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Yes. A CT or MRI read as normal is common in mild traumatic brain injury, because the damage is at a cellular level that routine imaging does not show. The injury is usually proven with other evidence. That means the emergency record, neuropsychological testing, treating specialists, and the people who knew you before.
Injured people are routinely told by an adjuster that a clean scan means nothing happened. That is an insurance position, not medicine. What cannot wait is the record of who you were before and what changed. Memory is the first thing this injury takes, including the memory of how bad it was at the beginning. Reach the people who saw the change while they still remember it clearly. Call 713-521-0059.
The injury is invisible. There is no cast, no scar and often no abnormal image, and you may look the same to strangers, to an adjuster and to a jury.
The person may not be able to report it, because impaired insight is a symptom. Someone who says they are fine may be the strongest evidence that they are not. That is why the account of a spouse, a parent or a coworker can carry so much weight.
The losses are often not in the medical bills. They show up in your life as a job that cannot be held, a marriage under strain, and a personality the family no longer recognizes. Your claim has to prove those losses with evidence, not just describe them.
The contemporaneous record comes first. Paramedics and emergency staff note loss of consciousness, post-traumatic amnesia, Glasgow Coma Scale scores, and confusion or disorientation. These entries are made before anyone is thinking about a claim, which is exactly why they carry weight. Ask for the ambulance run report and the full emergency chart, not just the discharge papers.
Neuropsychological testing is often the center of the case. A neuropsychologist gives a battery of tests that measures memory, processing speed, executive function and attention against normative data. The battery includes validity measures designed to detect exaggeration, and that feature is why the testing survives cross-examination.
Treating specialists fill in the rest of your picture. Neurology, physiatry, vestibular therapy, speech and language pathology, and vision therapy each document a different part of the injury. Consistent treatment records matter more than a single impressive report. Insurers often point to gaps in treatment, so keep your appointments.
Advanced imaging should be used carefully. Diffusion tensor imaging and functional imaging are sometimes offered to show injury that routine imaging misses. Their admissibility is contested, and a case should not be built on them alone.
Before and after witnesses are frequently the most persuasive evidence in the case. A supervisor, a coworker, a spouse, a coach or a teacher can describe who you were and who you are now. That testimony costs nothing to gather early, and it fades if you wait.
It depends on the setting, and each setting has its own body of law.
A vehicle collision is an ordinary negligence case, and it raises comparative responsibility and the coverage questions described on our car accident page. A fall on someone else’s property is a premises claim, which usually requires proof that the owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the condition.
On a construction or industrial site, the claim can turn on whether the employer subscribed to workers compensation. Where the defendant is the property owner, Chapter 95 can apply. An assault can support a claim against the assailant, and often against a property owner or business on a negligent security theory.
Medical care is a different case with different rules. A claim arising from health care is a health care liability claim under Chapter 74. That chapter imposes a separate set of rules. It has its own limitations rule, and it usually requires an expert report served not later than the 120th day after each defendant’s original answer is filed, unless the parties extend that date by written agreement or the statute allows a later date. It also caps non-economic damages against physicians and health care providers.
Your own share of fault matters too. Under Section 33.001, a claimant found more than 50 percent responsible recovers nothing. Otherwise, Section 33.012 reduces the award by the claimant’s percentage of responsibility, and a claimant at exactly 50 percent is still reduced.
Commonly recovered expenses and damages include:
In a serious brain injury case, the larger number is usually not the past medical bills. It is lost earning capacity and the cost of future care, and both require expert proof. The loss may be a career that ends at 34 instead of 65, and that is proven with vocational and economic evidence rather than pay stubs.
A life care plan prepared by a qualified professional is the tool for your future care, and an economist converts it to present value. That is what makes a lifetime of attendant care a recoverable figure rather than an assertion.
Attendant care is recoverable and routinely omitted. Family members who provide supervision and assistance are performing services with a market value. A life care plan quantifies it.
Medical damages are measured under Section 41.0105 by what was actually paid or incurred rather than billed. Cost and necessity can be proven by affidavit under Section 18.001, unless a controverting affidavit is properly served. The affidavit does not establish causation.
Exemplary damages require clear and convincing evidence of fraud, malice or gross negligence under Section 41.003. They are capped by Section 41.008. Under Section 41.008(c), the cap does not apply where the claim is based on one of the listed felonies committed knowingly or intentionally. Intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter are on the list and need not be knowing or intentional. The exception reaches only the defendant whose conduct it was.
In most cases, under Section 16.003(a), suit must be filed within two years after the day the claim accrues, which is usually the date of the injury. For a death claim, Section 16.003(b) runs the period from the date of death.
Section 16.001 tolls limitations only where the person was under 18 or of unsound mind when the claim accrued. A disability that begins later does not stop the clock. That second category can matter in a brain injury case, but it is a fact-specific question rather than an automatic extension, so do not plan around it. Chapter 74 claims follow their own rule, which generally does not allow that tolling.
Some claims carry shorter deadlines. Where a governmental unit is responsible, Section 101.101 generally requires notice within six months. A city charter period permitted by law governs where it applies, and the City of Houston requires written notice within 90 days. Under Section 101.101(c), the notice requirement does not apply where the governmental unit had actual notice. Health care liability claims under Chapter 74 carry their own separate deadlines.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Document the person, not just the injury. A journal kept by a spouse, work performance records from before and after, and school or training records make an invisible injury visible to a jury. Write down the names of people who saw the change, and note the missed work, the things forgotten, and the arguments that were not like you.
We start with the record of who you were before, because that is what makes this injury visible. If your symptoms are persisting and no treating physician has referred you for a neuropsychological evaluation, that referral is usually the most important medical step. It matters in your case as well as in your recovery. Then we identify every responsible party and build the proof of future care and lost earning capacity.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston personal injury firm with 50 plus years of combined experience representing injured people across Texas.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Written by Jacob Schiffer, Attorney, Schiffer Law Firm. State Bar of Texas No. 24105175.
Call 713-521-0059.
Not necessarily. Routine CT and MRI often appear normal in mild traumatic brain injury because the damage is at a cellular level that standard imaging does not resolve. The diagnosis rests on the contemporaneous emergency record, neuropsychological testing, treating specialists and witnesses who knew you before.
It is a standardized battery given by a neuropsychologist that measures memory, processing speed, attention and executive function against normative data. It includes validity measures designed to detect exaggeration, which is why it holds up under cross-examination.
In most cases, suit must be filed within two years after the day the claim accrues, which is usually the date of the injury, under Section 16.003(a). Section 16.001 tolls limitations only where the person was under 18 or of unsound mind when the claim accrued, and whether a brain injury qualifies depends on the facts. If the injury arose from medical care, Chapter 74 has its own limitations rule, which generally does not allow that tolling, and an expert report deadline.
Lost earning capacity and the cost of future care usually matter far more than past medical bills. Both require expert proof, usually a life care plan and an economic analysis. That work comes first.
It depends on where the injury happened. It may be a driver, a property owner, a general contractor, an assailant and the business that failed to provide security, or a health care provider. Each carries a different legal standard.
Write down the names of people who saw the change, the work missed, the things forgotten and the arguments that were out of character. A spouse's journal and work records from before and after help make an invisible injury visible.