Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

View NFL Public Service Concussion Video

Wow, four posts in one day, is a lot, but the brain injury news keeps happening.

I have finally been able to get a hold of the NFL concussion video public service announcement that will be aired for the first time tonight.  You can view it for yourself at the NFL News blog.

Well, its a start,  To bad they don't bother to list the CDC signs and symptoms of a concussionor state the most important fact that the public doesn't seem to get, you don't need to be knocked out to have sustained a concussion; that all concussions must be taken seriously and that medical clearance is necessary before returning to play. How long would it have taken to include these important points.

Next time, they also should put in a link to the Brain Injury Association of America. Maybe a statement to contact their State brain injury association for more information would be a nice idea.

So guys, nice try, but let's get it right.

Just in case the NFL and their coaches and trainers have forgotten here are the signs and symptoms of a concussion according to the Center for Disease Control and what you need to do if you suspect your child has sustained a concussion:

Signs Observed by Parents or Guardians
If your child has experienced a bump or blow to the head during a game or practice, look for any of the following signs and symptoms of a concussion:

• Appears dazed or stunned
• Is confused about assignment or position
• Forgets an instruction
• Is unsure of game, score, or opponent
• Moves clumsily
• Answers questions slowly
• Loses consciousness (even briefly)
• Shows behavior or personality changes
• Can’t recall events prior to hit or fall
• Can’t recall events after hit or fall

Symptoms Reported by Athlete

• Headache or “pressure” in head
• Nausea or vomiting
• Balance problems or dizziness
• Double or blurry vision
• Sensitivity to light
• Sensitivity to noise
• Feeling sluggish, hazy, foggy, or groggy
• Concentration or memory problems
• Confusion
• Does not “feel right”

HOW CAN YOU HELP YOUR CHILD PREVENT A CONCUSSION?
Every sport is different, but there are steps your children can take to protect themselves from concussion.

• Ensure that they follow their coach’s rules for safety and the rules of the sport.
• Encourage them to practice good sportsmanship at all times.
• Make sure they wear the right protective equipment for their activity (such as helmets, padding, shin guards, and eye and mouth guards). Protective equipment should fit properly, be well maintained, and be worn consistently and correctly.
• Learn the signs and symptoms of a concussion.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU THINK YOUR CHILD HAS A CONCUSSION?

1.  Seek medical attention right away. A health care professional will be able to decide how serious the concussion is and when it is safe for your child to return to sports.

2. Keep your child out of play. Concussions take time to heal. Don’t let your child return to play until a health care professional says it’s OK. Children who return to play too soon—while the brain is still healing—risk a greater chance of having a second concussion. Second or later concussions can be very serious. They can cause permanent brain damage, affecting your child for a lifetime.

3. Tell your child’s coach about any recent concussion. Coaches should know if your child had a recent concussion in ANY sport. Your child’s coach may not know about a concussion your child received in another sport or activity unless you tell the coach.

Remember, WHEN IN DOUBT, KEEP THEM OUT!

NFL to begin airing public service announcements on concussion awareness

Thanks to Mark Maske’s NFL News Feed in the Washington Post for tipping me off to an NFL public service announcement about concussion treatment and management that is scheduled to begin airing on television networks this Thursday.

The 30-second spot was approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is to debut Thursday during the league-owned NFL Network's telecast of the Steelers-Browns game, officials said. It also is to air this weekend and in the future on NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN.

Sounds like the NFL reads the Brain Injury News and Information Blog! The spot is aimed at athletes, parents and coaches, and at young athletes and their parents and coaches in particular, officials said. It urges players not to try to hide concussions, and advises coaches and parents to educate themselves about head injuries and to prevent any athlete who suffers such an injury from returning to play before a qualified health professional approves such a move. The spot directs viewers to the CDC's "Heads Up" Web site.

Now all that we need is the NFL it self to listen to what the CDC says about the dangers of concussions and prevent needless further injury and brain damage to its own players.

When in dobut, keep them out!

We need to protect brains and prevent further brain damage in these players who refuse to protect themselves

Do as I say, not as I do, that must be the mantra of the NFL and many of their players.  Here is an amazing story reported in USA Today concerning Eagles running back Brian Westbrook who returns to team practice following TWO concussions within weeks of each other and who has no memory of the knee to the head he took in the first concussion.

He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he's worried about how his body will react to the concussions long after his playing days end:

"I'm very concerned just because there is not a lot of data that says in 10 years or 20 years you'll be fine if you had too many concussions. I'm worried about that, and, hopefully, next time I go out there I don't have to worry about it anymore.

