Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

College Football Has To Be Nuts In The Way They Handle Concussions

Last Saturday,  I was watching the Stanford Notre Dame game on television and viewed the play where Stanford's quarterback Tavita Pritchard was struck so hard that it looked like his head was knocked off!  He clearly fell to the ground, struck his head hard and was unconscious of a period of time.  When he finally left the field with considerable assistance he was definitely woozy.

To my shock, later in the SAME game, the geniuses at Stamford allowed this kid to return to play. How in the world they can do this with all the mounting medical evidence of the dangers of concussions, the dangers if a player recovering from one concussion sustains a second concussion, the fact that it is impossible to determine the full effects of a concussion in the minutes and hours following the event is beyond comprehension.

I have said before that firm policies must be instituted to prevent players who have sustained a concussion or a suspected concussion from returning to play in the same game and that they should be required to undergo comprehensive physical as well as neuropsychological evaluations before being cleared.

Today's New York Times has an interesting story, Concussions Put College Players in Murky World which discusses this incident and other similar incidents where players where inappropriately allowed to return to play. The story also discusses the reaction of Pritchard's mother who is putting her faith in the decisions of the team.  BIG MISTAKE, if I can be so bold to say, you better take matters in your own hands and get some second opinions and get them fast.  Don't sacrifice your son's life for a shot at major league football.  It's simply not worth the risk.  The affects and the damages from a concussion can last a life time.  It can affect every aspect of your son's life.  It can change his personality, affect his behavior, cause insurmountable memory difficulties. I can go on and on.  Please get some good advice NOW!

Free Online Test to Help Assess Vision Loss After Stroke or Traumatic Brain Injury

NovaVision, Inc. today launched a free online vision test for stroke and brain injury survivors who wish to learn if a vision deficit exists as a result of their injuries. The interactive test, is available  by clicking here and according to the company,  provides immediate results to people who want to learn more about their visual acuity.

Impaired vision often occurs as a result of brain damage.  This impaired vision can affect not only sight but balance as well.  It greatly impacts every aspect of a person's life from reading to driving and in performing routine tasks such as walking.

There are specialized programs throughout the country that provide visual rehabilitation following a traumatic brain injury.   In New York, one of the leading programs is at the SUNY College of Optometry which has a specialized brain injury visual rehabilitation program.

Pope Benedict XVI to visit hospital for brain injury patients

Here is an interesting news release from the Catholic News Agency.  I am hopeful that the Pope's visit will attract world wide attention to the rehabilitation of those in a coma as well as those suffering from other types of brain injury.

This coming Sunday, December 2, Pope Benedict will visit the Roman hospital of St. John the Baptist, which is run by the Knights of Malta and specializes in the treatment and rehabilitation of people suffering from neurological disorders.

The Pope will celebrate Mass for the patients and their families before going on to visit the reanimation unit, one of the few Italian health care structures specifically dedicated to providing specialized therapy for patients recovering from comas.

The communications office of the Order of Malta relates that this event has a twofold historical significance: firstly that it is "the first visit by a Pope to this hospital," and secondly because the hospital itself has a long-standing link to the Holy Father, "being built on the site of the ancient 'Castello della Magliana,' used by Pontiffs for centuries as their summer residence."

Rhode Island Hospital Operates on Wrong Side of Brain Again!

Unbelievable, but for the fourth time neurosurgeons at a hospital in Providence Rhode Island operated on the wrong side of a patient's brain.  It was the third wrong site operation this year! The Rhode Island Department of Health reprimanded the Hospital yesterday, and fined it $50,000.  Hardly sufficient in my opinion for such inexcusable conduct.

The incident at the Providence hospital occurred Friday, when a resident, a doctor in training, began drilling into the right side of the patient's head during a bedside procedure. A CT scan had shown bleeding on the left side of the patient's brain. The resident realized the mistake, closed the initial incision, and performed the procedure on the left side.

State health officials had ordered the hospital on Aug. 2, 2007, to improve its procedures, because of a pattern of wrong-site surgery dating back to 2001. This latest incident is the hospital's fourth wrong-site surgery in six years, all involving brain operations.

While it may be difficult to believe, surgery at the wrong site for unnecessary surgery because of the reading of the wrong slides or wrong x rays is a frequent cause of medical malpractice litigation.

