TBI (traumatic brain injuries) are among the common injuries nowadays after a car accident, workplace-related accidents, or medical negligence. There are different degrees of TBI, but they all have a significant impact on your life and that of your loved ones. Most people assume that no amount of damages will restore their lives to what they were before the injury. Though this is true, the award will ease the financial burden that comes with your injury.
Getting a brain injury attorney in Los Angeles to evaluate your case and help you pursue compensation from whoever is accountable for your accident’s causation is essential. There are different forms of compensation that might apply to your situation. Here are some of them:
Future Damages
About 40% of TBIs will leave victims with permanent brain damage or varying levels of immobility. Future damages are intended to cover the expenses of your care and the projected loss of income if you suffer permanent brain damage. The amount of these damages is often the hardest to compute. Medical reports on the impact of the injury and your life expectancy, as well as your expected medical and social needs, will be the primary basis for deciding this amount.
Compensatory Damages
These are awarded based on several elements surrounding your injury. These include your medical costs, loss of income, mental anguish, and other tangible expenses related to your injury. Compensatory damages are basically a reimbursement of all the money you have spent on your care after the accident. Proof of the costs is important. The evidence includes receipts for all expenses related to your injury and how much money you have lost in earnings due to the accident.
Hedonic Damages
These are meant to recompense you for your loss of life’s enjoyment. Brain injuries can cause depression and mental health conditions in some patients while others might lose their abilities for sexual fulfillment. The extent to which a brain injury victim will lose his or her life’s enjoyment primarily depends on the part of the brain that is injured. Hedonic damages are the hardest to win in brain injury cases since placing a price on your enjoyment of life is almost impossible. Most courts, however, base this amount on the activities you engaged in before your accident.
Punitive Damages
These are awarded to punish the defendant in your case for causing your accident and suffering. Most brain injury cases arising from medical negligence will feature punitive damages. The sum of punitive damages you can get is set by the judge and generally dependent on the defendant’s financial ability.
Time is one of the elements that might lock you out from the above forms of compensation when you suffer a traumatic brain injury. Most states have a two-year time limit on the pursuit of personal injury cases to primarily prevent the loss of evidence and prevent malicious cases.
Brain injuries might, however, not manifest immediately after your accident; therefore, most jurisdictions have an allowance for them. Damages for a traumatic brain injury case can be pursued after the expiry of your state’s time limit, provided you have evidence and good legal representation.
