Some believe that brake levers should be loose enough so they do exactly like yours did when crashing or falling over, fold in and let the padded bars take up more of the impact. When this happens you just grab onto the lever base and swing it back out.

Now if you've loosened the hex and re-tightened it too much there won't be enough give to it the next time it falls over. This can result in a damaged brake lever/brifter. So back off!

Edit: Just read post #16 - we agree, best to let them rotate/fold in.