You can read the full story by clicking here.

ATV'S Unsafe For Children

Kids who ride ATVs have an alarming number of potentially disabling injuries, according to a study reported in USA Today.

The study reported at the annual meeting in Chicago of the Radiological Society of North America studied 500 children and teens injured in ATV accidents and brought to the emergency room at Children's Hospital over eight years. They found that the number of ATV injuries more than doubled from 1998 to 2006. The study adds to other evidence suggesting dangers faced by children who ride ATVs: The Consumer Product Safety Commission says 40,400 children were treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2005 after ATV accidents.

Bone fractures were the most common problem during that time frame: 208 children received such an injury.  Head injuries also were common. The team counted 85 skull fractures, 66 cases of bleeding in the brain and 59 children who had damage to the brain tissue. In 12 cases, children were injured so severely in an ATV crash that doctors at the Arkansas hospital had to amputate an arm or a leg.  The study said six children died after ATV accidents.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 16 be barred from ATV use. At the very least, if you know someone is is operating an ATV, make sure they are wearing a helmet!

You can read the full story in USA Today by clicking here.

Top ten emerging areas of neuroscience research

The Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO) has announced the top ten emerging areas of neuroscience that will impact the future of treatments for brain and nervous system.

According to NIO, the trade association that represents the 500 companies worldwide developing treatments for the brain and nervous system, the US economic burden of brain-related disorders has reached more than $1 trillion, highlighting the acute need for continued neuroscience research and therapeutic development.

Top 10 trends of 2007:

• Advancing discovery tools underpin innovation: beyond biochips and brain imaging, recent advances in neuroinformatics, image-based neural circuit analysis, and neural computation are accelerating the pace of neuroscientific discovery beyond what was imagined a decade ago.
• Neuroimmunology leading to new treatment targets: the discovery that immune molecules play a crucial role in shaping neuronal connections opens up new treatment targets for Alzheimer's, autism, ALS, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, and nerve injury.
• National Neurotechnology Initiative: momentum for the new $200M/year federal R&D initiative aimed at accelerating translational neurotech innovation and improving the effectiveness of FDA review process for neuroscience drugs, devices and diagnostics grows.
• Neurodevice interfaces improve prosthetics and treatments: advanced brain-machine interfaces (BMI) enable the severely handicapped to independently compose e-mails and operate a TV in their homes. Other neurodevices provide functional stimulation for the treatment of pain, Parkinson's, obesity, and psychiatric disorders.
• Addiction advances: new research clarifies the role of drugs on sleep, cocaine's potency, and the brain changes that occur due to abuse leading to new treatment strategies for this epidemic impacting over 1.1 billion worldwide.
• Normal aging brain gets more attention: more research and development is being focused on thinking impairments that only partially limit independence and quality of life for senior citizens, adults and school aged children.
• Neurosoftware will penetrate nursing homes and schools, as brain fitness software becomes new first-line treatment strategy.
• Regenerating the spinal cord: new experimental therapies in development could open the doors for research to improve treatments for people with spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, stroke, and other severe movement disorders
• Prevention evidence grows: you are what you eat; smoking is as bad as we thought; and new studies reveal the effects of environmental substances on Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and others.
• Emotional disorders research advances: new research continues to link neurogenesis to treatment of depression. A better understanding of PTSD should lead to new treatment regimes.
• Neuroscience infiltrates society: from neuroeconomics to neuroesthetics to neuroethics and neurolaw, the influence of neuroscience on society continues to grow.

Brain Surgery on the Radio

Brain surgery on radio is a broadcast that you can download from  All in the Mind, ABC National radio in Australia. 

The broadcast takes you into the operating theater of leading neurosurgeon Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld at the Alfred Hospital, and inside the head of Kia, his patient, as she has an arteriovenous malformation extracted from her frontal lobes.

Click here to down load the broadcast.  Thanks to the All in the Mind Blog for this tip.

The High Costs of Health Care

Any one concerned about the rising costs of health care should read the editorial in today's New York Times, entitled, The High Cost of Health Care.

