Brain Injury | Akron Brain Injury | Traumatic Brain Injury | TBI | Brain Injury Lawyer

The number one cause of head injury and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Akron, Ohio is motor vehicle accidents, including car wrecks, truck crashes, and motorcycle wipe outs.  With a population exceeding 207,216 people, Akron residents drive thousands of miles every day over state highways. When there are lots of people on the highways at the same time driving to work or to Akron’s nearby colleges including University of Akron, Brown Mackie College, Akron Institute of Herzing University, Walsh University: Akron Campus, there is a high likelihood of the types of automobile accidents that cause head injury and TBI.

In Summit County and the surrounding counties of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Portage, Stark, Wayne, and Medina, the most common driver mistakes involve speeding, distracted driving, changing lanes, and driving drunk or high.  If you or a loved one sustains a brain injury in an accident on the Akron highways, or as a result of a construction accident, slip and fall, medical malpractice, blast or explosion, or other serious accident, you will need an experienced Akron brain injury lawyer to help you recover the compensation you deserve.

Traumatic Brain Injury

The human brain is far more complex than any computer ever will be.  It is the center of thought, learning, speech, creativity, spirituality, emotions, behavior, joy, sorrow, movement, and it controls all five senses. For these reasons, any injury to the brain is especially serious.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is usually broken down into three classifications:

1. Severe
2. Moderate
3. Mild

Moderate to severe brain injury can cause coma, persistent vegetative state, and death.  Even mild brain injuries may cause short or long term impairment, disability, and inability to function or work. Other consequences of mild, moderate, and severe TBI are depression, increased risk of suicide, divorce, violence, chronic unemployment, economic strain, and drug or alcohol abuse.

Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys — Understanding, Compassionate & Knowledgeable

An experienced Akron brain injury attorney has the working knowledge to get the right doctors to evaluate and treat your traumatic brain injuries. TBI can be the result of a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, dangerous drugs, medical malpractice, slip & falls, construction accidents, work accidents, trip & falls, lack of oxygen during surgeries, drowning events, complications at birth, shaken baby syndrome, whiplash, or exposure to blasts, explosions, or toxic or hazardous chemicals like lead, mercury, or manganese. Unfortunately, brain tissue is so tender that almost any serious event can damage it and cause life-long effects. Akron brain injury lawyers are experienced and sensitive to your situation, and can help guide you and your family to achieve the best possible legal outcome following a traumatic brain injury.

Main Classifications of Brain Injury: Open Head Injury & Closed Head Injury

An open head injury happens when an object fractures or passes through the hard bones of the skull and enters the brain tissue. A closed head injury can result when the head hits an object; is violently shaken (shaken baby syndrome), or when there is no impact to the head at all but the brain moves rapidly forward and backward inside the skull (whiplash, coup-contrecoup injury). In a closed head injury, no object must penetrate the skull or cause a skull fracture to damage the brain tissue. Open head injuries are generally obvious and much easier to diagnose than closed head injuries, particularly mild ones. Please see our page about diagnosing brain injuries for more information.

Chronic Pain and Brain Atrophy

People who do not have a direct injury to the brain in the beginning, but instead, have been diagnosed with chronic pain or chronic pain syndrome for at least six (6) months, which could be caused by an illness, a serious car accident, or some other serious accident, may develop brain atrophy. Brain atrophy is a shrinking of the brain's gray matter of up to eleven (11) percent. Atrophy can be shown on an MRA (Magnetic Resonance Angiography) or MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). Atrophy from chronic pain is a new area of brain science, and an Akron personal injury lawyer will have information for clients who have experienced chronic pain for more than six (6) months. In years past, the science did not assist an Akron personal injury attorney in proving that a work-related back injury could lead to brain changes; today, however, the science is there to support such a claim, but without a knowledgeable Akron brain injury attorney, it would be nearly impossible to prove this yourself.

Head Injury & TBI Physical Results

Why Should You Retain an Akron Brain Injury Lawyer?

Akron brain injury claims are complex and demanding, no matter whether the injury is mild or severe. The medical issues are complicated and require personal injury attorneys to have extensive knowledge, specifically in traumatic brain injury litigation. An experienced Akron personal injury lawyer who has handled brain injury victims' cases in the past knows how to discover whether or not you may have a brain injury from your accident. He/she will ask if you are experiencing headaches, loss of memory, dizziness, confusion, and other symptoms indicative of brain injury or brain damage. Please see our brain injury symptoms page for a complete list of symptoms.

An Akron Brain Injury Lawyer Can Help You Now

An Akron brain trauma attorney's responsibility is to assist in finding competent personnel to diagnose and treat your traumatic brain injury. Thorough investigation and documentation of your life before your traumatic brain injury are critical to convince an insurance adjuster, judge, or jury that your traumatic brain injury and the effect it has had on your life are real. An Akron brain injury lawyer can overcome many defenses and arguments to TBI raised by a defense team, which will try to deny you adequate compensation for your brain injury.

What Can I Try to Recover as Damages in Court for Traumatic Brain Injury?

When someone else is at fault for your brain injury from an accident or medical malpractice caused by negligence or breach of a standard of care, an Akron brain injury lawyer is ready to help you recover past and future medical treatment and rehabilitation costs, lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish damages, and, where appropriate, punitive damages. An Akron brain injury lawyer may also assist a brain injury victim's family recover for the effect their loved one's brain injury has had on them. Ask an Akron brain injury lawyer if you qualify to receive compensation for mental anguish caused by witnessing the accident as a bystander or if you have suffered your own loss of the victim's companionship, consortium, services, love, and affection.

