What You Need to Know if You Suffer a Brain Injury While Serving Our Country

In 2012, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) met to discuss the biggest challenges faced by today’s disabled veterans. While the huge backlog of veterans’ disability claims topped the list, the VA also stated that service members struggling with a range of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) was a problem that needed to be addressed immediately.

How Do Service Members Suffer Traumatic Brain Injuries?

Some of the common ways service members suffer serious head injuries during active duty include:

• Roadside explosions caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
• Injuries from rocket propelled grenades (RPG)
• Fall accidents
• Firearm accidents
• Motor vehicle accidents and traffic accidents

There are significantly more soldiers returning home from war suffering from TBI than in any other time in the past.

Why Is This a Growing Problem?

Modern medicine gives doctors the ability to save the lives of more wounded service members than ever before—those who would have died of their injuries in past wars are now returning home with severe brain injuries. At the same time, IEDs and RPGs are two types of enemy warfare that often result in concussions and more serious forms of TBI and they are used more frequently now than in the past.

Not All Traumatic Brain Injuries Are the Same

Traumatic brain injuries take a number of different forms. A soldier who is involved in a serious accident or explosion may suffer any of the following injuries:

• Open head wound
• Closed head wound
• Concussion
• Contusion
• Coup-contrecoup injury
• Diffuse axonal injury

These injuries may result in disabilities, coma, or death. While some traumatic brain injuries have obvious consequences, such as paralysis, mental disabilities, and scarring, tens of thousands of vets are returning home from overseas with invisible injuries. Some service members suffer a series of concussions or more minor brain injuries over the years that have subtle effects on their behavior, cognition, or mental health.

What to Do If You Suffer a Traumatic Brain Injury

If you are suffering from disabilities caused by a service-related brain injury, you may deserve to receive compensation in the form of veterans’ disability benefits. A brain injury can make it difficult to hold down a job, complete daily tasks, and care for your family.

Get the help you need today. At Morgan & Weisbrod, our disability attorneys are dedicated to helping veterans with head injuries get the financial support they deserve. Call our toll free number at 800-800-6353 to schedule a free case evaluation or contact us via this website to learn more.

by Paul B. Burkhalter
Managing Partner of Morgan & Weisbrod, Board Certified in Social Security Disability Law.

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