As the Times points out, the solutions are not easy but these costs are destroying families and placing unacceptable burdens upon society.  As a nation we must confront these issues and work toward a reasonable solution.  We cannot let big business or insurance companies control this debate.  We must make sure that quality care is delivered to all at reasonable prices.  A health care system that only works for the rich and for big business and insurance companies must be changed and changed now!

The implications of these high costs are most acute for those with a family member suffering with brain damage.  It is important that we join this debate and make our opinions heard.

Here is a sampling of the New York Times editorial:

"The relentless, decades-long rise in the cost of health care has left many Americans struggling to pay their medical bills. Workers complain that they cannot afford high premiums for health insurance. Patients forgo recommended care rather than pay the out-of-pocket costs. Employers are cutting back or eliminating health benefits, forcing millions more people into the ranks of the uninsured. And state and federal governments strain to meet the expanding costs of public programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

Health care costs are far higher in the United States than in any other advanced nation, whether measured in total dollars spent, as a percentage of the economy, or on a per capita basis. And health costs here have been rising significantly faster than the overall economy or personal incomes for more than 40 years, a trend that cannot continue forever.

It is the worst long-term fiscal crisis facing the nation, and it demands a solution, but finding one will not be easy or palatable.

Contrary to popular beliefs, this is not a problem driven mainly by the aging of the baby boom generation, or the high cost of prescription drugs, or medical malpractice litigation that spawns defensive medicine. Those issues often dominate political discourse, but they have played relatively minor roles in driving up medical spending in this country and abroad. The major causes are much more deep-seated and far harder to root out."

To read the full editorial and the solutions proposed by the Times, click here.

New International Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Symposium Announced

Following the International Neuropsychological Society Mid Year Meeting to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. a Symposium of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation will be held on July 7 and July 8, 2008.

Abstracts can be submitted to Prof Robyn Tate (Program Chair) via email:  Deadline for submission of abstracts is January 31, 2008. See call for abstracts

More information can be obtained by clicking here.

British Medical Journal Reports Neuropsychological Testing Not Enough For Return To Play Decisions Following a Concussion

A article appearing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Recovery of cognitive and dynamic motor function following concussion, concludes that neuropsychological testing by itself is not a sufficient indicator of when a player should be allowed to return to play following a concussion.

The authors report that motor skill testing should be utilized in addition to neuropsychological testing in making important return to play decisions.

Here is the abstract of their results:

Dynamic motor tasks, such as walking under varying conditions of attention, are complex and demanding undertakings, which require a longer recovery time following a concussion than cognitive measures. Little statistical relationship was found between the neuropsychological and gait variables, and the recovery curves of neuropsychological and gait domains were observed to be independent.

You can access the full report by clicking here.

Military Still Lacks Understanding of Traumatic Brain Injury

An article in today's USA Today reports a survey  which they conducted of four military installations and the Department of Veterans Affairs, where combat veterans are routinely screened for brain injury.  What they found was about 20,000 people show signs of damage. However, these individuals  are not counted in the Pentagon's official tally of 30,000 war wounded.

The military lacks "a standardized definition of traumatic injury or a uniform process to report all TBI (traumatic brain injury) cases," Assistant Secretary of Defense Ellen Embrey wrote in a memo last month. As a result, it is hard to determine the scope of the problem, she wrote

What follows are portions of the story concerning one individual whose brain damage went undetected:

Marine Lance Cpl. Gene Landrus was hurt in a roadside bomb attack outside Abu Ghraib, Iraq, on May 15, 2006, and faces medical separation from the Corps. He's also up for a Purple Heart.
Along with 20,000 other veterans, he's not included in the Pentagon's official count of U.S. troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That's because Landrus' wound was to his brain and hidden from view. Landrus, 24, of Clarkston, Wash., says he did not realize the nausea, dizziness, memory loss and headaches he suffered after the blast were signs of a lasting brain injury.

Army medics who examined him in the field didn't find the wound either. "They wanted to know if we had any holes in us, or if we were bleeding. We were in and out of there (the aid station) in 10 to 15 minutes," Landrus remembers.

For the balance of his combat tour, he tried to shake off the blast's effects and keep going. Now, "my goal is to get back to a normal life," he says.

Landrus was riding in an open-backed, armored Humvee when the roadside bomb detonated. It was his second exposure to a blast. An explosion a month before had "rung our bells a little bit, but no one was knocked unconscious."

