Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

HAPPY ANNIVERSAY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

It's been one year since I launched the Brain Injury News and Information Blog and the response has been incredible.

My goal was to create an information site for the entire brain injury community of individuals suffering from a brain injury, family members and professionals assisting the brain injured population.  I am pleased that I can say from the many positive comments received throughout the year that my goal has been achieved.

In the last year we have received approximately 75,000 visits and I have made over 100 posts.  I have endeavored to report the latest information on medical developments in the field of traumatic brain injury research, rehabilitation and prevention.  We have posted on concussions, coma, epilepsy and seizure disorders, brain trauma litigation, traumatic brain injury educational programs and of course information from the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) and the New York State Brain Injury Association (BIANYS).

In the last several months I have added pod casts to our brain injury blog and hope that I can continue to supply audio feeds from some of the programs that I lecture at. 

Please remember to forward information to me that you would like to see posted on the brain injury blog and tell your friends to come visit us. If you have any comments or suggestions on how to make this blog better in the year 2006, please forward them to me at mvk.brainlaw@verizon.net

I sincerely thank all my old and new friends for your encouragement and support during the past year and look forward to communicating with you during 2006.

Please accept my best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Michael

New York Epilepsy Resources

Trying to catch up at the end of the year,

Following my earlier post on the Pediatric Epilepsy Resource Handbook available through (FACES: Finding a Cure for Epilepsy & Seizures) at the New York University Medical Center Comprehensive Epilepsy Department, and my promise to post local epilepsy resources the following are some New York State and New York City specific epilepsy resources.  You can contact Faces by e mail.

Epilepsy Coalition of New York State: www.epilepsyny.org (518) 434 4360
Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island www.efli.org (516) 739 7733
Epilepsy Foundation of New York City (212) 633 2930
Epilepsy Foundation of Northeastern New York www.wpilepsyfoundation.org/efneny (800) 894 3223
Epilepsy Foundation of Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton www.epilepsy-uny.org
Epilepsy Society of Southern New York www.essny.com (845) 627 0627
The Epilepsy Institute www.epilepsyinstitute.org (212) 677 8550
NYU Finding a Cure for Epilepsy www.nyufaces.org (212) 871 0245
Parents Against Childhood Epilepsy www.paceusa.org (212) 665 PACE
Resources for Children with Special Needs www.resourcesnyc.org (212) 677 4650

My law firm has represented both children and adults whose seizures and epilepsy have been a result of trauma, head and brain injuries.  You can obtain further information about our law firm at www.brainlaw.com

Happy Holidays To ALL

MERRY CHRISTMAS! and HAPPY HANNAKAH!

I wish all my readers a happy holiday season, and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

To track the progress of Santa click the Norad trackng Santa site.

Another Sport's Figure Falls Victim to Effects of Repeat Concussions

Regrettably, another sports figure, New York Jets receiver, Wayne Chrebet has been forced to retire because of the cumulative effects of his concussions. 

After receiving at least eight concussions (how many others went undiagnosed is a good question), Wayne Chrebet has finally decided that maybe it's not a good idea to be playing anymore.  Why the team and its doctors didn't decide this earlier remains a mystery to me. 

The story in today's New York Times graphically describes this "eighth" concussion he received as follows:   "I remember playing, and I remember just seeing a real white light," Chrebet said. "I don't know if the light was in my eyes from the field or just when my head hit the ground. I remember just kind of hearing voices." The story continues, " When the cameras zoomed in on his face, Chrebet's eyes were open, but his vacant stare scared his family, friends and teammates."

Chrebet said "other than experiencing "senior moments", "I'm fine now".

While I really hope he's fine, I suspect that he has many post concussion syndrome problems that will affect him for the rest of his life.  Unfortunately, advocates for persons who have sustained a brain injury have again lost another important spokesperson on the dangers of concussions and their lingering affects.  Until someone is willing to step forward, acknowledge their problems and warn parents, coaches and school personnel of the dangers associated with premature return to play decisions and the life long consequences associated with concussions (even without loss of consciousness) many more kids will be put in danger.  The New York Times story can be read by clicking here.

Any and every concussion is a  BIG deal and must be taken seriously.  More information about concussions can be obtained from the Center for  Disease Control by clicking here .  The University of Pittsburgh has a concussion management team that has developed an excellent program to detect the lingering effects of concussions and make important return to play decisions.  Information on the program called ImPACT, can be accessed by clicking here .

Brain Injured Fighter May Be Allowed To Return to Ring

Incredibly, a Judge in Nevada has lifted the ban imposed by the Nevada Boxing Commission which prevented boxer Joe Mesi from returning to the ring. 

If you recall, Mesi has suffered a series of concussions during the course of his career.  Following the last brain injury sustained in the ring, the Boxing commission refused to grant him a license to fight ,fearing the effect of cumulative brain injuries and the risks to him if he sustained a further brain injury injury.  Mesi challenged the ban and the boxing commission wisely refused to back down.   Click here to read my prior post.

