Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

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, 

Abusive Head Trauma-Shaken Baby Syndrome Conference

A conference to explore head trauma and shaken baby syndrome as well as other head injuries caused by assaults on children has been announced by the office of the Queens District Attorney.

The head trauma conference is scheduled to take place on Monday, September 21, 2009 at the offices of the New York City Medical Examiner, 421 East 26th street from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

The topics scheduled to  be covered include:

• Forensic controversies in abuse head trauma
• Neuropathology of lethal child abuse
• Non-accidental injury from the pediatric neurosurgical perspective
• Retinal hemorrhages and their relationship to shaken baby syndrome
• A view of fatal head injury from the standpoint of a forensic medical examiner

You can obtain more information on the conference by clicking here.

How many brain injuries are too many?

In a speech delivered at Harvard Medical School, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff said that the military is considering pulling service members out of combat operations if they have sustained three concussions.

Mullen said, "I don't know what the right number is, but 30 is way too many. I'm literally on the verge of saying, you know, 'Hey, it's two or it's three (mild TBIs) and you're out,' "

It is estimated that A RAND Corp. study early last year estimated that up to 300,000 service members may have suffered a mild TBI in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The defense department is reportedly following the lead of professional football in trying to place a limit on the number of concussions an individual can sustain before being pulled out of play for the season. 

Having acknowledged that any concussion can cause serious and permanent brain damage, allowing service members to sustain multiple concussions before being pulled out of combat, is not the full answer.  Before any service member who sustains a concussion is allowed to return to combat, that service member needs to be fully evaluated to determine that they are symptom free.  If they are not, then they should not be allowed to return to combat.

You can read the full story in USA Today: Joint Chief’s Chairman seeks brain injury limit.

Deadly medical mistakes on the increase

An important series highlighting the alarming increase in medical errors began yesterday in the Hearst newspapers including the Albany Times Union.  The story entitled, Dead By Mistake is an in depth look at preventable medical malpractice in the United States today.

According the to article, experts estimate that a staggering 98,000 people die from preventable medical errors each year. More Americans die each month of preventable medical injuries than died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

In addition, a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study concluded that 99,000 patients a year succumb to hospital-acquired infections. Almost all of those deaths, experts say, also are preventable.

These numbers are not absolutes. There is no definitive study -- which is part of the problem -- but all available research indicates that the death toll from preventable medical injuries approaches 200,000 per year in the United States.

Many of these medical errors lead to irreversible brain damage.  Medical errors causing brain injury are something that we are familiar with at De Caro & Kaplen, LLP.  If you loved one or yourself is a victim of medical negligence we may be able to assist you.

Read the entire Dead by Mistake special report, with additional stories, photos, videos, maps and database of hospital errors.

Let's hope that the current discussion in Washington, DC concerning medical insurance reform includes proposals to deal with this health crisis in American hospitals.  Controlling health care costs must include controlling medical errors which increase the health care bill for all of us.

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.

Can Cerebral Palsy and Brain Damage Be Prevented in New Borns?

Inhibiting an enzyme in the brains of newborns suffering from oxygen and blood flow deprivation stops a type of brain damage that is a leading cause of cerebral palsy, mental retardation and death, according to researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Reporting their results in the Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists show blocking the brain enzyme, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), prevents progressive brain damage triggered by the lack of oxygen and blood supply.  This is called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

The current study, posted on the journal's website this month, included one-week-old rats in which brain hypoxia-ischemia was induced. The researchers found that hypoxia-ischemia leads to increased tPA activity. The enzyme then damages the brain blood vessels and the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is a protective system designed to prevent invasions of blood-borne materials, in particular inflammatory cells or potential contaminants, into the central nervous system.

In human newborns, hypoxic brain injury usually occurs right before, during or shortly after birth and is frequently the result of medical negligence. 

The brain injury attorneysat De Caro & Kaplen, LLP have handled cases of brain damage in new borns caused by lack of oxygen as a result of medical malpractice.