Category: catastrophic injuries

An individual or business could be responsible for your catastrophic personal injury even when this third party has not committed a criminal act. In this case, you can file a civil lawsuit to recoup associated medical costs and lost wages as well as damages for pain and suffering.

If you are struggling with medical bills and can no longer work after a serious injury, learn more about filing a personal injury lawsuit in Tennessee.

Understanding negligence

You do not have to prove the other party acted purposefully to win a personal injury suit, but you do need to prove negligence. This means that the other party failed to fulfill his or her responsibility to refrain from injuring another person, that this failure directly led to your injuries and that you suffered financial loss or damages as a result of the incident.

Modified comparative fault

Tennessee uses a modified comparative fault standard to award damages in a successful personal injury case. With this law, you can share up to 50% of fault for your injury and still receive partial damages. For example, if you slip and fall in a store that did not post wet floor caution signs but you were also texting when the fall occurred, the judge could find you 20% at fault and you would receive 80% of the legally allowed damages.

Statute of limitations

Tennessee residents have one year after the injury to file a civil personal injury lawsuit. After this date, the court will dismiss your case and you are no longer eligible to sue for damages. If the injury occurs before an individual turns 18, the one-year clock begins running on his or her 18th birthday. If the responsible party also faces criminal charges, you will have two years to file a civil lawsuit.

In addition to economic damages such as lost wages and medical expenses, you can collect noneconomic damages in Tennessee. The state limits this category to a cap of $750,000 for most personal injury cases.

One common type of trauma that often occurs in motor vehicle collisions, slip-and-fall incidents and other types of accidents is traumatic brain injury. Unlike other types of accident and personal injuries, such as broken bones, lacerations and bruises, brain injuries often result in long and difficult recoveries.

TBIs affect victims on multiple levels, including their psychological, physical, social and financial well-being.

How TBIs occur

The skull protects the brain but is not always ample enough shield against trauma. All it may take for a brain to become damaged is a blow to the head or the forceful back-and-forth movement of whiplash to bump the brain against the skull.

TBI can also occur when the brain is deprived of oxygen; the longer the loss of oxygen, the greater the severity of trauma.

Traumatic brain injury symptoms

Signs of mild TBIs which often result in short-term distress include loss of consciousness, forgetfulness, confusion, sleeplessness and mood changes. Mild TBIs often heal on their own.

Some TBIs are much more severe and the prognosis for recovery is not as optimistic. They can affect multiple body systems, cause paralysis and disability, impair cognitive and mental functions and reduce victims to a shell of their former selves.

There are circumstances when traumatic brain injuries are not immediately obvious. Some people who have them do not suffer a loss of consciousness. Gradual swelling from bruising or bleeding can lead to pressure inside the skull that causes damage days or weeks after the accident. Instead of immediate problems, victims may experience seizures or convulsions in the days after their accidents. Some TBI victims experience delayed symptoms of blurred vision, headaches, nausea, vomiting and weakness.

Because there may not be any outward symptoms, any person who sustains a blow to the head or whiplash may want to seek medical attention.

Motorcyclists in Tennessee understand that motorcycle accidents can be devastating. On a motorcycle, riders have little protection from the elements. A rider may choose to have a helmet and leather riding gear, but he or she is still more vulnerable than a person is in an average motor vehicle. Practicing safe driving habits can decrease the chance of serious or fatal injuries, including traumatic brain injuries. Drivers are not the only group of people at risk for TBIs, however. Passengers may be, on average, more prone to TBIs than drivers are.

According to Reuters, a study of 80,000 motorcycle drivers and 6,000 passengers revealed that drivers are more likely to wear helmets than passengers are. No matter the reason for the accident, the study also revealed that TBIs are the most common injury for both riders and drivers. Without a helmet, both driver and passenger are at a serious risk for TBI. When riding, a passenger is less likely to wear a helmet. In fact, two-thirds of drivers wear helmets, whereas 57.5% of passengers wear one.

