Brain Injuries

Looking for a brain injury lawyer? Look no further.

Attorney John McCarthy is widely considered one of the best brain injury lawyers in California.

He has had a perfect 10.0 rating on the independent rating site Avvo since 2014. He has been recognized by his peers as a Rising Star and by Super Lawyers since 2016. But, more importantly he knows what it’s like to suffer a brain injury. He understands what it’s like to live in that fog. He knows what it’s like to not remember basic things. He knows what it’s like to feel hours pass by like minutes, and minutes pass by like hours. See, Attorney McCarthy suffered a brain injury himself. He went into sudden cardiac arrest because of an undiagnosed genetic, heart condition. He was unconscious on his bedroom floor for seven minutes while his wife was working to save his life. John was extremely lucky to make a complete recovery. But, he knows most people who suffer brain injuries will never get that chance.

Attorney McCarthy knows most people with brain injuries will continue to suffer:

• Headaches

• Confusion

• Tinnitus

• Sensory changes

• Memory issues

• Feeling “foggy” or “off”

• Fatigue

• Sleep disturbances

• Abnormal behavior

• Slurred speech

• Coma

• Vomiting

• Nausea

• Convulsions

• Abnormal dilation of the eyes

• Inability to awaken from sleep

• Pain

• Weakness

• Loss of coordination

Your brain is amazing!

The typical brain comprises 2% of the body’s weight, but uses 20% of its total energy and oxygen intake.  That makes sense considering it consists of about 86 billion brain cells.  A piece of brain tissue, the size of a grain of sand, contains about 100,000 neurons, and 1 billion synapses, all communicating with each other, constantly.  As a result, the brain generates about 48.6 thoughts per minute, or about 70,000 thoughts per day.  So, the destruction, or degeneration, of brain cells through neurotrauma, brain damage, or a brain injury can have a huge impact on your life. 

Different Types of Brain Injuries

Genetic brain injuries, and congenital brain injuries are caused before birth.   Acquired brain injuries are injuries that happen after birth, from injury.  Most acquired brain injuries are the result of a traumatic brain injury, sometimes called a TBI.  Traumatic brain injuries follow physical trauma or a head injury from an outside source.  Traumatic brain injuries are caused by things like blows to the head. 

Causes of Brain Injuries

Head Injuries and brain injuries can be caused by a number of different things including:

• Trauma including:

  • Open head injuries (where something touches the brain like a linear fracture, or a depressed skull fracture);

  • Closed head injuries (where something rattles or otherwise traumatizes the brain like a concussion, or a brain bleed);

  • Multiple traumatic injuries (where the brain sustains multiple injuries like football players and boxers with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as CTE);

• Deceleration injuries;

• Poisoning (such as from mercury poisoning or lead poisoning);

• Infections;

• Surgery;

• Exposure to neurotoxins;

• Drug overdose;

• Overmedication; and

• Hypoxic or anoxic brain injuries caused by things like:

  • Choking;

  • Near Drowning;

  • Smoke inhalation;

  • Carbon monoxide poisoning; and

  • Electric shock 

Effects of Brain Injuries

Brain injuries are probably the most serious injuries you can have.  The idea of permanent impairment, loss of function, and/or personality changes are terrifying enough.  But, then you start considering how that will affect the rest of your life, and the lives of those around you.  You never wanted to be a burden, but now you can’t help but feel that you are.

In the following example, you can see how two people, even in the same accident, with roughly the same injuries, might be affected very differently.  Victim A and Victim B were in the car together when they were hit, head-on, by a drunk driver.  Both were wearing their seatbelts.  Victim A got a concussion.  Victim A had short-term headaches, and memory loss surrounding the accident, and Victim A needed a week off work.  But, Victim A had no long term effects.  Victim B also got a concussion.  But, Victim B develops post-concussion syndrome, and ends up with sensitivity to light and noise, dizziness, memory issues, headaches, narcolepsy, and brain fog, making it much more difficult for Victim B to return to work, and keep a job. 

Signs and Symptoms of Brain Injuries

If you, or a loved one, has had a brain injury, you may notice a variety of signs and symptoms ranging from:

• Headaches;

• Confusion;

• Tinnitus (or a ringing in the ear);

• Loss of Taste or Smell;

• Fatigue;

• Changes in Sleep Patterns;

• Changes in Mood or Behavior;

• Feeling “Foggy” or “Off”;

• Mental Fatigue;

• Trouble Tracking Time;

• Trouble with:Memory;

• Concentration;

• Attention; and/or

• Thinking;

• Aggressiveness;

• Abnormal Behavior;

• Slurred Speech;

• Coma;

• Other Disorders of Consciousness;

• Physical Symptoms That Worsen or Don’t Go Away Like:

  • Vomiting;

  • Nausea;

  • Convulsions;

  • Abnormal Dilation of the Eyes;

  • Inability to Awaken From Sleep;

  • Pain;

  • Weakness in Extremities; and/or

  • Loss of Coordination

Are brain injuries in kids different than adults?

They sure are. Children, who suffer from pediatric brain injuries, can also experience:

• Changes in Eating Habits;

• Persistent Irritability or Sadness;

• Changes in Attention; and/or

• Disrupted Sleeping Habits.

I’ll bet you didn’t know:

• The brain is the fastest growing organ in children during the first three years of their lives compared to any other parts of their body. 

• Almost 60 percent of a child’s metabolic energy goes toward powering the brain.  That is compared to just 25% of an adult’s metabolic energy.

• The human brain makes the most connections among its 86 billion brain cells before the age of 10. 

• Singing, listen to, and playing, music, improves spatial orientation and mathematical thinking. 

• Stress can disable learning, and cortisol, a hormone that kills off connections in the learning and memory parts of the brain, gets produced during trauma. 

