintain emotional control? A TBI can effectively ruin not only the life of the victim, but also the lives of the victim's family members.

Injuries to the Frontal Lobe

Due to its close proximity to bony protrusions of the skull, the frontal lobe of the brain is especially susceptible to damage. A frontal lobe injury can adversely affect voluntary motor functions. The pre-motor cortex stores movement patterns, and an injury to this area can result in inhibition of movement or a total inability to move a limb.

Injuries to the Temporal Lobe

Temporal lobe damage often affects both auditory and visual perception, as well as language comprehension and behavioral function.

Injuries to the Limbic System

TBI’s to the limbic system have a tendency to cause moderate to severe emotional changes to the victim and can also affect olfactory functions.

Injuries to the Parietal Lobe

The parietal lobe is crucial to sensory input and body orientation. An injury to this area can cause an inability to recognize certain sounds or smells and can even cause the victim to be unable to use certain body parts effectively.

Injuries to the Occipital Lobe

Visual reception would be impossible without the occipital lobe. Damage to this area can cause difficulties in recognizing spatial relations or depth perception. Such damage could cause any number of visual impairments, ranging from outright blindness to seeing flashes of light.

The consequences of these injuries are very real. One of the many tragedies of a brain injury is that the damage isn’t immediately obvious to the observer. An injury victim who has lost a limb or must be confined to a wheelchair can expect immediate recognition of his or her disabilities. Victims of TBI's cannot expect the same treatment.

In fact, TBI victims are often shortchanged by their insurers, usually under the assumption that because the injuries aren’t immediately obvious, the victim is somehow “faking it” in order to receive more money.

Richard Serpe: Experience for Complex Cases

Accurately describing the extent and consequences of a brain injury is a crucial part of making sure that the victim receives fair treatment. An attorney that can present the complexities of a TBI in such a way that a judge, jury or arbitrator can easily understand them can be the difference between fair and decent treatment for the victim, or having his present and future needs utterly ignored.

Richard Serpe has spent the majority of his distinguished career making the complex understandable. By conferring with some of America’s most distinguished experts in brain function and physiology, he is able to bring the suffering of the victim into sharp focus. Using his experience and command of the law, he has brought justice and fair treatment to the injured of Virginia. And if you or a loved one is suffering from the after effects of a Traumatic Brain Injury, you can be certain that your case will be handled with the respect, dedication and urgency that it deserves.

Contact Richard Serpe for a free case assessment today.

---

Library for Traumatic Brain Injury:

• Traumatic Brain Injury – What You Need to Know   
  Description: Few things are more chilling than finding out that you or someone you love is suffering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI). According to the Brain Injury Association of America, of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States 50,000 die, 235,000 are hospitalized, and 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department. Sometimes a brain injury is easy for doctors to diagnose, other times diagnosis eludes medical professionals, even though patients and their families know something is wrong.
• Traumatic Brain Injuries: Why Experience Counts   
  Description: Virginia attorney brings an important element to brain injury cases: Experience.

---

Web Resources for Traumatic Brain Injury:

• Brain Injury Association of Virginia

  Description: The Brain Injury Association of Virginia (BIAV) has positively impacted programs and services for people with brain injury and their families, and are the primary source of information and personal support for thousands of individuals, families and professionals living in Virginia whose lives have been touched by a life-altering, often devastating, brain injury.

• Brain Injury Association of America

  Description: Founded in 1980, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is the leading national organization serving and representing individuals, families and professionals who are touched by a life-altering, often devastating, traumatic brain injury (TBI).

• Traumatic Brain Injury: Hope Through Research

  Description: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  National Institutes of Health (NINDS) provides education and resourses for all types of neurological disorders including traumatic brain injury. Hope Through Research is a booklet published by NINDS contains a wealth of information on just such disorders/injurys.

• BRAIN TRAUMA FOUNDATION RECEIVED A $4.6 MILLION AWARD FROM

  Description: The Brain Trauma Foundation was founded to improve the outcome of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients by developing best practice guidelines, conducting clinical research and educating medical personnel. The group recevied a $4.6 million award from the Department of Defense to lead the development of technology that would detect traumatic brain injury in soilders. The focus of this research is the development of an eyetracking device that will detect traumatic brain injury. The eye-tracking device will detect changes in brain attention in combat soldiers almost immediately allowing medical personnel to quickly diagnose servicemen who may have been suffered traumatic brain injury. The occurance this type of injury for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated between 10 and 22% in the 1.5 million soldiers deployed however the actual number may
  be much greater higher since mild brain injury is often not diagnosed.

• Scientists have found that the human brain stores trauma in a special way which makes treatment difficult.

  Description: Emotional memories of traumatic life events such as accidents, war experiences or serious illnesses are stored in a particularly robust way by the brain. This renders effective treatment very difficult.