Traumatic Brain Injury a “Disease” not an “Event”

Traumatic Brain Injury Claims

New research published in this months issue of the Journal of Neurotrauma advocates treating traumatic brain injury as a chronic disease process, rather than an isolated event.

As a brain injury lawyer, I wholeheartedly agree with the conclusions reached in the article.

Brain Injury the Beginning of a Process

The authors of the study, Brent E. Masel and Douglas S. DeWitt from the Univesity of Texas Department of Neurology state that:

The purpose of this article is to encourage the classification of traumatic brain injury (TBI) as the beginning of a chronic disease process, rather than an event or final outcome. Head trauma is the beginning of an ongoing, perhaps lifelong, process that impacts multiple organ systems and may be disease causative and accelerative.

The authors review how a brain injury is often the start of a degenerative process that may cause further injury, even death, months or years after the initial trauma. The conclusions reached by the authors no doubt will be supported by brain injury survivors, their family’s and those that advocate for survivors.

Chronic traumatic brain injury disease should be reimbursed and managed on a par with all other chronic diseases. Only then will the individuals with this condition get the medical surveillance, support, and treatment they so richly deserve. Only then will brain-injury research receive the funding it requires. Only then will we be able to truly talk about a cure.