Akron Brain Injury Lawyers File in Summit County

It is important to hire a qualified Akron brain injury lawyer who knows personal injury negligence and medical malpractice laws. Filing your lawsuit in the proper venue, such as the Summit County Civil Courts at Law, or the Summit County District Courts is important because it is these courts that carry that award high compensation. Just some examples of District Courts in Summit County are:

Summit County Court of Common Pleas
Summit County Courthouse, 209 South High Street
Akron, OH 44308
(330) 643-2219

Akron Municipal Court
Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center
217 South High Street, Akron, OH 44308
(330) 375-2120

View a complete list of courts that serve Akron and Summit County.
 

Joint Commission Accredited Home Health Care Providers

Victims of traumatic brain injury often require care at home. These Akron area home health care providers have been accredited by The Joint Commission: 

See additional accredited home health care providers on the Open Head Injury page.

Brain Injury Lawyers and Brain Trauma Attorneys Serve Akron and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Ohio, including Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Barberton, Bath, Brunswick, Canton, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Diamond, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Green, Hudson, Kent, Lakewood, Lodi, Mantua Corners, Massillon, Medina, North Canton, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oberlin, Orrville,  Paris, Parma, Shaker Heights, Shalerville, Solon, Stow, Strongsville, Warren, Westlake, Wooster, and other communities in Summit County.

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the Greater Akron area, Summit County, or a surrounding area, you could be entitled to compensation, whether the cause was negligence or breach of a standard of care. Act now and hire a qualified Akron brain injury lawyer to represent you!

Akron Brain Injury Lawyer & Akron Brain Trauma Attorney

Sometimes an accident is unavoidable. Unfortunately, all too often, Akron accidents are caused by someone else’s negligence. Reckless driving, employers’ failure to provide for their employees’ safety, and doctors' substandard care are examples of negligence that can lead to a traumatic brain injury. If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to the negligence someone else, you could be entitled to compensation.

Akron Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers Know Exactly What Type of Negligence to Plead and Prove for Your Case

A knowledgeable and experienced Akron brain injury lawyer can guide you compassionately through the legal process to obtain financial compensation for medical and other expenses that have resulted from your injury. It does not matter if your injury occurred offshore or on land, whether it happened at work or off the job, whether it happened in Akron or whether it happened outside of Akron, each experienced lawyer will know what damages apply to your situation as well as whether Ohio law will apply or whether another states' law is applicable to your case. If your accident occurred in Ohio and your case is brought in Summit County, Ohio the available damages for compensation will include various elements of damage.

These damages could include compensation for expenses like: 

• Hospitalization
• Lifetime medical care
• Home caregivers
• Loss of wages and/or loss of earning capacity into the future
• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Loss of consortium
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Disfigurement

An Akron Brain Injury Attorney Will Explain Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawsuits

Families dealing with a catastrophic traumatic brain injury have many decisions to make about medical care, rehabilitation, therapy, and how to pay for it. If the brain injury resulted from an accident that someone else caused, then you and your family will also have to decide whether to consider filing a claim against the person or persons at fault. An Akron traumatic brain injury attorney can help you understand your options.

You can file two types of lawsuits in a brain injury case: personal injury and wrongful death. Usually the person who gets hurt files the lawsuit. Your family may be able to file for you if are not able to do so. If a brain injury victim dies, the victim’s family can file a wrongful death suit seeking compensation for lost wages, hospitalization, and funeral expenses. The family may also seek a financial award for pain and suffering and mental anguish.

The amount of compensation for the victim and the victim's family depends on the severity of the injury and the effect the brain injury has on the victim's life. If the person or company being sued has insurance, then settlements or court awards have a high chance of actually being paid. However, victims of traumatic brain injury and their families must be aware that they will not receive the total amount of the damage award; attorneys' fees, court expenses, and medical expenses will also be paid from this amount. Still, recovery might be significant and an Akron Brain Injury Lawyer can help you maximize the recovery you get for your injuries.

What Are Contingency Fees?

Talk to a brain injury lawyer who handles traumatic brain injury cases about whether he or she will work on a contingency fee basis – this means that the attorney will keep a percentage of the recovery instead of charging you an hourly rate or a flat rate for their services. This is beneficial for most injury victims, as they will have to pay nothing for the attorney's services up front and will also pay nothing unless the attorney wins monetary damages on their behalf. As for the percentage of the contingency fee, you should speak to the attorney in advance to make sure it is a suitable amount for both of you. An experienced brain injury lawyer will make a full assessment before taking your case.

Typical expenses incurred during a TBI lawsuit include:

• Fees for independent medical experts
• Fees for damage experts
• Fees for court expenses
• Costs of interviewing all the witnesses

How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit After Sustaining My Injury?

Each state has a limited period of time in which you may file a lawsuit after your brain injury or other type of personal injury occurs. This period of time is called a statute of limitations, except in Louisiana where it is called a prescriptive period. A qualified Akron brain injury attorney will guide you through all the rules that apply to your case and point out any possible bars to your recovery. Even if you feel that you are not ready to file suit, it is in your best interests to consult a qualified Akron brain injury lawyer as soon as you can so you will know your options.

Medical Equipment and Scooters

If you or a loved one needs medical equipment for your home or a motorized scooter following a traumatic brain injury, please consider calling these businesses accredited by The Joint Commission.

Brain Injury Lawyers and Brain Trauma Attorneys Serve Akron and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Ohio, including Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Barberton, Bath, Brunswick, Canton, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Diamond, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Green, Hudson, Kent, Lakewood, Lodi, Mantua Corners, Massillon, Medina, North Canton, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oberlin, Orrville,  Paris, Parma, Shaker Heights, Shalerville, Solon, Stow, Strongsville, Warren, Westlake, Wooster, and other communities in Summit County.

