Home \ The Elements of a Brain Injury Case Without Coma

There are four factors which will enable a doctor or a neuropsychologist to diagnose, and a lawyer to prove, a permanent brain injury.
They are:
- Sufficient Biomechanical Force;
- One of the Four Acute Symptoms of the Rehab Congress’s definition, i.e.:
a) any period of loss of consciousness,
b) a change in mental state as a result of the accident,
c) amnesia, or
d) focal neurological deficits;
- Neuropsychological Deficits; and
A Changed Person.
- The diagnosis can be confirmed and the lawyer can prove permanent brain injury, without a positive imaging study such as an X-ray, MRI, CT or other scan, if these four elements can be established. This can be done through a careful reconstruction of the above elements, even years after the original injury
NEXT: The External Forces of Brain Injury.
Understanding Subtle Brain Injury
The concussions that disable, are almost always more symptomatic at 24 hours, than at the 2-4 hour time frame when injured persons are evaluated in the emergency room. Brain injury symptoms escalate over the first 24 hours, because brain injury involves a cascade of events. It is critical that if you are still symptomatic the day after your injury, go back to the same Emergency Room, don’t wait for a doctors appointment. It is critical that the Emergency Room personnel see that the symptoms still persist or have gotten worse.
View Our Video Series on Concussions