What Are the Most Common Causes of Brain Injuries?

 Posted on January 16, 2025 in Personal Injury

While the brain is one of the most important organs in the body, it is also one of the most sensitive. Even though the skull provides protection for the brain, there are many ways that serious brain injuries can occur, and they can drastically impact a person’s health and well-being. When brain injuries occur because of someone else’s intentional act or negligence, you may qualify for compensation.

What are the most common causes of brain injuries? How do I know if I have a valid case? What if I did not realize I had a serious brain injury until long after it was sustained? Will I get a large payout? Our experienced Rockford, IL brain injury attorneys can explain your legal options and work diligently to maximize your compensation.

How Do Brain Injuries Occur?

Many of the most serious brain injuries involve trauma, such as a blow to the head. These traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, can occur in various situations, including:

• Car accidents - While motor vehicles have safety features such as airbags that are meant to protect against brain injuries, drivers and passengers can still be injured if their head crashes against a steering wheel, dashboard, the frame of a vehicle, or other objects.

• Falls - A person can strike their head on the ground or other objects during a slip and fall accident. Serious brain injuries are even more likely when a person falls from a great height due to issues such as a collapsing balcony or defective railings on an upper level or walkway.

• Assaults - Some brain injuries may be intentionally inflicted by another person. These may occur due to domestic violence or abuse, robberies, or fights at bars or sports games. Depending on the situation, negligent security that failed to prevent an assault could be grounds for a premises liability claim.

• Medical malpractice - Healthcare professionals are not supposed to make preventable errors, but that happens often, sometimes harming patients. Various forms of medical negligence can lead to brain injuries, either directly or indirectly.  

While some brain injuries are apparent immediately, others develop over time. Some may not appear until days, months, or years after the incident causing it occurred. For example, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, diffuse axonal injury, and subdural hematoma can slowly develop. The time when you become aware that you suffered a brain injury is an important component of your personal injury claim because the countdown to your filing deadline begins at that point.

What Kinds of Medical Malpractice Could Cause Brain Injuries?

Physicians and other trained medical professionals are required to provide quality care to their patients. Medical negligence occurs when a patient suffers preventable harm caused by their healthcare provider in a situation where another medical professional with similar qualifications would not have made the same error. Examples of medical malpractice that could lead to brain injuries include:

• A misdiagnosis of a person’s condition that leads to a delay in treatment that could have prevented brain injuries

• Untreated or improperly treated infections

• Medication errors 

• Surgical errors that lead to infections or blood clots, eventually causing brain damage

• Problems with anesthesia that limit the flow of blood and oxygen to a person’s brain

• Birth injuries, such as those caused by improper use of forceps, air embolisms, and untreated maternal infections

All medical malpractice cases are complex, with most people not understanding the medical details. For your best chance of success, you need to choose an attorney who has won similar cases.

Why Do Car Accidents Often Cause Brain Injuries?

Serious brain injuries are more likely to occur in high-speed collisions, rollover accidents, or collisions involving large vehicles such as commercial trucks or buses. Why do these injuries happen? If you are involved in a car crash, your body is subject to the impact forces, which can be substantial. Even if your head does not hit another object, your brain could be shaken inside your skull, causing swelling, bleeding, and other brain damage.

Pedestrians who are hit by vehicles are even more likely to experience serious brain injuries because they lack protection against impact. Although motorcyclists and bike riders are somewhat protected by helmets, they are still incredibly vulnerable when vehicles hit them.

What Are Common Effects of Brain Injuries?

A person who suffers from a brain injury may experience issues such as memory loss, sleep disorders, sensory issues, problems with balance and coordination, mood disorders, personality changes, seizures, or intellectual disabilities.

Brain injury victims may need assistance performing everyday tasks like bathing and eating. They may be permanently disabled and unable to work to earn an income. Their homes and vehicles may require extensive modifications to accommodate their disabilities, and those modifications often come with hefty price tags.

Along with physical limitations and astronomical expenses, brain injury victims may lead a dramatically different life after their injury becomes apparent. These changes can lead to a diminished quality of life, along with significant pain and suffering.

How Can I Find Out if I Have a Valid Claim for My Brain Injury?

As soon as you suspect you have a brain injury, call our office and speak with one of our knowledgeable attorneys. We will assess your situation and determine whether you can seek compensation. The statute of limitations for many of these cases in Illinois is two years from the date of your accident or when you became aware of your injuries, although there are some exceptions. If you do not file a lawsuit seeking compensation from the at-fault party or parties before your deadline expires, you will likely lose the opportunity to collect a payout.

These cases take time to investigate and prepare. Filing an insurance claim is typically the first step, and your lawyer will attempt to negotiate a favorable settlement offer before your statute of limitations expires. If the liable insurers do not cooperate, we will file a civil lawsuit and try your case in court.

What Kinds of Brain Injury Cases Lead to Large Payouts?

As long as your case meets the eligibility criteria, your damages are determined on a case-specific basis. Regardless of the type of accident or incident that produced your brain damage, the more significantly it impacted your life and finances, the higher your payout is likely to be.

Your damages may include reimbursement for your accident- and injury-related expenses, including property damage, lost income and diminished earning capacity, medical care costs, vehicle and home modifications, and the costs associated with ongoing care. You could also receive compensation for the intangible effects of your brain injury, such as permanent disability, pain and suffering, depression, and the loss of enjoyment of life.

Insurers routinely make low initial settlement offers. Without an aggressive lawyer on your side to meticulously calculate your case’s value and fight to help you secure the full amount, you might accept far less than you should. After you formally accept a settlement offer, you cannot return later asking for more.

It is incredibly important to choose your brain injury attorney carefully. His or her skill, experience, resources, and focused legal knowledge directly impact the outcome of your case.

Contact Our Winnebago County, IL Brain Injury Lawyers

Brain injuries can be difficult to diagnose, and their effects may not become known until significant time has passed after the injury initially took place. At Mannarino & Brasfield, A Division of Schwartz Jambois, we help victims determine the causes of their brain injuries and take aggressive legal action to recover compensation from those responsible. To set up a free consultation, contact our Rockford, IL traumatic brain injury attorneys today by calling 815-215-7561.