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MINNEAPOLIS BRAIN INJURY LAWYER

July 9, 2020

MINNEAPOLIS BRAIN INJURY LAWYER – SCHMIDT SALITA LAW TEAM


The MINNEAPOLIS BRAIN INJURY LAWYERS at the Schmidt Salita Law Team understand the severe ramifications that can result from traumatic brain injuries occurring in car accidents and workplace accidents.  They bring 70 years of collective experience to the cases of their clients who have suffered traumatic brain injury.

MINNEAPOLIS BRAIN INJURY LAWYER Doug Schmidt is recognized as the leading personal injury attorney in the State of Minnesota. He’s the author of the publication entitled “Concussions and Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries-Still In The Dark”, a review of the medical research and literature about Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries explained in common sense language.

The author, Douglas E. Schmidt, is a personal injury lawyer with more than 40 years of experience, practicing as a personal injury lawyer. He has limited his practice to the representation of injury victims, excluding the representation of insurance companies. A large part of his practice is in the representation of the victims of motor vehicle collisions, many of who have suffered brain injury.

Recently, Schmidt has focused on the subject of overlooked brain injuries and brain concussion injuries in non-sports-related traumatic events.

SCHMIDT HAS OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN WORKING WITH VICTIMS OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES

Schmidt’s initial interest in concussion injuries developed in his practice of representing the victims of personal injury in motor vehicle collisions and workplace injuries.  His interest in concussions was perked by his involvement in youth hockey back in 1997 when he served as President of District 6 Youth Hockey.  He became aware that brain concussion injuries were being overlooked and underappreciated.

Schmidt worked with a select few of people who, at that time, were focused on the problem of overlooked brain injuries in youth sports.  Schmidt came into contact with Dr. Michael Stuart of the Sports Medicine Department at Mayo Clinic and others who worked in the development of brain injury/concussion recognition protocol.

In the last 20 years, public recognition of the significance of concussion injuries in sports has developed significantly.  As will be developed in the text of this work, the severity and magnitude of concussion injuries were well known even then, but only in the medical and research literature.  It was not well known to the medical community, and the public at large, who remained largely in the dark.

Sadly, the recognition of the medical community and the public at large of the problem of “Overlooked Concussion Injuries” has improved significantly but still a long way to go. The sporting world has come a long way, but the majority of concussion injuries resulting from non-sporting traumas remain largely “in the dark”.

Over those 20 years, Schmidt has lectured extensively to other lawyers, medical doctors, and chiropractors on the subject. Schmidt has now collected his experiences, knowledge, and research into this informational document.

Schmidt offers the following personal note:

I have been working closely with the victims of personal injury for more than 40 years.  Since I first began, I have seen many changes.  No such change has been so dramatic as the change in the recognition of the significance of concussion injuries/mild traumatic brain injuries.

During those 40-some years, it has been apparent that the medical world has been ignoring the many serious and permanent consequences that result from concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries.

In the last 5 years, I have been blessed to be associated with highly trained medical specialists in cases where the mild traumatic brain injuries were initially overlooked, but the clients had suffered significant permanent disability which was later confirmed by these highly respected medical specialists.

This experience led me to delve into the medical literature in an attempt to understand this huge dichotomy.  The result of that research was shocking.  I discovered that respected medical research recognizes that concussion injuries are a huge medical problem while the medical community in daily practice is ignoring it with an apparent lack of understanding and appreciation of the magnitude of the problem. Simply stated,

“Its all there in the medical research, i.e. understanding and appreciation of the significance of  brain concussion injuries.  It’s not there in day-to-day medical practice. There is a night-and-day difference between the medical literature and the day-to-day medical practice.”

The world has only come partially out of the “dark ages” regarding concussion injuries. We have recently come to accept the magnitude of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in professional football players. That is true even though the research has been there, but largely ignored, for 30 years.

As a society at large, we have come to accept the magnitude of the consequences of concussion injuries in professional sports.  We are starting to appreciate the problem in college sports and even in youth sports. Yet, our society, specifically our medical community, remains largely in the dark, with almost callous disregard for the severity of the problem of concussion injuries in both sports-related and non-sports-related concussion injuries.

