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With evidence other than the scan. 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. What proves the injury is the emergency record, neuropsychological testing, treating specialists, and, above all, the people who knew the person before and can describe who they are now.
This is the central problem in a brain injury case and it is worth stating first, because injured people are routinely told by an adjuster that a clean scan means nothing happened.
The injury is invisible. There is no cast, no scar and often no abnormal image. The person looks the same.
The person may not be able to report it. Impaired insight is a symptom. A client who says he is fine may be the strongest evidence that he is not.
The consequences are not medical bills. They are a job that cannot be held, a marriage under strain, and a personality the family no longer recognizes.
The contemporaneous record. Loss of consciousness, post-traumatic amnesia, Glasgow Coma Scale scores, confusion or disorientation noted by paramedics and emergency staff. These entries are made before anyone is thinking about a claim, which is exactly why they carry weight.
Neuropsychological testing. A battery administered by a neuropsychologist measures memory, processing speed, executive function and attention against normative data, and it includes validity measures designed to detect exaggeration. That last feature is why it survives cross-examination.
Treating specialists. Neurology, physiatry, vestibular therapy, speech and language pathology, vision therapy. Consistent treatment records matter more than a single impressive report.
Advanced imaging, 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. A supervisor, a coworker, a spouse, a coach, a teacher. Testimony from people who knew the person before is frequently the most persuasive evidence in the case, and it costs nothing to gather early.
The liability theory depends entirely on the setting, and each has its own body of law.
Vehicle collisions. Ordinary negligence, comparative responsibility, and the coverage questions described on our car accident page.
Falls on someone else’s property. A premises claim requiring actual or constructive knowledge of the condition.
Construction and industrial sites. Governed by whether the employer subscribed to workers compensation and by Chapter 95 where the defendant is the property owner.
Assaults. Against the assailant, and often against a property owner or business on a negligent security theory.
Medical care. A claim arising from health care is a health care liability claim under Chapter 74, which imposes a separate regime including a serving deadline for an expert report and a damages cap on non-economic damages against physicians and health care providers. It is a different case with different rules and a much shorter practical fuse.
Medical damages are measured under Section 41.0105 by what was actually paid or incurred rather than billed, and cost and necessity can be proven by affidavit under Section 18.001, which does not establish causation.
The larger number in a serious brain injury case is almost never the past medical bills. It is lost earning capacity and the cost of future care. Both require expert proof. A life care plan prepared by a qualified professional, converted to present value by an economist, is what makes a lifetime of attendant care a recoverable figure rather than an assertion.
Exemplary damages require clear and convincing evidence of fraud, malice or gross negligence under Section 41.003, are capped by Section 41.008, and are uncapped for the felony conduct listed in Section 41.008(c), which includes intoxication assault.
Under Section 33.001 a claimant can recover so long as the claimant’s percentage of responsibility is not greater than 50 percent.
Under Section 16.003(a) suit must be brought not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues, and Section 16.003(b) gives two years from the date of death. Section 16.001 tolls limitations while a claimant is younger than 18 or of unsound mind. That second category can matter directly in a brain injury case, and it is a fact-specific question rather than an automatic extension.
Where a governmental entity is responsible, Chapter 101 adds a notice requirement, and the City of Houston requires notice within 90 days. 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.
The future is the case. Past medical bills in a mild traumatic brain injury are often modest. The loss is a career that ends at 34 instead of 65, and it is proven with vocational and economic evidence rather than pay stubs.
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.
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.
The first conversation is free, it is confidential, and it does not commit you to anything.
Get the neuropsychological evaluation. If a treating physician has not referred for one and symptoms are persisting, that referral is usually the most important medical step in the case as well as in the recovery.
Do not let a normal scan end the inquiry. An adjuster telling an injured person that a clean CT means no injury is describing an insurance position, not medicine.
Write things down now. Names of people who saw the change. Missed work. Things forgotten. Arguments that were not like him. Memory is the first thing this injury takes, including the memory of how bad it was at the beginning.
Schiffer Law Firm keeps a deliberately small caseload, in Houston and across Texas. There is no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Call 713-521-0059.
No. 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 the person before.
It is a standardized battery administered 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.
Two years from the day the cause of action accrues under Section 16.003(a). Limitations are tolled while a claimant is younger than 18 or of unsound mind under Section 16.001. If the injury arose from medical care, Chapter 74 imposes separate and shorter requirements.
That depends on lost earning capacity and the cost of future care far more than on past medical bills. Both require expert proof, usually a life care plan and an economic analysis. Any figure quoted before that work is guesswork.
It depends on where the injury happened. 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.