"That's my biggest concern. How am I going to be when I'm 50 or when I'm 60? Will I have all these brain diseases and will I have a problem remembering things? . . . Now, I'm trying to get myself together with the help of the doctors as well as coach (Andy) Reid and the training staff. Now, the most important thing is to get 100 percent healthy - and not play football . . . until I'm 100 percent healthy."

Just a simple question from a brain injury attorney representing individuals with mild head injury who suffer life long consequences, WHY ARE YOU TAKING A CHANCE?  WHY IS YOUR TEAM ALLOWING YOU TO GO BACK AND RISK FURTHER INJURY?

Maybe the NFL needs to retire these players now.  Mandate that they get paid for their entire contract and provide them with proper future compensation benefits, now, before they risk further brain damage.

Read the full USA Today: Eagles RB Brian Westbrook 'really scared' about concussions as he rejoins team

Congratulations to BrainLine

Congratulations to BrainLine  for  receiving the Best in Class Award, the highest award in the Health/Nutrition Category, from Interactive Media Council, Inc. The IMC recognizes excellent web design and development with their Interactive Media Awards.

Over the last several years, my partner, brain injury lawyer, Shana De Caro and I have worked with BrainLine to provide information to persons facing the legal hurdles of traumatic brain injury.  We are honored to be part of their ask the expert series and look forward to contributing more articles in the next year.

BrainLine is a national multimedia project offering information and resources about preventing, treating, and living with TBI. BrainLine includes a series of webcasts, an electronic newsletter, and an extensive outreach campaign in partnership with national organizations concerned about traumatic brain injury.

BrainLine is funded by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, the Primary Operational TBI Component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, through a subcontract award with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.

The dangers of public misconception about concussions

A column in today’s Washington Post, When it comes to concussions, young men will play now, pay later, points to the important need to better educate players, spouses and parents about the dangers associated with concussions.

From years of watching players just shake off a head trauma, to popular films  that depict concussions and even comas as no big deal with a full recovery promised, the public has come to believe that a concussion is nothing to worry about.  That belief needs to be fixed by a far reaching education campaign.  In schools and in locker rooms, players need to know the long term consequences of hiding their symptoms, parents must be given the proper information and spouses need to know what are the signs and symptoms of a concussion so that they can properly assess their wounded loved one.

As proof of the belief system that needs to be changed, the Post did an informal survey of high school football players and asked them the following question:

Let's say your team is playing in a championship in three days. You're still feeling the effects of a big hit that you took in the previous game. You're experiencing headaches or blurred vision or general fogginess but remain functional. Do you report this to your parents or coach or school athletic trainer, knowing that, given your symptoms, they very well might make you sit out the championship? Or do you conceal this information, at least until after the game, risking further damage to your brain?

Surprisingly, most players answered that they would play if they were physically capable, no matter that a sustained concussion could endanger their still-developing brain for a lifetime and that the waning of symptoms does not necessarily indicate a clean bill of health. 

Here are some of the comments:

A defensive lineman said, "Depending on how big the game is, like if it was a state championship, I would have to take that risk."

A  junior receiver came to the following conclusion, "If you love the game like you say you do, then you might as well go out and play until it really affects you."

A junior linebacker remarked, "I want that ring. I worked hard for that ring. This might be the only chance that I get. So I'd just take the risk."

Here is what a senior linebacker observed, "Everything you've been working for your whole life is coming down to this one game, and even though you have this injury that might affect you for years to come, you wouldn't want to regret not playing, and your team lose, when you know you could have made a difference."

Part of the problem is that a concussion is an invisible injury.  A person looks normal and we have been trained to believe that we can make an accurate assessment of a person’s condition just by looking at them.  Not true for concussions, a person suffering from head trauma doesn’t need a wheelchair, doesn’t walk with a limp and looks just like everyone else, but this is not what the public understands.

According to the post story, here is how fellow teammates view a concussed player: A guy sitting out with a head injury looks like he always does. He has no cast or limp to indicate that he's hurt. So there he is, in street clothes, while everyone else is practicing or playing, prompting good-natured (but at times stinging) comments.

I have viewed short films sponsored by the National Hockey League and Neuropsychological groups that feature prominent players who have sustained career ending concussions describe the dangers to fellow players.  Films like this need to be shown early and often to players so they understand the dangers of hiding their symptoms.

Remember,  When in doubt, keep them out!

You can read the full story in the post by clicking here.

New legislation introduced in Senate to protect high school athletes with concussions

The movement to insure the safety of high school athletes who may have sustained a concussion has received a boost under legislation introduced yesterday in the United States Senate.

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced legislation in the Senate to create a grant program that would help ensure proper prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sports-related concussions in U.S. high schools and middle schools. The Concussion Treatment and Care Tools (ConTACT) Act establishes a five year grant program, authorized at $5 million for the first year, to be distributed to states to implement proven concussion management strategies.

