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Many of the most frequently seen brain injuries occur during birth and can result in cerebral palsy (click here to read our dedicated page on cerebral palsy or here for our page on birth injuries). There are, however, other reasons why someone may suffer a brain injury which are explained here.
Medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care and if that duty of care has fallen below an acceptable standard and a brain injury is acquired as a result, you may have a legal right to seek compensation. Our team of brain injury solicitors have the specialist skills and legal and medical knowledge to guide you through often complex brain injury compensation claim.
Click here for information about our leading medical negligence team and Why you Should Choose Us.
If you want to talk to someone about a brain injury claim, please call us now for a free consultation on 0113 245 8549 or complete our contact form and one of our brain injury specialist solicitors will be in touch as soon as possible.
An acquired brain injury occurs later in life as opposed to happening at birth or as a result of a genetic or congenital condition. It can be caused, for example, by the head forcefully hitting an object such as the dashboard of a car, as a result of a fall, a sports injury, violent crime or for medical reasons:
The physical, behavioral or mental changes that may result from an acquired brain injury depend on the area of the brain which is injured. There can be physical changes such as problems with walking, sitting, slurred speech, chronic pain and fatigue as well as cognitive changes such as poor memory, confusion, impulsiveness, problems with planning, information processing and emotional and social changes such as depression, frustration, anger and anxiety.
Specialist doctors should fully investigate a patient’s symptoms if a brain injury is suspected. They do so in many different ways. Some more common methods have been set out below:
There are many different types of brain injuries that may lead to a Brain Injury compensation claim:
The severity of a brain injury usually determines how much Head Injury compensation can be pursued. Our brain injury solicitors have extensive experience acting for clients with avoidable brain injuries and have secured life changing multi-million pound settlements to help them with their lives.
Click here to read our Brain Injury case studies.
After a patient has been stabilised from whatever has caused a brain injury, the severity of their injury will be investigated with tests and scanning equipment. This will influence any treatment provided. Like with spinal injuries, brain injuries are potentially life changing because the brain cannot usually heal and repair itself like other organs within the body. Treatment options include:
Because treatment options for brain injuries may be limited, Brain injury compensation claims may often result in very significant Personal Injury claims payouts for a life time of care and assistance.
Usually, you have three years in which to start a civil claim for compensation but for children the 3 years does not start to run until they are 18. This means that children typically have until the age of 21 in which to start a civil claim. However, if someone lacks mental capacity then it may be possible to pursue a claim even after the age of 21 but this may be subject to obtaining expert medical evidence on whether there is a lack of capacity. It is important to seek legal advice on this issue.
Click here for our dedicated page on Time Limits for Pursuing a Negligence Compensation claim.
If you or someone you know feels that they have suffered a brain injury as a result of an accident that was not your fault or sub-standard medical care, you may be entitled to significant Head Injury compensation. Our team of expert brain injury compensation lawyers will talk you through what is required to succeed with a claim for compensation. Click here for more information about our team of leading legal experts.
Over many years our team of specialist brain injury lawyers have been involved in different types of brain injury compensation claims. We have set out some examples to give you an idea of the types of clinical negligence claims that we have successfully resolved.
Sally was in the critical care unit at a hospital following the birth of her first child and was intubated and ventilated. Whilst she was being moved, her endotracheal tube became dislodged and by the time this was re-inserted she had suffered a hypoxic brain injury (because of a lack of oxygen). This tragically resulted in Sally being in a persistent vegetative state. It was a devastating tragedy for Sally’s husband and their newly born son.
Our brain injury specialist lawyers investigated the case, and it became apparent that Sally was moved by just two nurses when her endotracheal tube became dislodged. The nurses had made the decision that they would be able to move Sally safely without a third nurse, despite the fact that there was no one holding the endotracheal tube, as there should have been.
The hospital carried out a serious untoward incident investigation. This raised further problems with delays in an ICU anaesthetist being summoned and re-intubating Sally as well as equipment not working properly. Their investigation also concluded there was no training in place for maintaining the airway when moving an intubated patient.
The Hospital subsequently admitted fault in response to the allegations of negligence that our team put forward. They formally apologised to Sally and her family for the devastating consequences of this error.
Sally and her family secured a substantial compensation payment. This enabled Sally to move into a Rehabilitation Nursing Home and her husband and son to move close by to be able to regularly see Sally. The compensation was also for the cost of replacing the services that Sally would have provided to her son and her husband had she not been so severely injured at the Hospital.
Note: Our client’s name has been changed to protect her confidentiality.
“I wish to express my sincere thanks to Sahida and the team at Minton Morrill. I have received efficient, appropriate and clear legal advice throughout the process. I am pleased with everything, from the first meeting to conclusion. I was well-informed of every step, either by telephone, email or letter. Remarkably, I was very happy with the experts Sahida had introduced to me. Sahida is very accessible, friendly, available, timely, always responsive and has an amazing ability to achieve the best outcome by acting in the client’s best interest. I recommend Minton Morrill to every one."
Daniel, another client, had already sustained a brain injury. He was admitted to hospital to undergo a bilateral cranioplasty from a brain injury rehabilitation unit but he was not appropriately supervised following the operation and fell down some stairs rendering him unconscious and causing a further severe brain injury. Because of this, Daniel lost his physical independence and suffered from a severe speech disturbance, left sided paralysis, loss of vision and swallowing difficulties.
Our traumatic brain injury solicitors argued that Daniel should have been properly supervised following his surgery. The nursing staff were well aware of Daniel’s original brain injury but failed to carry out a detailed risk assessment and to properly ensure Daniel’s safety which would have prevented the fall and the further brain injury.
Daniel was awarded significant compensation that enabled him to have extra “top up” care at a specialist nursing home as well as compensation to meet his other needs now and in the future. The compensation also enables him to get Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy as well as purchase equipment to facilitate his disability.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sahida and the team at Minton Morrill. The claim was handled efficiently and ran smoothly and we were kept appraised at all times. I would be happy to recommend Sahida and the team at Minton Morrill to my friends and family as the compensation which our son has received will allow him to enjoy the remainder of his life”.
Note: Our client’s name has been changed to protect his confidentiality.
Paul was admitted to hospital for surgery for heart disease. He was put on a ventilator to help him breathe overnight in the Intenstive Care Unit following surgery. The following morning the ventilator was removed but Paul’s condition rapidly deteriorated resulting in a cardiac arrest. He was re-intubated and ventilated but tragically it was discovered that Paul had suffered a serious brain injury because of a lack of oxygen to his brain.
During our legal investigation, it became apparent to our head injury solicitors that a decision to extubate and take Paul off the ventilator had been made by a junior anaesthetist without proper assessment of the risks. Problems with the ventilation equipment for Paul were also discovered. A fault with a humidifier caused secretions to build up that blocked Paul’s airway. When he was extubated and taken off the ventilator his blocked airway prevented him for breathing properly which caused the catastrophic cardiac arrest which led to Paul suffering an avoidable brain injury.
The claim was vigorously defended by the Hospital but our specialist brain injury compensation lawyers were able to secure a multi million pound settlement for Paul to allow him to live in an adapted property along with assistance from carers and therapists.
Note: Our client’s name has been changed to protect his confidentiality.
If you or someone you know has suffered a brain injury then call us today on 0113 245 8549 or complete the ask us a question or get in touch forms to discuss pursuing a compensation claim with our brain injury solicitors.
Our Experience of Brain Injury Claims
