Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is one of the most debilitating forms of injury. It can have long-term implications for your health that are hard to predict as well as difficult to manage. Some side effects might last a lifetime. The cost of care for an ongoing brain issue as well as the cost of reduced ability to work both make TBIs financially burdensome in Virginia.
What is the cost of a TBI?
TBIs tend to have high up-front costs to treat the injury and the event that caused them. Subsequently, patients may have lifelong needs for care that will vary significantly based on their level of need. Over the course of a lifetime, there could be millions in costs for one patient. That adds up to a major impact financially, and the costs are also hard to predict. Symptoms can flare up without warning, and they can also change over time.
Additionally, TBIs can be disabling. It might be difficult or impossible to work with a TBI, so patients have a reduced ability to pay for their care on top of how expensive that care can be. Working out a legal settlement to assist with costs can be a key part of the financial picture.
TBIs have unpredictable and damaging side effects that tend to create sustained and draining costs, as well as the emotional impact of constant medical visits and appointments. No two TBIs are exactly the same, but they share the fact that the patients who experience them have to resolve their steep, ongoing costs while dealing with the symptoms at the same time, which is a major challenge.