Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

International Brain Injury Group Calls for Ban on Olympic Boxing

Headway, an international brain injury association dedicated to the prevention of traumatic brain injury has reacted to the news that women's boxing could be added to the Olympics by calling for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to remove all forms of boxing from Olympic competition. 

Here are some quotes from their recent press release.

"We are deeply concerned to hear that the IOC is considering adding women's boxing to the Olympic programme," said Peter McCabe, Chief Executive of Headway. "This is nothing to do with the sex of the competitors as we believe all forms of boxing should be banned with immediate effect.”

"Eleven medical associations around the world, including the BMA and the World Medical Association, have said chronic brain damage is caused by repeated blows to the head, which are experienced by all boxers. Like Headway, these medical associations believe that all forms of the sport should be banned.”

"Boxing and certain martial arts disciplines are the only sports where participants are actively encouraged to strike opponents' heads, the cumulative effect of which can cause serious and long-term brain injury or even death. According to the BMA, even safety initiatives such as using head guards and having shorter rounds have a minimal effect.”

"Introducing women's boxing at the Olympics would simply serve to glamorize the sport to a new audience and lead to more young women putting their health at risk.”

Tort Reform No Cure For What Ails Our Health Care System

With the current debate concerning health care reform heating up, I want to share with you some thoughts on malpractice law suits and its role in the health care debade.  The article was authored by the American Association for Justice of which I am a sustaining member.

Among the crowds gathering at health care town halls, there’s an undercurrent of anger by people who are relying on misinformation to halt any true reform. One of the common myths is that the only change our health care system really needs is tort reform. While some like to tout the perceived "success" of tort reform in their states, the evidence belies their assertion.

A recent Washington Independent article took issue with the push to promote tort reform as a health care panacea. The piece, entitled “Tort Reform Unlikely to Cut Health Care Costs”, cites academics like Harvard’s Amitabh Chandra and University of Pennsylvania’s Tom Baker in arguing that tort reform is merely a distraction from what truly ails our current health care system. In fact, Michele Mello, a professor of Law and Public Health at Harvard, tells the Independent that “If you were to list the top five or ten things that you could do to bring down health care costs [tort reform] would not be on the list.” [Also see article in the Atlantic]

While tort reformers like to argue that fear of lawsuits cause doctors to engage in “defensive medicine,” adding billions of dollars to the cost of health care each year, the evidence doesn’t support their claim. The majority of evidence suggesting that doctors act defensively to protect themselves from lawsuits is anecdotal. TheCongressional Budget Office has said that it’s difficult to put a number on the cost of so-called “defensive medicine,” but that it would likely be minimal. What’s more, the current fee-for-service structure of our system actually incentivizes the ordering of unnecessary tests.

Fixating on the legal system not only distracts from the true causes of the high cost of health care in this country, but also ignores the larger issue of patient safety. As many as 98,000 people die every year because of medical errors, which adds a great deal of expense to the system. If instances of medical negligence decreased, so would the number of injured patients who need to seek legal recourse. Limiting the legal rights of patients would do nothing but hamper the ability of patients, injured through no fault of their own, to seek redress. And this is not something any of us can call “reform.”

The American Associaiton for Justice has created a whole primer that has the real facts on medical negligence and its role in the health care debate. Visit medical negligence to learn more. 

Brain Injury: Tips for getting the most out of meetings with your attorney or physician

Brainline published my tips for persons who have sustained a traumatic brain injury to get the most our of their visits to professionals such as doctors and attorneys.  Often times, visits by those suffering from brain damage with professionals are frustrating experiences with very little gained.  Hopefully these tips will improve communication and make visits more productive.  This is useful information for those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as professionals such as attorneys and medical providers who must interact with persons who have sustained brain damage.

The following question appears in their Ask the Expert feature: "I want to get the most out of my appointments with my attorneys and doctors. Do you have any suggestions for people with a traumatic brain injury in situations like these?"

You can read my complete response by going to brainline-ask the expert feature.

Mixed Messages in David Wright Concussion Story

As those who follow sports may know,New York Met's baseball player, David Wright was struck in the head on Saturday from a fast ball moving at a reported speed of 93 miles per hour.  Even though he was wearing a helmet, which probably saved his life, he still was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion.

The Met's using some good judgment for a change, decided to put David Wright on the disabled list and refused to allow him to go back to play.  But, just yesterday, a press conference was held in which you can hear David himself telling the press how he feels just fine and want's to go back to play.

Again, unfortunately, the serious side effects of concussions and the life long consequences associated with the post concussion syndrome get minimized by injured players and sometimes teams who try to get players back into the game before it makes good medical sense to do so.

Maybe one day instead of a press conference where everything has a positive spin, a team and player will get up and talk about all the serious consequences of a concussion, the signs and symptoms that parents and coaches and especially players need to know about and the dangers associated with repeated concussions and premature decisions to return to play.