In the attack May 15, 2006, Landrus and three other Marines blacked out for several seconds. After Landrus regained consciousness, "everything looked like it was going in slow motion," he recalls.

The battalion came home in August 2006 to Camp Pendleton, Calif., one of a few military installations that screens for brain injuries among returning troops. Landrus was referred to Navy doctors who diagnosed brain injury. With medication and rehabilitation training at nearby Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, Landrus has improved.

"I still can't remember what I did the day before or stuff that I did earlier in the day," he says. He carries a Palm Pilot or a pad of paper to write down orders, numbers or dates, so he can remember them later. The headaches have never gone away.

Landrus will never fully recover, says Jessica Martinez, his lead therapist at Scripps.

"This is basically like an invisible injury," she says. "He looks like a normal guy. … But if you spend any amount of time with him … you would be able to notice that something's really happened."

New Lead Poisoning Recommendations Released by CDC

The Center for Disease Control's Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention has issued new recommendations in a report issued last week.

Lead contamination and exposure to lead is associated with significant cognitive impairments, motor impairments and behavioral difficulties in children.  In 1991 the CDC defined  the blood lead level (BLL) that should prompt public health action as 10 units.  Since that time, strong evidence has been discovered to show that lead levels below 10 units should be of concern to public health officials as well as parents and medical personnel. 

The full CDC Lead report  can be found on line at the CDC web site. The report is dated November 2, 2007 and is number 56(RR08); 1-14; 16

Interesting Brain Web Sites

Thanks to the Dana Foundation Press for pointing out the following interesting web sites devoted to the brain:

The Law and Neuroscience Project is  a collaborative project of more than two dozen universities that has received funding to help address concerning the brain including addiction, the violent brain and the persistent vegetative state.  Check out the resources tab at the Law and Neuroscience Project web site.

The Dana Foundation has launched a neuroethics page complete with news articles, podcasts and videos along with recommended reading. Check it out by clicking here.

There has been a lot of recent attention devoted to delirium and cognitive impairment sustained by patients in Intensive Care Units of hospitals.  Vanderbilt University has a study group devoted to this issue and has resources posted at its ICU Delirium study group web site including suggestive cognitive assessments for those who may be suffering from impairment as well as instructional videos.  The site can be found by clicking here.

Children with Brain Injuries Can Benefit From New York State Brain Injury Association Web-Based Information and Resource Program

The Brain Injury Association of New York State BIANYS has launched LEARNet, a Web-based information and resource program, funded by the state Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.

Each year, more than 30,000 children become permanently disabled following a brain injury. Many more, often unaccounted for, appear to have recovered from their injuries only to have problems resurface later as they encounter increased social, academic and developmental challenges.

Problems can include behavior outbursts, cognitive changes and depression resulting in academic problems and alienation from peer groups.

LEARNet offers, along with resource information, a comprehensive problem-solving tool designed to help teachers and families find solutions to these often challenging and frustrating problems.

In addition to LEARNet, the association's Family Advocacy, Counseling and Training Services Program provides links for individuals injured before age 22 and their families with community-based services and supports.

FACTS coordinators throughout the state are on hand to educate the public about brain injury, available services and prevention.

For more information about LEARNet, the FACTS Program or any of the association's other programs, you can visit the association web site: Brain Injury Association of New York State , by phone at (800) 228-8201, by e-mail.

Veteran's Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Panel To Be Established

The Department of Defense gave notice this week in the Federal Register that that it intends to establish the Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Panel, as a subcommittee of the Defense Health Board. [72 FR 64198]

According to the notice, "this non-discretionary advisory committee, which will operate as a subcommittee of the Defense Health Board, shall provide the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs independent advice and recommendations on the development of training curricula to be used by family members of members and former members of the Armed Forces on techniques, strategies, and skills for care and assistance for such members and former members with traumatic brain injury."