SIGNIFICANT DISABILITY CAN RESULT FROM TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

MINNEAPOLIS BRAIN INJURY LAWYERS documented in this text, the existence of the many significant concussion/MTBIs resulting from non-sporting traumatic events, including motor vehicle collisions, workplace injuries, slip and fall injuries, and other non-sporting traumas have long been denied. The psychological damage to the victims is huge.  Brain concussion injuries are routinely overlooked and denied. When the existence of the concussion injury is denied, the victims simply don’t understand why their lives have been dramatically changed.  They don’t understand why their personalities have changed and they live with chronic depression and irritability.  They don’t understand why they don’t remember things so well.  They don’t understand why they have trouble with word-finding and forming sentences and all the other consequences of mild traumatic brain injury. Without the affirmation of the medical community diagnosing the concussion injury and explaining that they are “not crazy”, they are left with the only choice of assuming that “I must just be crazy” and they lose their “sense of self.

CONCUSSION IS A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY-THE TERMS ARE INTERCHANGEABLE

For starters, let’s get this straight.  It’s a very simple fact that is universally established in the respected medical literature:

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury

See Mayo Clinic’s Patient Information Sheet found online at www.MayoClinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/home/ovc-20273153.

The US Center for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) publication “Heads Up-Facts for Physicians About Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI)” states that,

“The term mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) is used interchangeably with the term concussion.”

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20355600

The CDC also has published this definition,

“A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt of the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth.  This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells.”

The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine defines a concussion as

“a traumatically induced transient disturbance of brain function and involves a complex pathophysiological process.

“Concussion is a subset of mild traumatic brain injury…”

https://physicians.cattonline.com/resources/files/amssm-position-statement-concussion-in-sport.pdf

A concussion/MTBI can be caused in 2 separate ways:

  1. A blow directly to the head, or
  2. A blow to the body that causes the head to “whiplash” inside the skull.

The result is often not a minor “ding to the head”, as dismissed by many footballs and other athletic coaches as something minor.  The CDC describes 2 separate mechanisms of injury:

  1. Chemical changes in the brain, and
  2. Damage to brain cells from stretching and/or twisting.

www.cdc.gov/headsup/basics/concussion_whatis.html.

It is universally recognized that a concussion is a traumatic brain injury that can have “devastating consequences”.

TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES ARE OFTEN A “WHIPLASH OF THE BRAIN”

It is well-recognized in the respected medical literature that brain injuries often occur without loss of consciousness and a blow to the head.  The acceleration/deceleration “whiplash” forces are sufficient to cause the brain to be injured as it is slammed into the hard surface of the inside of the skull.

THE SCHMIDT SALITA LEGAL TEAM IS EXPERIENCED IN BRING JUSTICE TO THE VICTIMS OF BRAIN INJURY

The medical community overlooks more than 50% of the mild traumatic brain injuries that result from car accidents and workplace injuries.  Most personal injury lawyers do not understand the dynamics and science of traumatic brain injuries.  For that reason, the victims of traumatic brain injuries can benefit greatly from the representation of an experienced brain injury lawyer.

Additional Brain Injury Resources:

Minneapolis MN personal injury lawyers

The Schmidt Salita Law Team Handles a Wide Variety of Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Claims.

The Schmidt Salita Law Team handles cases involving car accidents, trucking accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian car accidents, and bicycle accidents. It has many years of experience in workers, product liability, and medical malpractice cases.

The Schmidt Salita Law Team has extensive experience with concussion injuries, traumatic brain injuries, neck and back injuries, whiplash injuries, broken bones, injured joint injuries (knee, hip, shoulder, wrist, ankle, spinal), amputation injuries, and vision and eye injuries.

The Schmidt Salita Law Team has offices throughout the State of Minnesota. Its primary location is at Ridgedale Office Center in Minnetonka, near the intersection of I394 and I494. The offices are ground level, handicap accessible with ample parking.

The Schmidt Salita Team Offers Contingent Fee Arrangements.

The firm offers contingent fee agreements (You don’t pay lawyers fees until you collect and then only as a percentage of the settlement).  It also offers home and hospital visits to clients whose injuries present difficulty in coming to the office.

“PERSONAL INJURY WITH PERSONAL ATTENTION TO EACH CASE”.

The Schmidt Salita Law Team has locations throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Osseo, Anoka, Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Center, Fridley, Blaine, Shoreview, Woodbury, Falcon Heights, Columbia Park, Stillwater, Hastings, Inver Grove, Cottage Grove, South St. Paul, Apple Valley, Eagan, Burnsville, Savage, Shakopee, Richfield, Bloomington, Chaska, Chanhassen, Edina, Eden Prairie, and Hopkins.