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the Greater Akron area, Summit County, or a surrounding area, you could be entitled to compensation, whether the cause was negligence or breach of a standard of care. Act now and hire a qualified Akron brain injury lawyer to represent you!

Brain Injury Symptoms | Akron Brain Injury Attorneys | TBI Lawyers

If not properly treated, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can progress after a head injury, causing further damage, disability, impairment, or death. Symptoms of a TBI may not appear until days or weeks following the initial head injury.

Akron doctors often fail to pick up the presence of TBI in people who do not lose consciousness after a blow to the head or other accident causing head trauma. Studies have shown that complete loss of consciousness for a long period of time is not a necessary symptom of TBI. TBI can occur when unconsciousness is brief, lasting seconds to minutes, and when there is no loss of consciousness at all, but merely a short period of feeling dazed or confused. If you were involved in an Akron accident and the immediate injury was to another part of your body, then you generally will not complain about your head, making it harder for doctors to know to examine that part of your body too. However, after you leave the emergency room, other symptoms may appear, including dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, problems with concentration, attention, memory, language, or speech, and fatigue, irritability, or inability to control emotions. Inability to sleep, depression, and anxiety also are common in those who have suffered a brain injury.

Physical symptoms of traumatic brain injury include:

• headache
• nausea
• dizziness
• slurred speech
• vomiting
• pupils that do not react to light or are of unequal size

  Severe Injury Symptoms:

• loss of consciousness
• coma
• seizures
• minimally conscious state

Severe head injuries are very serious because they can result in a permanent vegetative state or death. Immediate medical attention is critical when these symptoms appear and you should call your Akron emergency response team and your physician immediately.

Cognitive Symptoms:  Cognitive symptoms include confusion, and problems with memory, thinking, concentration, or attention. Problems thinking and processing information, as well as difficulties with appropriate social interaction can have long term consequences in the daily lives of people with moderate to severe TBI. Fortunately, these conditions typically improve with targeted rehabilitation.

Psychological:  Traumatic brain injury victims may suffer from diminished self-esteem, chronic depression (dysthymia), panic attacks, personality changes, emotional instability, anger, and anxiety. All of these symptoms can make rehabilitation and return to employment more difficult.

Behavioral:  Traumatic brain injury can cause behavioral or mood changes including inability to control anger, impulsiveness, inappropriate sexual activity, changes in social behavior, and inability to use good judgment. Over 60% of persons with TBI have a decreased ability to identify, understand, process, and describe emotions.

Psychiatric:  TBI may cause a victim to be more likely to have psychiatric problems such as obsessive compulsive disorder, alcohol or substance abuse or dependence, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, phobias, panic disorder, and schizophrenia.

An Akron brain injury lawyer will go beyond the medical records to learn directly from the victim what happened and how his or her life has changed since the head injury. An experienced Akron brain injury attorney will conduct a thorough interview and ask potential clients about these symptoms of brain injury:
 

An Akron brain injury attorney will help you find competent medical professionals to diagnose and treat the head injury if you have any one or a combination of the above brain injury symptoms.

Contact an Akron, Summit County Ohio Brain Injury & Accident Lawyer Today

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Ohio, including Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Barberton, Bath, Brunswick, Canton, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Diamond, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Green, Hudson, Kent, Lakewood, Lodi, Mantua Corners, Massillon, Medina, North Canton, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oberlin, Orrville,  Paris, Parma, Shaker Heights, Shalerville, Solon, Stow, Strongsville, Warren, Westlake, Wooster, and other communities in Summit County.

Call now to speak with an experienced Akron brain injury attorney and rest assured that your brain injury claim will be handled with skill and care.

Akron Brain Injury Resources - Medical & Legal Resources

Always remember that in the case of a medical emergency call: 9-1-1

General City of Akron Resources

City of Akron
www.ci.akron.oh.us

Akron Office of Veterans Affairs - 801B W. 8th Street Suite 126, Cincinnati, OH 45203 - (513) 763-3500
www.va.gov/landing2_locations.htm

Akron Police Department - 217 S. High Street, Akron, OH 44308 - (330) 375-2552
publicsafety.ci.akron.oh.us/police

Akron Fire Department - (330) 375-2411 - Non-Emergency  911 Emergency
www.ci.akron.oh.us/fire.html

Akron Online Law Library - (330) 972-7330
www.uakron.edu/law/library

City of Akron Mayor's Office - (330) 375-2345
/www.ci.akron.oh.us/mayor/index.htm

City and State Health Services Resources

Ohio Department of State Health Services
246 N High Street, Columbus, OH  43215
(614) 466-1390
www.odh.ohio.gov

Wilmington Department of Health & Human Services
6751 Steger Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45237
(513) 679-2700
www.hhs.gov/about/regions/fdacer.html

For the State Services Helpline: Call 3-1-1

Social Security Resources in Akron Count  y

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY
2nd Floor, 2 S Main Street, Akron, OH 44308
(800) 772-1213

FAMILY AID PROJECT
4177 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43213
(866) 592-0733

Brain Injury Survivors Resources

Brain Injury Association of Ohio
www.biaoh.org

Brain Injury Association of America
www.biausa.org

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/index.html

Other Legal Resources

If for some reason the attorneys on this site are unable to meet your particular legal need, please refer to the Akron, OH Brain Injury Lawyers at HG.org, Akron, OH Personal Injury Attorneys at Getlegal.com and Summit County Personal Injury Lawyers at Justia.com online legal directories.

Summit County Civil Courts | Ohio Civil Courts of Appeal | Federal Trial & Appellate Courts

Civil Courts in Akron — Summit County, Ohio
  in which a Personal Injury Lawyer would file a personal injury lawsuit

If you live in Akron and want to file a lawsuit, your Akron Personal Injury Lawyer will know in which of these courts your case should be filed.

