San Diego Injury Law Blog

The most frequently asked question we get as personal injury lawyers is, what are my pain and suffering damages worth? There is never an easy answer to that question, because it depends on so many different factors. To determine what they’re worth, it’s helpful to first discuss what pain and suffering damages are.

First, they’re not really called “pain and suffering damages.” Many lawyers refer to them as general damages, or non-economic damages, because they tend to refer to those damages above and beyond things like medical bills and lost income. Generally speaking, damages for “pain and suffering” are designed to compensate the personal injury victim for all physical, mental, and emotional suffering and/or distress that arises from an incident causing bodily injury. These are the damages that compensate for the “impact” the injury has had on a person’s life.

While there is no legal definition for “pain,” it is generally described as the nerve impulses sent to the brain to express some form of distress. How the pain is compensated usually depends on the nature, extent, and duration of the pain, and the injured party’s ability to characterize the pain. Medical records, and sometimes the testimony of a doctor, are frequently used to support an injured person’s claims of pain, and it is always helpful to have objective medical data to support claims of pain.

The actual “suffering” is usually described as the mental component associated with the pain, although not always. In addition to the obvious emotional component associated with actual pain, suffering is also characterized as shock, anxiety, worry, embarrassment, disfigurement, grief, fear, and the loss of enjoyment of life.

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The Los Angeles Times has an article on brain injuries, and the long-term impacts such injuries can have on those who survive. The story of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords created the national relevance for the story, but Iraq and Afghanistan wars, combined with better medical care, have shown just how tough the brain is, and how it is able to find remarkable ways to heal itself after a catastrophic injury.

Such havoc, you would think, would put an abrupt end to the brain's rhythmic buzz of activity and extinguish the life defined by its complex inner work-ings. But — as the awakening of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has demonstrated these last weeks — the human brain can be resilient, capable of withstanding brutish damage and then masterminding its reconstruction.

The brain is a marvel of redundancy, parallel networks and interlocking message centers that might, with time, rewire around obstacles. But many clusters have precise functions — governing word access or face recognition, or processing vision, hearing and smell. Damage to those can cause specific, maybe permanent, impairments.

People with severe brain injuries rarely fully recover. As the article points out, even those with miraculous recovery face a life of side-effects to the original injury. But many victims can go on to lead "normal" and productive lives.

Click here to read the entire L.A. Times story.

The Walton Law Firm represents individuals and families who have been impacted by all types of injury-producing incidents, including auto accidents, product defect cases, assault and battery, wrongful death claims, worksite injuries, elder abuse and neglect, sexual molestation, pedestrian injuries, construction accidents, property injuries, and malpractice matters. Call toll free at (866) 607-1325 or locally at (760) 571-5500 for a free and confidential consultation.

A man driving a Volkswagen Beetle suffered a suspected brain injury when his car collided with a Mazda SUV. The accident occurred shortly after midnight on October 10 at the intersection of Graves Avenue and Pepper Drive, where there is a three-way stop sign at a T-shaped intersection. The victim had to be removed from the Volkswagen by firefighters, and was taken to the hospital with major injuries. The individuals inside the Mazda were not injured, and the cause of the car accident is being investigated.

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Source: 10News.com

The San Diego car accident lawyers at Walton Law Firm represents individuals and families who have been impacted by all types of injury-producing incidents, including auto accidents, wrongful death claims, worksite injuries, elder abuse and neglect, sexual molestation, pedestrian injuries, construction accidents, property injuries, and malpractice matters. Call toll free at (866) 607-1325 or locally at (760) 571-5500 for a free and confidential consultation.

Tri-City Medical Center and Pomerado Hospital have been fined by the California Department of Public Health for medical mistakes that caused patient injury within the last year. A fine of $50,000 was assessed against each entity.

At Tri-City, a patient was seriously burned when a cauterization machine ignited oxygen in a breathing mask and causing a fire. According to reports, the man was hospitalized for breathing difficulties, and then underwent a procedure to insert a tracheotomy when the fire-incident occurred.

The Pomerado Hospital incident involved a psychiatric patient who suffered brain damage when he tipped over backwards in a reclining chair, and struck his head on the floor. The man was apparently noted to be a very high fall risk, but, according to the State, the hospital failed to take adequate precautions to prevent the incident.

Both hospitals told the North County Times that they will appeal the fines.