Now, a judge has reversed the boxing commission. Hopefully, NO state will grant this fighter a license.  No money in the world can fix a broken brain.  I would invite Mr. Mesi to come visit and speak with the many individuals that I have met in my career who have suffered life altering brain injuries before he decides to expose himself to further brain damage.  And by the way, who is going to pay the millions of dollars in care that he is going to need if the inevitable further brain damage occurs?  For an excellent commentary, read the column in today's New York Daily News by sports writer, Tim Smith.  Click here to read the story.

For parents interested in the effects of concussions you can obtain a took kit from the Centers for Disease Control which provides some very important information on concussions and sport injuries. The kit contains information on concussion symptoms, return to play decisions, the long term effects of concussions and how a concussion is diagnosed.  Click here to read about the concussion tool kit from CDC.

   

Stem Cells to Treat Pediatric Brain Injuries

A unique clinical trial will gauge the safety and potential of treating children suffering traumatic brain injuries (TBI) with stem cells derived from their own bone marrow starting early next year at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital.

According to the sponsors of the study, this clinical trial is the first to apply stem cells to treat traumatic brain injury.

The trial which has gained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration builds on laboratory and animal research indicating that bone-marrow derived stem cells can migrate to an injured area of the brain, differentiate into new neurons and support cells, and induce brain repair.

"This would be an absolutely novel treatment, the first ever with potential to repair a traumatically damaged brain," said James Baumgartner, M.D., associate professor of pediatric neurosurgery and co-principal investigator on the project.

You can read the full news story by clicking here .

New Study To Look At Effects Of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Traumatic Brain Injuries

Can hyperbaric oxygen benefit people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) ? Utah scientists are about to find out in the first scientific study to measure actual improvements, if they're really occurring.

High concentration oxygen therapy has long been used to improve outcomes in other brain injuries such as carbon monoxide poisoning.  It is frequently used in diver's suffering from bends or in the treatment of wounds that are not healing.  The thought is that this same high concentration of oxygen to the damaged brain can cause brain cells to regenerate or prevent them from dying. It may help in drowning victims or others who have suffered an anoxic brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain.

More information on hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be found at the e medicine site by clicking here.

In the past several family members of client's with severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have inquired about the efficacy of hyperbaric chamber therapy to improve outcome, when I looked into it and discussed the literature with medical experts, I found that their really was no scientific basis for the claims of improvement.  Hopefully this new study will provide some real answers.    Information on the study which is to be conducted at the LDS Hospital in Utah can be found by clicking here or by telephoning them at  801 408 3623

High Incidence of Psychiatric Complications Following Head Injury

This week's  British Medical Journal contains a very important editorial on the Long Term Outcome After Traumatic Brain Injury.

Acknowledging what we all know, that the long term consequences following mild, moderate and severe brain injuries are more than just the physical and cognitive problems faced by our clients and friends.  There is also a very high incidence of long term psychiatric disorders following a traumatic head injury or a traumatic brain injury which needs to be both acknowledged and addressed by the brain trauma rehabilitation team. 

Here is an abbreviated quote from the editorial:

"There is a growing awareness of the high incidence of long term psychiatric disorders after traumatic brain injury.  Depression, anxiety and substance abuse are common. ...psychiatric disorders persist at 30 year follow up, with patients particularly susceptible to depressive episodes, delusional disorder and persistent changes in personality. Who develops psychiatric problems and why are poorly understood; associations with injury severity are weak...."

You can read the full editorial on the life long journey following a traumatic brain injury by clicking here .

Federal Traumatic Brain Injury Conference

The program for the 2nd Federal Interagency Conference on Traumatic Brain Injury: Integrating Models of Research and Service Delivery has been released.

The stated purpose of the conference is to provide a forum for the major federal and state grantees conducting research on traumatic brain injury to present their findings to a diverse audience of professionals and caregivers involved in the field of head trauma including: physicians, neuropsychologists, brain trauma rehabilitation therapists, brain injury program administrators as well as persons with a brain injury and their family members.

The conference scheduled for March 9-11, 2006 in Bethesda, Maryland is set to explore important topics such as updating research on traumatic brain injury since the NIH consensus conference. the epidemiology of TBI; the military experience with traumatic brain damage; an update on Biotechnology for TBI rehabilitation; new brain neuroimaging techniques. 

The speakers and the topics look excellent.  The full program and registration information can be accessed at http://www.feedrollpro.com/index.php .

New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Council Meeting

The New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Council was formed by an act of the New York State legislature to advise the Department of Health regarding service needs of persons who have sustained a traumatic brain or traumatic head injury.

I am pleased that I am a member of this council having been appointed by the New York State Assembly as their representative, and as always, urge you to send me information that you would like me to bring to the council's attention regarding gaps in services for persons with a traumatic brain or head injury.

The next meeting of the council is scheduled for Tuesday, December 13, 2005 beginning at 10:00 am at the New York State Health Department offices located at 161 Delaware Avenue, Delmar, NY.  The health department coordinator for the council is Dawn Crary who can be reached at DMC14@health.state.ny.us

The meetings of the council are open to the public.  The office of Medicaid Management is scheduled to provide an update on the TBI Waiver Program.  The council will also discuss long term planning for the future direction of this advisory board.