Head Injury Lawyer Hawaii

Brain Injury - the "silent epidemic"

According to the Brain Injury Association of America - each year, brain injury claims more than 50,000 lives and leaves more than 80,000 individuals with lifelong disabilities. The silent epidemic of head injuries with subtle brain injuries is illustrated best by a 1999 statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there currently are at least 5.3 million Americans living with a disability as a result of brain injury.

A head injury is often the result of a vehicle crash, a serious fall, a medical error or a sports injury. It has been said that every 21 seconds someone suffers a brain injury. The impact of a head injury can be devastating, but an attorney can help lessen the impact that the brain injury has on the lifestyle of the patient and his or her family, by helping to reduce the resulting financial strain.

Head Injury - Medical treatment

What parts of the brain the injuries have affected will determine what symptoms may appear. When an accident has not resulted in visible damage to the outside of a patient's head, there can still be extensive brain injury. A brain injury with no external damage to the head is often left untreated because the individual and his health care providers underestimate the impact of the injury. It can be important to have an MRI taken and other testing done in order to obtain an accurate diagnosis of a brain injury, even when the head itself does not display a visible wound.

All potential brain injury victims should seek proper medical evaluation from a doctor trained to recognize brain injury signs and symptoms. The brain injury symptoms are generally easiest to recognize in the days immediately following when a brain injury is been experienced. As the internal swelling and recent trauma to the brain have a chance to heal, the relationship between a specific trauma and brain injuries can be obscured. A brain injury will not always heal completely, and when it does not, it may leave residual effects on the cognitive functioning, the emotions, the personality and other basic functions. The sooner that a brain injury is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can begin to reduce the long term impact of the brain injury on the patient and to try to prevent further deterioration and recover any lost functioning.

Living with a Brain Injury

Patients who have experienced permanent brain injury symptoms can sometimes learn to retrain other parts of their brain in order to compensate for the lost functioning. Such compensation generally has the best results when the proper brain injury treatment is commenced shortly after the accident has occurred. Such brain injury treatment can be costly. Moreover, it comes at a time when the brain injury patient's family is already experiencing financial loss and emotional upheaval. When a brain injury limits the victim's ability to participate in work and social activities- the strain on the patient and the patient's family can be very challenging. In such circumstances obtaining the assistance of a competent brain injury attorney may help to ease the financial strain.

Spouses, children acting as caregivers and parents of those who have sustained a brain injury often find themselves overwhelmed with an ongoing need for information. Finding help can be a complicated and exhausting task. An experienced brain injury attorney can often help with these challenges as well.

The Deadline to File a Brain Injury Claim

alt= "Injury Lawyer Hawaii- Deadlines" align="right"> The deadline for filing most brain injury claims in court in Hawaii is two (2) years from the date when (a) the victim was exposed to the danger and (b) SOME injuries resulted therefrom. The time is NOT necessarily measured from when the brain injury actually becomes full-blown. It should be noted, however, that there are exceptions to this rule- for example, claims against the City and County of Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii and the various other Counties should probably be filed with the appropriate agency within six (6) months of the date of the accident. Claims against the State of Hawaii may have to be filed within two (2) years of the date of the accident - regardless of when or how the injury manifests itself. You must file your claims in court (or otherwise) prior to the expiration of such deadlines, or your claims may be lost — regardless of their merit. To be wise it is recommended that you immediately contact an attorney after an accident giving rise to a possible brain injury occurs. Please do not hesitate to :

Contact Brain Injury Lawyer Hawaii now for a free evaluation of your case.

For further information about brain injury, you may wish to:
Contact the Brain Injury Association of America for more information.

To confer with a brain injury attorney, please Contact Brain Injury Lawyer Hawaii now for a free evaluation of your case.