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GEORGETOWN OFFICE 121 Screven Street Georgetown, SC 29440 • Medical Malpractice
• Workers’ Comp. • Dram Shop Liability • Nursing Home Abuse • Hospital Negligence • Jail Misconduct CHARLESTON OFFICE 635 East Bay Street, Suite F Charleston, SC 29403 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2026
• Car Accidents • Personal Injury • Truck Accidents • Wrongful Death
EVANSMOORELAW.COM · (843) 995-5000
INSIDE THE FIGHT OVER BRAIN INJURIES Breaking Down the True Cost of Trauma
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, which makes it a fitting time to discuss one of the most challenging and misunderstood areas of injury law. Brain injuries occupy a unique and difficult space in our practice. Unlike many traumatic injuries, the available treatments are limited, but the impact on a person’s daily life can be nothing short of catastrophic. People may look “fine” on the outside but struggle with headaches, memory problems, mood swings, or trouble focusing on simple tasks. Relationships, work, and basic routines can all be affected. This creates a fundamental problem for insurance claims. The Valuation Problem Insurance companies prefer claims they can easily quantify. Consider a shoulder replacement following a collision. The costs are relatively predictable and include hospital facility fees, the titanium implant itself, surgeon’s fees, physical therapy, and perhaps a replacement joint in 20–25 years. An adjuster can pull up pricing, run the numbers, and arrive at a reasonable settlement range. Brain injuries? Not so simple. Many clients are diagnosed with “mild” traumatic brain injury, even though nothing about their daily life feels mild. Symptoms may come and go, and standard imaging can
look normal. The unpredictability of brain injury costs, combined with symptoms that may not appear on an MRI, leads many insurance companies to make a critical error. They treat these claims as if they’re worthless. This miscalculation is precisely why brain injury cases are far more likely to end up before a jury. Telling the Story at Trial Presenting a brain injury case to a jury requires a carefully orchestrated approach. We typically bring in neurologists to explain how different brain regions function and the role neurons play in everything from memory to impulse control. Neurologists can help translate test results into real-world limitations that jurors can understand. But the most powerful testimony often comes from the people who knew the injured person before the incident. Friends, family members, and coworkers can describe the personality changes, mood shifts, and cognitive differences they’ve witnessed. Family physicians can document the immediate symptoms during the acute phase of injury, and timelines of change help the jury see how life has been divided into “before” and “after.” Common Causes We See In our practice, brain injuries most frequently result from sports-
related trauma, vehicular collisions involving head impact, strokes that go undiagnosed or are improperly treated, and seizures caused by untreated alcohol, narcotic, or prescription medication withdrawal. Unsafe premises, falls, and other medical errors also play a role in many of the cases we review. If you or someone you know has suffered a brain injury, understanding the true scope of the damages and the insurance industry’s tendency to undervalue these claims is the first step toward obtaining fair compensation. Getting the right medical care, keeping track of changes, and having an experienced legal team by your side can make all the difference in how these cases are ultimately resolved.
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Stop Trying to Hustle Harder PLAN SMARTER INSTEAD
Do you ever wish you could accomplish more in a day? Whether you’re trying to squeeze out as many tasks as possible at work or take care of all of your chores before Sunday, it can feel like you’re always trying to maximize your productivity. But many of us feel like we fall short each day. You may think you just need to regularly refresh your coffee or eliminate every distraction from your mind to improve your productivity, but this only gets you so far. Instead, focus on incorporating strong, simple strategies into your routine. Here are three ideas to help you be as productive as possible, no matter the situation. Put a plan in place. When do you start thinking about what you need to accomplish on any given day? Too often, people wait until they face their work computer or stare at a sink full of dishes to strategize their day. Instead, take some time before you wrap up work to establish your priorities for the following day. Before the
weekend starts, figure out which chores you need to do and the best time to tackle them. Having a plan will increase your likelihood of sticking to it. Stop saying yes. How often do you say “no” to others? Many of us are people pleasers who often agree to requests, even if they exceed our capacity. Saying “yes” all the time will lead to burnout, regardless of whether it’s your boss asking you to complete a project before noon or your friends wanting to go out for the fourth night in a row. Say no, and keep your main priorities at the forefront of your mind. Take regular breaks. You may want to push through all your tasks so you can finally unwind and relax, but this could lengthen the process. Sticking to your responsibilities like glue prevents your body and brain from taking necessary breaks to recalibrate and reset so you can operate at peak performance.
