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Traumatic Brain Injury Victim Receives a $10 Million SettlementWe find that clients often assume that if they had a pre-existing condition and are injured in an accident, they aren’t entitled to damages. A recent case that went up before the Los Angeles Superior Court may show otherwise. In this instance, a jury gave a child a settlement of over $10 million for a traumatic brain injury – even though she already had a learning disability.

The basics of the accident

In this case, the victim was a ten-year-old girl. She was a passenger in a vehicle that was involved in a car accident. The defendant hit the vehicle she was in while she was in the backseat. The car she was in was hit from behind. The result of the accident was several fractures for the girl as well as a traumatic brain injury.

The plaintiff’s side

The girl already had an IEP for her learning disability, which was a visual processing disorder. This was well before the accident. After the accident, she was rated as a four for the scale of severe traumatic brain trauma and a 12 on the scale that tests for moderate traumatic brain injury. She spent nearly two weeks in the pediatric intensive care unit. Her personal injury attorney argued that she’d been dealt a permanent brain injury because of the accident.

The defendant’s side

While the defendant did admit he was liable for the accident and was found to be 100% at fault, he said that the girl hadn’t suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident. His attorney brought in a neuropsychiatrist who said that the girl was born with a disability and that any injuries she was claiming to have gotten in the accident were nothing more than her per-existing condition. That said, there was no evidence that she’d ever been diagnosed with a disability.

California’s unusually susceptible plaintiff rule

The girl was eventually awarded five times what she’d been asking for: $10 million. This is due in part to the fact that California follows what’s known as the unusually susceptible plaintiff rule. This means that if a person has a preexisting condition, they can still hold someone accountable for injuries they experience in an accident. This is true even if a person without their original condition wouldn’t have had the same injuries as the person with the condition did.

Work with a personal injury attorney who will consider all sides of your case

If you’ve suffered a traumatic brain injury then it’s time you contact a personal injury attorney. If you’ve been involved in an accident that made a preexisting condition even worse, then you need an attorney. If you wonder how you’re going to pay your medical bills for an accident that was someone else’s fault, then you should contact an attorney.

Now is the time to call Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707. We can provide a free legal consultation that will give you a better idea of your rights and your options. Reach out today.