Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

Brain Injury Attorney Michael Kaplen joins WFAN Icon Bob Salter to discuss brain injury awareness, brain injury prevention and brain injury rehabilitation

On Sunday, March 11^th, New York brain injury attorney, Michael V. Kaplen joined WFAN icon Bob Salter on his morning talk show to discuss the Brain Injury Awareness Month and this year’s theme, “Brain Injury-Anytime, Anywhere, Anyone”

With reports according to the Centers for Disease Control of over 1.7 million brain injuries occurring each year in the United States and a 60% increase in reported concussions in hospital emergency departments over the past ten years, traumatic brain injury has reached epidemic levels. 

Brain injuries can last a life time and can have a profound impact on all aspects of an individual’s life.

Michael joined Bob Salter for a full hour discussion on the many aspects of brain injury awareness, brain injury prevention and brain injury rehabilitation.  You can click here to listen to the full show.

Recall of Child Helmets-Triple Eight "Little Tricky" Helmets

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a recall by Triple Eight Distribution of their Little Tricky multi sport helmets which failed impact testing. Over 30,000 of them have been sold, and they have been on the market since 2006. Little Tricky models are classic skate-style hard shell helmets for children and youth, and have "Little Tricky" in large type on both sides. The retail cost is about $40. Only Triple Eight and Sector 9 size "S/M" EPS Liner helmets are being recalled. Consumers should stop using the helmet immediately and contact Triple Eight for a full refund.

The recall info on CPSC's web site includes photos and can be viewed by clicking here

Any child who sustained brain injuries while wearing this helmet should obtain legal representation as soon as possible.  You can contact our brain injury law firm for advice and assistance. 

Neurologists urged to screen for domestic violence and traumatic brain injuries

Domestic violence is a major cause of traumatic brain injuries.  Unfortunately, many victims of domestic violence do not received adequate screening for brain trauma and many practitioners fail to even screen patients for domestic abuse.  

The American Academy of Neurology has now recognized the importance of routine screening for domestic violence and traumatic brain injury in a new position statement published online and in the February edition of the journal, Neurology.

The statement also notes that anyone who is physically or cognitively impaired is at a higher risk for abuse and abusive treatment, and that such treatment can also effect the development of neurologic disease.

Research shows that more than 90% of injuries stemming from intimate partner violence occur to the head, face, or neck region, which may lead to traumatic brain injury.

In addition to integrating questions about abuse into the medial history, patients may also be asked about abuse directly. Optimally, this should happen when they are alone; this is essential when questioning children about abuse. Appropriate questions may include:

•Have you ever witnessed violence?

•Have you ever been hit, kicked, punched, or otherwise physically abused?

•Has anyone ever tried to control you by threat or intimidation?

•Have you ever felt controlled or isolated by your partner?

•Have you ever been forced to perform sexual acts?

•Have you ever been taken advantage of financially?

•Have you ever been concerned for your safety?

If spousal abuse is identified, the neurologist also should ask whether child abuse is also occurring.

The American Academy of Neurology joins several other professional organizations that have also encouraged screening for abuse. In 2008, for example, the American Medical Association advised physicians to routinely ask about the family violence histories of their patients, noting that this knowledge is essential for effective diagnosis and care.

An American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee has also recommended that obstetricians and gynecologists to routinely and periodically screen all women for intimate partner violence.

Victims of domestic abuse may be able to bring a lawsuit against their spouse for brain damage. The brain injury law firm of De Caro & Kaplen, LLP, can provide legal advice and assistance.

Traumatic Brain Injury to be part of medical school curriculum

The Obama administration has announced a new partnership with U.S. medical schools to include traumatic brain injury as part of their medical school curriculum.

A total of 105 medical schools and 25 osteopathic colleges have pledged to include traumatic brain injury as part of their curriculum.

On line sports concussion library

A new web site has been launched to share information about sports concussions and traumatic brain injury. 

The Sport Concussion Library features a collection of scientific studies, documentaries pertaining to brain injuries. General information is tailored to parents, coaches, players, teachers and first responders, while education modules allow users to gauge and improve their knowledge of concussions. The site explains how to use important sports concussion tests and first responders and health workers can register to use it online.

Perhaps most interesting of all on the website are the various lengthy and candid testimonials from individuals who have experienced concussion firsthand, including hockey and football players, cyclists, and a wrestler, plus parents of injured athletes.

Distracted Driving Video Series

Distracted drivers cause many car accidents resulting in traumatic brain injury.

