An accident is a traumatic event under any circumstance, but thankfully, medical intervention can heal your injuries and provide continual treatments to help you move forward with your life. For the most part, injuries from an accident, like cuts on the skin and fractured bones can be diagnosed right way. But there may be complications that develop over a long period of time, like Alzheimer’s disease due to a traumatic brain injury from an accident.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and it can happen when there are chemical changes in the brain due to vitamin deficiency, old age, poor heart health, and physical trauma to the brain. Dementia is often associated with sports like hockey and football, where blows to the head are extremely common. But those who are in an accident, like being hit by a car or falling down from tripping over something, can experience the same type of trauma to their brain.
Those with severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have a much greater chance of developing dementia compared to others who have never had a head injury. That’s why it’s not unusual for someone to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s many years after a serious accident. Living with the effects of Alzheimer’s can place a huge strain on your health and finances. The brain injury lawsuit lawyers of Normandie will help you sue the negligent party and ensure that justice is served on behalf of you and your loved ones. Contact us today and schedule a free case review if you developed Alzheimer’s from an accident where you were hit in the head.
What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
Alzheimer’s disease is one of several types of dementia, which is a brain disorder that impairs your ability to think, reason, remember, and perform daily tasks that you normally take for granted. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and as of 2020, around 5.8 million people in the U.S. were diagnosed with the disease.
Most of us associate Alzheimer’s disease with getting old, but it can also occur in young people if they experience an injury to the brain. The illness normally begins with mild memory loss, but over time, patients will lose many of their cognitive abilities, like remembering their address, finding their way around familiar neighborhoods, and being able to carry on a conversation.
While the elderly are most susceptible to developing the disease, genetics, i.e., family history, also play a role in your chances of getting Alzheimer’s. Poor diet, alcoholism, lack of activity, and other environmental factors can also cause changes in the brain that eventually results in Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
So, how does being in an accident put you at risk for a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, even if you are relatively young and live a healthy lifestyle?
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How Do You Get Alzheimer’s Disease after an Accident?
When there is an injury to the head from a serious accident, you can easily end up with an injury to the brain. For example, being in a car crash can cause a blow to the skull or cause the head to shake back and forth. Or, you may be pierced in the skull by an object that falls from the roof or ceiling. Such forceful impact may cause chemical changes in your brain, and this is why you may develop Alzheimer’s after a TBI from car accidents, slip and falls, and other traumatic incidents.
We want to point out that Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia will not happen to every single person that’s been in an accident. With early intervention from medical professionals, many patients recover from a brain injury and resume most or all of the activities that are a part of their daily lives. What we are saying is the risk of Alzheimer’s increases if you sustain a traumatic brain injury, even if you do not have any other risk factors for the disease.
Accidents That can Cause Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia can be caused by any accident where the victim experiences a head injury. The development of Alzheimer’s resulting from TBI are most commonly associated with the following accidents:
- Slip and fall
- Trip and fall
- Car accidents, including injuries to pedestrians
- Hit by falling debris, merchandise, and other objects
Alzheimer’s after a car accident can happen from the person striking their head against the window or windshield, or from the impact of the head jerking back and forth. This can also happen with fall accidents, where the victim hits their head on the floor or another hard surface. The impact from a falling object can also result in moderate to severe brain injury, which later develops into Alzheimer’s.
It’s unlikely that you will get Alzheimer’s from a mild brain injury, but these incidents can still cause problems with your cognitive abilities, like reduced problem solving skills and ability to remember things. That’s why you must see a doctor right away if you have an accident that caused an injury to your head. Even if you are not diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, you may have complications that compromise your job performance and other areas of your life. Our goal is to bring you compensation toward your medical expenses and lost income, not just now, but for many years into the future.
Can I Sue for being Diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s Due to an Accident?
Yes, you can sue if you develop Alzheimer’s from a head injury because of negligence by another individual or entity, like a store, corporation, or government agency. There are countless examples of how someone can be negligent in their duty of care to others. To put it simply, it refers to a failure to take precautions, or neglecting to take some sort of action that would have prevented injury to someone else.
A common example is building owners that fail to resolve dangerous conditions, like slippery floors, leaking pipes, and broken concrete in parking lots, which are common causes of slip and fall and trip and fall injuries. Alternatively, someone that’s distracted on their phone while driving may run through a light and crash into another vehicle. Your case may involve more complicated issues, but these examples will hopefully provide you with a sense of what negligence means in the legal sense.
