Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

New York Brain Injury Legal Conference

On October 28, 2005, the Brain Injury Association of New York State is hosting a full day seminars for the legal profession and others interested on how lawyers assist persons with a traumatic brain injury. The conference is entitled "Understanding The Medical and Legal Aspects of Brain Injury Litigation"   I am again pleased to be the chair person of this important legal conference to be held at The Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York University Medical Center.  This is the sixth year that the Brain Injury Association is sponsoring this conference which in the past has been attended by Judges, Lawyers, Insurance Claims examiners and brain injury rehabilitation professionals.  The topics scheduled to be covered during this all day conference are:

• Neuropsychological Testing: What It Is: How It Works: What It Means
• Neuropathology of Brain Injury
• Life Care Planning For Persons With Brain Injury
• Financial Considerations for Attorneys Handling Brain Injury Litigation
• Neurobehavioral Changes Following TBI
• Use of Medical Literature in Brain Injury Litigation
• Innovative Techniques Using Demonstrative Evidence in Brain Injury Trials
• Medicare and Medicaid Issues in Brain Injury Settlements
• Ethical Issues In Representing A Client With A Brain Injury

The full program, faculty and registration information can be obtained by clicking here .

Ethical Conisiderations In The Legal Representation of Brain Injury Clients

Last week, I was privileged to address the North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS) annual meeting for brain injury lawyers and health care professionals on the important subject of "Ethical Considerations in Representing Clients in Brain Injury Cases"

I urge any lawyer contemplating representing an individual who has sustained any type of brain injury:  mild brain injury, moderate brain injury or severe brain injury to listen to this talk, which can be accessed below.  I am sure that my advice will be beneficial to both you and your clients.  If you are a professional involved in brain injury rehabilitation an individual seeking legal assistance for a brain injury case or a family member concerned about the way your loved one is being represented, please forward this lecture on to the lawyer handling the case.

My address to this gathering of over 200 brain injury lawyers and brain injury rehabilitation professionals covered the following topics:

• Appreciating and Overcoming the Difficulties Encountered by Lawyers In Representing Persons with a Brain Injury [many practical suggestions in how to have a better relationship with your client and tips for better communication with your client]
• Guardianship Issues in Brain Injury Litigation
• Liens --What you Must Be Aware Of In Traumatic Brain Injury Cases
• Proper Use of the Supplemental Needs - Special Needs Trust in Brain Injury Case Settlements
• Understanding and Using Structured Settlements in Brain Injury Case Settlements

The content of this lecture can be heard by clicking Download michael_kaplen_esq. Ethics Lecture.WMA  .

Hurricane Disability Asssistance

A new web site has been created to assist persons with a brain injury as well as other disabilities to obtain information and support following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.  The goal of the site is to provide a central place for people with disabilities to obtain resources they need in order to overcome the unique challenges they face in the wake of these disasters.  The site can be accessed at http://www.katrinadisability.info  The site contains a great deal of information and links of interest to the disability community.  Both state and federal disability information is available. 

Concussions

Concussion Tool Kit for High School Coaches

CDC has introduced a multimedia tool kit, Heads Up: Concussion in High School Sports, to help coaches of high school teams protect their athletes from concussion. Concussions are a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a blow or jolt to the head that can range from mild to severe and can disrupt the manner in which the brain normally functions. Approximately 300,000 sports and recreation-related TBIs occur in the United States each year .

The tool kit contains a Guide for Coaches on how to prevent concussions, identify symptoms, and take immediate action when an athlete has signs of a concussion. Contents also include 1) a video and DVD featuring a high school football player who was permanently disabled after sustaining a second, potentially preventable concussion during a game, 2) a wallet card and clipboard sticker for coaches that includes signs and symptoms of concussion and a place to record emergency contacts, 3) posters describing concussion symptoms that can be placed in locker rooms or heavily trafficked areas, 4) concussion fact sheets in English and Spanish for parents and athletes, and 5) a CD-ROM with downloadable kit materials and other concussion-related resources.

