What Medical Evidence Is Needed in Coup Contrecoup Injury Cases?

Head injuries are often difficult to recover from. A seemingly minor, single head injury can linger for years, and some injuries worsen over time, even when properly treated. It is possible to suffer two head injuries, one immediately after the other. This is a coup contrecoup injury, and it can be even more complicated to recover from.

A coup contrecoup injury typically occurs when you suffer a head injury from an impact, and then your head is immediately thrown back (or sometimes forward) from the same impact, causing a second impact on the other side of your head. These injuries to separate parts of your brain can be much harder to treat than normal head injuries.

If you have suffered this type of injury due to the actions of another, you may be eligible to get compensation through a lawsuit. A personal injury lawyer from Commonwealth Law Group can help you gather the medical evidence you need to prove your claim.

Key Medical Records Needed in Coup Contrecoup Injury Cases

In any claim involving negligence, you need to prove that the other party was negligent before an insurance company will provide compensation for your claim. This is true regardless of whether you use the insurance claim process or file a lawsuit.

To prove another party’s negligence resulted in your injuries, you need evidence that shows:

• Another party had a duty to prevent you from getting injured
• They violated that duty
• The violation of that duty resulted in your injury
• Your injury had a cost

Key medical records can potentially help prove any or all of these elements of negligence. The most obvious place where medical records help is in the final element. Medical records include medical expenses, and records of your bills reveal the precise value of your losses due to an injury.

However, because a coup contrecoup injury requires a certain series of events to occur, medical evidence can also be useful for some of the first three elements.

For example, medical evidence can show that an injury occurred on or near a certain date. This can prove that your traumatic brain injury was caused by the accident in question rather than at an earlier time.

The Importance of Medical Evidence in a Personal Injury Case

In any personal injury case, you need to be able to show that you suffered financial harm. Insurance companies won’t just take your word that you were injured or that your injuries require specific types of care to treat. Medical evidence is the best way to prove that.

In most cases, our attorneys will gather as much evidence as possible before negotiating with the insurance company. Every case is different, but some types of medical evidence we may use include:

• MRIs
• X-rays
• Doctors’ notes
• Insurance claims
• Rehabilitation plans

When we start negotiations, that evidence will definitively show that you suffered a serious injury and that medical experts attest that you require specific types of treatment to recover from it.

The evidence allows us to accurately determine current and future medical costs as well as other related costs due to your injury.

Documenting Symptoms and Treatments

One of the mistakes that many clients make when they suffer a traumatic brain injury is not documenting their symptoms or their treatments. Keeping a journal and a record of appointments can help attorneys put together an airtight case with valuable first-person accounts of how the injury has affected the victim’s life.

The Value of a Brain Injury Attorney

Many people with brain injuries have difficulty dealing with the insurance claims process or the legal process. Their injuries may make it hard to concentrate or remember what they need to do. A brain injury lawyer from Commonwealth Law Group can prevent a brain injury from interfering with your claim.

We will handle all the bureaucracy and communicate with appropriate parties, including your doctors, while you are recovering from your injury. Our legal team will fight for you through every step to help you get the highest compensation possible.

FAQ

How Long Can I Wait to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit After Suffering a Coup Contrecoup Injury?

Virginia has a statute of limitations of two years for personal injury claims. This means that you can wait at most two years after the date you suffered an injury to file a lawsuit against the party that is responsible for that injury.

If you miss the deadline and try to file a personal injury lawsuit, it will be dismissed by the court, and you won’t have any other legal options.

Does the Statute of Limitations Affect How Long a Settlement Takes?

It affects how long a settlement takes indirectly. Once the statute of limitations has passed, you no longer have any legal remedy to take against the insurance company.

Once the threat of a lawsuit is off the table, the insurance company no longer has a reason to negotiate with you. If you allow the statute of limitations to run out, you usually won’t receive a settlement from the insurance company.

How Much Money Can I Receive From a Coup Contrecoup Injury Settlement?

That depends on how serious your injuries are. Some injuries will only last for a few months or years. In cases like that, you will probably get tens of thousands of dollars at most. However, other injuries will linger for a lifetime and worsen over time. You can potentially get millions in those cases.

Contact Commonwealth Law Group After a Head Injury in Virginia

If you suffered a head injury in Virginia that was caused by another party, you deserve compensation for those injuries. Contact our law firm as soon as possible to schedule a free consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys.