How do you successfully prove a brain injury in a personal injury case? The short answer is that you use medical experts who can confirm the injury and the effect it has on health and everyday life. The long answer is that brain injuries are complex, and so expert witnesses — sometimes of varying specialty — are of top priority.
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can vary greatly. In some serious cases, a person may experience coma and lifelong cognitive or physical disability. In other “mild” cases, however, a person may need a week of rest while symptoms of headache, dizziness, and anxiety dissipate. The spectrum of TBIs can be wide and even in mild cases, like concussions, there can be lasting symptoms that impact career and finance, relationships, and physical and mental health.
Read More: The Most Common Brain Injuries After Bicycle Accidents
After a bicycle crash, it may be easy to write-off a mild TBI because you’re able to get up, walk around, talk, and make sense of the world around you. In these moments adrenaline is high. This doesn’t mean you haven’t experienced some sort of brain injury. For many, it can take days to feel the effects of a TBI, so it’s crucial to see a medical professional as soon as you can to improve your likelihood of recovery.
What do brain injury expert witnesses do?
In personal injury cases, insight into the injury and its full effect is extremely important. The role of an expert witness is to establish the extent of the injury to a judge or jury. Neurological expert witnesses specialize in diagnosing, treating, and understanding brain injuries — so, they may serve different roles in a TBI litigation case depending on the case and what’s needed.
One of the most important pieces of a TBI case is an accurate diagnosis. These expert witnesses will be able to use their training, imaging, and other neuropsychological tests to determine the type and extent of a brain injury.
Read More: What Is Neuropsychological Testing?
It’s common that your team of medical providers after a TBI will include at least one, but likely more, of these types of specialists. That’s also why they may be good in brain injury litigation. Their expertise brings a level of skill that a more general provider, such as a family doctor or hospitalist, may not be able to provide regarding a nuanced injury.
There are different types of specialities within brain injuries. A few of them that may serve as an expert witness are:
Neurologists and neurosurgeons
Neurologists and neurosurgeons are medical doctors who specialize in taking care of the brain. As the names note, neurosurgeons work in the operating room, so if you’ve had an injury that required surgery, you’re likely to have this clinician on your team.
Neurologists are non-surgical brain specialists, so they mainly use medications, physical therapy, and lifestyle advice to manage conditions related to TBI. They are able to diagnose, order testing, and work with patients to manage symptoms.
In both specialities, these clinicians are highly-trained. They attend medical school, four-year residencies, and most likely fellowships that enhance their expertise.
Neuroradiologists
Neuroradiologists are medical doctors who specialize in imaging of the brain, such as MRI and CT scans. This type of testing is common in TBI cases because it can reveal physical damage in the brain – which may explain some symptoms the patient experiences.
These experts are sought out by other medical doctors to confirm or investigate brain injuries. They also often offer advice on the best and most helpful methods of imaging. In litigation, an expert witness neuroradiologist may be able to provide unmatched proficiency in reading scans, translating that to patient experiences, and offering guidance on how the brain injury may progress.
A subspeciality of neuroradiology is interventional neuroradiologists, who use minimally invasive image-guided tools to treat blood vessel problems and perform spinal procedures.
Neuropsychologists
Neuropsychologists are experts in how TBIs impact behavior, mood, and cognition. They are able to administer appropriate testing that speaks to things like language, reasoning and problem-solving, changes in mood, and general intellect – all things that can be affected by a TBI. Most importantly, these clinicians operate from a place of understanding how the brain and brain injuries affect multiple areas of human behavior, opposed to a general psychologist who may only take into account life experiences and mental health.
Subtypes of this speciality include cognitive neuropsychologists — who often conduct research to expand the field of neuropsychology — and clinical neuropsychologists, who are direct care providers.
Why utilize brain injury expert witnesses?
No two people who experience a TBI are alike, and so neither is their recovery or journey afterward. Even two cyclists who are traveling the same speed and hit their head the same way may not have exactly similar experiences.
Recovery for TBI can also be long and involved. Symptoms — physical, behavioral, and cognitive — may last for months, years, or longer. Employing an expert witness to explain the science of brain injuries, how they impact an individual, and what that means for future care and recovery is crucial in litigation. They are the most informed on how the injury has impacted your health, and therefore, many other parts of your life.
While your case may not need every type of neuro speciality to explain the effects of the injury, it’s good to know what kind of expertise they can provide and why it matters.
Work with a legal team for your TBI
The complexities of TBIs don’t end at the hospital or follow-up appointment. Litigation for bicycle injuries can be taxing and intricate. The staff at Bay Area Bicycle Law knows this, and is why we only focus on bicycle cases: to get our clients the most dedicated resources.
Each case is different, so schedule a free consultation today. We’ll listen and advise you on the best way to move forward. Get in touch by email or by calling (415) 466-8717.