Proving Concussions When You Didn’t Seek Medical Care Right Away

Concussions can create serious health challenges. Nevada lets injury victims seek damages for a concussion that was caused by someone else’s negligence. But doing so without immediately seeking medical care can leave you lacking important evidence, in turn making your case more difficult.

By going over how to prove a concussion without immediate medical evidence and speaking with one of our brain injury lawyers, you may have an easier time building a stronger case and recovering damages.

What is a concussion?

A concussion is a “mild” traumatic brain injury that temporarily disrupts normal brain function, often affecting memory, concentration, balance, or mood. For many people, concussions are anything but mild, but that’s how some in the medical world label them.

Most concussions are caused by a blow to the head. Some are caused by a force to your body that causes the head to whip back and forth, meaning the brain collides with the inside of your skull. In either case, concussions can be debilitating. Common symptoms of a concussion include:

• Frequent headaches that return on a regular basis.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Drowsiness and fatigue.
• A ringing in your ears that persists.
• Blurry vision.
• A sense of being confused, or in a kind of fog.
• Frequent dizziness or the sensation of “seeing stars.”

On top of that, the people around you might observe the following:

• Your speech is slurred or becomes slurred at various intervals.
• You look dazed and seem confused.
• You forget answers to questions that have already been asked or ask the same questions over and over again.
• Your responses to questions are delayed or sound jumbled or incoherent.

Every single one of the above can be a symptom of a concussion. These symptoms can be life-changing.

One example of the above is as follows: if you are in a car accident and get a concussion, you may live with severe headaches. These headaches can prevent you from sleeping, going to work, and feeling happy, among other things.

Nevada law allows you to file a personal injury claim against those whose negligence caused your injuries, including those headaches. Through a personal injury claim, it’s often possible to recover damages that will help you afford treatment and offset other negative outcomes related to your injuries. To pursue such a claim, you will want to work with a brain injury lawyer.

What evidence can you use to prove a concussion?

Every successful personal injury claim is rooted in evidence. This evidence should help show that your injury was real, serious, and caused by someone else’s negligence — which is key to any successful personal injury claim in Nevada.

Nevada relies on comparative negligence. This means that even if you were partially responsible for your concussion, you can still obtain compensation for the incident as long as you were no more than 50% at fault for it.

The evidence you can use to prove a concussion is as follows:

• Testimony from friends, family, and co-workers who have seen you change due to the concussion.
• Expert testimony from neurologists, psychologists, and relevant doctors.
• Hospital/ER records documenting your appointments.
• Statements from your physicians, as well as anyone else who treated you.
• A symptom journal that includes your day-to-day experience of your symptoms.
• Video documentation that demonstrates your day-to-day life with the concussion.

To actually obtain compensation, you and your brain injury lawyer must use this evidence to demonstrate that it was another party’s negligence that, at least partially, gave you this concussion.

In an ideal world, you would get diagnosed with a concussion very soon after a car crash. Not getting that diagnosis is not fatal to your claim, however, and an experienced brain injury attorney will know how to handle this issue.

Why is early medical documentation so important?

Early medical documentation can demonstrate the existence of injuries immediately after an incident. This incident could be anything: a car accident, assault, or slip and fall, among many other possibilities.

Just as an example, if you are in a car accident and go to the doctor and they diagnose you with a concussion, it can be easier to tie that concussion to the car accident you just experienced.

On the other hand, if you were in a car accident three months ago and are now experiencing symptoms of a concussion, the other party can claim that this concussion was the result of an incident unrelated to that car accident.

Without early medical documentation or a timely diagnosis it gives the insurance company something to hang their hat on when arguing that the accident did not cause your concussion. Not only may the opposition try to argue your injury took place in a later incident, they might also claim that you didn’t suffer serious injuries because you chose not to go straight to the hospital. Insurance companies often use delays in treatment to question the legitimacy or severity of your injury — even if your symptoms are very real.

How can you prove a concussion if you don’t have records from immediately after the accident?

To prove that you have a concussion, even though you don’t have records of a rush to the ER after the incident, you can try to do the following:

• See a doctor right after you begin noticing your symptoms.
• Undergo a concussion evaluation and hold onto the documentation related to this evaluation.
• Keep a symptoms journal for your day-to-day symptoms – memory loss and dizziness, for example.
• Speak with the people you know and those you live with and ask them about their observations of your symptoms.
• Hold onto any texts, voice messages, or emails that feature you mentioning your symptoms.
• Take photos or videos of any visible bodily injuries that may be related to this concussion.

The above can be used to prove that you have a concussion, even if you sustained that concussion from an event in the past. To strengthen this evidence, you and your brain injury lawyer may choose to:

• Work with expert witnesses who can provide testimony that supports your claims.
• Have these expert witnesses clarify that delayed concussion symptoms are not uncommon.
• Bring on other witnesses who have seen your symptoms present themselves after the incident.

Taking the above actions can strengthen your claim and, with the help of a brain injury lawyer, make it easier to pursue accountability and potentially recover damages.

Get help from a trusted personal injury lawyer

Our team at Claggett & Sykes Trial Lawyers cares about helping others. For this reason, we have helped thousands of people across Las Vegas and Nevada obtain fair settlements and verdicts for the injuries they have sustained.

By working with us, we can:

• Go over your case to figure out what is possible for you.
• Take care of all the paperwork, documentation, and deadlines.
• Gather evidence and speak with witnesses.
• Negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf.
• Bring your case to court if it is necessary to do so.

No matter what, remember this: we don’t get paid unless we win your case.

Reach out to Claggett & Sykes today. We are ready to listen to you, guide you, and fight for you. You can call us or use our contact form to schedule a free consultation. We have offices in Las Vegas and Reno for your convenience.