For those passengers who do wear helmets, they are still more at risk of TBI. Passengers turn up with a TBI at a rate of 36%, whereas drivers have a rate of 31%. The leading theory as to why it is more dangerous for a passenger is that during an accident, passengers are more likely to eject from the vehicle. When launched off a motorcycle at high speeds, the helmet may not help.

None of the above information is legal advice. It is for educational purposes.

As Tennessee lawmakers fight to decrease accidents, injuries and deaths caused by distracted driving, a new law recently took effect. According to NWTN Today, legislators mostly intended to make it possible for law enforcement officials to stop distracted drivers based on no other driving violations and hope that long term it will reduce deaths and crashes caused by  manual, cognitive and visual distracted driving.

According to the new law, drivers should not be holding any stand-alone electronic or wireless device while driving. As the 19^th state to put such a law into effect, officers can now issue a citation simply for driving while operating an electronic device, rather than having it be a secondary charge to another traffic issue. One exemption to the rule is when a driver is making an emergency call for a medical emergency or life-threatening emergency.

The law makes distracted driving a primary stop offense. The state formerly made texting while driving illegal and there has been a ban on using electronic devices in school zones since 2017. Drivers are still able to use earpieces, dashboard mounts, devices worn on wrists or headphone devices while driving. National statistics state that over 30% of drivers talk on the phone daily, so lawmakers formerly made it illegal for anyone with a learner’s permit to use a cell phone while driving.

Tennessee has the highest number of distracted driving related deaths, and the average is almost five times the national one. Drivers can be fined $50, but in a second or third offense or one that leads to an accident, the fine doubles. Violations in school zones when flashers are on or in work zones where workers are there increase the fine to $200.

When you got into an accident, you were wearing a seat belt, following the speed limit and obeying traffic laws. The other driver shifted out of their lane and hit you head-on, which gave you no chance to evade them.

When you woke up, you knew everything would be different. You lost the use of your legs and can’t walk. You can’t speak well because of a brain injury, and you’re left feeling trapped in your own body.

How can you adjust to catastrophic injuries?

Catastrophic injuries aren’t likely to be easy to adjust to, but it’s possible if you give yourself time. The first step is to accept that the injury has occurred and to work toward healing. That might mean working with a psychologist or psychiatrist to move through the steps of grief and loss, so you can move forward.

Adjusting comes with time, but working with therapists, particularly occupational and physical therapists, will help you learn what you can do on your own and teach you when you need assistance.

Catastrophic injuries, by definition, are so serious that they will have an impact on your life moving forward. It’s important for victims of these injuries to do what they can to obtain settlements that may help them obtain better or advanced medical care in the future.

Your attorney will help you fight for the compensation you deserve so that you can focus on your healing. You will adjust to your new medical conditions, but you deserve a chance to focus on yourself and your rehabilitation without having to think about the legal aspects of your case.

When you think of a catastrophic injury, you probably think of head injuries or spinal injuries. Interesting, even something as common as a broken bone can be catastrophic.

How? Consider a severe break. A bone might be shattered, breaking in several places. In some cases, these breaks require surgery. In worst-case scenarios, there’s little that can be done to restore the bone, so patients have to have metal rods and other medical devices inserted to help them heal.

This is a long and painful process. Surgery can often get the bones back in the right position, even if an implant is necessary to help. The individual may struggle during and after healing, though. There is a potential for complications, and the bone-healing process could take many months.

Another risk is that the bone could become infected, or the site around the bone could become infected. With any surgery, there is a risk of exposing the area to bacteria, which could lead to infections that require medical treatment through medications or potentially additional surgeries.

After a crash, no one wants to go through the pain and suffering of broken bones and the surgeries that could come with them. The reality is that some may never truly heal correctly. If you’re a victim struggling with broken bones, remember that you have rights. You should hold the driver who caused your crash responsible so that you can focus on healing and not on the financial losses that your medical care could cause. Your condition is serious, and you deserve only the best care.

