Myths usually offer simple explanations of phenomena or experiences.
From where did civilization come?
That’s easy: Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity in the form of technology, knowledge, and more generally, civilization.
(The gods punished Prometheus. He was bound. An eagle ate his liver. His liver grew back and the cycle repeated.)
Plato worried that the uneducated might take the stories of gods and heroes literally.
Plato’s concern retains validity today.
Insurance companies have created a significant number of myths relating to traumatic brain injury.
Either they don’t understand TBI or they hope to discourage injured people and trick jurors.
This is the first in a series of newsletters that debunks that insurance company mythology.
Myth No. 1: No “physical” injury means no traumatic brain injury.
There are a lot of wrecks where people don’t suffer “physical” injuries. They don’t hurt their necks. Their backs feel okay. Their shoulders work correctly.
So, insurance companies—either directly or by implication—take the position that since the forces of the collision weren’t strong enough to injure a person’s neck, back or shoulders, they must not have been strong enough to injure someone’s brain.
No question: It’s easier to make the connection between a wreck and a brain injury if there’s also a physical injury like a torn rotator cuff or a broken leg.
But the brain isn’t made of the same material as a rotator cuff or a femur. It’s about the consistency of jello.
There may be thresholds for the forces that can (typically) injury the tendons, ligaments and facia. But there are no accepted standards for minimum forces necessary to cause a brain injury.
We know if the forces are strong enough to stretch or tear tendons, ligaments or facia that they’re strong enough to cause a TBI.
But it’s a false construct for insurance companies to equate no physical injury with no brain injury.