Each year, millions of Americans are treated for Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). In fact, TBI is the leading cause of death among those 45 or younger. TBI can be caused by direct head trauma but can also be caused by severe shaking or whiplash from a car accident. More recently it was discovered that exposure to explosive charges– like soldiers serving in the Iraq war have been exposed to—can cause brain damage when pressure from an explosion moves through the body and causes damage to the brain cells.
While many people show signs of TBI, it is common for people who suffer from brain damage to not show any outward symptoms, as there may be no bleeding or loss of consciousness. To add to the complication of diagnosing TBI is the fact that MRIs fail to detect 15% of TBIs, however, more research is being conducted as a result of the number of soldiers coming back from Iraq with brain injury. Many times, the success of civil lawsuits relating to TBI depends on the quality of the medical expert retained to testify about the plaintiff's brain trauma. The attorneys at Hurley, McKenna & Mertz, P.C. have a long history of pursuing difficult cases on behalf of average citizens who were injured due to no fault of their own.