Catastrophic injuries are injuries that change your life forever. They’re so serious that you may never fully recover. They include injuries to the spine, trauma to the brain and other serious wounds.

If you’re in a crash and suffer catastrophic injuries, it’s likely that you’ll know right away. The stories of people who couldn’t see, couldn’t feel their legs or who were left without hearing all come to mind as injuries that are devastating and instant in crashes.

What can you do to reduce the severity of a catastrophic injury?

Sometimes, there’s not much you can do, but the most important thing you can do for yourself is to call 911 and get to a hospital. Even if you think you’re fine, you need to go to the hospital for a medical exam. That exam is the basis for everything that is to come, including suggestions for treatment, the potential for life-saving or life-changing drugs to be administered during a short window for success and as documentation that you can submit when you make a claim against the driver who struck you.

People who suffer from catastrophic injuries often end up needing a lifetime of medical care, exams and other treatments. Some need multiple surgeries in hopes of reducing pain or increasing mobility. No matter what happened to you, it’s important that you have the chance to be compensated. You can file a claim shortly after the crash, but make sure you wait to settle or go to trial until you know how serious your injuries are and how they’ll affect you in the future.

Sports are a big part of growing up, especially in the southern United States. Football is one of the most widespread pastimes between the Mason-Dixon Line and the Gulf of Mexico, with every type of school offering students a chance to get caught up in some gridiron action.

Recent injuries have highlighted the need to review sports safety guidelines below the professional leagues. A student at a Tennessee university is in critical condition after a head injury during a league game. An earlier injury at a high school matchup in Georgia ended the life of an Atlanta-area athlete.

One high school football coach said that although the chances of a catastrophic injury in sports are very low, “the coaches’ greatest fears is your player getting injured in any way.” Many coaches in Tennessee and elsewhere are getting more involved in player safety, from better practices to more training focused on health.

Several schools drill their student-athletes differently now than in the 20th century. More information about the dynamics of sports injuries and the dangers of repetitive stress has changed many approaches, including less aggressive trainings and extra training about how to give and take a hit on the field.

The families of children affected by catastrophic injury while playing sports or in other situations may have a case for financial damages if someone else is responsible for the dangerous situation. An attorney can help guide a family through a difficult period of early recovery and make the best case possible for reimbursement of medical expenses and compensation for pain and emotional distress.

Are you a thrill seeker who enjoys rides at amusement parks and fairs? With fair season is full swing, it is worth noting that amusement park rides continue to cause critical injuries and even deaths. In 2017, Tennessee regulators began work to upgrade their inspections of amusement park rides across the state saying systematic problems needed to be addressed.

The Tennessee inspectors went into action after an 18-year-old man was killed when a ride malfunctioned in July 2017, at the Ohio State Fair. That ride is now banned in Tennessee as well as many other states.

Dangers of amusement park rides

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were 30,900 injuries in the U.S. from amusement park rides that sent people to and emergency room in 2016. Twenty-two people have died since 2010 across the U.S. because of an amusement park ride accident.

Ride inspections different for each state

There are no federal oversight regulations for amusement park rides. Each state is responsible for their own regulations concerning the safety of amusement park rides. The law in Tennessee requires a ride to be inspected once a year. However, a ride may be in another state and tore down and moved to Tennessee. If the ride had an inspection within three months of applying for a permit in Tennessee, it would pass the inspection.

Amusement parks are busy places

According to the International Association of Amusement Parks, around 335 million people attend an amusement park in the U.S. each year. There are 28 county fairs scheduled in the month of August in Tennessee which means a lot of people will be on rides. The dangers are not far away as a Ferris wheel dumped out three young girls in Greeneville, Tennessee in August of 2017. The girls fell four stories before they hit the ground.

If you are planning to attend an amusement park, remember that injuries and death can be a possibility from malfunctioning rides. Before you go, you may want to research the safety record of the amusement park you are visiting.