Pursuant to section 744(a)(2) of Public Law 109-364, the Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Panel shall consist of 15 members appointed by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The Secretary of Defense in appointing members for the Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Panel shall consider members from among the following:

(a) Physicians, nurses, rehabilitation therapists, and other individuals with traumatic brain injury, including persons who specialize in caring for and assisting individuals with traumatic brain injury incurred in combat;

(b) Representatives of family caregivers or family caregiver associations;

(c) Health and medical personnel of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs with expertise in traumatic brain injury and personnel and readiness representatives of the Department of Defense with expertise in traumatic brain injury;

(d) Psychologists or other individuals with expertise in the mental health treatment and care of individuals with traumatic brain injury;

(e) Experts in the development of training curricula;

(f) Family members of members of the Armed Forces with traumatic brain injury; and

(g) Such other individuals the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate.

Appointments to ths committee are made by the Secretary of Defense.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Freeman, DoD Committee Management Office, 703-601-2554, extension 128.

Online Veterans Mental Illness Resource Site

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has established an online Veterans Resource Center  to help support active duty military personnel, veterans and their families facing serious mental illnesses such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia.

Thanks to Anxiety Insights for providing this information.

Brain Injury Association of America--Legislative Update

The following legislative update was received from the Brain Injury Association of America.

Dear Advocates,

This is a Policy Corner E-Newsletter Special Edition, bringing you the latest information on congressional appropriations activity impacting federal TBI programs.

Earlier this evening, Monday, November 5, 2007, House leaders filed a conference report that includes the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor-HHS-Education (H.R. 3043) and the Military Construction-VA (H.R. 2642) appropriations bills.  Both bills in this spending package fund TBI services and programs.  The Labor-HHS-Education spending bill funds key federal TBI programs including TBI Act programs, and the TBI Model Systems of Care, and the Military Construction-VA spending bill adds $2.6 billion over the president’s budget request for VA hospitals and clinics, and research into conditions such as TBI and PTSD.

This spending package is scheduled for consideration by the House of Representatives tomorrow, to be followed by Senate consideration later this week. 

However, the funding package is expected to face challenges on a number of levels, as Republicans in both the House and Senate – along with the Administration – object to packaging the bills together, and also to the amount of spending in the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations measure.

The Policy Corner is made possible by the Adam Williams Initiative, Centre for Neuro Skills, and Lakeview Healthcare Systems, Inc. The Brain Injury Association of America gratefully acknowledges their support for legislative action.

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Congress Combines Labor-HHS-Education and Military Construction-VA Spending Measures

Earlier tonight, House leaders filed a conference report that includes the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor-HHS-Education (H.R. 3043) and the Military Construction-VA (H.R. 2642) appropriations bills.

Combining both of these bills into one spending measure appears to be an effort by Democratic leadership to force the president to sign the Labor-HHS-Education bill, which he has previously threatened to veto, by pairing it with the popular veterans’ funding bill.

President Bush has vowed to veto the Labor-HHS-Education bill because it would provide $9.8 billion more than he requested in his budget earlier this year. At the same time, he has indicated he would sign the Military Construction-VA bill even though it provides $4 billion more than his request, as long as equivalent cuts are made elsewhere in the Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations process.

The Senate is expected to vote on the conference report later in the week, though it could face a major challenge from Republicans in that chamber.  Senate Republicans could utilize a Senate rule change made earlier this year, which would allow them to force a vote on removing the Military Construction-VA section from the bill because it was not technically part of the Labor-HHS-Education measure passed by either chamber.

If the conference report passes and is sent on to the president, where it will almost certainly face a veto, it will represent the first appropriations bill passed by Congress this year.  The government is currently being funded by a continuing resolution through November 16. 

The House and Senate are expected to pass yet another continuing resolution the week of November 12.   A major appropriations showdown between the White House and Congress is expected to carry over into December.

Details on the specific allocations for TBI programs in the Labor-HHS-Education spending portion of the conference report are not yet available, but will be publicly available shortly. 

In addition, please visit BIAA’s Legislative Action Center and take action right now by contacting your Member of Congress and urging them to vote for the conference report, which contains important TBI funding. Click to visit the Legislative Action Center.

The above news was distributed by Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA Public Affairs Manager, on behalf of the Brain Injury Association of America.

New Epilepsy Emergency Room Guideline

A new guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology recommends immediate brain CT scans to screen certain emergency room patients with seizures. Evidence shows such scans can help doctors select the right treatment option. The guideline is published in the October 30, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The guideline suggests physicians consider an emergency CT scan in adults and children with a first seizure because evidence shows the results will change how these people are treated in up to 17 percent of adult cases and up to eight percent of cases involving children.

