TBI Lawyer gives brain injury prevention tips, so Michigan drivers can protect themselves from the “silent epidemic”

There are 1.4 million people across the country who sustain a traumatic brain injury every year.

About 50,000 people die from brain injury.

Another 235,000 are hospitalized annually.

And 1.1 million people are treated and released from hospital emergency rooms.

These statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are startling, and show how pervasive this “silent epidemic” can be.  But what the CDC  cannot count is the number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency room, or who receive no care.

Michigan TBI lawyer says ERs and doctors frequently miss head injuries, lists signs so you can protect yourself

It’s a sobering fact: Emergency rooms will miss up to 85 percent of traumatic brain injuries after a person has been in a car accident. Our TBI lawyers have witnessed cases where a catastrophically brain-injured person literally walked away after a car crash, without even an ambulance or ER visit, only to become permanently disabled with a brain injury.

What happens when Michigan no-fault law and real-life medicine conflict?

Our attorneys tell people that the law in Michigan is black and white: Anyone injured in a car accident must provide information as to the nature or type of injury to his auto insurance company within one year, or the insurance company can deny payment for medical bills and other no-fault benefits (MCL 500.3145(1)).

It’s very easy to comply with a one-year notice provision when there is a physical injury like a broken arm - after all, it hurts immediately and upon X-ray, it’s either there or it isn’t. Notice for a tangible injury like this on an application for benefits to an auto insurance company can be easily made.

A reader recently wrote in after reading my blog on the Dirtiest Insurance Company Trick of All. “Phil” stated that in the very serious car accident case I had written about, Farm Bureau Insurance company had every right to deliberately mislead the jury (I assume Phil is not a claims adjuster who works for Farm Bureau).

Actually, I really appreciate Phil’s comments and I am sure there are many people feel the same way as he does. That’s why I decided to re-post his comment and my response as today’s blog.

On Tuesday, I blogged about a 60 Minutes news report stating that athletes who have concussions (even minor ones), can go on to have permanent brain injury and dementia. Today I’m writing a continuation of that post, hoping to help traumatic brain injury attorneys entrusted with the immense responsibility of showing what futures may hold for auto accident victims.

The 60 Minutes show was based on a study of the long-term effects of TBI, particularly concussions, in athletes. And Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist at Boston University School of Medicine, told the show she’s been working on a new area of brain research that’s provided physiological proof of brain disease in athletes who have suffered concussions.

Several news reports, including most recently the television show 60 Minutes, state that athletes who have concussions, even ones that are considered minor, can go on to have permanent brain injury and dementia later in life. These new studies may provide important help for traumatic brain injury attorneys entrusted with the responsibility of showing what futures may hold for car accident victims.

The Dishonest Defense Argument about Brain Injury

The 60 Minutes show was based on a study of the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury (particularly concussions) in athletes. This story highlights a problem that TBI attorneys and brain injured victims see far too often: Defense lawyers and insurance companies saying these injuries “look too good” to be a problem for a jury to take seriously.

As an attorney specializing in serious car and truck accidents, I would estimate approximately 50 percent of my cases involve a traumatic brain injury component. TBI is something that I and the other lawyers here feel strongly about, which is why we often speak at seminars and lawyer education programs around Michigan and the country, helping people who have suffered traumatic brain injury after an accident. Many people with TBI are ignored or receive poor follow-up care, and many attorneys simply do not understand the underlying medicine to be able to properly protect them.

As a no-fault insurance lawyer, I have seen many, many dishonest tactics insurance companies employ to avoid paying benefits to very injured car accident victims. But this is by far, one of the most appalling. In the published Michigan Court of Appeals case Roberts v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, Farmers Insurance unilaterally scheduled a mandatory insurance medical examination (also known as an IME), for a child with a traumatic brain injury. The insurance company did this without first checking to see if the appointment date and time would conflict with the child’s working and indigent mother’s schedule.

Traumatic brain injury lawyer Steve Gursten will be speaking at the Michigan Association for Justice TBI Seminar on August 31 in West Bloomfield, Mich. His topic is, “The Disabling Brain Injury Most Lawyers Miss.”

Steve is a member of the American Association for Justice Traumatic Brian Injury Group and lectures on TBI throughout the country. He was recently invited to become the first Michigan traumatic brain injury lawyer to serve on the legal committee for the Sarah Jane Brain Project.

During my trucking webcast for the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America yesterday, one truck accident lawyer asked if I could provide a link to the Philadelphia Head Injury Questionnaire.

This is a valuable tool the lawyers in my office use to help identify clients who may have suffered traumatic brain injury after automobile crashes. I’ve included the Philadelphia Head Injury Questionnaire here. As I said yesterday, it is crucially important that truck accident lawyers ask questions about traumatic brain injury, and identify symptoms of brain injury that are often missed early on by so many.