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Traumatic Brain Injury and Baltimore Personal Injury Claims

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According to a September 2107 article in The Baltimore Sun, a driver was killed and his passenger injured in a Carroll County crash. The 29-year-old man was killed when a driver of an SUV hit his truck on a Saturday afternoon. The 38-year-old man was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban on Old Taneytown Road near Westminster. He allegedly crossed the center line and hit the 1954 Ford truck head on. The driver was killed instantly and pronounced dead at the scene. His 28-year-old passenger was flown to Shock Trauma for a head injury.

No criminal charges were filed immediately after the accident. It is not known whether the family of the driver killed will file a wrongful death claim against the alleged at-fault driver. It is also not known if the passenger who suffered the traumatic brain injury will file a personal injury claim for the injuries suffered.

What is a Traumatic Brain Injury in Baltimore?

A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is an injury to a person’s head that causes brain damage or death. The injury to a person’s brain can range from mild to moderate to severe. The symptoms associated with TBI may appear immediately or may be slow to develop. For instance, symptoms of mild TBI include:

  • Headache
  • Mild confusion
  • Lightheadedness
  • Dizziness
  • Memory loss
  • Blurred vision
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Fatigue
  • Behavioral changes

Most Baltimore TBI Injuries Happen in Car Accidents

The majority of TBI injuries happen during car accidents. A person’s brain is not attached to any surface inside his or her head to keep it from moving. In fact, the brain is not much harder than Jell-O. Any time there is a sudden movement, a person’s brain may shake or slam against the skull. For this reason, the sudden acceleration then sudden stop during a car accident can injure the brain.

If an individual suffers a severe TBI, he or she may experience more immediate symptoms like seizures, mood swings, loss of consciousness, or slurred speech.

Other accidents that can cause an TBIs include:

  • Slip and falls
  • Intentional acts like assault or battery
  • Defective products

Contact Hassan, Hassan & Tuchman, PA about Your Baltimore TBI Injury

Proving you sustained a TBI injury will involve proving negligence. Negligence is the failure of an individual to act like a reasonable person and protect you from harm. Whether you slip and fall or were in an accident, the person responsible breached his or her duty to protect you from harm. If you have been injured, you need someone to fight for you. We are your Baltimore injury attorneys. We will fight to get you the compensation needed to financially recover from your accident. Contact us immediately for help with your TBI injury accident.

Car Accidents in Baltimore

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At least 18 people were taken to the hospital after a multi-vehicle car crash, according to Fox 45’s April 2017 report. The accident happened in While Marsh and was considered a “mass casualty incident” by local first responders. The accident involved six vehicles in northbound traffic on I-95. No life-threatening injuries were reported, but 18 people were transported to five different area hospitals. One driver involved in the accident, a 36-year-old from New York, was criminally charged in the crash.

The crash occurred around 1:50 p.m. Police were conducting a traffic stop on the left shoulder of the highway prior to the accident. Traffic moved slowly because of the traffic stop. The 36-year-old driver, operating a 2016 black Ford Transit, allegedly hit the rear of a red 2009 Lincoln MKS. The impact pushed the Lincoln into another vehicle, a white 2011 Lexus IS30C.

The crash ultimately involved two other vehicles. The first four vehicles blocked two highway lanes. The highway was closed for about 30 minutes while they waited for first responders.

It is not known if the victims of the multi-vehicle accident have filed a personal injury claim against the driver for their injuries.

Negligence in a Car Accident in Baltimore

A car accident can happen for any reason, but most often, a Baltimore car accident is the result of negligence. Negligence is the failure of a driver to act like a reasonable driver would in the same and/or similar circumstances. A “reasonable driver” is one who always does the right thing while operating a motor vehicle in order to prevent causing an accident. If an accident victim can prove negligence, then he or she can usually obtain damages. Damages refers to money paid to the victim to compensate for accident-related expenses like:

  • Pain and suffering
  • Lost wages
  • Property damage
  • Medical bills

Part of successfully proving that a car accident happened because of another driver’s negligence involves showing that he or she caused accident. The other driver must either directly or indirect cause the car accident and the resulting injuries. Causation can happen in variety of ways, such as:

  • Distracted driving
  • Texting while driving
  • Drunk driving
  • Drowsy driving
  • Hit-and-run accidents
  • Head-on collisions
  • Side-impact collisions
  • Rear-end collisions
  • Sideswipe collisions
  • Single-car accidents
  • Rollover accident
  • Speeding

Hassan, Hassan & Tuchman, PA are Your Baltimore Car Accident Attorneys

A car accident can happen at any time and for any reason. The cause of the accident is one way to prove the other driver was at fault. For instance, you have to prove the driver had a legal duty to protect you from the accident. You then have to prove that the driver breached that legal duty.

After proving causation, you are allowed to present damages. Let us do the work for you. Contact us today.

