Use of Medical Treatises in the Traumatic Brain Injury Case – Intro
The trial attorney representing a client in a traumatic brain injury case must master the scientific and medical literature addressing this unique injury. Only then can the attorney hope to effectively wield the often con- fusing terminology by finding definitions and criteria that the defense cannot credibly refute.
No other damage case requires the depth of the knowledge and use of medical literature and treatises that are needed in the traumatic brain injury (TBI) case. In most personal injury cases, the injuries and their origin are largely self-evident. In the fall-down case involving fractured bones, in the product liability case involving amputations or burns, or in the motor vehicle collision with catastrophic injuries, the injuries and their relationship to the trauma are essentially undisputed. By contrast, in the TBI case, especially where the injury is characterized as “mild,” the issue of whether an injury even exists, let alone its connection to a specific traumatic event, is nearly always heatedly disputed and litigated.
Fortunately, a wealth of scientific literature has evolved on the subject of so-called “mild” TBI, the nature of the injury, causation, and prognosis. It is imperative that the trial lawyer handling TBI cases be fully conversant with this literature. This information is needed not only to cross-examine defendants’ experts, but also to allow the plaintiff’s attorney to fully understand–and prepare–the plaintiff’s treating and expert witnesses for trial.
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2 Replies to “Use of Medical Treatises in the Traumatic Brain Injury Case – Intro”
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Yes, I very much agree, there is alot of confusion in such names. I myself have what is called ‘an Acquired Brain Injury’ or ABI. People with Acquired Brain Injuries (PWABIs) feel that more respect and understanding is achievied by making use of such a name, commonly used in Australia. These three words explain to people without a so called traumatic brain injury that an ABI is acquired after birth, at any age. The point I wish to make is that ALL acquired brain injuries are traumatic but the name of Acquired Brain Injury has the ability to take away the stigma that lies in the minds of those who acqait it with picture of complete disaster, it is traumatic in their minds but not necessarily in the minds of those who survive from an Acquired Brain Injury. Are not these the people that brain injury lawyers build cases for?
Penny thank you for your post.
You raise an excellent point with regard to the problem of nomenclature when discussing traumatic brain injury. It is one of the problems plaguing the field. Although there has been many attempts to try and standardize the ���terms��� to describe traumatic brain injury, one of which is ���the quiet brain injury��� as Penny correctly states, if those efforts have not always proven successful.