Abnormalities found on CT scans that would lead to a change in treatment include: tumors, traumatic brain injury with skull fracture, and stroke including bleeding in the brain.

You can read more by clicking here.

Vermont Set To Consider Brain Injury Trust Fund

Vermont lawmakers are considering a proposal to add a $1 fee on motor vehicle registrations to raise money for people who suffer traumatic brain injuries.

The Brain Injury Association of Vermont estimates the fee could raise up to $600,000 a year.

A legislative study committee is expected to recommend it next month.

State Sen. Edward Flanagan, who chairs the Traumatic Brain Injury Study Committee, suffered a head injury in a 2005 car accident and needed almost a year to recover.

"The details are still being worked on, but what we are considering is providing targeted case management for Vermonters with traumatic brain injuries who wouldn't otherwise have assistance," said Flanagan, D-Chittenden. "The fee would create a special trust fund to help people out if they have run through all their services through their health insurance provider or may not have insurance at all."

If Vermont establishes this trust fund, they will be joining a growing number of states that have established brain injury trust funds to provide services that are not covered by traditional insurance plans.

You can read the full story by clicking here.

News From The Brain Injury Associaton of New York State

The Brain Injury Association of New York State is a great organizatoin whose mission is to improve the lives of persons with brain injury, their family and friends and to prevent future brain injuries from occurring. 

Here are some events that will take place November sponsored by the association.

Fundraising Event:  Meet the Sopranos

An exciting and elegant fund raiser for the Association is being planned by Joanne Miller and Ann Marie DiSalvo, the owners of DiSalvo Interiors, an upscale interior design company in Garden City, NY. The event will take place in the company’s luxurious 20,000 square-foot showroom, and is scheduled for Thursday, November 15, from 6 to 10:00 pm.

When Joanne’s son sustained a brain injury several months ago, she and her family spent many hours with him at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Manhattan. Coincidentally, two nationally-renowned celebrities, Lorraine Bracco and Penny Marshall, were also holding vigil for a close friend of theirs with a brain injury. They got to know each other well, and when Joanne began planning an event to raise funds and awareness about brain injury, Ms. Bracco and Ms. Marshall agreed to be honorary co-chairs.

The fund raiser will include hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, and a silent auction featuring many items donated and autographed by celebrities Ms. Bracco and Ms. Marshall have contacted about the event. All proceeds will benefit the Brain Injury Association of NYS. Tickets are $125.

For more information, contact Joanne Miller or Ann Marie DiSalvo at 516-873-6011. Click here for an invitation.

Long Island Chapter Membership Meeting:

The Long Island Chapter of the Brain Injury Association of NYS will hold a membership meeting on Wednesday, November 14, from 7 to 9:00 pm. The meeting will be held at the Long Island Head Injury Association, 65 Austin Boulevard in Commack. All are welcome to attend. For further information, please contact Kate DiMeglio at 631-929-5837.

Conference:

On Friday, November 16, from 8:00 am to 4:15 pm, the Association will hold a training symposium entitled, “Securing the Future: Lifetime Planning for a person with Brain Injury.” This one-day event will take place in the Main Auditorium of Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw.

The conference will encompass such topics as community re-entry, legal issues, assistive technologies, medication management, and emergency preparedness. This symposium is a must for individuals with brain injury and their families, service coordinators, rehabilitation specialists, and allied health care professionals.

I will be presenting at this conference on the mulitude of legal issues faced by individuals and families following a traumatic brain injury.

More information on the Brain Injury Association of New York can be found on their web site.

Concussions in High School Athethes Featured Tomorrow Morning on ESPN: Outside the Lines

This Sunday, ESPN's Outside the Lines 9:30 AM Eastern Standard Time, will focus on concussions in high school athletes.

From ESPN.com -
"On gridirons across America, young people are playing football -- and inevitably getting hurt. Football is a contact sport and injuries are commonplace, but recent studies show that the number of high school players who get concussions each season range from five percent to as much as 47-percent. Not only are many high school programs understaffed with medical personnel, but it's also common for high school football players keep their symptoms from their coaches or trainers for fear of losing playing time. Coming up on "Outside the Lines," with the long term impact of concussions on NFL players making headlines, we examine a far bigger problem. The concussion epidemic on the high school level"

My friend, Sports Legacy Institute President, Chris Nowinski will appear as a live guest after the piece airs.  Chris is the author of Head Games, a superb book on the crisis of concussions in sports.

