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In the UK someone is admitted to hospital with an acquired brain injury every 90 seconds.
Each year, charity Headway spearheads a campaign week to raise awareness of acquired brain injuries (ABIs) and their impact on sufferers. This year they are highlighting that, in the time it takes to clean your teeth, another person goes to hospital with a brain injury.
What is an acquired brain injury (ABI)?
An ABI refers to a brain injury of any cause that occurs after birth and is not related to a congenital or a degenerative disease. The term includes traumatic brain injuries – i.e. those caused by trauma, perhaps from a fall.
What are some of the causes of non-traumatic ABIs?
Some key causes include heart attack, infections leading to conditions such as encephalitis, sepsis and meningitis, brain aneurysms that rupture, and stroke. Headway’s data suggests that there is an admission to hospital for a stroke every 4 minutes in the UK.
Some brain injuries also occur during birth, for example a hypoxic brain injury, where the brain is starved of sufficient oxygen (see our birth injury page).
What is the impact?
The impact can be far ranging and debilitating. Symptoms may include paralysis or weakness, spasticity (tightening and shortening of muscles), poor balance, problems with memory and cognition, depression and fatigue.
The impact is not limited to the sufferer. Repercussions for families and loved ones can be very significant. See our blog on ‘Coping with brain injury’.
Long-lasting damage is not always visible and another Headway campaign highlights the hidden nature of disabilities. Damage to certain parts of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex, can potentially lead to significant personality changes, including difficulties with emotional management as well as anxiety and depression.
Early treatment and access to rehabilitation services are vital and can reduce the possible impacts on relationships.
What is being done?
On 2 December 2021, the government committed to publishing an ABI strategy to support sufferers and to seek to prevent ABIs where possible. The strategy is still awaited and we hope that this will bring improvements in the rehabilitation provisions available on the NHS.
Could there be a legal claim?
If someone else’s error caused or contributed to a brain injury then there may be a claim. It is important that brain injury sufferers and their families are aware of their rights. Where they are entitled to an award of compensation, this can have a huge impact for their future.
Those areas where a medical negligence claim may arise include:
- Errors in the management and treatment of a traumatic brain injury (for example, delays in proceeding to a craniotomy).
- Delays in diagnosing or treating strokes.
- Errors in surgery leading to the brain not getting enough oxygen.
- Missed or delayed diagnosis of meningitis.
- Failures in the treatment of brain bleeds, such as ruptured aneurysms, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and subdural haematoma. (See our blog on subarachnoid haemorrhage, a rare type of stroke whereby an aneurysm ruptures and where it is not treated in time can re-bleed and cause a more serious brain injury.)
Failures in the management of infections can also lead to brain injuries. For example, we see cases where sepsis was not diagnosed in time and a brain injury results. This may be because the right blood tests were not done in A&E or because a GP did not refer to hospital.
Claims for personal injury can be made if a traumatic brain injury was a result of someone’s negligent actions – i.e. in a road traffic accident or a workplace accident.
What has to be proved?
Essentially it has to be shown that there was fault and that as a result, a brain injury was suffered. For medical negligence the test is whether the standard of care was below a reasonable level and but for this, the brain injury would have been avoided or would have been less severe. This requires evidence from independent experts. We at Kingsley Napley have significant experience in this area and work with leading experts, including neurologists and neurosurgeons, to get the best outcomes for our clients.
What are the levels of compensation?
There is no set amount for a brain injury. The award will depend upon the impact on the person’s life but may include sums for new or adapted accommodation, aids and equipment and care as well as accounting for any lost earnings. Our priority is to ensure that the injured person gets the rehabilitation treatment that they require as soon as possible and the maximum award to provide for a positive future.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any questions or comments about the topics discussed in this blog, please contact Eurydice Cote or any member of the Medical Negligence & Personal Injury team.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eurydice is a Senior Associate in the Clinical Negligence Team. She represents individuals who have sustained life changing injuries. Eurydice joined the department in 2015. She now acts for a variety of claimants, both adults and children, and deals with claims involving delays in diagnosis, surgical errors and patient mismanagement. She has expertise in assisting claimants who have sustained spinal or orthopaedic injuries. She has also advised on numerous ophthalmic claims.
We welcome views and opinions about the issues raised in this blog. Should you require specific advice in relation to personal circumstances, please use the form on the contact page.
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