Traumatic Brain Injury – DeMayo

Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: A traumatic brain injury can completely change the life of a person and those closest to him. My guest is North Carolina Personal Injury Attorney, Michael A. DeMayo, of the Law offices of Michael A. DeMayo. And he’s going to talk with us about the legal aspects often associated with traumatic brain injuries. So Michael, thanks for being here today.

Michael A. DeMayo: Thank you for having me.

Cindy Speaker: Well Michael in your experience of dealing with traumatic brain injury, what do you typically see as the most common causes?

Michael A. DeMayo: Well Cindy, the most common cause that we see at least in our line of work is either an injury or an accident in an automobile or at work. And unfortunately, sometimes you can have a traumatic brain injury without even striking another object. People sometimes think that you have to actually hit your head on something to have a brain injury but it is possible based on deceleration in g-forces for you to have a brain injury with actually not having impact with any other object. Well that’s – those are the most common obliviously significant falls in, you know, some sort of impact at the job and then a severe or significant automobile accident or truck or trailer accident are often causes for or result in brain injury.

Cindy Speaker: Now what is the treatment for a traumatic brain injury patient?

Michael A. DeMayo: Well often times, depending on the level of injury to the brain neuropsychologist, neuropsychiatrist, they’ll go to a treatment facility where a number of cognitive tests are done and a number of rehabilitative practices will be implemented so that the person can theoretically retrain the brain or at least the parts of the brain that are still working to function in society. But depending on the severity of the injury, that often times dictates the level that they will or will not be debilitated and will be able to function in society either with care and assistance or on their own.

Cindy Speaker: Michael, where does your team start in handling a traumatic brain injury case? And why is it important to consult with an attorney in these types of cases?

Michael A. DeMayo: Well generally the first thing that’s done with the traumatic brain injury is you try to get to the significance or the level of injury that is present. Then based on that, we generally will employ experts that will give us an evaluation of future medical needs, future attendant care needs, and that is generally in the from of what’s called the life care plan. Often times, it’s more important to be able to project what the person’s needs are in the future than just to get the medical bills they’ve incurred, and try to resolve the case in that fashion because that’s essentially doing the individual a tremendous disservice because they’re going to have significant future medical needs, significant future medical care needs in the future that need to be addressed and that need to be accounted for.

Cindy Speaker: Michael, do insurance companies typically do a life care plan or do you need a lawyer to do this rather complex assessment?

Michael A. DeMayo: Generally, you need a lawyer – in answer to your first question, if insurance companies did what they were supposed to, I wouldn’t exist. So unfortunately, the answer to that is no. Insurance companies generally do not step up to the plate and say, “We’re responsible, we’re going to pay, we’re going to make sure that we take care of you for the rest of your life.” What they will do in regard to the life care plan is they will generally get a corollary life care plan that no shock or surprise, generally accounts and says that there’s less care needed, there’s less medical care needed, and it’s going to cost a lot less than what’s projected from the experts that are generally the treating experts.

So the people that are going to be most familiar with that individual’s needs and care needs in the future, they generally will get someone to try to refute that but no as a general rule, though insurance companies don’t offer to pay for these type of cases voluntarily. So that’s why it is always very, very, very important that you get a personal injury attorney who’s experienced in TBI.

Cindy Speaker: And if someone wants to reach your office, how can they do that?

Michael A. DeMayo: They can reach us in three different ways, Cindy. They can call us, toll free anywhere in the United States at 877-333-1000. They can contact us via web at our website at demayolaw.com. And ultimately we now have a third option which is they can text the word DeMayo to the number 333-100 which is basically our number less a zero and they will be given a series of options to either communicate with us or to send us messages by text and we’ll be able to help them in that manner.

Cindy Speaker: Very good. Michael, thank you for your time today.

Michael A. DeMayo: Thank you.

Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker from Main Street Law.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: What is traumatic brain injury? That’s our topic today and my guest is Houston attorney, Terry Bryant. So Terry, thank you for being with us today.

Terry Bryant: Well thanks for having me.

Cindy Speaker: Well, Terry, what is traumatic brain injury?

Terry Bryant: Well, very simply, traumatic brain injury is the injury that occurs from trauma, a direct blow to the head. It could be a penetrating injury such as a gunshot wound or any kind of force that would cause the brain to move within the skull, and hit the structure of the skull.

Cindy Speaker: Okay. Well, what are the most common causes of traumatic brain injury?

Terry Bryant: Assault to the head, hit by a falling object, a fall where someone hits their head on the floor, or the force that causes the brain to move but is not a direct blow.

Cindy Speaker: Okay. and what are the challenges of handling a brain injury case? I mean, my guess is that the insurance companies would really fight these cases in light of the extensive damage, and probably the huge medical cost that are likely to result.

Terry Bryant: Well, the main challenge of handling a brain injury case is that often times when you put the person in the court room and they’re sitting in front of the jury, they look otherwise normal. So from outward appearances, one can’t tell that the wires inside their head, if you please, are messed up. So it’s hard to convey sometimes to a jury how badly people with brain injuries have suffered.

Cindy Speaker: Well, Terry, what kind of treatment is involved in brain injuries?

Terry Bryant: Sometimes brain surgery. Brain injuries are usually permanent in nature, so there’s likely going to be ongoing psychological, neuropsychological, neurological treatment and cognitive rehabilitation and possibly even assisted living.

Cindy Speaker: And what have you found are your biggest challenges in handling these traumatic brain injury cases?

Terry Bryant: The biggest challenge in handling these cases is the identification of the brain injury. We depend on doctors to make these diagnoses, and sometimes unfortunately they’re glossed over.

Cindy Speaker: What are the things that you can look for to diagnose a brain injury?

Terry Bryant: You know, what I found is that sometimes family members are the ones who bring the brain injury to the attention of the doctor. Sometimes a person will have anger issues, or depression, or they’re just not the way they were before the crash. So it’s important that the family member go with the patient to the doctor and explain the differences before the crash and after the crash to the doctor.

Cindy Speaker: Why do you need a lawyer in a case like this, why not just deal with the insurance company?

Terry Bryant: Because these cases can be very significant and oftentimes as we talked about before, traumatic brain injuries are under diagnosed. So one needs an experienced lawyer that can make sure that the proper medical care is obtained by the injured person.

Cindy Speaker: Well, Terry, if someone has specific questions, can they contact you, and if so, how?

Terry Bryant: Absolutely. My toll free number is 1-800-444-5000 and we’re on the web at www.terrybryant.com.

Cindy Speaker: Terry, thanks again for your time today.

Terry Bryant: Thanks for having me.

Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker reporting.