Source: North County Times

The injury and malpractice lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, worksite injuries, pedestrian injuries, construction accidents, property injuries, and malpractice matters. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

The number of local Marines killed while riding motorcycles decreased for the first time in three years. The decrease is the result of new safety classes made available to Marines at Camp Pendleton and Miramar Air Force Base. In particular, the Marines are targeting those who ride sport bikes which are lightweight, powerful and popular with younger riders. The course teaches practical skills and mental training according to Richard Stampp, who works with Camp Fox Professional Services which designed and delivers the new course. The Marines have made the new course more accessible, and riders don't have to wait to get into the course. At both Miramar and Camp Pendleton, riders can enroll very soon after signing up for it. As another means to promote safety, the Marines are encouraging more experienced riders to act as mentors for those with less experience. The mentors hold monthly rides and demonstrate safe riding techniques. Marine leaders are committed to training riders and helping them avoid injury and death.

Source: North County Times.

Walton Law Firm, a North San Diego County law firm, represents accident victims throughout San Diego, Orange and Riverside Counties and has recovered millions of dollars for individuals injured by car accidents, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, uninsured motorist claims, defective products, construction accidents, slip and fall injuries, dog bites, insurance disputes, and medical malpractice suits. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

VISTA - A man working on the refrigeration system at Northgate Market in Vista suffered concussive injuries yesterday when a pressurized tank exploded. The explosion caused major damage to the store. The injured man was taken to a local hospital.

It is currently unclear what caused the explosion, but authorities say the company was hired by the store to replace a compressor. The store remained open during the work, and arrangements were made to keep foods chilled while the compressor was changed. It's unclear how that was done, and whether or not it contributed to the accident.

The injured man may have barely escaped with his life. According to Vista Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Hahn, "a containment tank about the size of a scuba tank exploded with significant force, and did a lot of damage to the refrigeration system. The man was very close, but was not hit by the tank."

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Source: sandiego6.com

The San Diego North County injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, property injuries, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accidents, and wrongful death cases. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free consultation or submit a confidential online form.

The subject of mild traumatic brain injuries has received quite a bit of press lately thanks to the NFL. Research is showing that in addition to knee and back injuries, NFL players are suffering brain damage in previously unreported numbers. In response to the growing public concern, the co-chairmen of the NFL's committee on brain injuries resigned from the group last week after much criticism that the group had been downplaying the brain-injury risks associated with the game.

What is well known is that over 1.5 million suffer from an injury to the brain every year, and nearly 50,000 die. While brain damage can be triggered by a myriad of causes, the biggest culprit is trauma to the head. These brain injuries, commonly referred to as traumatic brain injuries, are the easiest to diagnose and usually have the greatest impact on a victim's life.

Within the definition of traumatic brain injury there are numerous types, the most common being concussion, diffuse axonal injury, coup-contrecoup injury, and contusion. Though football has been in the news recently as a cause of traumatic brain injury, the majority of brain injuries are caused by an accident of some sort, or an intentional act.

As a personal injury firm, we most-often see brain injuries in the context of motor vehicle accidents, including both cars and motorcycles. But brain injuries can be caused by other sources, including prescription medications, slip-and-fall incident, and crimes (battery).

If you suspect you, or someone you know, has suffered a mild traumatic brain injury, it is important that you get appropriate medical treatment right away, and get a proper diagnosis. Here is an excellent resource from the Mayo Clinic on the symptoms of traumatic brain injury.

The Walton Law Firm represents personal injury victims throughout San Diego County and has recovered millions of dollars for individuals involved car accidents, pedestrian accidents, nursing home malpractice, motorcycle accidents, uninsured motorist claims, defective products, construction accidents, slip and fall injuries, dog bites, and insurance disputes. Call (760) 607-1325 for a free consultation. Vista Personal Injury Lawyer.

In any spinal cord injury, the degree of ones recovery is usually dependent on the speed of treatment after the injury-producing event. The longer the wait, the more likely nerve cells wither and die, and paralysis follows. But now, for the first time, Neuroscientists at UCSD have been able to re-grow axons in damaged spinal cords in lab rats whose spinal cord injuries were up to a year old.

This discovery would not have been possible without the concentration of neuroscience research being performed in the San Diego area. Five major neuroscience institutions call San Diego home: UCSD, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, The Scripps Research Institute and The Neurosciences Institute.

