THE SCHMIDT SALITA LAW TEAM IS A 5 STAR RATED LAW FIRM SPECIALIZING IN PERSONAL INJURY CASES WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES INCLUDING CONCUSSION INJURIES.
Car accidents are a well know cause of concussion injuries and traumatic brain injuries.
Respected statistics reveal that there are 1.4 million brain injuries reported each year. 75-90% are mild traumatic brain injuries, also called “concussions”.
Many authorities believe that 50% of the concussion injuries are not reported. Applying simple math, that means that there are approximately 2.5 million concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries each year.
TOP MINNEAPOLIS INJURY LAWYERS know that car accidents are the leading cause of brain injuries and concussion injuries. They have 70 years experience in bringing justice to the victims of brain and concussion injuries. They work with the leading brain injury specialists to get competent medical care and attention to their clients with brain injuries.
BEST INJURY LAWYERS MINNEAPOLIS include Dean Salita and Doug Schmidt who are very experienced in the handling of brain injury cases. Schmidt is the author of a book entitled Concussion Injuries-The Silent Epidemic.
Dr. Erin D. Bigler is the single most respected neuropsychologist in the world. He has received the Distinguished Neuropsychologist Award from the National Academy of Neuropsychology. He is the co-author of Neuropsychological Assessment which is in its 5th edition. He is the author of 11 textbooks and over 300 peer-reviewed medical and scientific journal articles.
The paper that he presented at the time of his Distinguished Neuropsychologist Award is considered a highly respected treatise. In that paper, Dr. Bigler makes the following points:
- Even subtle forces of trauma can cause major disruptions of the brain’s ability to function:
Any stretch, any twisting, or compression (of brain tissue) has the potential to alter the physical status of the cell and/or vessel. Moderate to severe physical forces have the potential to sever, rupture or fracture these delicate structures. * * * Complex systems achieve complex functions only with efficient, well integrated, and fast recruitment of constituent parts, followed by a rapid response. Anything that disrupts this complex system, even subtly, will render the system less efficient and prone to errors in processing and responding.
While damage may be seen in a localized area, it should always be kept in mind that these movement forces…affect the entire brain. * * * Likewise, a patient may have a focal clinical deficit (hemiplegia), but even a focal deficit in the TBI patient is certainly superimposed on a more general pathology beyond the discrete boundaries producing the focal neurological deficit. The diffuse nature of brain injury is the common theme of this paper.
- Human Brains do not respond as a “crash test dummy” in a “controlled situation:
…rarely will the MVA be something akin to the controlled head injury produced in the laboratory. …in accidental human TBI there is no “controlled” injury. At the time of the injury, every patient brings to that accident a unique set of circumstances and anatomy. The force dynamics of injury will be distinctive to each accident, as will the patient’s anatomy and physiology along with genetic endowment. Each patient’s response to injury will be unique, particularly in terms of metabolic and vascular reactions. Thus, two patients, of similar age and sex, can be in the same accident (i.e. both seat-belted in the back seat of a vehicle that is hit dead-center, head-on) and come away with very different injuries and sequelae.
- The delayed effects of TBI are huge.
The full spectrum of acute pathological changes take hours to days for full expression at the ultrastructural level. Delayed axotomy (the cutting or severing of a nerve axon) is common with onset being anywhere from 6 to 12 h, and may not reach maximum pathological change for 24-72h. * * * delayed cell death occurs in some structures for up to a month. We have shown that total brain volume continues to reduce for up to 3 years postinjury. Accordingly, although acute injury can be visualized, there are dynamic structural changes that occur after brain injury that take time to be fully expressed.
- Emotional Sequela in TBI are commonplace:
Psychiatric disorder is commonplace after TBI. Examining patients with demonstrable damage on MRI following TBI, Russo demonstrated that patients with mild TBI actually had greater emotional dysfunction than those with more severe injury. * * * …the moderate and severe brain-damaged groups actually endorsed fewer symptoms of emotional distress than did those with mild injury. The greatest problems with irritability were most likely to occur in the more mildly injured patients.
- TBI victims are at increased risk for early onset dementia.
Since TBI induces disseminated injury throughout frontotemporal regions and the white matter, these areas are going to be significantly affected in any TBI patient. Thus, injury may increase the risk for development of dementia.
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’ experience in workers , products 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 through out the State of Minnesota. Its primary location is at Ridgedale Office Center in Minnetonka, near the intersection of I394 and I494. The offices offer 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.