"Faces of Distracted Driving" is a video series that raises awareness about the potentially tragic consequences of texting and cell phone use while driving by sharing the stories of family members who have lost loved ones in distracted driving crashes. In 2009, nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in accidents involving a distracted driver. The series is part of an effort by the United States Department of Transportation to raise greater awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.

To learn more about USDOT's efforts to stop distracted driving, click here .

You can access the “Faces of Distracted Driving” videos by following this link.

New York needs a strong concussion management program

I am honored to reproduce today’s editorial in the Buffalo News concurring in my views and recommendations for a strong concussion management program in New York Sate.

Protect young athletes

Epidemic of head injuries shows need for stronger regulations on concussions

Dr. Elad Levy calls it an epidemic that has rendered some young people unable to complete their high school or college studies.

Levy, a local neurosurgeon and president of the Program for Understanding Childhood Concussion & Stroke, is referring to the problem of head injuries among young athletes.

Evidence of the seriousness of the epidemic is all around:

* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, reported in October that annual visits to emergency departments across the country for traumatic brain injuries among young people ages 18 and under grew by 62 percent between 2001 and 2009, when nearly a quarter million such hospital visits occurred.

* Also in October, a 16-year-old defensive tackle died after getting dinged on a routine play and suffering a brain bleed during a high school game in Cortland County, and in August a college football player in Maryland collapsed during a practice and died less than a week later due to a traumatic brain injury caused by helmet-to-helmet contact.

* Closer to home, teenager Philip Kane of South Buffalo suffers from splitting headaches and struggles to read, due to at least six concussions stemming from contact sports such as football and hockey, according to a story Sunday by News reporter Charlie Specht.

New York recently took a step in the right direction when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law the Concussion Management and Awareness Act, which will require the state's nearly 700 school districts to take better precautions in handling suspected concussions on the field or in the gym.

The new law, set to take effect on July 1, 2012, will standardize a hodgepodge of school protocols that ran the gamut in looking out for student safety regarding head injuries.

But there is more that must be done to confront the concussion crisis.

Unfortunately, some athletes and coaches -- and even some parents -- still adhere to the old "bell rung" canard, which suggests it's OK for players to shake off a hit to the head and stay in the game.

The new law will go a good distance toward eliminating that line of thinking. The law requires the immediate removal from all athletic activities of any student suspected of suffering a concussion, and it bars his return until he has been free of concussion symptoms for at least 24 hours and receives clearance from a doctor.

It also mandates special training about concussions for coaches, physical education teachers, nurses and athletic trainers.

But some critics say the law comes up short on several fronts, most notably for not requiring that all athletes take a baseline neuropsychological test before being allowed to participate in a sport.

Such a test would give doctors a point of reference in determining whether an athlete who suffered a concussion has recovered fully from his injuries and is able to play again, according to Michael V. Kaplen, a lawyer and chairman of the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Coordinating Council.

The council has recommended that the state's commissioners of health and education include mandated baseline testing as they write the regulations implementing the new state law.

The testing would be considered preventive medicine, covered under most health insurance plans for children, and thus won't add to any school district's financial burden, said Kaplen.

Kaplen also points out that most professional and intercollegiate teams in all sports use such baseline testing as a key tool in managing concussions.

It's hard, then, to argue against its use among high schoolers, whose still-developing brains are even more susceptible to long-term damage from repeat concussions.

The Traumatic Brain Injury Coordinating Council has put forth other worthwhile recommendations that the state commissioners should strongly consider, as well.

"In the year 2011, there's not a topic more relevant in high school sports than concussion management and traumatic brain injury," said Kaplen. "We need some uniformity throughout the state. This is the brain we're talking about."

Area school districts would be wise to begin implementing as much of the state law as they can, as soon as possible, instead of waiting until next summer.

In addition, some districts and independent sports programs stand out as leaders in trying to prevent head injuries and should be emulated.

Athletic trainers at Starpoint and Lewiston-Porter high schools, for example, already use baseline testing to identify concussions and keep brain-injured athletes out of the lineup until they're healthy again.

At Orchard Park High School, football coach Gene Tundo bans full-contact hitting during practices to avoid unnecessary shots to the head.

The precautions don't have to come at the expense of winning, either. Orchard Park finished a perfect 13-0 season on Sunday by capturing the state championship title in Syracuse.

Let's promote safe driving for your nation's youth.

Motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of traumatic brain injury in young adults. 

