Nationwide Brain & Spinal Injury

Brain & Spinal Cord Injuries Cause Disabilities and Death

Traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries are most often caused by accidents. In a majority of the cases, these injuries are the result of motor vehicle accidents, many of which are caused by design or manufacturer defects in motor vehicles.

Other types of events associated with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries include sports-related accidents, falls, accidental shootings or attempted suicides, boating accidents, and ATV, motorcycle, snowmobile, personal watercraft, and bicycle accidents. Both brain and spinal cord injuries pose potentially devastating risk factors to a person's health and ability to function.

CGR&S attorneys are experienced in litigation involving traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. So if you or someone you know has been affected by a head or spinal injury, please contact us now for more information.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may result from a fracture or a penetration of the skull. Damage to the brain may occur at the instant the head impacts a hard surface. Or, it may occur afterwards due to brain swelling or bleeding into and around the brain within the skull.

TBI can also result from a closed-head injury in which there is no penetration of the skull. A closed head injury often occurs when there is a rapid acceleration or deceleration of the head, as in cases of whiplash or "shaken baby syndrome." As a result, there are no signs of bleeding or external damage.

Attention has recently shifted to violent amusement park thrill rides as a source of closed-head injuries. Critics of the rides contend that thrill-seekers' brains are being rattled around in their skulls, causing brain bleeds and tears that can result in permanent damage or death. This fall, New Jersey is expected to set the nation's first legal limits on the gravitational force that amusement park rides can produce. New Jersey engineers determined that brain injuries are occurring -- along with a spate of spine and neck injuries -- from the jolting, jerking rides, their rapid changes in direction, and speeds that often exceed 80 miles per hour.

Spinal Cord Injury

Like traumatic brain injuries, most spinal cord injuries (SCI) result from accidents. These events cause trauma to the vertebral column which can effect the spinal cord's ability to send and receive messages from the brain to parts of the body that control motor, sensory, and autonomic functions. In some cases, the spinal cord may only be bruised or swollen, and the nerves may gradually continue to work again over a period of time.

Specific effects of an SCI on the body usually depend on the location and severity of the injury. The nerves above an injury site often continue to function normally, while the nerves below it do not. Also, the closer the injury is to the brain, the greater the loss of feeling or function.

A spinal injury victim who develops paraplegia has lost feeling and is unable to move the lower parts of their body. A person with tetraplegia (previously called quadriplegia) has lost feeling and is unable to move both the upper and lower parts of their body.

See updates on traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries in news articles.