Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

Caring for family members with a brain injury

Thanks to BrainLine for providing this tip: On November 20, NOW - PBS's weekly national news magazine show - will examine the issue of families acting as caregivers for service members with TBI. The show will profile several caregivers including a former teacher with a toddler son and a former research scientist, both looking at a lifetime of caring for their spouses with brain injuries. NOW will also talk with experts about advances in medical science that could help the thousands of families in this position.

60 minutes looks at concussions and the long term damage that results

This evening's 60 minutes report on concussions and the long term dangers associated with this injury was an excellent over view of the hazards associated with multiple concussions.

Here is a brief excerpt from the show:

You can't separate violence from football - it's part of the thrill of the game. Players know what they're risking when they hit the field, including injuries such as torn ligaments and broken bones. But what about a blow to the brain? According to the Centers for Disease Control, concussions from sports are an epidemic in this country.

As many as three million sports related concussions happen every year.

And new research shows that their effects can be frighteningly long-lasting, even leading to permanent brain damage and the early onset of dementia. While concussions happen in many sports, most happen in football. They can happen to kids, to the pros, and as we saw recently, to one of today's top college players.

Watch the entire 60 minute concussion broadcast

60 Minutes to Look at Alarming New Research on the Longterm Effects of Concussions and Head Trauma

60 minutes is scheduled to air a segment this Sunday at 7 PM (eastern standard time)  on the most recent research linking repeated concussions with a condition known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

The condition, destroys brain tissue and causes dementia.  According to neuropathologists who have investigated this condition, the only known cause is trauma.  While most commonly found in the brains of boxers, recent autopsy findings show that the condition is also found in the brains of retired football players and other sports figures who have routinely sustained multiple concussions.

The Sports Legacy Institute has been instrumental in bringing this new research to the public's attention.

You can watch a short video preview of the CBS segment A Blow to the Head.

Brain Injury Speech and Language Conference

Thanks to BrainLine for tipping me off to the on line brain injury conference geared to audiologists and speech-language pathologists.

Traumatic brain injury and concussions often lead to speech and language difficulties.  This on line conference sponsored by the American-Speech Language Hearing Association is scheduled for October 13th to October 26th 2009.  You can get more information by clicking here.

Brain Injury: Active Clinical Trials

The Brain Trauma Foundation (BTF) has annouced their next interactive web based lecture topic: Current Active Clinical Trials in TBI  in their Lunchtime Lecture series.  The program is scheudled for October 14, 2009 from 12:00-1:00 PM EDT for a live, interactive, web-based lecture on Current Active Clinical Trials in TBI.

BTF’s Lunchtime Lectures are a monthly, one-hour online lecture series taught by top neurotrauma care experts on various up-to-date topics related to traumatic brain injury (TBI).  An excellent opportunity for all healthcare professionals, these live, interactive lectures are complete with slides and audio and easily accessible through an Internet

Lecture Description: Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death under age 45 in the Western World. Despite the efforts of investigators worldwide, no phase III clinical has yet been successful. However, recent advances in clinical trial design and implementation leverage lessons learned from past failures. At present, several promising interventions are being tested through multicenter clinical trials, including progesterone, citicholine, and anti-apoptotic agents. This lecture will discuss clinical trial design factors as well as describe current and impending clinical trials for the treatment of traumatic brain injury.

 Learning Ojbectives: 
• Discuss the current active multicenter clinical trials in traumatic brain injury.
• Discuss limitations of clinical trial design impacting recent clinical trial failures.
• Discuss clinical trials in traumatic brain injury set to launch in the next year.

You can access registration information by clicking here.

NPR Radio explores concussion issues in NFL

NPR Radio's sports program Only A Game aired today, October 3,  contains portions of an interview with me in their segment which explores the recent study which showed that former NFL players were much more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia than the non-football playing public.  Is the league and the players’ own union ignoring the health risks of playing in the NFL?  Only A Game’s Associate Producer Karen Given investigates.

You can listen to the program by clicking here.  (The NFL segment begins at 14.41 and runs until 18.40) 

Conan O'Brien: Concussions are no joking matter!

The video clip of Conan O'Briens fall on last week on the set of the Tonight Show is now available on You Tube.  By watching the clip you can clearly see Conan striking the back of his head against the ground and then rebounding forward.  The fall is then played in slow motion and the impact becomes even more dramatic.

You will also be able to listen to Conan's fascinating description of all the difficulties that he slowly began to develop following the incident. Although he is now joking about it, this is far from a funny matter.  You can hear his slurred speech, listen to his description of his confusion, poor judgment and short term memory problems. 

Hopefully, Conan who now can appreciate that a concussion is no laughing matter will take the the time to learn about the long term consequences of concussions and become an advocate for the 5.2 million americans who suffer the life long effects of a traumatic brain injury. 

