The Long-term Costs of a Traumatic Brain Injury

As you read this, your brain is resting comfortably inside your skull and engaged in lightning-fast processing that helps you recognize letters, words, sentence structure, and context.

All of that happens in fractions of a second. Our brains are incredibly complex organs that serve as our body’s supercomputer, dictating everything from recalling memories to reacting to pain.

What happens if those processes are disrupted as a result of a bump, blow, or jolt to your head? In graphic terms, if one of those physical actions causes your brain to bounce or twist in your skull, it can result in a traumatic brain injury or TBI.

That TBI can be anything from a mild concussion that will fade in a few days to a severe trauma that impairs mobility, speech, and cognitive functioning. When that happens, it will require long-term care, which can be very expensive. What makes that situation worse is if someone’s reckless action caused the TBI.

In that situation, you should not be overwhelmed by medical bills or lost employment. That should be compensated for by the person who caused the injury.

Determining the long-term costs of a traumatic brain injury requires careful calculation along with presenting relevant documentation. An experienced Etna traumatic brain injury attorney can help with both of those tasks.

Alarming Facts About Brain Injuries

When you understand the scope of TBIs, you can appreciate how impactful they can be on the victim and their family. The Brain Injury Association of America has collected some alarming data about the extent of TBIs:

• At least 64 million adults have experienced one or more TBIs in their lifetime
• 4 million Americans over 40 with a history of TBI that causes loss of consciousness are living with a disability
• There are 2.9 million TBI-related emergency department visits each year in the U.S.
• Five years after surviving a moderate to severe TBI, more than half of adults who were employed at the time of their injury no longer have a job.
• Common causes of TBI are falls, motor vehicle crashes, and sports-related injuries

These facts point out how widespread TBIs are and how this injury can have a devastating impact on a family.

Direct Medical Expenses and Ongoing Rehabilitation Needs

Although they can be put into the same classifications, every TBI injury is different. Depending on the severity, the cost of traumatic brain injuries can range from $85,000 to several million. Here’s what you can expect:

Emergency and Surgical Care: Emergency room visits for a TBI can involve advanced diagnostic imaging such as CT and MRI scans. It can also involve intracranial pressure monitoring and emergency brain or skull surgery. This can cost between $5,000 and $50,000 per visit.

Acute Hospitalization: If a patient is admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) or to a general hospital for recovery, the average cost can range from $85,000 to $200,000 for moderate-to-severe injuries. Daily hospitalization rates often exceed $5,500.

Inpatient Rehabilitation: A prescribed stay at an acute inpatient rehab facility averages roughly $1,600 per day. That will be multiplied by a typical stay of 30 to 90 days.

Outpatient Therapies: A doctor might prescribe various outpatient therapies with the following price ranges:

• Physical therapy: $75–$150 per session
• Occupational therapy: $80–$160 per session
• Speech-language therapy: $100–$200 per session

These sessions can be prescribed multiple times per week for years.

Specialized Evaluations: Periodic neuropsychological assessments are needed to track cognitive and behavioral recovery. These evaluations can cost $2,000 to $5,000 each.

Long-Term Care and Assistance: There might be a need to move into assisted living or memory care units. Those costs can range upward of $4,300 per month.

Medications: Depending on the medication and insurance, ongoing prescriptions for seizure control, pain management, and mood stabilization can range from $10 to $1,200 per prescription.

Calculating the Loss of Future Earnings and Career Opportunities

It is not just the long-term costs of medical care that have to be considered but also the loss of gainful employment. To calculate those losses, you need to add up past salary, bonuses, and benefits, along with any documented promotion tracks.

You then have to consider the cognitive impact of the TBI. Will memory loss, focus issues, and behavioral changes affect the ability to perform your work duties? You also have to consider the person’s age and whether that will mean a shortened career duration due to permanent disability.

To help make these calculations, your attorney might enlist testimony from a vocational expert to assess your ability to return to work, or if retraining is needed. A forensic economist can help calculate lifetime net losses adjusted for inflation, wage growth, and present cash value.

These are all the factors that will contribute to the overall costs you might ask for in a brain injury claim.

Working with a Skilled Attorney to Assess the Costs

A traumatic brain injury can affect nearly every aspect of your life. That is why it is vital to calculate its financial impact accurately. That will require more than adding up your current medical bills.

You have to consider all your potential future surgeries, rehabilitation, cognitive therapy, in-home care, and assistive technology support. Additionally, you need to consider your lost earning capacity. These costs might go on for months, years, or even decades.

The experienced attorneys at Edwards Law Office, P.C. can help provide you with those calculations.

When helping clients with TBI injuries, we’ll call on our network of medical specialists, vocational experts, economists, and life care planners. These professionals can provide crucial assessments to help determine the cost of future treatment and estimate how the injury will affect your ability to work.

If you or a loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury because of someone else’s negligence, the attorneys at Edwards Law Office, P.C., can help evaluate the long-term financial impact of your injuries and fight for the compensation you’re entitled to seek.

Contact our legal team today to discuss the best way to pursue your compensation.