Suffering a brain injury as a result of any accident is a huge thing to deal with. This is mainly because brain injuries are complex and are not as obvious as other types of injuries may be. The same is true when it comes to dealing with brain injury cases; unlike other types of injury cases brain injury cases are complex and are just as costly for victims. There are generally two categories of damages that can be sought to make an individual whole who has suffered from a brain injury - these are categorized as economic and non-economic damages.

As shown from the name, economic damages basically have to do with any financial consequences that an injury may have on the individual. This includes medical bills, lost income and any other direct costs of an accident or injury. However, non-economic damages are a bit on the abstract side. This is mainly because it is hard to put a price on having a chronic headache for 10 months.

One attorney commented, “The term non-economic damage is a term used in the legal community in reference to loss that an individual suffers but cannot directly be quantified into monetary terms. For example, trying to quantify the pain or suffering of an individual. Unfortunately, there is no equipment that has been invented to measure an individual’s pain or suffering. With regards to non-economic damages an attorney basically looks at precedent and the real impact the brain injury has on the lives of their clients in order to determine the associated damages.” However, it must be noted that when an individual lives with debilitating pain or suffering there are clear financial consequences that result. Some examples of non-economic losses include pain, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress; these all result in creating major implications on the lives of accident victims. One article stated, consider “two common and closely connected non-economic damages: pain and depression. Chronic pain is a major cause of depression and depression in turn makes pain worse. It is a vicious cycle that places a tremendous burden on sufferers, workforces and the healthcare system. Depression in the United States costs approximately $210 billion per year.”
Depression stemming from a brain injury can lead to many other negative health outcomes such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer and cardiovascular disease; all of which conditions are expensive to treat and carry their own financial consequences.
 
It is important to note that attorneys know how much is commonly requested in non-economic damages. While they use precedents, they do not rely on them entirely at the expense of their client’s individual needs. By hiring a skilled accident lawyer, who knows their way around brain injury cases, this increases the amount of compensation in accordance with the uniqueness of the injured individual. In addition, it is important to realize that not all cases go to trial where juries determine the outcome of the individual’s compensation, in some instances matters are resolved by way of settlement.

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious brain injury near Wasilla contact an accident lawyer in Wasilla with a track record of success.