Brain injuries occur more frequently than most people realize. They may be sustained during childbirth, as a result of medical malpractice, from injuries caused by defective products, or from a wide variety of accidents. Some accidents that involve no direct impact with a victim’s head may nevertheless result in a brain injury if the accident causes a sufficient shaking of the victim’s head and resultant contact of the brain with the inside of the skull. Direct contact as well as “shaking” brain injuries may occur in traffic accidents, falls, or as a result of blunt-force trauma. Electric shock and asphyxiation may also result in brain injuries. Non-fatal drowning, the breathing in of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, strangulation, or choking are examples of asphyxiation accidents that may cause brain injuries of varying severity, from minor concussions to traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs.
When brain injuries are caused by a defective product, someone’s negligence, or medical malpractice, the victim may be entitled to compensation. If you have been diagnosed with a brain injury and you suspect that your injury was due to negligence, medical malpractice, or a defect in a product, you may be able to recover damages from those responsible for your injury through the institution of a negligence, medical malpractice, or product liability action. The Killino Firm’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, brain injury attorneys have extensive experience with brain injury cases, including those arising out of someone’s negligence or malpractice or a defective product. Contact The Killino Firm at (215) 569-1299 for a no-cost assessment of your case and additional information about your legal options.
Legal Liability for Brain Injuries
Brain injuries can be sustained in many ways. While not all occur as a result of the fault of another, many are caused by the negligence of individuals or entities, including medical professionals, or through the use of or exposure to products that have been released to the public in a defective and dangerous condition.
Brain Injuries Caused by Medical Negligence or Malpractice
Medical malpractice may result in patients’ brain injuries in myriad ways. Mistakes in anesthesiology that result in a cut-off of needed oxygen during surgery may result in hypoxic, or asphyxia, brain injuries to a patient. Negligence of medical personnel who assist in the birth of a child may result in a brain injury to the child, such as HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy) or cerebral palsy. Asphyxia birth injuries may be caused by the negligent monitoring of vital signs of a mother and fetus during labor and delivery or the failure to appropriately and timely respond to indications of fetal or maternal distress.
Brain Injuries Caused by Other Negligence
Many types of accidents may result in brain injury to an accident victim. When the accident or injuries are caused by the negligence of an individual and/or entity, the victim may be entitled to recover damages in a negligence action brought against those defendants. Non-fatal drowning accidents, for example, often result in brain injury to the drowning accident victim and may be caused by the negligence of homeowners or the owners of other premises. The owner of land that contains a pool or other body of water, for instance, may be found to have negligently caused a child’s drowning brain injury as a result of the owner’s negligent failure to erect fencing or other barriers to a child’s access to the pool or other body or water.
Non-fatal drowning brain injuries, as well as brain injuries caused by other types of accidents, may also be caused by the negligence of individuals and/or entities that have been entrusted with the care of a child. If a camp employee, for example, negligently fails to supervise a child who has been put under the employee’s care and the child suffers a brain injury from a fall or drowning accident as a result of the employee’s negligent supervision, the employee as well as the entity that employs him or her may be found liable for the damages suffered by the child as a result of the child’s brain injury.
Driver negligence may also result in traffic accidents that cause an accident victim’s brain injury. If a negligent driver was employed by and working for an employer (such as a truck or bus company) at the time the accident occurred, the employer as well as the driver may be found liable for a victim’s brain injury if the driver’s negligence is determined to have been a cause of the injury.
Brain Injuries Caused by Defective Products
Brain injuries may also be caused through the use of defective products. Defects in cars and other motor vehicles may be found to have caused a traffic accident and a victim’s resulting brain injury. Defective medical equipment may result in brain injuries to a patient during surgery or other medical treatment. Defective children’s and other products may cause strangulation or choking accidents that result in brain injuries to children.
Under most states’ product liability laws, when such injuries occur, the manufacturer and others in the chain of the product’s distribution may be found liable for the damages suffered by the injured victim as a result of his or her injury. When product liability actions are brought to recover damages for a person’s brain injury, the actions are generally brought as strict liability claims. These claims allow a plaintiff to establish liability of the manufacturer, designer, supplier, assembler, and sometimes the retailer of a defective product without having to prove that any of the defendants were negligent in producing the defective product or making it available to the public.
Contact Us
If you have sustained a brain injury due to negligence or a defective product, The Killino Firm’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, brain personal injury attorneys can help you obtain the compensation you deserve. Contact us at (215) 569-1299 for expert and experienced assistance with your brain injury case.
