It’s hard to put a monetary figure on the kind of suffering a person goes through after he has suffered a traumatic brain injury. A person with TBI can expect extended hospitalization and therapy before he can go home. Once he reaches home, he may find that his struggles have just begun. The process of relearning activities that were second nature before the injury, is exhausting. Even more excruciating is the process of regaining one’s sense of confidence and self worth. Like I said at the beginning of this post, it’s hard to put a monetary figure on all that.
However, when you consider the financial value in terms of fatalities from a brain injury, hospitalizations, emergency room visits and disability, the TBI toll in Texas alone runs into close to $7 billion a year. According to a study commissioned by the CORP. Health Foundation every year, brain injuries cost Texas $6.8 million annually. That figure equals Coca-Cola’s profit for 2009.
Breaking those numbers down further, we see that
- There are more than 119,500 emergency room visits every year linked to traumatic brain injury, and these cost the Texas economy around $40 million a year.
- Fatalities associated with TBI cost $186 million a year.
- Hospitalizations associated with TBI cost $623 million every year.
- Long-term disability, which is seen in more than half of all persons who suffer from TBI, leads to costs of $1.3 billion a year.
Brain injuries are caused mainly by falls and traffic accidents. The CORE Health Foundation is calling for more investments in brain injury treatment research, a statewide campaign focusing on brain injury prevention, and additional funding for the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services’ Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services program.
Vuk Vujasinovic is a Houston auto accident lawyer, representing car accident victims in Texas and nationwide.
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