The Law Offices of Mauro Fiore, Jr. fights for the rights of people who have suffered a brain injury in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California. Even when helmets are worn, motorcyclists are still particularly susceptible to head and brain injuries from collisions and other accidents, and attorney Mauro Fiore, Jr. works to see that accident victims are fairly compensated for these permanent injuries and life-long disabilities.
Types of Motorcycle Accident Injuries
A sudden physical force or impact to the head can cause a traumatic brain injury(TBI). Any forceful collision with an automobile, bus, or truck puts a motorcyclist at risk for serious head injury. Brain damage could occur from a front, side, or rear-end collision, although impact with another vehicle is not required. Motorcyclists who are forced off the road or into a skid run the risk of a serious head injury through impact with the hard road surface.
Concussions are a type of brain injury from motorcycle accidents that may be caused by a blow or jolt to the head. A concussion may be mild or severe; it may involve the loss of consciousness, or symptoms may not appear for days or even weeks. If you have received a blow to the head, be on the lookout for the following signs that you may have a concussion. If these symptoms appear, seek immediate medical treatment:
- Persistent headache or neck pain
- Dizziness
- Problems balancing
- Light-headedness
- Nausea
- A ringing in the ears
- Difficulty concentrating
- Blurred vision
- Changes in mood or sleep patterns
Treatment and Rehabilitation
Emergency treatment focuses on saving the patient’s life and stopping bleeding inside the head, usually through surgery, so that further diagnostic analysis may be made. In the acute care phase, follow-up surgeries may be required to remove bone fragments or release pressure from the buildup of fluids which may be pressing on the brain. Through acute care, doctors will attempt to repair the damage as much as possible and hopefully prevent further damage from occurring.
Next, the patient may be transferred to a neurological unit in the hospital for further monitoring, or to a rehabilitation wing or specialty hospital for a lengthy period of rehabilitation. Although brain damage itself is irreversible, much function which is initially lost may be recovered through a combination of therapies.
A medical doctor who specializes in pain management and rehabilitative care, known as a physiatrist, leads a team of specialists and providers and oversees the patient’s rehabilitation. Physical, speech, and occupational therapists may be involved, as well as neuropsychologists and social workers. With their help, a patient can learn new skills and adaptive strategies for accomplishing daily living functions, as well as improving motor and cognitive functioning and learning how to cope with new difficulties as they arise.
Depending upon the extent of the injury and the success of rehabilitation, the patient may be released to home or to a residential nursing facility. Even if released to home, the patient will likely continue to need services, either home-based, at a therapist’s office, or at a day treatment center. An experienced personal injury lawyer who is familiar with the needs of TBI patients can assist the client in obtaining a life care plan, which is a sort of road map of the patient’s future needs for health care and other costs associated with living with TBI.
Trying the TBI Case
Cases involving TBI cannot be handled like a typical personal injury lawsuit. The medical issues involved require a lawyer who is experienced in handling this type of case. For instance, obtaining the correct diagnosis and prognosis are essential to determining the value of the case and identifying how much the plaintiff should recover. The initial injury and acute treatment phase may not reveal the true extent of the injury. Further diagnostic tests may be required, including functional MRIs, CT or CAT scans, EEGs, SPECT and PET scans. Some of these tests may not initially be covered by health insurance without the assistance of an aggressive advocate in your corner.
In addition to the neurologic testing described above, a battery of neuropsychological testing by a qualified neuropsychologist may be necessary to determine the impact of the TBI on cognition, mood, memory, and intelligence. A neuropsychologist is a licensed psychologist with specific expertise in the relationship between behavior and ability and specific areas and structures of the brain. The timing of neuropsychological testing is critical to obtaining a proper evaluation. Early testing and over-testing can result in an improper diagnosis regarding the nature of the injury. It is therefore important that an experienced attorney be consulted in conjunction with further diagnostic testing that may be necessary.
Contact Los Angeles Motorcycle Accident Law Firm
Attorney Mauro Fiore, Jr. has been helping accident victims put their lives back in order for over thirty years. If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury, contact The Law Offices of Mauro Fiore, Jr. to get started on the road to recovery.