"San Diego has a heavy concentration of people doing both experimental and theoretical work, from molecule to the mind. There are only a few places in its league – cities like New York with Columbia University, Boston with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Baltimore with Johns Hopkins University," Said Dr. Michael Goldberg, president of the Society for Neuroscience.

The close geographical concentration has allowed for some intra-institution collaboration, which, because of the quickly expanding sciences, is done out of necessity.

"The science is so big now," said Dr. Stuart A. Lipton, who previously worked at Harvard University and is now director of Burnham's Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging and Stem Cell Research Center. "No one person or institution can have all of the toys, the big instruments, the necessary technologies and techniques."

San Diego neuroscientists have been leaders in studying the causes and treatments for neurological syndromes such as autism, Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease, and brain growth. It is estimated that more than 260,000 Americans live with chronic disabilities caused by spinal-cord injuries.

Source: San Diego Union Tribune

The Walton Law Firm represents individuals who have suffered disabling injuries in all types of accidents, including motor vehicle accidents, construction accidents, burn incidents, construction accidents, and animal bites. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

A retired teacher visiting San Diego from Illinois died over the weekend after falling out of a pedicab at the 100 block of Harbor in San Diego's Marina District. Sixty-year-old Sharon Miller was participating the National Education Conference when she and another participant decided to take a pedicab ride on Saturday. At about 11:30 a.m. the driver of the pedi-cab began serving back and forth, causing Ms. Miller fall out and strike her head.

Ms. Miller was taken to UCSD Medical Center and diagnosed with a closed-head injury. She was placed on a ventilator and pronounced brain dead at approximately 6:15 p.m. that evening.

Police are still investigating the accident, and have not yet confirmed the cause.

UPDATE: Police are reportedly investigating the 23-year-old pedicab driver and contemplating manslaughter charges for his role in the death of Ms. Miller. The pedicab driver is from Turkey and here in the US on a work visa. According to witnesses, he was driving the pedicab with Ms. Miller in back in an area marked for pedestrians. One witness said he was driving in an "unsafe manner."

UPDATE II: The pedicab story has taken on a life of its own. San Diego officials are now proposing new rules regarding the operation of pedicabs (a little late, don't you think?), the driver of the pedicab that claimed Ms. Miller's life was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. Sukru Safa Cinar, from Turkey, was taken into custody and faces up to four years in prison.

The San Diego accident and injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals who have been injured in all types of accidents. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

A Temecula boy who fell from a play structure at a local Burger King restaurant was awarded a $20 million settlement. Jacob Buckett, now 12, suffered a traumatic brain injury when he fell at a location in the play structure where there was no cushioned flooring. According to reports, the boy suffered damage to his parietal lobe, his left front lobe, and to his lungs when he fell.

Jacob was hospitalized for more than a month, which was followed by six weeks at a rehabilitation facility. Due to the size of the personal injury settlement, it is very likely that Jacob suffered permanent brain damage that will require attention for the long term.

Several defendants were named in the lawsuit arising from the accident, including the franchisee, the parent company, and the company that installed the playground equipment. It is unclear whether one defendant or all contributed to the settlement.

The Temecula injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent accident victims throughout Southern California in cases of personal injury and wrongful death.

A patient with a serious head injury can appear "deceivingly normal at first," according to Dr. Carmelo Graffagnino of Duke University. Even though the injury may appear minor, and not particularly painful, over-time it can develop into a serious and irreversible injury.

That may be what is happening to actress Natasha Richardson, who is reportedly in very serious condition in a New York hospital after suffering a fall while skiing. According to reports, the fall occurred on a beginner's slope, and appeared to cause no serious harm at the time.

According to doctors, minor head trauma can cause an epidural hemorrhage, where blood gets trapped between the skull and the layer of skin between the bone and the dura matter. Blood flowing from the hemorrhage then builds and punctures the dura.

Dr. Graffagnino says the initial fall or injury doesn't have to be hard at all, and the delay in symptoms can range from five minutes to three hours after the accident.

For more on Traumatic Brain Injuries visit MayoClinic.com.

The San Diego brain injury law firm of Walton Law Firm LLP represents individuals and families throughout San Diego County, including Chula Vista, El Cajon, Oceanside, and Escondido who have been impacted by traumatic brain injuries. Call today for a free and confidential consultation.