What Is CTE?
Some of the most serious injuries that accident victims can suffer are those impacting the brain. Each year, an average of two million Americans sustain some form of traumatic brain injury. The mildest of these is concussions, which many people assume don’t cause ongoing harm. However, that’s not always the case.
Accumulating multiple traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, can put one at risk of developing a particularly serious condition: chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This is a life-altering injury that impacts cognitive function, mood, and even personality.
If a loved one developed this condition because of another party’s negligent actions, taking legal action against them could allow you to obtain damages to offset your losses.
Learn more about CTE and what you can expect if you pursue a personal injury claim.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: An Overview
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative brain condition that can develop after repeated head trauma. CTE leads to the permanent destruction of brain cells, resulting in symptoms that get worse over time.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) shares many of the same symptoms as other brain injuries that cause neurodegeneration—the progressive damage and death of brain cells. These effects can interfere with cognitive abilities and alter key aspects of personality, including how a person thinks, speaks, and expresses emotions
Some of the most common symptoms of CTE that victims can experience include:
- Memory loss
- Mild cognitive impairment
- Difficulty solving problems or making decisions
- Difficulty speaking
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Aggressive behavior
- Mood swings
- Thoughts of self-harm
- Balance issues
- Shaking
- Gradual loss of movement control
You may not notice that you exhibit many of these symptoms until a loved one points them out. Moreover, most of them don’t develop immediately after a single brain injury but progress after years of repeated head trauma.
There are two main forms of CTE, with the most serious being the type that appears in the patient’s 20s or 30s. Early CTE can lead to troubling behavioral issues, including aggression, as well as mental health problems, like depression and suicidal ideation.
The second type of CTE occurs later in life. It may begin around a person’s 60s or 70s and is characterized by memory loss and other symptoms that are similar to dementia.
Common Causes of CTE
Repeated head trauma gives rise to CTE, but not everyone who suffers these injuries will develop the condition. CTE is most likely to occur in those who suffer another injury to the brain before a previous one has had time to fully heal.
One of the issues that could lead to CTE is the buildup of abnormal tau proteins. These proteins play a role in maintaining cell shape, but people who suffer repeated head trauma can have tau proteins with abnormal structures.
With CTE, parts of the brain begin to degenerate because injuries to nerve cells make communication between various regions inefficient. Electrical impulses don’t reach the affected areas, causing them to atrophy.
The individuals who tend to experience CTE most often are those who have seen active combat in the military, as well as those who play contact sports like football, hockey, or boxing.
However, even being in multiple car or motorcycle accidents that cause you to hit your head can be enough to put you at risk of developing CTE. If you’ve been injured, speaking with an experienced motorcycle accident attorney can help you understand your legal options and pursue the compensation you deserve.
Can You File a Personal Injury Claim after Developing CTE?
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a devastating condition that can impact your ability to live normally and could prevent you from working at your full capacity or at all. As such, it often leads to serious financial losses, as well as pain and suffering.
Unfortunately, not everyone who develops this condition is automatically eligible to file a personal injury claim. To take legal action, you must prove that the contributing injuries occurred because of another party’s negligence or wrongful conduct.
For example, if you’ve been in numerous car accidents that you caused by speeding or driving while intoxicated, you wouldn’t qualify for a personal injury claim. However, if a loved one were to end up with CTE after a distracted driver caused them to sustain a brain injury before they’d healed from a previous trauma, you could file a claim against them.
As with other types of personal injury claims, you’ll need to demonstrate that the other party owed your loved one a duty of care that they breached. For instance, a sports team or league might have breached its duty of care to a football player who develops CTE because they’ve been struck repeatedly with inadequate safety measures in place.
After establishing negligence on the part of the responsible party, you’ll then have to show that your family member sustained losses for which they could be compensated. Working with a qualified attorney is the best way to prove compensable losses, as they’ll be able to accurately calculate the various negative effects of your condition.
Damages Available In CTE Claims
If you pursue a personal injury claim for CTE, you may be entitled to receive both economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages focus on the financial losses incurred, including medical expenses and lost wages. For a brain injury, you may need to have numerous imaging studies done to get an accurate diagnosis, and you’ll likely need to stay overnight at the hospital.
Although there’s currently no treatment for CTE or a way to diagnose it while a patient is living, you may be prescribed occupational therapy to help you navigate daily tasks as a brain injury progresses. Economic damages can pay for these costs as well.
Contact the Lake County Personal Injury Attorneys at Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation
If you decide to file a claim for compensation after a loved one dies and is diagnosed with CTE, you’ll need an experienced attorney on your side. These cases are never simple, and there’s too much at stake to pursue them without reliable representation.
By partnering with the right firm, you’ll have a chance to obtain fair compensation for the harm your loved one suffered and its effects on your life. For more information, contact an experienced personal injury attorney at Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation.
We serve throughout all of Northbrook, IL, and Lake County.
Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers
601 Skokie Blvd Suite 401
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 513-9582
