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Care is scarce for brain injury sufferers

A story in the Jackson Clarion Ledger out of Mississippi looks at the challenges of caring for people with traumatic brain injury.

The story refers to a 34-year-old man named Neal Sandifer who suffered traumatic brain injury, and must now leave the nursing home where he had been staying.

The story quotes Lee Jenkins, executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Mississippi, as saying that putting Sandifer in a nursing home was inadequate in the first place. Most nursing homes aren’t equipped to handle the angry outbursts often associated with severe brain injury and the rehab that the condition requires.

But unfortunately for Sandifer and his family, there is no long-term, in-patient care facility in Mississippi for patients with severe brain injury. And without a facility to provide a controlled environment and necessary treatment, some severely brain-injured patients can be a danger to themselves and others, Jenkins says.

And many people simply don’t have the financial resources to place a family member in a private treatment facility. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, extensive rehab can cost anywhere from $600 to $8,000 a day.

The report quotes Sandifer’s father as saying: “I’m retired; we had some money saved, but I’m going broke fast trying to care for my son.”

If you or a loved one have suffered a traumatic brain injury, check with Lopez McHugh for a free consultation to see what your legal options are.

See the story here:

https://www.clarionledger.com/article/20121029/NEWS/310290026/Care-struggle-families-traumatic-brain-injury-victims