The Brain Injury Association of America (BIA) has announced that March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. This year’s theme is “Change Your Mind,” which will provide a platform for educating the general public about the incidence of brain injury and the needs of people with brain injuries and their families. The campaign also lends itself to outreach within the brain injury community to remove the stigma associated with these injuries. It also empowers survivors of brain injuries and promotes the various forms of support available.
According to the BIA, doctors have gone from treating brain injuries from an event to a disease. Adults who have brain injuries are more likely to suffer from endocrine disorders, seizures, fatigue, headaches, cognitive decline, Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
Among children, the two age groups among the highest risk for brain injury are age 0-4 and 15-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each year, 62,000 children up to the age of 19 sustain brain injuries; the main causes are motor vehicle crashes, falls, sports injuries and physical abuse. Of those ages up to 14 years old who had brain injuries, 2,685 died of the disease, 37,000 were hospitalized and 435,000 were sent to the emergency room.
The CDC went on to say that falls are the number one cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI), accounting for 47% of all emergency room visits, followed by being struck by an object and motor vehicle accidents. Falls are also the leading cause of TBI-related death overall, followed by intentional self-harm and motor vehicle crashes. The leading cause of TBI-related death for those 65 and older were falls. Intentional self-harm was the leading cause of death among people 25 to 64 years old, compared to those ages 5 to 24 (motor vehicle crashes) and children 0 to 4 years old (assaults).
If you or a loved one have suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of someone else’s negligence or intentional act, you may be entitled to compensation depending on the circumstances. Contact a Long Island personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your legal rights and remedies. Call the Suffolk County personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of McGuire, Peleáz & Bennett, P.C. today at (631) 348-1702.
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