ECONOMIC VS. NON-ECONOMIC DAMAGES
Adding Up Losses After an Injury
After a serious injury due to another person’s carelessness, the first thing that usually shows up isn’t a lawsuit. It’s a stack of bills. Hospital charges, follow-up visits, missed paychecks, and small daily costs all start to pile up while a family is still trying to get its bearings. South Carolina law recognizes these different kinds of losses in severe injury cases and categorizes them into two main buckets: economic and non-economic damages. On the economic side, the law allows injured people to claim the money they have actually lost due to the injury. That can include doctor and hospital charges, follow-up visits, therapy, medication, and home health care. It also covers paychecks that stopped coming in while someone was out of work. In brain injury and other catastrophic cases, a person may never be able to return to the same job or the same hours. The difference between what they could have earned and what they can earn now becomes part of the claim.
South Carolina does not have an automatic dollar cap on these financial losses, though caps on total damages apply to governmental and nonprofit entities. The law tries to account for the real financial burden the injury has created. Non-economic damages focus on different types of losses. They account for things like pain that never stops, emotional distress after a bad accident, or a parent who can no longer pick up a child or enjoy the hobbies that once filled their weekends. No receipt shows these losses, but they are very real. Juries and insurance companies must look at how severe each injury is, how long recovery will take, and whether the changes to daily life are permanent. Generally, non-economic damages aren’t capped, but medical malpractice cases have special rules. South Carolina limits the amount a patient can receive for non-economic harm in those cases, with different limits depending on how
many health care providers are involved. Those limits don’t apply to most other injury cases, such as car wrecks or unsafe premises. Together, economic and non-economic damages tell the story of what was taken from an injured person. When we evaluate a serious case, we look at both because a fair result has to consider more than medical bills alone.
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TAKE A BREAK!
When a client comes to our firm and says, “That place was short- staffed,” we don’t treat it as a minor complaint. We see it as a serious issue. With the cases we handle, that often means there simply weren’t enough people on the floor to notice problems, answer calls, or step in before something went wrong. Nurses, aides, and other frontline staff at hospitals and nursing homes are the ones who notice when a patient seems confused, when a wound is getting worse, or when pain suddenly changes. They’re also the people who get patients to the bathroom, reposition them to prevent sores, and respond when call lights go off. When a facility is short-staffed, those basic tasks get overlooked. Missed turns in bed lead to pressure sores, and ignored call lights result in falls. Families often tell us about issues they saw on their visits. Call lights glowing for long stretches with no response. Residents sitting in wheelchairs for hours. Staff who look exhausted while moving from one room to the next without time to talk. That exhaustion often results in late charting, missed wellness checks, or medications given late. Those gaps can be the difference between steady recovery and serious setbacks. The Cost of Being Understaffed When Care Comes Up Short
SOLUTION ON PAGE 4
• 4 thick, boneless pork chops • 3 1/2 tsp garlic and herb seasoning, divided • 1 tsp sea salt • 1 tbsp avocado oil • 1/4 cup stone-ground mustard • 1/4 cup fresh honey • Fresh chopped parsley for garnish Inspired by LoveFromTheOven.com Honey Mustard Pork Chops Ingredients
Directions
The cost of this is real harm to patients. Short-staffing is tied to more falls, infections, bed sores, and other complications that keep people in the hospital longer or lead to readmissions after they go home. It’s also connected to higher in-hospital mortality rates. Families face extra hospital stays, extended rehab, and even the loss of loved ones. A busy shift here and there isn’t a sign of malpractice, but chronic short-staffing is different. Facilities in South Carolina are required to have enough trained staff to meet residents’ needs and provide proper supervision. When a company chooses to cut corners with staffing, and people are harmed as a result, that choice may support a negligence claim. If someone you love was badly hurt in a facility that always felt low on help, it’s worth asking hard questions to see if short-staffing was the cause. And you don’t have to sort through it alone. We can review staffing records and medical charts, talk through what really happened, and help you understand your options.
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. Pat pork chops dry before seasoning them with salt and 1 1/2 tsp of garlic and herb seasoning. 3. In a large, oven-safe skillet, heat avocado oil over medium heat. 4. Sear pork chops in hot oil for 1–3 minutes on each side. 5. In a medium mixing bowl, combine mustard, honey, and remaining garlic and herb seasoning while the pork cooks. 6. Remove pork chops from skillet. Add honey mustard mixture to the skillet and mix. 7. Place pork chops back in skillet and cover with sauce. 8. Place pan in oven and bake for 15–20 minutes, until pork reaches 145 F. 9. Set oven to broil for the final minute to allow the tops to caramelize and enjoy!
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GEORGETOWN OFFICE 121 Screven Street Georgetown, SC 29440 (843) 995-5000
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
SOLUTION TO SUDOKU
INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2. 1. Brain Injury Awareness in the Courtroom The Productivity Upgrade You Didn’t Know You Needed
Injury Claims and the Value of Loss
4. 3.
The Hidden Risks of Short-Staffing
Honey Mustard Pork Chops
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