The Heads Up: Concussion in High School Sports tool kits will be distributed by CDC to coaches, principals, and athletic directors at high schools throughout the United States. The tool kits can be ordered or downloaded FREE of charge at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/coaches_tool_kit.htm. Additional information is available by contacting CDC Injury Center Media Relations, telephone 770-488-4902.

New Guidelines to Prevent Visually Provoked Seizures

Trauma is one of the leading causes of epilepsy and visually provoked seizures caused by bright lights, flashing images and certain patterns on television, video games and computers are a frequent cause of repeat seizure activity.

The Epilepsy Foundation today issued new recommendations for families on how to limit the risk of seizures triggered by visual stimulation.  The recommendations based upon guidelines in the United Kingdom and in Japan are the first U.S. published standards to limit the effects of photo sensitivity and epilepsy or seizure disorder.

The consensus recommendations, which are published in full on the Epilepsy Foundation website, cover factors such as light intensity, flicker, contrast, duration and patters as well as technical parameters. 

Doctors who treat persons with epilepsy and seizure disorder have noticed an increase in the number of young persons who seek assistance  and report seizures occurring after video stimulation.  The Epilepsy Foundation has been monitoring this trend and believes that visual stimulation is a national health problem.

The Epilepsy Task Force on Photo sensitivity reports that children and young adults 7 to 19 years of age are the most susceptible to visually induced seizures. 

More information is available on the Epilepsy Foundation website .

New Boxing Regulations Needed

Following the fourth boxer who has sustained brain hemmorage with tragic results in the last four months, a recommendation has been made that all boxers need to have brain scans performed before being issued a license to box.  Read the full story by clicking here.

I believe that the New York State Athletic Commission now requires all boxers to have PET scans and other brain scans performed prior to issuing a boxing license. That's why there are so few professional fights in New York.  Boxers simply do not want to take the chance of being denied a license for medical reasons.  If New York issues a denial, then all states must honor it under Federal Law.  It's time that all state's follow New York's lead and take the same precautions as New York before issuing a license.

Write you state elected official and make this sensible suggestion to them.  Remember, the best cure for brain injury is prevention.

Another Boxer In Coma Following Repeated Blows to the Head

Sad but true, another boxer, Leavander Johnson is reported to be in a drug induced coma following a lightweight title fight in Las Vegas, last night.

After suffering repeated blows to the head the referee stopped the fight in the 11th round.  Although Johnson was never knocked to the ground and never lost consciousness, he was having troubles walking back to his dressing room.  Luckily his alert trainers rushed him to the hospital where an immediate CT scan showed massive brain bleeding (brain hemorrhage) and the formation of a large blood clot which was causing a great deal of pressure within the skull.  He was immediately taken to the operating room for neurosurgery to remove the blood clot and lessen the pressure on the brain. 

Readers to this brain injury blog should take particular note that Johnson was examined in the 10th round by a ring side physician who found him fit to continue the boxing match!  Having said that, this is further evidence of the fact that brain injury is deceiving and that you cannot determine merely from a gross neurological examination or by mere observation whether a brain injury took place.  Also, any body in this day and age who continues to say that you need to have been knocked out or rendered unconscious before they are able to say that a brain injury took place needs to have their medical credentials carefully examined (and probable revoked on the grounds of gross incompetence in court I would say that kind of testimony is perjury!)

Let's pray for a good outcome for Leavander Johnson.  You can read the full story by clicking here .

New York State Health Department: Traumatic Brain Injury Conference

Each year, a traumatic brain injury symposium is sponsored by the New York State Department of Health to enhance knowledge and to provide training, networking and sharing of information among providers of brain injury services, persons with brain injury and family members.