You can watch the clip by clicking Conan O'Brien reveals concussion, injury  video. 

Preventing Infections in Brain Surgery

The Brain Trauma Foundation has announced that their next interactive, web based lecture will cover the important topic of Infection Prophylaxis in severe head injury cases undergoing brain surgery.

The web based lecture will be held on September 23, 2009 from 12:00-1:00 PM EDT.

Lecture Description: This lecture will discuss the latest guidelines on infection prophylaxis in head injury regarding external ventricular drains and nosocomial infections.  In addition, prophylaxis for open and basilar skull fractures will also be discussed
.
Learning Objectives: 

• Describe the reasons for infection prophylaxis in severe head injury patients focusing on the advantages and disadvantages.
• Understand the current recommendations for providing prophylaxis for external ventricular drainage in regard to antibiotic administration and catheter exchange
• Become familiar with the recommendations for prophylaxis in regard to preventing systemic nosocomial infections including those recommendations for antibiotic administration and early tracheostomy.
• Assess the literature in terms of prophylactic antibiotic use in basilar and open skull fractures.

Speaker: Jamie Ullman, MD, Director of Neurosurgery at Elmhurst Hospital Medical Center, Assistant Attending Neurosurgeon at Queens Hospital Center, and Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Webinar Registration  click here .

Loss of Self-Identity Following Traumatic Brain Injury

A front page story in Sunday's New York Times, entitled, After Injury, Fighting to Regain a Sense of Self, recounts the struggles of a 19 year old who sustained severe brain damage following a motorcycle accident.  The 19 year old was thrown from his motorcycle after a car traveling in front of him began to act erratically causing him to lose control of his motorcycle.  Although he was wearing a helmet, he none the less sustained severe brain damage.

The article explains that the brain damage sustained has resulted in injury to the medial temporal lobes of the brain resulting in a condition known as "delusions of identity"

A small group of brain scientists is now investigating misidentification syndromes, as the delusions are called, for clues to one of the most confounding problems in brain science: identity. How and where does the brain maintain the “self”?

What researchers are finding is that there is no single “identity spot” in the brain. Instead, the brain uses several different neural regions, working closely together, to sustain and update the identities of self and others. Learning what makes identity, researchers say, will help doctors understand how some people preserve their identities in the face of creeping dementia, and how others, battling injuries like the one described in the article, are sometimes able to reconstitute one.

For all that scientists have studied it, the brain remains the most complex and mysterious human organ - and, now, the focus of billions of dollars' worth of research to penetrate its secrets. The Brain Power series looks in depth at some of the insights these projects are producing. Read about the other articles in the Times Brain Power series.

Malpractice causes brain damage in new born

ABC News has broadcast a very disturbing story of a young girl who has suffered severe brain damage as a result of a condition known as Kernicterus which is caused by high levels of bilirubin in the blood- stream following birth.  The story also reports on experimental brain stimulation therapy designed to minimize some of the effects of the brain damage.

What is particularly disturbing is that this cause of brain damage is easily preventable if prompt medical care is given to the new born.  With the use of a $1 test that is readily available to detect bilirubin levels in the blood stream, effective photo-therapy would have brought the bilirubin levels down before any damage was done to the infant.

High bilirubin levels are typically caused by Rh incompatibilities between the mother and the new born child.  The most frequent presenting symptom is jaundice or yellowing of the skin. 

The medical profession has known for years that whenever a new born has or is thought to have jaundice, a bilirubin level test must be taken and prompt treatment needs to be undertaken to avoid serious brain damage.

You can view the full story of the medical errors that have led to brain damage by clicking here.

The brain injury attorneys at the brain injury law firm of De Caro & Kaplen, LLPhave  successfully prosecuted cases of medical error causing kernicterus and brain damage.

ABC News has broadcast a very disturbing story of a young girl who has suffered severe brain damage as a result of a condition known as Kernicterus which is caused by high levels of bilirubin in the blood- stream following birth.  The story also reports on experimental brain stimulation therapy designed to minimize some of the effects of the brain damage.

What is particularly disturbing is that this cause of brain damage is easily preventable if prompt medical care is given to the new born.  With the use of a $1 test that is readily available to detect bilirubin levels in the blood stream, effective photo-therapy would have brought the bilirubin levels down before any damage was done to the infant.

High bilirubin levels are typically caused by Rh incompatibilities between the mother and the new born child.  The most frequent presenting symptom is jaundice or yellowing of the skin. 

The medical profession has known for years that whenever a new born has or is thought to have jaundice, a bilirubin level test must be taken and prompt treatment needs to be undertaken to avoid serious brain damage.

You can view the full story of the medical errors that have led to brain damage by clicking here.

The brain injury attorneys at the brain injury law firm of De Caro & Kaplen, LLPhave  successfully prosecuted cases of medical error causing kernicterus and brain damage.