Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

Mechanism Found for Link Between Traumatic Brain Injury and Parkinson's Disease

Traumatic brain injury can increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease according to scientists at U.C.L.A. who have found the loss of a specific type of neuron  (nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons) is the cause for traumatically induced Parkinson’s disease.

Many years ago, I successfully established the link between trauma and Parkinson’s disease in a case tried to a multimillion dollar jury verdict in New York following a collision between a taxi and a bus where my client, a passenger in the taxi cab, developed Parkinson’s like symptoms shortly after the accident took place. In the collision, after the taxi was hit by a bus, my client struck her head in the cab, developed a concussion and within weeks began exhibiting the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

In a pre-clinical study, the researchers found that a moderate traumatic brain injury in rats caused a 15 percent loss in the brain cells known as nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons shortly after the trauma, and that this loss continued to progress to a 30 percent loss 26 weeks after the initial injury.

The loss of these particular neurons can result in the cardinal motor symptoms observed in Parkinson's patients, including akinesia (problems with movement), postural tremor and rigidity.

The study appears in the current online edition of the Journal of Neurotrauma.

Sport Concussions: New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coodinating Council to Hold Important Meeting

The New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council (TBISCC) which I chair will be holding an important meeting on Monday September 12th from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm in Albany, New York-Empire State Plaza, NYS Museum Meeting Room A to discuss recommendations to the Commissioner of Health and Commissioner of Education on implementation of the recently passed sports concussion legislation in New York State.

The legislation requires the Commissioners of Health and Education to jointly draft implementation legislation.  The TBISCC was created by the New York State legislature to advise and made recommendations to the Commissioner of Health on matters pertaining to traumatic brain injury.

The September meeting includes presentations by Kristen Dams-O'Connor, PhD from the Brain Injury Research Center at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York on screening for concussions in collegiate athletes; a presentation by Brian Greenwald, M.D., the Medical Director of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program at Mt. Sinai Medical Center; a presentation by Todd Nelson of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association on Concussion Management Guidelines and the policies and recommendations of the Athletic Association.

 

 

 

Ban Boxing: New Recommendation from American Academy of Pediatrics

Boxing is the only sport I know where the stated goal is to knock out your opponent and thus cause a traumatic brain injury to occur. 

A new policy statement issued today American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society recommends that pediatricians vigorously oppose children participating in boxing.

These professional societies concluded that boxing isn't appropriate for children and teens, and parents should encourage their kids to find sports that don't focus on delivering blows to the head and face.

The new policy statement is published in the September issue of Pediatrics, and was released on line today.

You can view a complete report on the recommendations by reading the USA Today report, Pediatricians urge parents to keep kids away from boxing, head injuries.

 

National Head Injury and Brain Injury conference

The 22nd Annual State of the States in Head Injury Meeting, sponsored by the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA), will be held this year in Kansas City, MO,  on October 4-6, 2011, at the Downtown Marriott Hotel.

Titled, “Changing Perspectives, New Approaches”, the national meeting is designed to foster communication, promote professional development and offer updates on trends, issues and research with regard to brain injury.  Attendees represent State and Federal government officials, state Brain Injury Association affiliates, providers, other professionals, consumers and exhibitors. The conference offers plenary and workshop sessions featuring an array of Federal officials, national speakers and State/local programs and initiatives. The cut off date for hotel reservations is September 6^th. To learn more about the conference and to register  click here.

Brain Injury Legal Conference

I will again be speaking at the 24th Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Brain Injury sponsored by the North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS) to be held at the InterContinental Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana from September 15-17, 2011.

My topic this year is a critical evaluation of sports concussion legislation passed by many states throughout the nation.  I have been an invited speaker at all of the past NABIS brain injury legal conferences and I am honored to have again been asked to address this prestigious Organization

I urge all attorneys who represent victims of brain trauma to attend this important conference.

Attendees can expect the very latest information on brain injury litigation at this three-day hands-on event and is considered a “must attend” event for all professionals involved in legal issues relating to brain injury. The conference will be held in conjunction with the Ninth Annual Meeting of the North American Brain Injury Society.

From the latest groundbreaking diagnostic and imaging technology, to effective courtroom techniques and life care planning, this conference will cover every aspect of successfully handling a case involving brain injury from beginning to end. CLE credit, including an ethic component, will be offered to attorneys from all states.