If your claim is worth more than $15,000 then you will file here:

CIVIL COURTS:

If your claim is worth less than $15,000 you will file here

Summit County Civil Courts:

Akron Municipal Court serves the cities of Akron and Fairlawn; the townships of Bath, Richfield and Springfield; the Villages of Lakemore and Richfield; and that part of Mogadore in Summit County, Ohio.
 

Claims against the State of Ohio may be made here:

If there was a Wrongful Death and Survivorship lawsuit and there was an Estate proceeding established in the Summit County Probate Courts, then your Akron Accident lawyer could file it in:

PROBATE COURTS:

If you are seeking an appeal from a civil case, it will be filed in one of these appellate courts:

STATE INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURTS:

If you want to appeal an appellate decision you will file a writ of certiorari here:

FINAL APPELLATE:

The Supreme Court of Ohio
65 South Front Street
Columbus, OH 43215-3431
(614) 387-9000

If your civil suit involves a person who lives out-of-state, or if there is diversity or a “federal question,” then a personal injury lawsuit can be filed in:

United States District Court - Northern District of Ohio - Eastern Division

JUDGES:

If you wished to appeal from one of the trial courts in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio - Southern Division, you would appeal to the Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

540 Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse
100 East Fifth Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
(513) 564-7000

The Judges in the Sixth Circuit are:

If you wished to appeal from the 6th Circuit, you would file a Writ of Certiorari with:

The United States Supreme Court
Washington, D.C.

Contact information for the Supreme Court of the United States and its Justices:

Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys Serve Akron and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Ohio, including Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Barberton, Bath, Brunswick, Canton, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Diamond, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Green, Hudson, Kent, Lakewood, Lodi, Mantua Corners, Massillon, Medina, North Canton, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oberlin, Orrville,  Paris, Parma, Shaker Heights, Shalerville, Solon, Stow, Strongsville, Warren, Westlake, Wooster, and other communities in Summit County.

Akron Brain Injury Lawyers are experienced trial lawyers and can represent you in federal and state courts throughout the Greater Akron area. Contact an Akron Brain Injury Lawyer today for a FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION.

Closed Head Injury | Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer | TBI Closed Head Attorney

Closed Head Traumatic Brain Injury

A closed head injury is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) where the hard bones of the skull do not break. This is in contrast to an open head injury (also known as a penetrating injury or perforating injury), which is caused when objects such as bullets, knives, nails, drill bits, hammers, high-velocity debris from explosions, or bone fragments from the skull are driven into or pass through the skull and damage brain tissue.

A closed head injury can result when the head hits an object, is violently shaken (shaken baby syndrome), or when there is no impact to the head at all but the brain moves rapidly forward and backward inside the skull (whiplash, coup-contrecoup injury). In a closed head injury, the object does not have to penetrate the skull or cause a skull fracture to damage the brain tissue.

Types of Closed Head Injuries

•   Concussion - A person who suffers a concussion has a head injury with no structural or physical damage to the brain. He or she may not even lose consciousness. Headache, amnesia (loss of memory), and confusion can be subtle and might not appear right away. When they do come, concussion symptoms can last for days, weeks, or even longer. The amnesia almost always causes the person not to remember the blow that caused the concussion. 

When a young person receives a second concussion before healing from an earlier concussion, he may be at risk for developing a very rare but deadly condition called “second-impact syndrome.” In second impact syndrome, the brain swells catastrophically after even a mild blow, sometimes causing disability or death.

•   Contusion - A contusion is a bruise. A cerebral contusion is a TBI caused by a blow to the head. Contusions happen often in coup contre-coup injuries. In a coup injury, the brain directly under the area of impact is injured. In a contre-coup injury, the area on the opposite side of the impact is injured.

Mild contusions may get better by themselves. In other cases, the bruising may cause swelling and microhemorrhages, or small blood vessel leaks. Microhemorrhages (multiple petechial hemorrhages or multifocal hemorrhagic contusion) may increase intracranial pressure inside the skull that may crush and damage delicate brain tissue. Swelling is usually worst around four to six days after the injury and may require surgery to relieve the pressure. Contusions can cause numbness, weakness, loss of motor coordination, inability to speak, and problems with memory and thinking. The prognosis for recovering from a contusion that causes coma is poor for victims who experience a shearing (twisting) injury to the brain.

•   Hematoma -  A hematoma is a pooling of blood caused by torn and bleeding veins from a blow to the head. A subdural hematoma is blood that collects in the space between the outer layer and the middle layers of the brain's covering. Symptoms of hematoma are headache, drowsiness, confusion, weakness or paralysis on one side, enlarged or different sized pupils, coma, convulsions, and loss of consciousness after a head injury. Small hematomas without symptoms may not need to be treated, while other, more serious hematomas require surgery. Recovery is usually complete with rapid treatment, although headache, inability to sleep, attention problems, and anxiety may continue for a period of time.

•   Diffuse Axonal Injury - Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a devastating traumatic brain injury. In DAI, the axon, or the part of the nerve that helps carry information to the brain, does not function properly. DAI results from the traumatic shearing (twisting) of the brain where tissue becomes damaged as it slides over other tissue when the head rapidly speeds up (accelerates) or slows down (decelerates). The damage happens over a widespread area of the brain and is one of the major causes of coma and persistent vegetative state after head trauma. DAI occurs in about half of all cases of severe head trauma, and may occur in moderate and mild brain injury. Ninety (90) percent of victims with severe DAI never regain consciousness, and if they do, they are likely to be significantly impaired and disabled.

