Can I Sue for Brain Damage from Electric Shock?
Yes, if your brain damage was caused by an electric shock and that incident was the fault of someone else, you may have the right to sue for compensation. If your loved one was injured and is in a coma or otherwise too injured to sue, you can hire an attorney to help you file a lawsuit on behalf of your loved one. If the person injured is your spouse, you may have the right to sue for the loss of that person’s companionship and other damages.
Attorneys at Pritzker Hageman have been quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Lawyers USA and others. Our law firm is listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America. To contact our shock and burn legal team, use the free consultation form below.
Brain Injury (Damage) from Electrical Accidents
Brain injuries can result from electrical accidents as follows:
- Direct electric shock (electrocution) of the brain and/or spinal cord can occur when the body comes in contact with a live electrical circuit. In this case the body completes an electrical circuit or acts as a conduit from a circuit to ground.
- From a secondary fall associated with an electric shock.
- When the electrical contact (often prolonged) arrests the respiratory muscles or circulation the blood and oxygen supply to the brain can be interrupted resulting in ischemic brain injury.
Electrical accidents can be caused by many things including unsafe work environments, faulty wiring or defective appliances or other equipment in the home, and downed transmission power lines.
Arc-Blast Electrical Accident Brain Injury
Electricity-related brain injury can result from an arc-blast explosion, which almost always results in death. An arc flash [or arc-blast] is a short circuit that flashes from one exposed live conductor to another, or to ground. The explosion takes less than one second and produces a brilliant flash, intense heat, and a pressure blast equivalent to several sticks of dynamite. The intense pressure wave can exert a force on the human body that is capable of causing severe bodily harm. With arc-blasts a brain injury from the blast isn’t due to the electrical or thermal energy associated with the arc-blast but is due to the pressure wave that causes a concussive blow to the head.
Electric Shock Spinal Cord Injury
High-voltage electrocution can also cause damage to the spinal cord. The electricity can directly injury the spinal cord or the cord can be traumatically injured secondary to a vertebral fracture or displacement of ligaments, which can result from violent muscle contractions. There are both acute (occurring immediately) and delayed (occurring up to weeks after the electrocution) types of injury.
Our lawyers have been quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Lawyers USA and others. Our attorneys have been featured as national speakers on traumatic brain injury (TBI) litigation, and are listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America. To contact a TBI lawyer at our law firm for a free case evaluation, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form.
References:
- (1999) Annals NY Academy of Sciences 888:19-32.
- (2000) South Med J 93(12):1165-1168.