As Brain Injury Awareness Month — the annual educational initiative sponsored by the Brain Injury Association of America — draws to an end, so too will our blog’s examination of traumatic brain injuries.

Indeed, our posts have touched on everything from the medical definition of a TBI to the rates at which Americans find themselves hospitalized after suffering a serious blow to the head. In today’s post, we’ll explore the difficult reality facing many TBI victims, and how exactly medical professionals can aggravate this condition.

While many people are able to recover from a TBI, how many are not so fortunate?

As we discussed in our previous post, the BIAA of Pennsylvania has determined that an average of 8,612 people will develop a long-term or life-long disability attributable to a brain injury each year.

On a national level, figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that as many as 3.17 million Americans have suffered a TBI leaving them with a long-term or permanent disability necessitating assistance with daily activities.

What are some of the long-term or permanent disabilities that TBI victims can suffer?

Some of the more common long-term or permanent consequences of TBIs include cognitive problems, difficulty managing emotions, memory loss, speech issues, increased anxiety, vision loss and headaches to name only a few.

In addition, research has show that suffering a TBI makes a person predisposed to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other devastating neurological conditions.

How exactly can medical malpractice make a TBI worse?

When a person suffers some sort of serious head trauma, their first stop is often the nearest emergency room, where not only should tests designed to uncover the extent of their injuries be administered, but the appropriate treatment ordered and the proper monitoring performed.

Unfortunately, in the hectic atmosphere of the ER, physicians may send a patient home prematurely after failing to recognize otherwise obvious signs of a serious TBI or misdiagnosing them as symptoms of a less serious condition, two grievous medical mistakes when you consider that time is of the essence when it comes to treating TBIs.

If you believe that you or a family member was victimized by just this type of medical negligence, consider speaking with an experienced legal professional committed to discovering what went wrong and fighting for justice.