•   Post-Concussion Syndrome - Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) is also known commonly as "shell shock" or post-concussive syndrome. Symptoms include headache, difficulty concentrating, and irritability after a concussion, or a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. PCS may occur in thirty-eight (38) to eighty (80) percent of mild traumatic head injuries. The treatment for PCS is to treat the symptoms with medication and physical and behavioral therapy. The symptoms disappear after a period of time in the majority of cases.

•   Secondary Injury - Secondary injury can cause brain damage and death in the hours, days, and weeks following the primary traumatic brain injury. Instead of improving in the hospital, about forty (40) percent of people with traumatic brain injury deteriorate when a secondary injury damages parts of the brain that were unharmed in the primary injury. Secondary injury includes edema (swelling of the brain), ischemia (insufficient blood flow), hypotension (low blood pressure), cerebral hypoxia (insufficient oxygen in the brain), and raised intracranial pressure (the pressure within the skull). Another form of secondary injury involves damage to brain cells through complex chemical reactions in the brain called a biochemical cascade.

Anoxic Brain Injury

The brain needs oxygen. Total lack of oxygen is called anoxia. If oxygen levels are low for four minutes or longer, brain cells begin to die. After five minutes permanent anoxic brain injury, also called cerebral hypoxia or hypoxic-anoxic injury (HAI), can occur. 

Anoxic brain injury can be mild, moderate, or severe. The longer the brain is deprived of oxygen, the more widespread and serious the injury. Severe anoxic brain injury is life-threatening and can result in coma or persistent vegetative state. Moderate anoxic brain injury yields a better outcome, but recovery may take months or years of rehabilitation. Those with mild anoxic brain injury usually make a full or nearly full recovery, and are able to live lives that are relatively normal and symptom-free.

Talk to an Akron brain Injury lawyer today if you believe you or someone you love has suffered anoxic brain injury, which can be a result of a traumatic injury to the brain from a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, shaken baby syndrome, whiplash, exposure to blasts, explosions, dangerous drugs, medical malpractice, slip & falls, construction accidents, work accidents, trip & falls, or lack of oxygen during surgeries, drowning events, complications at birth, or toxic or hazardous chemicals like lead, mercury, or manganese.

Chronic Pain Syndrome and Brain Atrophy Attorney

Recent studies suggest that people who do not have a direct injury to the brain in the beginning, but instead, have been given a diagnosis of chronic pain or chronic pain syndrome for at least six (6) months from an illness, a serious car accident, or some other serious accident, may develop shrinking (atrophy) of the brain's gray matter of up to eleven (11) percent that can be shown on an MRA (Magnetic Resonance Angiography) or MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). An eleven (11) percent reduction in the size of the brain is roughly equivalent to the loss of gray matter that occurs in ten to twenty years of aging. It is estimated that a person loses 1.3 cm³ of gray matter for every year of chronic pain. The longer the pain lasts, the greater the loss of brain volume. 

Later studies have found that the loss of gray matter is partly reversible when pain is treated successfully. Though it is not abundantly clear, some researchers believe that the brain shrinkage is not brain damage, but instead is the result of long term changes in the chemicals of the brain. When the pain stops with treatment, the brain chemicals get back to normal, and the brain may return to normal size.

Atrophy from chronic pain is a new area of brain science, and an Akron personal injury lawyer will have knowledge and information for clients who have experienced chronic pain for more than six (6) months. For example, in years past, the science was not there to assist an Akron personal injury attorney in proving that a work-related back injury could lead to brain damage; today, however, the science is there to support such a claim, but without a knowledgeable Akron brain injury attorney, proving it would be next to impossible.

Summit County District Courts

Akron Shaken Baby Syndrome Law Firm

Deadly brain damage can occur when a baby is violently shaken, causing the head to move rapidly and forcefully forward and backward. This type of traumatic brain injury is often referred to as "shaken baby syndrome." For many years, prosecutors and medical professionals have looked for the “triad” of physical brain injury symptoms – subdural hemorrhaging (bleeding in a space between the skull and the brain), retinal hemorrhaging (bleeding at the back of the eyes), and swelling of the brain — to diagnose a baby’s brain injury as “shaken baby syndrome.”

More recently, there has been strong disagreement among doctors and other experts about the shaken baby diagnosis. A small but growing number of doctors warn that there can be alternate explanations for the symptoms associated with shaken baby syndrome, such as infections, bleeding and clotting disorders, and infant stroke. Contact an Akron brain injury lawyer if you believe a child has been injured or killed as a result of being shaken.

Fatalities & Death Rate From Traumatic Brain Injury

Whether a victim of TBI will die depends heavily on what caused the head injury. In the United States, eighty-nine (89) percent of patients with fall-related TBIs survive, while only nine (9) percent of patients with penetrating open head injuries, projectile, or firearm-related TBIs survive. Blasts or explosions often cause closed head injuries and traumatic brain damage from dramatic changes in atmospheric pressure; objects thrown into the air by the blast hitting people; or people being thrown into motion by the blast. Unfortunately, United States military troops in Iraq have suffered so many blasts and explosions that traumatic brain injury has been coined the “signature injury” of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Penetrating injuries and firearms are the most common cause of fatal TBI, followed by car, truck, and motorcycle accidents, and then slip and falls and trip and falls. If you or someone you know has suffered a traumatic brain injury, call an Akron brain injury lawyer today.

Hospice Care

The Joint Commission Accredited Head Injury Treatment Facilities

Low or No Cost Health Care Resources

Brain Injury Lawyers and Brain Trauma Attorneys Serve Akron and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Ohio, including Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Barberton, Bath, Brunswick, Canton, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Diamond, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Green, Hudson, Kent, Lakewood, Lodi, Mantua Corners, Massillon, Medina, North Canton, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oberlin, Orrville,  Paris, Parma, Shaker Heights, Shalerville, Solon, Stow, Strongsville, Warren, Westlake, Wooster, and other communities in Summit County.

