What Kinds of Damages Are Available After a TBI Injury?
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)1 can be very costly for victims. If you suffered a TBI due to the negligence of another party, you have the legal right to seek damages2 for all of your related losses. The following are examples of types of losses requested in TBI cases:
Medical bills
Medical expenses following a traumatic brain injury can be overwhelming for a victim and their family. Every TBI is different and treatment will depend on the severity and nature of the damage to the brain tissue. Expenses may be for the following:
- Emergency trauma care
- MRIs and other tests
- Stabilization of brain swelling
- Hospitalization
- Visits to a neurologist or other specialists
- Rehabilitative therapy
- Assisted living or home health care
As you can imagine, the bills for all of these treatments can add up and can cause financial issues for a TBI victims. Fortunately, medical bills are generally the most common form of damages recovered in a TBI case.
In addition to medical expenses incurred prior to filing a legal claim, some TBI victims require ongoing care for many years following the case and sometimes even for the rest of their lives. Victims of negligence deserve to recover for the estimated cost of future treatment, as well. Such estimations often require the assistance of a medical expert and can involve large amounts of money.
Lost wages
Victims of a traumatic brain injury often require a significant amount of rest in order to fully recover. Returning to regular activities too early can impede recovery and may even put victims at risk of dangerous repeat brain injuries. For this reason, TBI victims often must miss at least some work during their recovery time. If you miss work due to a brain injury, you deserve to recover all of the lost wages that you would have earned had you been able to go to work. Pay statements and similar financial documents can demonstrate the amount of income you lost due to your TBI.
Some severe TBI victims are never able to return to their previous jobs as they will no longer have the brain function to perform their job tasks. If they are able to work at all, the opportunities may be limited to lower-paying or part-time jobs. In such cases, the victim may seek damages for all future earnings they have lost due to the injury. “Earnings” can include wages, bonuses, overtime, benefits, retirement savings, and more for the rest of an individual’s work life capacity. This calculation must also take into account economic conditions, inflation, and more and requires the help of a financial expert.
Pain and suffering
Pain and suffering are not a tangible, quantifiable losses like lost wages or medical expenses. Instead, this is known as noneconomic damages and determining when you can recover this type of damages under Florida tort law3 can be complicated. In order for pain and suffering damages to be available, a victim typically has to suffer one of the following:
- Permanent or significant loss of important bodily functioning (such as brain function)
- Permanent injury
- Permanent or significant disfigurement or scarring
For this reason, pain and suffering damages are generally available in cases involving more severe TBI.
Emotional distress
Traumatic brain injuries can cause many challenges and limitations for victims. Both the injury itself and the limitations caused can result in serious emotional issues, as well. Victims of serious injury due to negligence can often recover for emotional distress caused by the injury and the treatment needed for the emotional issues. There is no set formula to determine emotional injuries, however, so you always want an attorney who understands how to seek this type of damages.
Find out how a skilled traumatic brain injury attorney in Clearwater can help you today
Whether you have relatively minor losses from a TBI or your past and future losses may reach into the millions, do not hesitate to call a brain injury lawyer at the Dolman Law Group for help. We offer free consultations, so please contact us at 727-451-6900 for assistance today.
Dolman Law Group
800 North Belcher Road
Clearwater, FL 33756
727-451-6900
https://www.dolmanlaw.com/legal-services/brain-injury-attorneys/
References:
1http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/tbi.htm
2https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Damages
3http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0768/0768PARTIIContentsIndex.html
