National Epilepsy Week takes place on 22-28 May and raises awareness of the disorder by highlighting people’s struggles with epilepsy in their day-to-day lives. In this article we discuss some of the causes of epilepsy and the support that is available to help those living with the condition live the best quality of life they can.
There is no clear cause of epilepsy in 65% of people who are living with the condition, and sometimes there appears to be no particular trigger for seizures, which means epilepsy can get in the way of your life dramatically. However, there are certain factors that could have initially caused your epilepsy to develop, such as brain injury or substandard medical care. If this happened to you or your loved one, you could be entitled to compensation which could help you adjust to life with epilepsy and get as much support as possible.
We could help you claim compensation for epilepsy if:
- You sustained a head/brain injury in an accident that wasn’t your fault, which caused your epilepsy to develop;
- You experienced medical negligence, which caused your epilepsy to develop;
- You were incorrectly diagnosed with epilepsy, resulting in taking unnecessary medication which failed to treat the underlying problem.
See below for some example scenarios where you could claim compensation for your epilepsy, or get in touch with our friendly team today to see how we could help you.
We're rated‘Excellent’The Different Types of Epilepsy
It’s important to raise awareness of epilepsy as it is often a misunderstood condition and despite years of research, it’s still not a condition we fully understand. Many people make certain associations with epilepsy, for example, seizures being triggered triggered by flashing lights, causing a person to shake, fall on the floor and have a seizure, but there are actually 40 different types of epilepsy, and everyone experiences it differently. For example, when experiencing an epileptic seizure, some people will:
- Be fully or partially aware of what is going on around them – but may be unable to respond to you, for example as part of a focal aware seizure;
- Be conscious, but unaware of what is going on around them (absence seizures);
- Become unconscious, and have no memory of the seizure happening;
- Experience a ‘warning feeling’ or ‘aura’ that the seizure is about to start – or experience no warning at all;
- Have tonic clonic seizures, where they become unconscious, and their body goes stiff, and they jerk and shake as their muscles relax and tighten.
Could I Claim Compensation for my Epilepsy?
Head and Brain Injuries
If you sustained a serious head/brain injury or medical negligence that caused your epilepsy, you may be entitled to compensation. For example:
You may have sustained a serious head/brain injury in an accident at work, a road traffic accident or even an accident in a public place. If your injuries caused you to develop epilepsy and someone else, for example your employer, another road user, or a business, was responsible for the accident, our Personal Injury lawyers could help you claim compensation.
How Epilepsy Affects People’s Lives
Because there are so many different types of epilepsy, it can affect the lives of those who suffer in various ways. Up to 70% of people with epilepsy can stop having seizures completely with the right medication, while for some people, the risk, frequency and severity of seizures can drastically affect their lives. This is where our Personal Injury lawyers can help – we could secure compensation for you if you developed epilepsy as a result of an injury or medical incident that wasn’t your fault.
Epilepsy can affect the lives of people in various ways, and you shouldn’t have to live with these consequences if the development of your epilepsy could have been avoided.
Driving
If you’ve had any epileptic seizures, you must tell the DVLA about this, and sadly your license is likely to be taken away. Depending on the type of epilepsy you have, and how long you’ve been seizure-free, you may be able to drive again – there are certain rules for different types of seizures.
If your license is taken away from you, you’re entitled to help such as free or discounted bus travel, or help with travel costs to work.
However, having to give up driving can be very challenging and disruptive for some people, and it can also have an impact on your mental health as you may feel part of your independence has been taken away.
Claiming compensation for epilepsy can account for the impact your epilepsy has had on your lifestyle, including your ability to drive.
How our Lawyers Could Help You Claim Compensation For Epilepsy
It’s possible to claim compensation for epilepsy if we can prove that another person’s actions or negligence caused you to develop your condition. Epilepsy is a very complicated condition and it can be hard to determine the cause of it, but if someone else was responsible for the injury that caused it, it’s important for you to get the support of one of our specialist Medical Negligence lawyers.
We’ll arrange for an independent medical expert to assess how your epilepsy was caused, how you’re coping now and any support you might need in the future. Then our specialist lawyers will collect all the evidence they need to help prove that the development of your epilepsy could’ve been avoided.
We may be able to deal with your case on a No Win, No Fee basis, meaning you don’t pay a penny unless we win your case, taking the financial risk out for you. To see if you could make a claim, contact our friendly team today for a Free Case Assessment – we’ll find out about your situation and let you know how we can help.
Get in touch, today!
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