November Brain Injury Meetings

The following is a compilation of brain injury conferences during the month of November:

Nov 2
Traumatic Brain Injury and Children
Chattanooga, TN
615-532-7770

Nov 2-4
Pediatric Brain & SCI Conference
Miami, FL
305-243-3994
Email  Website

Nov 5-7
Brain Injury Business Practice College
Las Vegas, NV
703-761-0750
Email  Website

Nov 14-16
Partnerships in Rehabilitation: The Best of Both Worlds
Melbourne, Australia
Web

Nov 15
A Practical Guide to Helping Clients With Brain Injury Work and Live Productively
Peterborough, ON, Canada
705-741-3412
Email  Website

BIA of New Jersey Brain Injury Basics for Families
Fair Lawn, NJ
732-738-1002
Email  Website

Nov 16
Securing the Future: Lifetime Planning for a person with Brain Injury.
Main Auditorium of Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw.
Brain Injury Association of New York State
website

Nov 16
Traumatic Brain Injury and Helping Children Succeed
Memphis, TN
901-545-8487

Nov 16-18
State of the Art Medical and Rehabilitative Care in Brain Injury: Clinical and Legal Implications
Napa, CA
Tel: 661-872-4903
Email  Website

Stem Cells May Help Restore Memory In Brain Damaged Individuals

New UC Irvine research is among the first to demonstrate that neural stem cells may help to restore memory after brain damage. 

In a study published in the Oct. 31 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience it is reported that , mice with brain injuries experienced enhanced memory -- similar to the level found in healthy mice -- up to three months after receiving a stem cell treatment. Scientists believe the stem cells secreted proteins called neurotrophins that protected vulnerable cells from death and rescued memory. This creates hope that a drug to boost production of these proteins could be developed to restore the ability to remember in patients with neuronal loss.

"Our research provides clear evidence that stem cells can reverse memory loss," said Frank LaFerla, professor of neurobiology and behavior at UCI. "This gives us hope that stem cells someday could help restore brain function in humans suffering from a wide range of diseases and injuries that impair memory formation."

To test memory, the researchers gave place and object recognition tests to healthy mice and mice with brain injuries. Memories of place depend upon the hippocampus, and memories of objects depend more upon the cortex. In the place test, healthy mice remembered their surroundings about 70 percent of the time, but mice with brain injuries remembered it just 40 percent of the time. In the object test, healthy mice remembered objects about 80 percent of the time, while injured mice remembered as poorly as about 65 percent of the time.

The scientists then set out to learn whether neural stem cells from a mouse could improve memory in mice with brain injuries. To test this, they injected each mouse with about 200,000 neural stem cells that were engineered to appear green under ultraviolet light. The color allows the scientists to track the stem cells inside the mouse brain after transplantation.

Three months after implanting the stem cells, the mice were tested on place recognition. The researchers found that mice with brain injuries that also received stem cells remembered their surroundings about 70 percent of the time -- the same level as healthy mice. In contrast, control mice that didn't receive stem cells still had memory impairments.

Next, the scientists took a closer look at how the green-colored stem cells behaved in the mouse brain. They found that only about 4 percent of them turned into neurons, indicating the stem cells were not improving memory simply by replacing the dead brain cells. In the healthy mice, the stem cells migrated throughout the brain, but in the mice with neuronal loss, the cells congregated in the hippocampus, the area of the injury. Interestingly, mice that had been treated with stem cells had more neurons four months after the transplantation than mice that had not been treated.

This new research offers renewed promise for those suffering from profound brain injuries.

Brain Injury Government Affairs Lecture

The Brain Injury Association of America and its standing committee, the American Academy for the Certification of Brain Injury Specialists has announced the next David L. Strauss Memorial lecture, entitled Government Affairs Update, by Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA Public Affairs Manager.

Date: Wednesday November 14, 2007

Time: 3:00 pm EST

To register for the teleconference, please click here  and download the registration form.