The legislation was previously introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Bill Pascrell who is co-chair of the traumatic brain injury congressional task force.

Under the legislation, grants would be awarded to states to implement best practices in concussion management for school-sponsored sports and fund schools’ implementation of baseline and post-concussion neuropsychological testing technologies.  Best practices would be developed by a conference of medical, athletic, and education stakeholders and will be used to model grant guidelines.

Hopefully, this guidelines that are implemented will be far reaching and require any athlete who has sustained a concussion or a suspected concussion from returning to play in that game and any subsequent game until all signs and symptoms of a concussion resolve. This included the subtle symptoms that were omitted from recent changes in concussion policy by the N.F.L.

A thanksgiving prayer

On this thanksgiving day, let us pray that all brain injuries that are preventable are prevented and that all those in need of treatment for their brain injuries receive the treatment they deserve. Let us remember in our hearts and prayers all those who have been victims of traumatic brain injury and pray for their recovery.

Thanksgiving is a difficult time for all those families and friends with a loved one who has recently experienced a traumatic event.  A helpful article on coping on this holiday can be found Facing Thanksgiving Together After Trauma published at Psych Central.

Congratulatons to ThinkFirst on receiving distinguished service award from Congress of Neurological Surgeons

Congratulations to the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation `which was recognized as a leader in injury prevention by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). CNS presented the 2009 Distinguished Service Award to the ThinkFirst Foundation at the CNS Annual Meeting of over 2,000 neurosurgeons in New Orleans.

The ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation has been focused on teaching children and teens the importance of making safe choices since 1986. Educational programs for first through twelfth grades have a major impact on impressing kids to “Think First” when it comes to safety. 

We all know that the best cure for brain injury is prevention and this organization has had a long standing commitment to head injury prevention programs. 

ThinkFirst was recognized for its work in providing meaningful, educational injury prevention programs to thousands of children and teens each year. One hundred and thirty national and 39 international chapters visit health, science and driver education classes to teach students how to reduce their risk for injury. Based largely in injury prevention departments within hospitals and medical universities, nurses, health educators and their sponsoring physicians schedule programs with schools to assure every child and teen in a given community learns simple measures for protecting themselves from the most common causes of injury: vehicle crashes, violence, falls and sports.

Formerly known as the National Head and Spinal Cord Injury Prevention Program, ThinkFirst was established in 1986. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) directed two neurosurgeons, to develop a national injury prevention program. ThinkFirst has since developed into one of the largest injury prevention programs in both the U.S. and Canada.

One of the most recent projects was the production of a new educational film for teens titled “Think About Your Choices,” with support from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. For more information on ThinkFirst visit the ThinkFirst web site. 

NFL Players Association and Congress to Take a Closer Look at Concussions

Following stories in the New York Times earlier this week on the studies sponsored by the NFL which show a link between repeated concussions and early on set dementia, the NFL Players Association has formed a committee to address the issue of head trauma among players.

The player’s association concussion and traumatic brain injury committee will address diagnosis, treatment and prevention of concussions and brain injuries in active players; and the long-term cumulative effects of isolated or repetitive traumatic brain injuries in NFL players as patients.

At the same time,  the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says he will hold hearings on head injuries among NFL players. The hearings will look at the lasting impact of head injuries, how to limit them, and how to compensate players and their families.

Both of these events are encouraging news in efforts by many including myself to bring attention to the epidemic of traumatic brain injury and to increase public awareness of the dangers of repeated concussions and ill advised decisions to prematurely allow athletes to return to play.

With new leadership in the NLF as well as the player’s association, perhaps a new rationality can be brought to bear on the issue and an honest recognition that concussions are serious and must be treated as a life threatening condition.

Perhaps the player's association will contact me and ask for my involvement in these important efforts. 

Further, injured players who submit competent proof of concussions and cognitive disorder should be properly compensated for their injury under league collective bargaining agreements. If they are not, then the courthouse door needs to be opened to these players to seek proper legal redress.

Read about the NFL players commiettee plans to study head trauma .

Read about the congressional hearings on concussions: Congress to hold hearing on NFL head injuries.

What hemet does the best job in preventing brain injury?

An article appears in today's on line edition of the New York Times discussing the continued debate on what is the best standard to determine the safety of motorcycle helmets and their ability to prevent or reduce the severity of brain damage.

The artlcle is entitled, Sorting Out Differences in Helmet Standards and reviews the debate between Federal Department of Transportation helmet standards, the Snell Standard and an new safety standard being introduced by Snell.

While this is all very confusing, one thing is clear, any helmet is better than no helmet at all and all states need to impose helmet requirements for motorcycle riders as well as those riding bicycles, roller-blading, skate boarding, skiing and ice skating,