A brain injury is a tragic thing to have to suffer from, and the scary thing is that it can come about by only the slightest injury. Not that one should be paranoid and fretting about the prospect of a brain injury at every moment, but it is nevertheless a distressing thing. One thing that can cause a brain injury is a lack of oxygen. If that happens, someone may have the question of whether a deprivation of oxygen, caused by another person or persons, could make the victim or a representative of a victim able to sue for this, and we will explain how culpable they could be.

Can a deprivation of oxygen leading to a brain injury make you eligible to sue?
There is a vast array of things that can ultimately result in someone losing access to oxygen and, in turn, receiving a brain injury (known specifically as an 'anoxic brain injury'), or worse yet, death. One may be surprised by how easily an anoxic brain injury can occur; one does not need to be deprived of oxygen for all that long. Even if you are completely deprived of oxygen for only about three minutes, this results in the death of brain cells. Things only get worse from that point; at around four minutes of no oxygen, your brain will begin to experience permanent brain injury. There are a variety of reasons that one may experience complete and total oxygen deprivation. One of the more common causes of insufficient oxygen to the brain is drowning, though in the case of compensation over brain injury brought about as a result of a deprivation of oxygen, a very common cause of it comes in the form of medical malpractice. Medical malpractice can come about from doctors and/or other medical professionals are either negligent, overlooking their care, or even simply doing something malicious while they are taking care of their patients at the hospital or other medical care facility. It may seem somewhat outlandish that a case of medical malpractice for oxygen deprivation would involve active malice from the actions of a medical professional, caregiver, or what have you, it is more common than you may think. While it is not a common thing, a nontrivial number of these kinds of people, when given power over those who are vulnerable to them, wind up abusing that power, for the sheer joy of it.

There are a lot of subtle things that go on with determining whether medical malpractice even occurred, however. It can be something somewhat more indirect and accidental, or something more immediate. For example, a person may be misdiagnosed or not given any proper diagnosis at all, resulting in a problem that ultimately leads to an anoxic brain injury. Other possible things that may lead to an anoxic brain injury include a botched surgery, a botched administration of anesthesia, negligence leading to birth injuries, and general errors that cause a respiratory issue, among other things. This is not an all-encompassing list of every medical procedure that may lead to an anoxic brain injury; rather, there are a number of reasons why such a thing may occur in a medical context. There are not many silver linings associated with experiencing an anoxic brain injury, but one is that, indeed, you can seek some form of compensation in the event that you or a loved one has sustained such an injury. An anoxic brain injury carries a significant burden, and for many, it carries a permanent burden for that person as well as those who are going to have to help take care of them. For the victim as well as the family of the victim, the cost of taking care of someone who is suffering from anoxic brain injury is not something that is affordable to the average person, especially if they were already struggling with expenses beforehand. In order to alleviate this financial burden, pursuing compensation if someone else is liable for the injury is strongly recommended. The best way to pursue this is to get a personal injury lawyer, especially one with an expertise in this specific area of personal injury law.

In a personal injury lawsuit, your lawyer will basically be arguing that another party, in this case a medical professional, acted with negligence, poor oversight, or malice in such a way that ultimately lead to you or another you take care of being deprived of oxygen, leading to your brain being injured. If it can be successfully argued, and you end up winning the lawsuit, there are a variety of types of damages that can be pursued. The most obvious of these is medical costs; not only are they obligated to cover all of the preexisting costs associated with the medical care of the person, they are also required to cover future associated medical costs. You can also sue for a number of other things, including pain and suffering, loss of income, or if applicable, wrongful death. There may be some issue finding success, but with a competent lawyer and case, you should be able to do well with it.