Here again are the signs and symptoms of a concussion as set forth by the Center for Disease Control that everyone needs to know and understand:

Signs and Symptoms of Concussions and Traumatic Brain Injury:

The signs and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be subtle. Symptoms of a TBI may not appear until days or weeks following the injury or may even be missed as people may look fine even though they may act or feel differently. The following are some common signs and symptoms of a TBI:

• Headaches or neck pain that do not go away;
• Difficulty remembering, concentrating, or making decisions;
• Slowness in thinking, speaking, acting, or reading;
• Getting lost or easily confused;
• Feeling tired all of the time, having no energy or motivation;
  Mood changes (feeling sad or angry for no reason);
• Changes in sleep patterns (sleeping a lot more or having a hard time sleeping);
• Light-headedness, dizziness, or loss of balance;
• Urge to vomit (nausea);
• Increased sensitivity to lights, sounds, or distractions;
• Blurred vision or eyes that tire easily;
• Loss of sense of smell or taste; and
• Ringing in the ears.
   
  Children with a brain injury can have the same symptoms as adults, but it is often harder for them to let others know how they feel. Call your child’s doctor if they have had a blow to the head and you notice any of these symptoms:
•  Tiredness or listlessness;
• Irritability or crankiness (will not stop crying or cannot be consoled);
• Changes in eating (will not eat or nurse);
• Changes in sleep patterns;
• Changes in the way the child plays;
• Changes in performance at school;
• Lack of interest in favorite toys or activities;
• Loss of new skills, such as toilet training;
• Loss of balance or unsteady walking; or
• Vomiting

To learn more about concussions, visit the Center for Disease Control concussion information page.

Research study to focus on brain remapping-Volunteers in St. Louis needed

Researchers at Saint Louis University are recruiting civilians and military veterans for a study of traumatic brain injury.

The four-year study will use imaging equipment to map and better understand brain injuries. The study will also identify parts of the brain that can rewire themselves and recover some function.

The research is funded by a $5.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. It's expected to lead to better treatment for blast injuries and car accidents.

Brain Surgery Without Opening The Skull

Recent advances in neurosurgery now permit some types of brain surgery to be performed using ultra sonic waves without ever cutting open the skull.

This new type of neurosurgery is reported in the recent issue of the Annals of Neurology and more information can be obtained from the post at Fast Company.

NIH Launches the Human Connectome Project to Unravel the Brain’s Connections

The National Institutes of Health Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is launching a $30 million project that will use cutting-edge brain imaging technologies to map the circuitry of the healthy adult human brain. By systematically collecting brain imaging data from hundreds of subjects, the Human Connectome Project (HCP) will yield insight into how brain connections underlie brain function, and will open up new lines of inquiry for human neuroscience.

Investigators have been invited to submit detailed proposals to carry out the HCP, which will be funded at up to $6 million per year for five years. The HCP is the first of three Blueprint Grand Challenges, projects that address major questions and issues in neuroscience research.

The Blueprint Grand Challenges are intended to promote major leaps in the understanding of brain function, and in approaches for treating brain disorders. The three Blueprint Grand Challenges to be launched in 2009 and 2010 address:

• The connectivity of the adult, human brain
• Targeted drug development for neurological diseases
• The neural basis of chronic pain disorders

Read more about the human brain project.

North American Brain Injury Association-Legal Conference

The North American Brain Injury Association (NABIS) has posted their registration and event schedule for the 22nd Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Brain Injury to be held in Austin, Texas from October 14-17, 2009.

An important part of this conference is the Pre-Conference Symposium of Pediatric Brain Injury sponsored by the Sarah Jane Brain Project.  I am honored to be on the advisory board of the Sarah Jane Brain Project and look forward to participating in this symposium.

For more information, go to the NABIS web site.

Happy Anniversary to the Wizard of Oz

Happy 70th anniversary to the Wizard of Oz which had its premier this week.  The movie is a journey of traumatic brain injury.  From Dorothy's loss of consciousness-concussion through her transition and new identity formed in OZ and then her return home, the film can teach us a great deal.  Who can forget scare crow singing, "If I Only Had a Brain" or Dorothy emphatically stating "There's No Place Like Home"

New York Human Rights Law amended to prohibit discrimination against victims of domestic violence

Domestic violence is a frequent cause of traumatic brain injury in women.

New York State recently joined a handful of other states by enacting legislation prohibiting discrimination against victims of domestic violence. On July 7, 2009, New York Governor David A. Paterson signed into law an amendment to the New York Human Rights Law to include an individual's status as a "victim of domestic violence" in the list of characteristics protected from discrimination.

Other protected characteristics include age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, and marital status. The new provision is similar to a provision in the New York City Administrative Code, which was amended in 2001 to prohibit discrimination against victims of domestic violence.

Definition of Domestic Violence: The law defines a victim of domestic violence as an individual who has been subject to acts that would constitute a "family offense" under New York's Family Court Act. Such acts include disorderly conduct, harassment, stalking, criminal mischief, menacing, reckless endangerment, assault or attempted assault between spouses or former spouses or between parent and child or between members of the same family or household.

In addition to suing your spouse for divorce, in New York State victims of domestic violence can also bring a separate law suit for their traumatic brain injuries against their spouse.  Have your divorce lawyer call the New York brain injury attorneys at De Caro & Kaplen, LLP to discuss your brain injuries and ways that you can sue your spouse.