Brain injuries can be costly and complex to treat for Tennesseans. Because brain injuries can have both cognitive and physical impacts on victims, they can be challenging to care for. Victims may suffer personality and emotional changes, mood disruptions and sensory deficits. In addition, they may not be able to complete common daily tasks, they did not struggle with before and may be unable to work.
Because of the impact of a brain injury on victims, victims and their families may be left struggling, following a traumatic accident that resulted in a brain injury. Often, in-home care and rehabilitative care may be required to recover and heal from a brain injury. According to estimates, mild head injuries can cost $85,000 to treat, moderate head injuries can cost $941,000 to treat and severe head injuries can cost $3 million to treat.
The total estimated costs of traumatic brain injuries in the United States each year is $43.8 billion. Acute and rehabilitative care for brain injuries in cost approximately $9 billion to $10 billion annually. These costs do not include indirect costs to families and society overall, such as lost earnings, lost work time and productivity and the costs of providing social services for victims and their families. It is estimated that over a lifetime, the costs of caring for a victim of a traumatic brain injury ranges from $600,000 to $1,875,000.
Because of the high physical, financial and emotional costs associated with brain injuries, victims and their families need to be aware of the legal options available to protect them when they or a loved one has been the victim of a brain injury in a car accident or other type of traumatic accident caused by a negligent driver or other negligent party. Personal injury legal resources can help victims and their families recover compensation to help with the potentially staggering costs of treating a brain injury.
Source: Brainandspinalcord.org, “Brain Injury Cost,” accessed on May 1, 2018