New Bill Would Hold Baltimore Physicians More Accountable for Malpractice

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According to a January 2017 report on WBAL, Senate Bill 195 would make doctors more accountable to their patients. The bill would help patients know whether their doctor is actually insured. For example, the bill would have helped a patient who underwent liposuction and a tummy tuck back in 2005. That year she wanted to look great for her son’s wedding, but the minor surgery turned into an alleged 10-hour nightmare. Her doctor allegedly kept her overnight at a surgery center. She died three days later at home. An autopsy revealed that she died from cardiac arrhythmia.

The woman’s family sued the doctor for medical malpractice, but they received nothing even though the judge ruled in their favor. Unfortunately, the doctor who performed the surgery did not have medical malpractice insurance. The doctor later made a settlement for $450,000, and then filed bankruptcy.

Senate Bill 195, if passed, would require every doctor practicing in Maryland to indicate to the state board of physicians whether or not they have insurance. The information would then be available to the public.

The woman’s family wanted the bill to go even further. They wanted all doctors to be mandated by law to have medical malpractice insurance. Another bill in the state house may make it mandatory for all doctors to have medical malpractice insurance.

What is Medical Malpractice in Baltimore?

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional provides a patient with substandard care. In Maryland, all patients are supposed to receive standard medical care. It does not have to be the best, but it must not cause additional harm. Additional harm would be if a patient sought treatment for a heart pain and the doctor amputated his or her arm instead.

Substandard care is negligent care. Negligence is the foundation for a medical malpractice lawsuit. An injured patient can receive damages, in the form of money, for the substandard care received.

Recoverable Damages in a Baltimore Medical Malpractice Claim

Damages available in a medical malpractice claim include:

  • Additional past, current, and future medical bills
  • Lost wages
  • Pain and suffering
  • Decreased earning capacity
  • Funeral and burial expenses if the patient died because of the substandard treatment

In Maryland, an injured patient can receive any economic damages caused by the medical professional’s negligence. An injured patient can also receive what is known as non-economic damages. Non-economic damages are a little harder to calculate. A lawyer cannot simply hand over a bill as proof of the damages sustained. An example of non-economic damages includes pain and suffering.

State personal injury law caps non-economic damages at $770,000. If the patient died because of the substandard care received, the non-economic damages are capped at $962,500.

Contact Hassan, Hassan & Tuchman, PA about Your Baltimore Medical Malpractice Claim

You or a loved one sought medical treatment, not addition harm. Contact us about your medical malpractice claim.

Wrongful Party in a Baltimore Accident May Claim Victim was Negligent

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According to a July 2017 report on CBS Baltimore, two men died after a vehicle allegedly traveled the wrong way on a Maryland highway. One vehicle was traveling north in southbound lanes and hit the other vehicle head-on. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the accident scene, and there were no passengers in either vehicle. At the time of the report, the car accident was still under investigation.

It is not clear if the family of the driver traveling in the correct lane will sue the at-fault driver’s estate. A personal injury claim can be filed any time a driver operates a motor vehicle in a negligent way and harms another driver, pedestrian, or passenger.

Negligence in a Baltimore Car Accident

For an accident victim to file a personal injury claim in Baltimore, the other party must be at fault for the accident. Typically, negligence involves a driver failing to operate a motor vehicle in a way that a reasonable person would in the same and/or similar circumstances. A reasonable person would obey traffic laws and not cause an accident with injuries.

For instance, a driver must operate a motor vehicle in the correct lane. If he or she fails to do so, it is a violation of traffic laws. A driver is negligent when he or she operates a motor vehicle in the wrong lane and hits another vehicle.

Contributory Negligence Defense

An accident victim, or plaintiff, in a personal injury lawsuit can claim that the at-fault driver was negligent. That same at-fault driver can claim that the accident victim was to blame for the accident by using the contributory negligence defense.

Contributory negligence is the defense claiming that the plaintiff was at least 1% at fault for the accident. If a plaintiff is responsible for causing the accident, he or she will not receive damages. Damages refers to the compensation an accident victim can receive to pay for accident-related expenses such as:

  • Medical bills
  • Lost wages
  • Pain and suffering
  • Property damage

For instance, a plaintiff was traveling southbound and driving while distracted. Maybe he was looking at his cell phone at the time of the crash. The at-fault driver was following behind him in the same lane. The plaintiff noticed a red light too late. He stopped, but the defendant was driving too closely behind him and hit his vehicle. The defendant hit the plaintiff’s car, but maybe he or she would not have if the plaintiff had noticed the stoplight earlier and braked more gradually.

If the defendant can prove that the plaintiff was at least 1% liable for the accident, he or she may be off the hook for damages.

Contact Hassan, Hassan & Tuchman, PA for Help with Your Car Accident in Baltimore

You have the right to sue to obtain damages owed to you. Contact us immediately if you have been injured in a car accident.