One of the most misunderstood and undercompensated, and even uncompensated, medical conditions in personal injury cases is concussion. Concussion is also known as mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), but the effects are often anything but mild. Concussion and MTBI commonly occur as the result of a blow to the head in a motor vehicle collision. The brain in injured as it is shaken inside the skull.
There has been a lot of talk about concussion lately, especially in the sports communities where autopsies of football, soccer and rugby players have recently and commonly revealed chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease, which has been associated with concussions and MTBI which was first seen in boxers many years ago. Cognitive deficits and suicide in athletes (and war veterans) have been linked to concussion and MTBI. Unfortunately, we are just beginning to realize that concussions occur much more frequently and are more dangerous than many people believe and we still have a long way to go before we can effectively understand and treat concussion. You can learn more about concussion here.
The initial effects of concussion and MTBI following a motor vehicle collision or other traumatic event are often felt immediately, but not always. Contrary to most jurors perceptions, a loss of consciousness is not required to suffer a concussion. Symptoms can develop and evolve over days or even weeks. Nausea, dizziness, lack of concentration, memory problems, personality changes and sleep disturbances are all associated with concussion.
It is important to know that approximately 15% of MTBI victims never recover. The problem for the personal injury victim is that there are no imaging scans which will identify a concussion. Neuropsychologists can perform tests which identify cognitive changes, but neurologists who treat those symptoms can only do so much. There is no single treatment that has been shown to be effective. The only alternative for many of these unfortunate folks is to learn symptom management techniques and coping skills, but they will never be the same.
The challenge for the personal injury lawyer before a jury is to bring life to what is a largely invisible injury, the nature of which the jury can’t see and may not understand. Compounding the problem is that many MTBI victims appear perfectly normal, leading jurors to question their credibility and motivations. Nonetheless, those injuries can have devastating effects on a victim’s daily function, relationships, job and lifestyle. Unless a lawyer is familiar with the medical literature related to concussion and MTBI and is able to properly develop the complexities of the concussion/MTBI case, his or her client will never recover what is necessary to make them whole.
