We Safeguard Your Rights After a Brain Injury

Caring for a family member with a brain injury can be physically, emotionally, and financially draining. Watching a loved one suffer is devastating, especially if the injury was caused by the negligent or reckless conduct of another person.

While money won’t heal you or your loved one, it can provide some financial security so your family can focus on recovery. Contact the Tenge Law Firm, LLC, to schedule a consultation with a skilled Denver personal injury attorney. We know all about traumatic brain injuries: their medical details, how much they cost, how they impact relationships, and more. We’ve helped hundreds of people who suffered TBIs – call (303) 502-5587 to talk to us today.

TOP CASE RESULTS

$1,025,000
Motorcycle Crash TBI Case

$950,000
Car Accident with TBI Case

Video: Brain Injury Cases in Colorado

How Do Brain Injuries Happen?

Believe it or not, brain damage can occur with or without direct trauma to the head. Countless people each year sustain brain injuries through:

For example, we helped a woman who was riding her motorcycle when an F-250 pulled out in front of her, causing her to crash. She sustained broken bones and a traumatic brain injury. Ultimately, the truck driver’s insurance company agreed to pay our client $1.02 million two months before we took the case to trial.

As you can see, head trauma often comes about because of reckless or negligent actions of the part of other people. For example, a distracted driver running a red light who hits a pedestrian, or a business owner who fails to clean up a dangerous spill in the aisle, or an employer who fails to supply his workers with proper fall arrest equipment. Trauma during childbirth, infections, and medication use can all result in traumatic brain injury, too.

The Mechanics of a Brain Injury

Obviously, a direct impact to the head, especially where the skull is penetrated, can lead to traumatic brain injury. However, the brain can also be injured by acceleration/deceleration of the head and neck, as well as sharp, rotational movements of the head. These sorts of forces are commonly experienced in vehicle crashes.

There are several “insults” or injuries that can occur during a traumatic brain injury:

  • Concussion: Similar to a diffuse axonal injury, a concussion comes when your brain moves inside your skull, causing the blood vessels to stretch and the nerves to strain. It may cause swelling or bleeding, it may not. Concussions are common and are considered “mild” brain injuries, but if you have more than one, the damage can add up.
  • Contusion: Basically a “bruise” on the brain, a contusion means there is an area of bleeding (hematoma or hemorrhaging) underneath. Large contusions may need to be surgically removed. Contusions range from mild to severe.
  • Coup-contrecoup: When the brain is struck by a blow, and it bounces against the skull and back again, creating contusions on both sides of the brain, it is a coup-contrecoup. This is a more serious injury, but the damage will depend on the strength of the impact.
  • Diffuse axonal injury: DAI is caused by a violent motion to one side or shaking back and forth. In this severe TBI, the structures inside the brain tear apart, and torn nerve tissues release chemicals and disrupt the brain’s normal functioning.
  • Penetrating or “open” injury: This includes a skull fracture, a bullet wound, or any piece of a foreign object actually passing through the skull and into the brain. A serious injury that requires immediate medical treatment.

Brain injuries can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the nature and location of insult; whether the person lost consciousness (and if so, for how long); the age, sex and general health of the person; and the post-injury treatment. This is why it is absolutely critical to seek medical attention from a qualified doctor even if you only suspect a concussion. We all remember the tragic passing of actress Natasha Richardson on the slopes of Quebec. It could just as easily have been the slopes of Echo Mountain.

The symptoms of a mild traumatic brain injury (“MTBI”) include minor loss of consciousness, headache, confusion, lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision, trouble concentrating, and behavioral/mood changes. A moderate to severe brain injury may show the same symptoms, as well as a persistent headache that does not resolve, vomiting or nausea, convulsions, seizures, slurred speech, weakness or numbness in the extremities, and loss of coordination.

How Can a Traumatic Brain Injury Affect You, Long-Term?

We’re still learning about the brain, but we do know that traumatic brain injuries can result in physical difficulties, cognitive deficits, and behavioral changes.

  • Cognitive problems – thinking, memory, reasoning
  • Sensory processing – sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell
  • Communication – expressing, understanding
  • Behavior or mental health – depression, anxiety, personality changes, aggression, acting out, social inappropriateness

Your ability to walk, talk, think, and how you feel may be permanently altered. The medical field is starting to recognize a link between a brain injury and the likelihood of developing neurological diseases later in life, such as Parkinson’s, epilepsy, and even Alzheimer’s.

If the accident that caused your brain injury was the result of someone else’s negligent or wrongful behavior, you can file a personal injury claim to recover compensation. That compensation can be put toward medical treatment and rehabilitation bills, caregiver services, loss of income, permanent impairment, and other expenses incurred during this difficult time. Victims are also compensated for their pain and suffering.

Why Choose the Tenge Law Firm, LLC, to Handle Your TBI Case?

J. Todd Tenge has over 30 years of experience handling brain injury claims, and has recovered substantial compensation for victims in this time. He uses his extensive knowledge of personal injury law to achieve favorable verdicts and settlements on behalf of his injured clients.

Todd is an ardent supporter of the Colorado Traumatic Brain Injury Trust Fund, which helps fund and support recovery programs for brain injury victims, and a member of the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado. Many prominent medical providers in the Boulder area, who specialize in the TBI field, refer their patients to the Tenge Law Firm, LLC, because they know we will take good care of their patients and get them the financial recovery they deserve.

If you or a member of your family has suffered a traumatic brain injury because of the recklessness or carelessness of another person, please contact the Tenge Law Firm, LLC, to schedule your complimentary consultation. We accommodate all disabilities. Our offices are located in Boulder, Denver, and Fort Collins.