The agenda for this year's conference and registration information has just been published.  The conference is scheduled for October 18, 2005 in Albany, New York. 
Among the highlights of this year's program is a keynote address by Dr. Fred Epstein, the world famous pediatric neurosurgeon who himself sustained a traumatic brain injury. Following his injury, Dr. Epstein authored a book, If I Get To Five concerning his experiences with children who have underwent neurosurgery and the inspiration that they have provided to him during his own brain damage rehabilitation. A 20/20 segment concerning Dr. Epstein and his patients will also be shown.

In recognition of October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Conference in participation with the Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals With Disabilities (VESID) will feature an entire track on vocational rehabilitation. 

Other workshops scheduled during the conference include:

• Building Partnerships Across the Continuum of Care to Maximize Outcome in Brain Injury Rehabilitation
• A Cognitive Behavioral Model for Group Counseling
• A round table discussion on Project LEARN, a Joint Project of the Brain Injury Association of New York State and the New York Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC) on educational resources to support students who have sustained a brain injury
• Community Support Programs Under the Department of Health TBI Waiver Program
• Sexuality Issues after Traumatic Brain Injury
• Domestic Violence and Traumatic Brain Injury
• Substance Abuse and Traumatic Brain Injury
• Behavior Management after Traumatic Brain Injury

You may obtain registration and other information about the conference by e mailing the conference coordinators Laura Roe or Pat Gumson .

New Report Supports Use of Cognitive Rehabilitation in Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury

There is nothing more frustrating to neuropsychologists, personal injury lawyers who represent victims of brain injury, family members of those suffering from cognitive deficits and of course, the person who has sustained a traumatic brain injury when authorization for necessary cognitive rehabilitation is refused by a health insurance company or by an HMO.

Now, a new review article commissioned by the Brain Injury interdisciplinary Special Interest Group of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine which reviewed the medical literature, concludes that there is substantial evidence to support cognitive rehabilitation for persons with a brain injury including cognitive-linguistic therapy following stroke, visiospatial rehabilitation following stroke and "cognitive rehabilitation for for people with TBI, including strategy training for mild memory impairment, strategy training for postacute attention deficits and interventions for functional communication deficits." 

When the insurance company says no to cognitive rehabilitation make sure that you bring this article to both the attention of your neuropsychologist or other cognitive rehabilitation professional, the attention of your brain injury lawyer and to the attention of the claims examiner who does not understand brain injury and it's treatment.

The full title of this important article is "Evidence-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation: Updated Review of Literature From 1998 Through 2002" published in the Archieves of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol 86, August 2005 pages 1681-1691,  An abstract can be viewed by clicking here.

I again urge all those in New York State  who are having difficulties with third party provider issues for traumatic brain injury services to contact me at mvk.brainlaw@verizon.net so I can add you experiences to information that I am compiling for the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council.  See my earlier post on this new committee to examine third party payor issues: http://braininjury.blogs.com/braininjury/2005/09/
chairperson_com.html

Repeated Concussions Lead to Death of Steeler Football Player Terry Long

Repeated concussions to the brain led to the death of former Steeler Terry Long, according to the Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, PA) Coroner, Dr. Cyril Wecht.

Dr. Wecht said that Terry Long's death was caused by acute cerebral meningitis, an inflammation of the covering of the brain which took place as a result of brain trauma that he sustained.  The repeated head injury suffered by this football player and his resultant concussions were the precipitating causes  of this condition.

Dr. Wecht compared the repeated head injury to that seen in boxers, a condition known as "dementia pugilistica" where fighters develop chronic brain damage as a result of repeated blows to the head.  Fighters often describe it as being "punch drunk"

This tragic death should again alert parents, coaches, athletic trainers and others involved in intercollegiate sports as well as professional sports of the dangers of repeat concussions and the extra vigilance that needs to take place before making important return to play decisions.
You can read the full story by clicking here

For the American Academy of Neurology Guide to Return to Play in sports click here .

For the signs and symptoms of a concussion click here .

Read other information on Sports and Concussion injury by clicking the side box under "Topics" which has other news items and important link information and recognizing concussion injury and the tragic consequences or by going to:http://braininjury.blogs.com/braininjury/
brain_injury_and_sports/index.html