phone icon

Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys in Albany

Photograph of gavel and stethoscope

★★★★★

We absolutely can’t thank you enough.

Powers & Santola was so knowledgeable and caring. I was so very fortunate to find such a great law firm.

- John

Brain injuries, often called “traumatic brain injuries” or “TBI,” happen in a variety of accidents. Falls, car crashes and medical mistakes are among the common causes of TBI. Contact our Albany traumatic brain injury (TBI) lawyer today.

Severe TBIs may be immediately apparent. Symptoms include loss of senses, loss of speech, seizures, paralysis or a coma. Mild to moderate brain injuries – also called “concussions” – are often harder to diagnose. However, these TBIs can seriously affect a victim’s senses and cognitive ability (thinking).

Any blow to the head or penetrating head wound can cause a TBI and should be taken seriously as a medical problem. If a TBI was caused by someone else’s negligence, it should also be taken seriously as the basis of a personal injury claim.

TBI victims and their families face months or years of recovery and thousands of dollars in medical bills and other related expenses. Those bills can be overwhelming. At Powers & Santola, LLP, our nationally recognized lawyers have helped numerous New York residents who have suffered brain injuries. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you.

Some of our verdicts and settlements involving brain injuries include:

  • $7.3 million recovery for a young man who sustained several fractures and a permanent brain injury after a department store truck missed a stop sign and struck his car, leaving him with motor and cognitive deficits.
  • $4.5 million recovery for an infant who suffered permanent brain injury at the age of 4 weeks when a nurse inadvertently administered heparin, an anticoagulant, to the baby. As a result, the baby began to bleed, which went undetected by the medical staff for several hours. The bleeding was so extensive that the baby’s brain was deprived of oxygen, resulting in permanent brain damage.
  • $3.25 million recovery for a 49-year-old man who suffered brain damage as a result of a neurosurgeon’s negligence while performing surgery to drain an arachnoid cyst. When placing the tip of a stent between the basilar artery and the brain stem, he caused a brainstem infarct and permanent brainstem damage.
  • $3.16 million recovery for a 16-year-old girl who suffered traumatic brain damage when the car she was operating collided with a motor vehicle at a T-intersection of a county highway and a town road. The county and town failed to provide proper signage to warn motorists unfamiliar with the intersection that they were approaching an intersection where the motorist driving on the town road was required to stop.
  • $1.63 million recovery for a 36-year-old man who suffered brain damage and multiple fractures when the intoxicated driver of the motorcycle he was a passenger on lost control and struck a guardrail.
  • $1.12 million recovery for a college student from Georgia who sustained traumatic brain injury as the result of a motor vehicle collision while a passenger in a car that had been rented by the college and driven by an employee of the college.

A Closer Look
at Brain Injuries in Albany

A TBI may be caused by a blow or jolt to the head that causes the brain to move and slam against the inside of the skull. Some are caused by a penetrating wound, such as a gunshot, that tears into brain tissue. Either type of TBI may result in bleeding, bruising and swelling of the brain, tearing of brain tissue, shearing of the brain stem and nerve damage.

If oxygen to the brain is cut off (such as during childbirth), while under anesthesia or during a stroke or heart attack, an anoxic (full oxygen loss) or hypoxic (partial loss) brain injury may occur.

Here’s a closer look at the effects of mild, moderate and severe TBI:

Photograph of two doctors talking

Anyone who has suffered a blow to the head should be examined by a doctor as soon as possible. Emergency medical care should be sought if a person who has been hit in the head suffers convulsions, weakness, or numbness in the extremities, repeated vomiting or slurred speech.

How Traumatic Brain Injuries
(TBI) Occur

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the most common causes of brain injuries are:

  • Fall-related accidents. Falls account for about 40 percent of all TBIs in the United States, including about half of brain injuries among children up to the age of 14 and about 61 percent among adults 65 years old or older. Falls are the leading cause of TBI-related emergency room visits for every age group.
  • Motor vehicle accidents. Car, motorcycle, and truck accidents cause about 14 percent of brain injuries. Traffic accidents cause the largest percentage of TBI-related fatalities (26 percent).
  • Blunt trauma (being hit by an object). About 15 percent of TBIs are caused by being hit by or slammed into something. Some 24 percent of TBIs among children up to age 15 are related to blunt trauma, including concussions suffered on playgrounds or in organized sports.
  • Assault. Criminal assaults cause about 10 percent of TBIs. Three quarters of assaults associated with TBI occur in people 15 to 44 years old. In children up to age of 4, assaults are the leading cause of brain injury, often caused by a form of child abuse known as “shaken-baby syndrome.”

Signs of Traumatic Brain Injuries
May Not Be Apparent Until Long After The Accident

The person may be unconscious, bleeding from an open head wound as a result of a car crash or workplace accident. But many other people do not realize that they have suffered a brain injury at all. That’s because symptoms of brain trauma may not emerge until hours or even months after an accident takes place, making it difficult for accident victims to correlate symptoms like irritability or forgetfulness with brain damage caused by a prior event.

The same goes for doctors. Current brain imaging technologies such as CAT scans and MRIs have limitations when it comes to detecting some head injuries, making it crucial for physicians to take thorough patient histories and look for other neurological signs of trauma. Unfortunately, some victims of brain injuries find themselves misdiagnosed with a psychiatric problem when they are actually exhibiting symptoms of head trauma, such as a loss of emotional control.

18,000 People Hospitalized
Each Year in New York with Brain Injuries

Many people feel alone and confused once they learn that they have sustained a head injury. Yet the statistics show that brain injuries are hardly uncommon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1.7 million people suffer traumatic brain injuries each year. In New York alone, more than 82,000 people visit emergency rooms suffering from head trauma, and 18,000 are hospitalized, according to the state Department of Health. Around 2,000 people die from their head injuries each year in New York.

The numbers are important, but they cannot begin to explain how devastating a brain injury can be to a victim and his or her family’s wellbeing. Every aspect of life can be altered for someone with a head injury. A severe injury may diminish victims’ earning capacity by disabling them entirely or making them incapable of performing the job they once could do, leading them to take a position with a far lower salary than they had before.

Additionally, some people with head injuries need help with simple tasks like bathing or eating, which may mean a family member stops working to become a full-time caregiver or must hire an aide to do the job for them. Either way, it can be a recipe for financial hardship. That is why it is important to consider legal action if you or someone you love has suffered a traumatic head injury.

A Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney
Can Help You Get the Compensation You Deserve

A serious TBI may lead to hospitalization and cause disabilities that make a victim unable to work or enjoy a decent quality of life. The costs of medical treatment, lost income and pain and suffering are often staggering.

Powers & Santola, LLP traumatic brain injury (TBI) lawyers, can help you obtain compensation for your losses related to a serious TBI caused by someone else’s negligence or a job-related accident. You will be represented by a traumatic brain injury lawyer who is working for a firm that has won several multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of TBI victims injured by car accidents, medical malpractice and other accidents.

Contact us today by phone or online for a free consultation with a traumatic brain injury lawyer experienced with TBI cases in Albany, Rochester, Syracuse and throughout Upstate New York.

Other Practice Areas

Changing Lives for the Better

When someone injures you, your life gets turned upside down. Suddenly, you may face a ton of medical bills. You may be unable to work or help out around the home. Others may need to care for you around the clock. Nothing is the same.

view all practice areas arrow

Best Lawyers in America
Super Lawyers top 10
AVVO rating 10.0 superb
The National Trail Lawyers
Best Lawyers Best Law firms in 2023
Top Verdict and Settlement 2017
Multi-Millionaire Dollar Advocate Firm

location map
X