Concussion

 

A concussion is a brain injury. Something misunderstood by many, but with the release of the new movie, Concussion, on December 25, 2015, starring Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Luke Wilson and many others (see: Concussion – Official Trailer), a very important topic in my profession is about to get the benefit of the limelight. 

The movie is about the discoveries of Dr. Omalu, a pathologist who, after performing an autopsy on NFL star Mike Webster, went on to study brain damage in football players who suffered from repeated concussions. His work lead to the discovery of a new disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE (see: Frontline interview with Dr. Omalu).  

Personal injury lawyers often see clients who have suffered concussions as a result of car accidents, cycling accidents, slip and falls, assaults and other events. 

In some cases, clients have a history of previous concussions, making them more susceptible to significant injury from subsequent concussions. We see first-hand how devastating the consequences of a concussion or repetitive concussions can be. 

However, I have found in my practice, that unless the symptoms were severe at the time of injury, a concussion will often go undiagnosed. Even in cases where the concussion is diagnosed, the medical attention given to the concussion beyond diagnosis is often minimal, which, in turn, minimizes the injury in the eyes of ICBC and other insurance companies.  

Last year, I had the privilege of attending a presentation by Dr. Shelina BabuI, a paediatric sports injury specialist with the BC Children’s Hospital. It was recognized by Dr. Babul and her colleagues that there is a lack of education about concussions in the medical, sports, and educational communities.

As a result, Dr. Babul led the development of the Concussion Awareness Training Tool (CATT). The objective of CATT is to standardize concussion recognition, diagnosis, treatment and management.  

Dr. Babul’s presentation was called, ‘Concussion in BC - An invisible epidemic.’ 

Her title really says it all. Concussions are ‘invisible’ injuries, so it is not surprising that they present challenges in medicine and in personal injury claims. 

My job as a personal injury lawyer is to make the 'invisible' injury 'visible', so that a judge or jury can have a better understanding, and appropriately compensate a person suffering from a concussion. 

To do that, it is important to understand how the injury is caused, recognize the symptoms, and the impact of the symptoms, as well as understand the treatment and management of a concussion. 

This is where projects such as the Concussion Awareness Training Tool are so valuable, not just for me, but for everyone dealing with concussion.

There is a wealth of information about concussions on the CATT website (see: www.cattonline.com). 

While the movie Concussion is yet to be released at the time of writing this, it is my hope that it will bring attention to this important and misunderstood topic. I hope it will encourage further education, and bring some visibility to an otherwise invisible injury.

For a complete list of concussion symptoms from the Mayo Clinic website, click here.

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*Important note: The information contained in this column should not be treated by readers as legal advice, and should not be relied on without detailed legal counsel being sought.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.