Believe it or not, your kid’s brain generates about 70,000 thoughts per day!  So, the destruction, or degeneration of brain cells through neurotrauma, brain damage, or a brain injury can have a huge impact on your child’s life. 

What is a Children’s Brain Injury?

“Head injury” is broad term that covers a lot of different injuries that can happen to the scalp, skull, brain, and underlying tissues and blood vessels in a child’s head.  Head injuries are commonly referred to as brain injuries, or traumatic brain injuries. 

Brain injuries are one of the most common causes of death and disability in children.  Brain injuries can be mild like bumps, bruises, or cuts, and more severe like concussions, deep cuts or open wounds, fractured skull bones, internal bleeding, and damage to the brain. 

What are the Types of Children’s Brain Injuries?

Children typically suffer the following types of brain injuries:

• Concussions: Concussions are caused by a blow or jolt to the head, which can cause headaches, vomiting, trouble thinking normally, memory problems, trouble with motor skills and walking, dizziness, vision problems, fatigue, mood changes, and/or changes to sleep pattern.   

• Contusions: Contusions are bruises to the brain, causing bleeding and swelling inside of the brain, around the area where the head was struck, and sometimes on the opposite side of the brain due to the head hitting the skull. 

• Linear Skull Fractures: Linear skull fractures are a break in the bone, but it does not move the bone.  As skull fractures go, these are pretty mild, and kids can usually bounce back within a few days. 

• Depressed Skull Fractures: With depressed skull fractures, part of the skull is actually sunken in from the trauma. 

• Diastatic Skull Fractures: These are fractures that occur along the suture lines in the skull, where the skull bones fuse together. 

• Basilar Skull Fractures: Basilar Skull Fractures can be the most serious type of skull fracture, and involves a break in the bone at the base of the skull.  Children with these injuries often have bruises around their eyes, and behind their ears.  They may have clear fluid draining from their nose or ears. 

What Causes Children’s Brain Injuries?

There are lots of causes of pediatric brain injuries, but the most common are sports injuries, falls, motor vehicle accidents (where the child is either riding in a car, struck as a pedestrian, or struck riding a bicycle, skateboard, scooter, or inline skates), or child abuse. 

When there is a direct blow to the head, shaking, or whiplash (like in motor vehicle accidents), the bruising of the brain and damage to the tissue and blood vessels is called coup-contrecoup.  A bruise directly related to the trauma, at the site of the impact, is called a coup lesion.  As the brain jolts backward and hits the opposite side of the skull, it can cause a countercoup lesion.  The jarring can cause tearing of the internal lining, tissues, and blood vessels that may cause internal bleeding, bruising, or swelling of the brain.

What are the Symptoms of a Pediatric Brain Injury?

Children’s head injuries can cause:

• Swelling, bumps, or bruises;

• Small, superficial or shallow cuts on the scalp;

• Headaches;

• Sensitivity to noise and light;

• Irritability;

• Confusion;

• Lightheadedness and/or dizziness;

• Problems with balance;

• Nausea;

• Problems with memory and/or concentration;

• Change in sleep patterns;

• Blurred vision;

• “Tired” or “sleepy” eyes;

• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus);

• Alteration in taste;

• Fatigue or lethargy;

• Loss of consciousness;

• Severe headaches that persist;

• Repeated nausea and vomiting;

• Loss of short term memory;

• Slurred speech;

• Difficulty with walking;

• Weakness in one side or area of the body;

• Sweating;

• Pale in color;

• Seizures or convulsions;

• Behavior changes;

• Blood or clear fluid draining from the ears or nose;

• One pupil looks larger than the other;

• Deep cut or laceration in the scalp;

• Open wound in the head;

• Foreign object penetrating the head;

• Coma (state of consciousness where the child cannot be awakened, responds only minimally, if at all, to stimuli, and exhibits no voluntary activities);

• Vegetative state (brain damaged such that the child has lost thinking abilities and awareness, but retains some basic functions, like breathing and blood circulation);

• Locked-in syndrome (child is conscious, and can think, and reason, but cannot speak or move).

How Do Doctors Diagnose Pediatric Head Injuries?

Diagnosing pediatric head injuries can be extremely difficult because the extent of the injuries may not be known for months after the injury.  Doctors might order diagnostic tests like:

• Blood tests;

• X-rays;

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI);

• Computer tomography scan (CT or CAT scan); and/or

• Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Finding a Brain Injury Lawyer

The effects of brain injuries can be wide and varied, even amongst people with similar seeming injuries. The brain is amazingly complex and brain injury cases can be incredibly complex.  If you have suffered a brain injury, you will need a top brain injury lawyer to represent you.  Attorney John McCarthy is locally grown, but nationally known as one of the best traumatic brain injury lawyers. 

Attorney McCarthy majored in neurobiology, physiology, and behavioral sciences, at UC Davis, until he decided he’d rather be a lawyer than a doctor.  Even though he decided he’d rather be a lawyer than a doctor, he maintained his interest and passion for medicine and for helping people through complex problems.  That interest and passion helped him understand the emerging field of neuroplasticity, which helped him make a complete recovery from his own brain injury after going into sudden cardiac arrest because of an unknown genetic condition.  He knows the fear that comes with not knowing if the fog will ever lift, and if you’ll ever remember anything.  He knows what it’s like to worry about being a burden on the people you love.  He knows how scary it can be and he knows how he got through it himself.    

Attorney McCarthy made a complete recovery, but he knows how lucky he was.  If you have suffered a brain injury, you’re already facing an uncertain future.  The last thing you want is to be uncertain about your attorney.  Submit a fast, free, confidential case evaluation form today.  An award-winning brain injury attorney, who knows what you’re going through, will review and respond in 24 hours or less.  What are you waiting for?