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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
WHAT IT A TBI?
The VA defines a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as:
1. A force to the head such as:
- The head striking an object or vice versa;
- Sudden acceleration or deceleration without direct external trauma to the head;
- A foreign body penetrating the brain;
- Forces from blasts or explosions;
2. That results in at least one of the following signs, immediately following the event:
- Any period of loss of or a decreased level of consciousness;
- Any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the injury;
- Any alteration in mental state at the time of the injury (confusion, disorientation, slowed thinking, etc.);
- Neurological deficits (weakness, loss of balance, change in vision, praxis, paresis/plegia, sensory loss, aphasia, etc.) that may or may not be transient;
- Intracranial lesion.
Note: This means you don't have to physically be struck by something or be knocked unconscious to have a Traumatic Brain injury.
SYMPTOMS
Symptoms of TBI may included any of the following:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Memory problems
- Concentration problems
- Anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other mental disorders
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Fatigue
- Difficulty sleeping
- Blurred vision or other visual impairment
- Behavioral changes (irritability, restlessness, apathy, inappropriate social behavior, aggression, impulsivity)
- Emotional changes (mood swings, anxiety, depression that don't meet DSM-IV criteria)
- Hypersensitivity to sound
- Hypersensitivity to light
- Loss of sense of smell and taste
- Walking and balance problems
- Speech and other language communication difficulties
- Neurogenic bladder
- Neurogenic bowel
- Cranial nerve dysfunctions
- Autonomic nerve dysfunctions
- Endocrine dysfunctions
- Skull defects
- Normal pressure hydrocephalus
- State of altered consciousness
-
Hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
RECENT VA CHANGES IN TBI
Effective September 23, 2008, the VA revamps the old archaic way of evaluating TBI disability claims. Although still not as good as it should be, the new system does recognize TBI as a separate and distinct injury and also recognizes are wide ranges of symptoms caused by TBI.
WHAT IF YOU WERE RATED FOR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
I f you were rated for a brain injury under the old version of the VA's regulations (Diagnostic Code 8045) you are entitled to a reevaluation under the new regulations. You may due this simply by completing the VA Form 21-4138 in the Forms and inserting the language "I request reevaluation of for residuals of Traumatic Brain Injury for symptoms including (list all symptoms above you are experiencing). Submit this form the VA Regional Office in your state.
WHY DO YOU NEED A LAWYER
The new rating system for TBI is very complicated. The VA has had difficulty educating the VA's rating specialists in how to recognize and rate TBI cases because the symptoms are so widespread and similar to other non-TBI problems, and the method of assigning ratings is so complicated that the many of the VA's own rating specialists don't understand it. A veteran can't possibly be expected to be rated fairly in under this type of environment.
We know the law and we know what disability compensation veterans with TBI are entitled to received. In fact, one of our attorneys, Ralph Bratch, has written and spoken on this topic (link the article) helping train others in how to evaluate and rated disabilities from TBI under the new rating system.
