If a member of your family has suffered a brain injury you will be aware of the devastation this can cause. Some people do make a recovery whereas others can take years or never recover from the consequences. The effects of a brain injury can vary from headaches and personality disorders up to complete loss of function. The struggle and sacrifices made by the victims and their families can be enormous.

Common Causes of Brain Injuries

Brain injuries can come about through a wide variety of causes such as:

• Brain tumours
• Epilepsy
• Vascular causes like strokes or bleeds into the brain
• Metabolic causes like a lack of oxygen to the brain or low blood pressure
• Infections such as meningitis.

Brain Injuries Caused by Medical Negligence

Brain injuries are an unfortunate fact of life and can occur naturally through physical, or genetic causes and accidents on the road or at work but in some instances they are as a result of a medical negligence and if that is the case then there may be a claim for compensation.

Examples where there may be medical negligence:

• Delays in diagnosis and or treatment
• Inadequate, or inappropriate treatment or a mistake in the treatment of the underlying cause of the illness
• Inadequate or inappropriate treatment of the underlying condition like an infection
• Surgical errors
• Birth injuries
• Prescription errors

Effects of a Brain Injury

The effects of a brain injury depend on the nature of the underlying cause of the injury. For example a lack of oxygen to the brain can lead to subtle injury like memory loss all the way up to a persistent vegetative state, a delay in diagnosis of a condition like hydrocephalus, a raise in intracranial pressure, sometimes known as water on the brain can lead to eyesight problems due to damage to the nerves in the eye, to personality changes.

Recent Successful Case for Compensation

Many brain damaged cases caused as a result of medical negligence arise from errors made at or around the time of birth. These do not necessarily have to have been caused at the hospital at the birth.

In a case decided last year, a premature baby had been taken to a GP surgery and had been examined with the advice given to keep the baby warm and take her home. In fact the child was seriously ill and when taken to hospital later in the day, suffered severe hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) and severe brain damage as a result. Expert advice was that the sort of symptoms being exhibited by the child in the surgery warranted an immediate referral to hospital and the GP was found to be negligent in failing to do so.

How do I know if I can pursue a Brain Injury Medical Negligence Claim?

If you feel that the results of a particular surgical procedure or action or omission on the part of a hospital or GP has led to a brain injury in a loved one then you may be able to pursue a claim for compensation.

In order to be successful, you have to prove that the person you are making a claim against owed the injured person a duty of care and that they were in breach of that so that the care received fell below the standard that could reasonably be expected from an equally qualified specialist in the field and also that that lack of care directly led to the injury which was reasonably foreseeable consequence of the actions or omissions of the treating physician.

Making a Brain Injury Medical Negligence Compensation Claim

Compensation for a Brain Injury can be considerable, not just for the injury but for the medical treatment, aids, accommodation and future care of the injured person. You should therefore ensure that you have a specialist solicitor acting on your behalf.
How to make an NHS complaint