National Teen Driver Safety Week is an annual observation which takes place October 16-22. This year’s theme is to support parents in teaching their teens to drive. According to new research from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), 87 percent of teens report having a parent involved in learning to drive, and four of 10 teens report being taught only by a parent. Other recent CHOP research suggests that although parents can identify the basic concepts teen drivers need to learn (such as parking), they tend not to mention the more advanced skills proven to reduce teen crashes, such as scanning for hazards.

Driving Experience Is Necessary. For their safety, teens must log plenty of time behind the wheel to gain driving experience. In New York, junior permit holders are required to log at least 50 hours of supervised driving – with at least 15 of these hours after sunset – before taking a test to obtain a driver’s license. In addition, teens must have a junior permit for at least six months before a junior or senior license is issued.

Parenting Style Matters for Teen Driving Safety. According to CHOP, teens who say their parents set rules and pay attention to their activities in a helpful, supportive way are half as likely to be in a crash.

Parent/Teen Driving Agreements. Parents of junior licensed teen drivers are advised to use a parent/teen driving agreement to set clear rules, boundaries and expectations about driving behaviors. Teens should be aware that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of deaths for teens and that rules are in place to keep them safe, not control them. New privileges can be introduced as driving skills improve and teens exhibit responsible driving. For more parenting tips on teen driving safety, click here. For samples of parent/teen driving agreements or contracts click here .

Want More Information? Traffic safety educational materials and driving management tools for parents of teen drivers provide guidance on teaching teens to be safe drivers and can help manage newly licensed teens’ driving. Parents and teens are encouraged to read and complete the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles’ “Parents Guide to Teen Driving” by clicking here  Parents and teens should also read, understand and comply with the NYS Graduated Drivers Licensing Law, available by clicking here.

For additional teen driving safety information, click here or here.

Interview tomorrow with New York Governor Paterson on traumatic brain injury legislation and the new CDC sports concussion statistics

Join me tomorrow, Monday October 10^th at 4:40 PM when I will be interviewed by former New York Governor David Paterson on WOR 710 AM. You can listen live by clicking here . We will be discussing my opinions on the recently signed New York State concussion legislation and similar legislation passed in other states.

We need to go further to protect the health and safety of our nation’s youth.  Sports concussion legislation must include meaningful restrictions on when an athlete can return to play; requirements for baseline testing and retesting after an injury and before an athlete is cleared to return to play; return to play decisions by qualified professionals; insurance for the rehabilitation of those athletes who have sustained cognitive brain damage; an educational component that restricts and monitors the class room activities of children when they return to school; and an educational component that provides meaningful information on concussions to students, parents, teachers and coaches.

We will also be discussing the alarming statistics released last week by the Centers for Disease Control on the 250,000 reported sports related concussions in emergency room visits for the year 2009 and the implications for sports concussion management.  It is important to note that this statistic does not cover the athletes who never seek emergency room treatment.  The CDC extrapolates that the rate of concussions for all student athletes exceeds over 1 million individual’s each year!     

CDC to take important steps to establish national protocol for sports concussion management

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has announced that it will convent a panel of experts to study sports concussions with the goal of establishing national standards for both the recognition of concussions and important return to play decisions for student athletes

The panel will review existing literature, review the current state of science on concussions and have protocols ready for distribution by fall of 2014.

While many states have now passed some form of concussion management law, there is a lack of uniformity that can prove dangerous for student athletes.  There simply must be one uniform national protocol that is easy to understand and easy to implement.

The protocol to be effective must include education of students, parents and team personnel on the dangers of concussions, the signs and symptoms of concussions and the importance of accurately reporting symptoms.  Additionally, any protocol must also include the use of base line testing; answer the important question of who is to pay for the costs of care, if a concussion takes place; address return to school educational issues and the need to implement a gradual return to academic work; mandate a reasonable period that any athlete must wait before being cleared to return to play and that such clearance only be made by an individual qualified and trained in concussion management and concussion diagnosis.

It is not enough that protocols only be established for school based athletic programs.  These protocols must also be used in off school athletic endeavors as well.

Well deserved credit must go to New Jersey lawmakers, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and Rep. Bill Pascrell who sponsored legislation, which passed the House but stalled in the Senate, that would have made such protocols mandatory.

Stressing that "every concussion is brain damage," Pascrell said 41 percent of student athletes who suffer concussions return to playing too soon, sometimes with serious or even fatal consequences.

For years, the CDC has been working on the issue of sports-related concussions and concussions in general.  The CDC has  developed excellent materials for coaches, parents and physicians on concussion recognition and concussion management.