However, not all cases of injury require a basis of neglect or misconduct. If you had a workplace accident, you generally have the right to file a workers’ compensation claim and seek payment for your lost income and medical expenses. Even if no one caused or contributed to your accident, you can receive these benefits as long as you got hurt within the course of employment.
One thing to keep in mind is that workplace injury claims have tight deadlines, which we will go over in a later section of this article. No matter how you sustained a brain injury, please know that our attorneys are here for you if you need advice on your rights and legal options.
Average Value of a Lawsuit for Brain
Injury Causing Alzheimer’s
In the state of California, the median settlement value for a TBIT lawsuit is around $1,500,000. And based on our experience with these lawsuits for several decades, we would say that most cases are settled for $1,000,000 and above when the victim ends up with moderate to severe injuries to the brain. Based on the degree of health complications and how they affect the victim’s life, settlement may be anywhere from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000.
Keep in mind that some victims will end up with $400,000 or less, and this may be an appropriate sum based on their current and future monetary losses. Due to the variations that can exist from one case to another, you should speak with an experienced brain injury accident attorney, who can advise you on the amount of compensation from a personal injury lawsuit.
How Long Do Traumatic Brain Injury Claims Take to Settle?
On average, we would have to say that accident cases for serious brain injuries take at least 1 year to settle, and 2 to 3 years based on the legal actions that are involved. Though it’s possible to reach a settlement in 6 months or less, it often takes longer to make a case for diseases that may not be diagnosed for years after the accident date. If the condition is a permanent alteration of the brain, like Alzheimer’s, insurance companies will fight especially hard to avoid liability.
The amount of time to settle a brain injury case is particularly long if you are suing a government department, school district, or another public entity. These lawsuits have complex and prolonged legal requirements that add to how long it takes to reach a settlement. These lawsuits often take 2 to 3 years from start to finish, and even longer if taking your case to trial is the only option.
We understand that the prospect of going to trial is unpleasant, but lawsuits rarely get to this point. We are successful in negotiating a settlement through private means over 95% of the time, so it’s very unlikely that you will need to prepare for a trial.
Statute of Limitations to File a Alzheimer’s Caused by Brain Injury Lawsuit
The statute of limitations to sue for health complications from a brain injury is 2 years, starting from accident date. Of course, health issues like Alzheimer’s may not be diagnosed for years, and that’s why the timeline for a lawsuit may be extended if there is a delayed discovery of an injury.
Let’s say that you suffered a blow to the head from a car collision, but it takes almost a year before you experience symptoms, like problems focusing, remembering names of people you’ve known for a long time, and needing help with basic tasks. Your doctor believes that you may have developed dementia from a brain injury, but it takes another year before you are officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
At the point of diagnosis, you have missed the 2-year mark to sue the negligent driver. But under the state’s discovery rule, you have 1 year to file a lawsuit from the realization of an injury or illness associated with an accident. Please be aware that additional time for a lawsuit must be approved by the court system, and failure to follow the required procedures will invalidate your right to monetary damages. Thus, it’s highly recommended that you contact a brain injury lawsuit attorney, who can guide you through the legal process.
Deadline to File a Workers’ Compensation Claim
To obtain compensation from the state’s workers’ comp program, you must submit a claim within 1 year from the date of injury. Prior to submitting your claim, you must report the accident to your employer within 30 days. This is why we urge you to stop whatever you are doing and talk to your supervisor immediately if you find yourself injured in a workplace accident.
Even if you have filed a workers’ compensation claim, you have the right to pursue a lawsuit if you were injured by a third party, meaning someone other than your employer. For example, a delivery driver might fall down from slipping on oil or grease at a restaurant. Since the accident was caused by the restaurant’s failure to take care of a hazardous condition, the driver can file a claim for compensation against the business owner. As with any lawsuit for personal injury, the employee has 2 years to file a third party claim and obtain additional funds on top of whatever they receive from the state.
If you have any questions about your rights as an injured worker in California, don’t hesitate to contact our office.
Contact Normandie Law Firm
A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is devastating on its own, but even more so if the disease resulted from an accident that was caused by someone else. In these situations, you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit for damage like medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages.
There’s no need to be intimated by the legal system with our attorneys by your side. Whether you need a slip and fall lawyer or a legal expert on car accidents, we have what it takes to bring your maximum payment from a brain injury accident claim.
No matter how long it takes to recover your settlement, you will never pay out of pocket when you become one of our clients. The Zero Fee Guarantee is our promise to you that legal fees will be charged to the defendant and paid to us at the same time as your settlement check. So, if you don’t receive payment from an accident claim, then neither do we.
Please don’t delay in giving us a call and scheduling a free case evaluation.
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