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the Greater Akron area, Summit County, or a surrounding area, you could be entitled to compensation, whether the cause was negligence or breach of a standard of care. Act now and hire a qualified Akron brain injury lawyer to represent you!

Brain Injury Diagnosis | Akron Brain Injury Attorneys | TBI Lawyers

How Does a Doctor Diagnose Traumatic Brain Injury?

When a doctor makes a diagnosis, he or she decides what illness or injury a patient has by making an examination, performing tests, and looking at the person's symptoms. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is usually broken down into three classifications: severe, moderate, and mild. To diagnose TBI, doctors perform a neurological examination, for example checking whether pupils react normally to light, are fixed, or are of different sizes. In addition, a doctor will consider whether the patient lost consciousness and/or lost memory (amnesia). Generally the longer the period of unconsciousness and amnesia, the more severe the traumatic brain injury.

Sophisticated machines can make images of the brain that show damage to the brain tissue, bleeding, and bruising from moderate or severe brain injuries. The preferred imaging test in the emergency setting is a computed tomography (CT scan). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows more detail than a CT scan and is used to predict how well the patient will do over the long term. MRI is also used for detecting diffuse axonal injury. Angiography may be used to study blood vessels, and functional imaging can measure cerebral blood flow. Electroencephalography and transcranial doppler may also be used.

Diagnosing Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Physicians have little trouble diagnosing moderate to severe TBI because the physical damage to the brain is easily seen by eye or through imaging scans. There is no doubt a person has suffered a moderate to severe brain injury when he or she has a fractured skull, penetrating or perforating injury, bleeding inside the head, or swelling of the brain tissue. These injuries are life threatening, and can be seen on an MRI or CT scan.

Coma, Persistent Vegetative State, Death

Whether a patient is classified as having a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury also depends on how his or her body responded to the initial open or closed head injury. Severe head injury often results a long period of unconsciousness, coma, persistent vegetative state, or even death.

Coma: A person becomes comatose when he or she is unconscious for more than six (6) hours, will not wake up, will not respond normally to pain, light or sound, does not have a normal sleep-wake cycle, and does not move in response to directions. Those who survive coma after a severe head injury often have devastating permanent disability requiring extensive rehabilitation and sometimes long-term care.

Vegetative State: A severely brain damaged victim is in a vegetative state when he or she progresses from a coma to becoming partially awake, but without a true awareness of what is happening around him or her. After four weeks in a vegetative state, the victim is classified as in a persistent vegetative state.

Death: Those with the most severe brain damage do not survive.

Traumatic Brain Injury Grading Scales

To determine whether a traumatic brain injury is severe, moderate, or mild, doctors use two methods to "grade" open head injuries and closed head injuries:    

Glasgow Coma Scale - The Glasgow Coma Scale is commonly used to assess the severity of traumatic brain injuries, including closed head injuries. The scale tests eye, verbal, and motor responses to see if the victim can see, speak, move, and respond to commands. The scale goes up to fifteen points with fifteen being the most mild injury, less than eight being a severe brain injury, and less than three being a vegetative state.

ASCOT - The ASCOT probability of survival incorporates several of the Glasgow Coma Scale tests, but also includes an evaluation of systolic blood pressure, respiration rates upon admission, and anatomic (physical) injuries. The ASCOT has been found to be the most sensitive tool for determining the severity of head injuries in children. Doctors use the ASCOT to predict whether the victim will recover.

Diagnosing Mild or Minor Traumatic Brain Injury

Diagnosing mild or minor brain injury is harder than diagnosing moderate to severe brain injury. Historically, doctors have under-diagnosed mild traumatic brain injury, and victims with legitimate mild TBI have gone untreated. This is unfortunate because even a "mild" injury may cause short or long term impairment, disability, and inability to function. A World Health Organization study estimated that between seventy (70) and ninety (90) percent of head injuries are mild. A United States study found that moderate and severe injuries each account for ten (10) percent of TBIs, with the rest mild.

Many doctors, including internists and neurologists, do not fully understand minor or mild brain injury, making it hard for them to diagnose it and treat it. A person with mild TBI may appear normal to an emergency room physician. Doctors often fail to diagnose TBI in people who did not lose consciousness. Studies have shown complete loss of consciousness for a long period of time is not a necessary symptom of TBI. TBI can occur when unconsciousness is brief, seconds to minutes, or when there is no loss of consciousness at all, but merely a short period of feeling dazed or confused. A mild closed head injury or a minor brain trauma may not show up on MRI or CT scan. However, within a short time after the injury, many mild brain injury victims begin to experience memory loss, difficulty thinking and processing information, and impaired ability to handle everyday jobs and responsibilities.

Tests for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Conventional CT scans and MRI exams do not show minor brain trauma, so there is no clear visual medical evidence of mild traumatic brain injury. Without objective medical evidence, it becomes more difficult to convince insurance adjusters and other professionals that there is in fact an injury. To the jury and an insurance adjuster, the victim of mild TBI may seem very healthy, particularly if he or she is able to walk, talk, and perform normal everyday activities. They may not see the subtle changes such as loss of memory, change in personality, or depression. An Akron brain injury lawyer can coordinate with a medical professional to perform other tests that can show the nature and extent of brain injury including:

• quantified EEG or a BEAM study 21
• a PET scan 22
• a SPECT scan

These examinations are highly sensitive tests to determine whether there has been neuron shearing in any part of the brain. Charts made after these examinations that clearly show any damaged areas can be given to a jury as evidence and an Akron brain injury lawyer will have the necessary medical experts and skill to provide these demonstrations in the courtroom.

