Considered some of the most serious injuries a person can sustain, brain injuries are life-changing in many ways. Whether being unable to return to work, requiring lifelong medical care, or other related situations, victims of these injuries and their families face a world they never expected to encounter. Unfortunately, the majority of brain injuries occur due to the carelessness and negligence of others. In many cases, these injuries occur in hospitals, where patients are supposed to be safe while being treated by well-trained healthcare professionals.
Common Types of Brain Injuries
While most people are familiar with traumatic brain injuries that occur when a person’s head is subjected to a hard hit, many are less familiar with anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries. In the case of an anoxic brain injury, a person’s brain receives no oxygen. However, when a hypoxic brain injury occurs, the brain receives some oxygen, but not enough to keep it from being damaged. In many situations where patients suffer brain injuries, it is either an anoxic or hypoxic brain injury that is due to the negligence or carelessness of hospital personnel.
What Type of Damage Occurs?
When these injuries happen, the results can be devastating for patients and their families. In many cases, victims are comatose for days or perhaps even weeks, and in more serious cases may be in a permanent vegetative state, which can potentially last for decades. When these situations arise, families may be dealing with difficult decisions regarding how to pay for long-term care, what type of care will be needed, and how they should go on with their lives. Because of this, it is crucial to hire the services of an experienced brain injury attorney to help gain the financial compensation needed to move forward.
Brain Damage Symptoms
To properly diagnose brain damage of any kind, doctors and other healthcare professionals should know to look for various signs and symptoms. Some of the most common include headaches, confusion, decreased attention span, personality changes, and lapses in consciousness. If any of these are present, a doctor should immediately order such tests as a CT scan, MRI, and EEG. Unfortunately, the longer a doctor delays in ordering the proper tests for a patient, the more brain cells die, increasing the chances of permanent brain damage.
Medical Negligence Contributing to Injuries
When a patient suffers an anoxic or hypoxic brain injury, it is usually due to one or more types of medical negligence. One of the most common involves anesthesia errors, where a patient is subjected to an over-administration of drugs during the anesthesia process. Along with this, other examples include a delay in proper intubation, poor monitoring by nurses that fails to notice oxygen deprivation, and delays during a C-Section that leads to a baby having its oxygen cut off for a period of time.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
While anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries generally happen within the confines of a hospital, traumatic brain injuries generally take place elsewhere. These injuries can occur when a person is involved in a car accident, suffers a slip and fall accident that has them striking their head on a hard surface, or being hit in the head while participating in such sports as football, hockey, or soccer. Whatever the case may be, if these injuries are not properly diagnosed and treated as soon as possible, the damage sustained by the brain can be debilitating and permanent.
TBI and Medical Negligence
Even though these injuries usually take place outside a hospital, the negligence and carelessness of doctors and other medical personnel can make an already bad situation much worse. Just as with anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries, such negligence as anesthesia errors, poor monitoring by nurses, and delays in intubation can worsen TBI. But along with these acts of negligence, other factors can also come into play. For example, brain tumors that are not properly diagnosed, incorrect surgical incisions into the brain, and mistakes in cardiac monitoring during surgery can also lead to or worsen TBI.
Seeking Damages
Since these injuries can almost always be prevented by medical personnel simply giving patients the standard of care they deserve and expect, it is important victims and their families be properly compensated when these life-altering injuries take place. Since victims often need 24/7 care for decades, can no longer work, and are unable to enjoy most if not all of their previous activities, gaining compensation for these damages will lessen the terrible burden that has now been placed on victims and family members.
Consult an Attorney
If a loved one has sustained a brain injury due to medical negligence, speak with a Chicago birth injury lawyer at the Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyers immediately. Rather than suffer in vain, let an experienced and knowledgeable attorney help you gain the compensation you so rightly deserve.