Monthly Client Newsletter – June 2025 Edition
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We are delighted to share the latest edition of our monthly client newsletter. Whether you are an individual client, fellow attorney, or a community leader, our newsletter is designed to keep you informed and empowered.
Recent Legal Developments: What You Need to Know
We’re reaching out with important news that could have a real impact on individuals living with the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI). In a major development, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has officially recognized Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as a chronic condition. This designation went into effect starting January 2025 and reflects the growing understanding in the medical and legal communities that TBI can result in lasting, life-altering challenges.
Why This Matters:
TBI being added to CMS’s list of chronic conditions for Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs) under the Medicare Advantage program means that more individuals living with TBI will have access to specialized care, coordinated services, and consistent support. For our personal injury clients, this recognition reinforces the seriousness and complexity of brain injuries – and may influence how insurers and defense attorneys evaluate damages and medical needs.
What It Means for Injury Cases:
- Greater medical validation of long-term TBI symptoms
- Potential for more comprehensive future care cost projections
- Stronger arguments for damages in TBI-related litigation
- A growing shift toward recognizing invisible injuries like cognitive impairment, emotional changes, and fatigue
We handle a lot of brain injury cases. I have taken them to trial and worked on hundreds of these cases over the years. Unless you have lived with it and seen it up close, it is hard to understand how devastating these TBI cases are to clients and victims of trauma. The often “Unseen injury” can be worse than a fracture or ligament tear.
Further, these cases were often hard to prove in the past. We are always looking for new cutting-edge tools to help prove traumatic brain injuries to juries and insurance adjusters. I have written in the past about some of the newer tools that have made a significant difference, such as the 3T MRI with Qmenta and Diffusion Tensor Imaging.
I have written about a blood test that might become available to prove TBI.
Another tool I like to utilize is the Learned Publication Rule/Authoritative Publication Rule. (See CA Evidence Code §721. Our government, through CMS, has recognized how devastating these injuries are to the point that long-term TBI is being added to the Long-Term Disability list. While most people (90% or so) will heal from a concussion, the 8-10% that do not can go on to have long-term significant problems. This new addition of listing TBI as a chronic long-term disability will be another tool that can be utilized in direct or cross-examination or for a doctor’s consideration on a question.
It will also allow Medicare recipients to potentially get additional help and treatment.
At the Law Office of Adam Sorrells, we have long understood how traumatic brain injuries affect our clients and their families. We are prepared to use this new classification to help support your claim and secure the compensation you deserve.
If you or someone you know has suffered a head injury through no fault of their own, we are here to help. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Law Office of Adam Sorrells
60 Independence Circle, Suite 100
530-893-9900
Chico, CA 95973
www.chicopersonalinjury.com
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