Other Ways to Prove Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

After an accident, it is often a person close to the victim such as a spouse, child, friend, family member, or co-worker who notices subtle changes in the victim's personality or behavior, like mood swings and forgetfulness. These witnesses can play a major role in helping an Akron brain injury lawyer to learn the background of the victim, obtain a complete statement of the traumatic event, and get a clear picture of what has happened to the victim since the accident. In addition, the Akron brain injury lawyer will likely recommend the victim have:

• a complete evaluation by a physician
• a complete neuropsychological evaluation
• a complete speech and language therapy evaluation
• a complete physical therapy evaluation
• a complete occupational therapy evaluation

Proving the mild brain injury is real is the first step toward getting compensation for the TBI that has altered your life, or the life of a loved one. Proving a mild brain trauma case requires an Akron brain injury attorney to invest hard work, considerable effort, and substantial funds to get the victim the recovery he or she deserves. Contact an Akron brain injury lawyer today if you believe that you or a loved one have suffered a traumatic brain injury.

After Diagnosis, the Real Work for the Family Begins

There is no doubt that the families of brain injury victims become quickly overwhelmed with the sudden changes that turn their lives upside down the moment a loved one suffers a head injury and is diagnosed with traumatic brain damage. Families and caregivers work tirelessly to care for brain injury victims, often with little time off for themselves, and often without any outside assistance. Respite care, including day centers and leisure facilities for the disabled, offer time off for caregivers and activities for people with TBI.

Akron Day Care Centers and Leisure Facilities: Offering Caregivers a Needed Break

Brain Injury Lawyers and Brain Trauma Attorneys Serve Akron and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Ohio, including Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Barberton, Bath, Brunswick, Canton, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Diamond, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Green, Hudson, Kent, Lakewood, Lodi, Mantua Corners, Massillon, Medina, North Canton, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oberlin, Orrville,  Paris, Parma, Shaker Heights, Shalerville, Solon, Stow, Strongsville, Warren, Westlake, Wooster, and other communities in Summit County.

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the Greater Akron area, Summit County, or a surrounding area, you could be entitled to compensation, whether the cause was negligence or breach of a standard of care. Act now and hire a qualified Akron brain injury lawyer to represent you!

Brain Injury Treatment and Recovery | Akron Brain Injury Attorneys | TBI Lawyers

Emergency (Acute) Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment

Emergency treatment immediately after a head injury is critical. Akron EMS is highly trained to assess and stabilize an Akron car accident victim. Some hospitals are better equipped to handle TBI than others, and a victim needs to be transported to an appropriate trauma center. People with moderate to severe injuries are likely to receive treatment in an intensive care unit and then be moved to a neurosurgical ward.

The goal is to stabilize the victim and prevent further injury. When paramedics bring a brain injury victim to the hospital after a head injury, they and the emergency room trauma doctors focus on making sure that he or she has enough oxygen, good cerebral blood flow, and that the pressure inside the skull, called intracranial pressure (ICP), is not rising. High ICP deprives the brain of crucial blood flow and can cause deadly brain herniation.

Endotracheal intubation (trach tube) and mechanical ventilation (ventilator) may be used to make sure that enough oxygen gets to the lungs and brain. Hypotension (low blood pressure), which can be devastating in traumatic brain injury victims, can be prevented by giving intravenous (IV) fluids. The trauma doctors and nurses will also treat any other injuries and try to prevent or control post-traumatic epilepsy (seizures) with medication.

A contusion, hematoma, or an object that has penetrated the brain may need to be removed. Surgeons will also repair hemorrhaging blood vessels to control bleeding, and perhaps perform a craniotomy by removing part of the skull to take out objects embedded in the brain or to relieve high intracranial pressure caused by brain swelling.

Akron Community College's School of Health Science Offers EMT Training

Akron Community College (HCC), located at 13803 Bissonnet St., Akron, Ohio 77083, offers EMT certification classes that are fully accredited by the Committee of Allied Health Educational Program and the Committee on Accreditation for the Emergency Medical Service Profession. EMT classes at the School of Health Science include clinical emergency medical technology, trauma management, patient assessment, cardiology, and pharmacology, all of which prepare graduates for Ohio Department of Health licensure. Students can pursue the following EMT certificates and degrees at Akron Community College:

1. EMT-Basic Certificate
2. EMT-Intermediate Certificate
3. EMT-Paramedic Certificate
4. Associate of Applied Science in Emergency Medical Services

The EMT who arrives at an Akron accident location will stabilize the victim and prepare him or her for transport to a hospital. Later, the victim will be transferred to a subacute (non-emergency) rehabilitation unit of the medical center or to an independent rehabilitation hospital. Rehabilitation is the main treatment for the chronic (long term) recovery from TBI. The type of treatment depends on the kind of traumatic brain injury the victim had, how bad it was, and the effects of the injury.

Educating the patient about his or her particular head injury and brain trauma is one of the most effective ways to prevent major depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in head injury survivors. Psychiatric illness happens in 49% of victims with moderate to severe brain injury, and in 34% of those with mild traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury victims who already had pre-existing psychiatric problems have a higher risk of developing major depression and worsened psychiatric illness after the head injury. Treatment with medicine can help to manage psychiatric or behavioral problems. 

Full time care giving and nursing are necessary when the person is in coma or persistent vegetative state and bedridden, has to remain in a wheelchair because of mobility problems, or has any other problem that makes it impossible to care for him or herself. Those with a less disabling brain injury work with a therapist to learn to return to regular activities. Early treatment in a specialized, intensive rehabilitation service is vital to recovering lost motor function after an injury so the victim can once again be independent at home. The goal of cognitive rehabilitation is to improve the attention, memory, and thought processing speed needed to perform daily activities and tasks at home and at work.

Rehabilitation Professionals

Rehabilitation performed by a team of health professionals who specialize in head trauma can be very effective. Neurologists or rehabilitation physicians are key members of the team. The patient may also need physiotherapists, and speech, language, and occupational therapists. Treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as emotional distress and clinical depression may involve mental health professionals like therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Neuropsychologists can help evaluate and manage cognitive deficits (problems thinking and processing information).

Other types of rehabilitation focus on raising a patient’s self-esteem by giving tasks that he or she can successfully complete despite any cognitive changes from the brain injury. This process can help prevent feelings of worthlessness, depression, and social anxiety.

Outpatient, community-based vocational rehabilitation will be required for many victims of traumatic brain injury to get them ready to return to work. People with TBI who cannot live independently or with family may require care in supported living facilities such as group homes.

Brain Injury Lawyers and Brain Trauma Attorneys Serve Akron and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Ohio, including Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Barberton, Bath, Brunswick, Canton, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Diamond, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Green, Hudson, Kent, Lakewood, Lodi, Mantua Corners, Massillon, Medina, North Canton, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oberlin, Orrville,  Paris, Parma, Shaker Heights, Shalerville, Solon, Stow, Strongsville, Warren, Westlake, Wooster, and other communities in Summit County.

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the Greater Akron area, Summit County, or a surrounding area, you could be entitled to compensation, whether the cause was negligence or breach of a standard of care. Act now and hire a qualified Akron brain injury lawyer to represent you!

Akron Open Head Injury Lawyer | Akron Brain Injury Attorneys | Traumatic Brain Injury

An open head injury is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI). A penetrating open head injury is caused when objects like bullets, knives, high-velocity projectiles, drill bits, nails, or bone fragments are driven into the brain. A perforating head injury occurs when an object passes through the brain and exits the skull. Brain damage and death can result not only from the initial open head injury, but also from swelling or bleeding within the skull afterward.

Open Head Injury Treatment

Open head injuries are visible. An emergency room physician will look for external bleeding and skull fracture, monitor vital signs, and perform neurological exams including testing whether the victim’s pupils are reactive to light and are of equal size. The treatment depends on how badly the skull is fractured and the extent of brain damage. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), an intracranial pressure monitor (ICP), or computed tomography (CT) scans are used to show injuries inside the head. Doctors assess whether surgery is needed to stop bleeding in the head, to remove objects or bone fragments, and to relieve dangerous swelling of the brain.

Skull Fractures

The skull is the head's bony protection for the brain. A skull fracture is a break in the skull, which can be incredibly dangerous to the brain tissue inside the skull. Whether the brain is damaged from the skull fracture depends on which part of the skull is affected. There are four types of skull fracture:

1. Linear Skull Fracture
2. Depressed Skull Fracture
3. Basilar Fracture
4. Diastatic Fracture

Linear Skull Fracture

The majority (sixty-nine percent) of open head injuries are linear skull fractures, which are basically a crack in the skull. A linear skull fracture only breaks the surface of the skull, and does not enter brain tissue. Most linear skull fractures require only minor treatment. However, there are a number of serious complications that can occur with a linear skull fracture, including damage to blood vessels. Additionally, when a linear skull fracture extends into the sinus cavity, the clear cerebrospinal fluid that cushions the brain and spinal cord may leak from the nose and ears. This condition requires immediate medical attention. Significant brain swelling and pressure on the skull may also cause linear skull fractures.

Depressed Skull Fracture

Depressed skull fractures are often caused by a forceful blow to the head. Pieces of the broken skull pierce or compress brain tissue and can cause potentially severe brain damage.

Diastatic & Basilar Skull Fracture

Diastatic fractures in newborns and older infants happen when the skull's suture lines (areas where the bones fuse together during childhood) widen. Basilar skull fractures, or breaks at the base of the skull, are extremely rare, but they can cause tears in the tissue supporting the brain and leakage of cerebrospinal fluid from the nose and ears.

Complications of Open Head Injury — Brain Injury Attorney

Infection is one of the most common complications of open head injuries. Infection commonly occurs when the brain is exposed to bacteria and viruses in the outside environment. Medical treatment is extremely important in open head injuries because infection can cause permanent brain damage or death. Viral or bacterial meningitis are the most common infections in open head injuries. Meningitis is a dangerous infection of the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and it is usually treated with aggressive antibiotics and corticosteroids to reduce brain swelling.

Other complications include ischemia (insufficient blood flow); hypotension (low blood pressure); cerebral hypoxia (insufficient oxygen in the brain); and raised intracranial pressure (the pressure within the skull). Brain cells not damaged initially may later be damaged through complex chemical reactions called a biochemical cascade.

Joint Commission Accredited Home Health Care Providers

Victims of traumatic brain injury often require care at home. These Akron area home health care providers have been accredited by The Joint Commission (see also listing on Home page).

Brain Injury Lawyers and Brain Trauma Attorneys Serve Akron and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Ohio, including Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Barberton, Bath, Brunswick, Canton, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Diamond, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Green, Hudson, Kent, Lakewood, Lodi, Mantua Corners, Massillon, Medina, North Canton, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oberlin, Orrville,  Paris, Parma, Shaker Heights, Shalerville, Solon, Stow, Strongsville, Warren, Westlake, Wooster, and other communities in Summit County.

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the Greater Akron area, Summit County, or a surrounding area, you could be entitled to compensation, whether the cause was negligence or the breach of a standard of care. Act now and hire a qualified Akron brain injury lawyer to represent you!