The conference planning committee has assembled an all-star cast of top researchers, experts and litigators who will go over what materials the attorney must provide to the expert, how to formulate an effective trial strategy and present complex medical information in the most persuasive manner to make the “unseen” injury visible. The nationally recognized faculty will present a broad array of practical information covering:

•         The latest brain injury literature

•         Anatomy and biomechanics

•         Interpreting diagnostic testing methods

•         Case selection

•         Direct and cross examination

•         Understanding malingering tests

•         Selecting the right experts

•         Representing children

•         Issues in life expectancy

•         Trial techniques and strategies

•         Finding and developing insurance coverage

•         Cutting-edge demonstrative evidence t

 

To view the on-line program,  click here

Window guards prevent brain injury caused by falls from windows

More than 5,000 children fall out of windows each year, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.

Not surprisingly, according to the researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio the most frequent injury found in the emergency room were brain and head injuries.

There are successful window guard prevention laws in effect in New York City that require landlords to install window guards in apartments where children reside. 

Window guards and window stops should be installed in all windows where children either reside or frequent to prevent this injury from occurring.

Student Athletes Required to Pass Concussion Education Exam

Arizona will require students to take a concussion education program and pass a formal test before being allowed to engage in school based sports programs according to a press release from the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center.

Reportedly, Arizona will be the first state in the nation to require that students particpate in a concussion awareness program.  The educational program will be administered on line through an interactive web site created through Barrow and the University of Arizona.  The students will be taken through a series of educational modules that contain content, activities and videos.  At the end of the module, the students are required to pass an on line test.

The first step in concussion prevention is a recognition of the long term consequences of concussions and brain injury.  Athletes need to know the signs and symptoms of concussions.  This type of educational program needs to be implemented throughout the nation.

 

 

Individuals in a minimally conscious state are capable of dreaming

A new study in the August issue of Brain concludes that some patients do dream while in a minimally conscious state and are therefore likely to still have a form of consciousness about themselves and the external world. (The three stages of unconsciousness are coma, vegetative state and minimally conscious state.)

The researchers compared electrical brain activity using EEG’s in patients who were considered to be in a vegetative state and in an minimally conscious state. 

Electrical activity differed little between sleep and wakefulness in patients in a vegetative state, but the sleep of patients in a minimally conscious state was similar to that of normal sleep in a healthy person, the investigators found.

During sleep, the patients in a minimally conscious state had changes in "slow wave" activity in the front of the brain considered important for learning and brain plasticity. They also had non-rapid eye movement, slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement, which is associated with dreaming.

The researchers concluded that that their results indicate that individuals in the minimally conscious state do have a form of consciousness about themselves as well as the outside world.

 

New Lawsuit Filed Today in Federal Court Against NFL for Conspiring to Increase Risks of Brain Damage to Players

The lawsuits against the National Football League (NFL) for its misguided policies regarding concussion management are flying fast and furiously.

Following the case brought in Los Angelis by players alleging intentional deception on the part of the NFL regarding minimizing and hiding the risks of permanent brain injury following sports related concussions, comes a new case filed today in the Federal District Court in Philadelphia, PA.

The new suit by is a class action by retired NFL players who allege that the NFL has "turned a blind eye" for the last four decades as coaches encouraged them to use helmets as on-field weapons, hoping to "keeping its fan base excited and interested in the violence of this sport."

The suit further states that in addition to negligently condoning the use of the helmet as an "offensive weapon" to "block, tackle, butt, spear, ram and/or injure opposing players by hitting with their helmeted heads," the National Football League conspired to conceal clear evidence that their passive approach to helmet use and concussions resulted in severe long-term damage to players.

Similar to the California case, this suit further claims that the league conspired with independent contractors and "team members" to "continuously discount and reject the causal connection between multiple concussions suffered while playing in the NFL, a non-scientific return-to-play policy for players suffering concussions and the chronic long term effects of these injuries".

The suit seeks to have the NFL fund a long term medical monitoring program for former and current players who have suffered concussions and brain damage and may be at risk for developing dementia.

As I have been saying for quite some time, according to the suit, the NFL didn't merely fail to prevent on-field concussions. It "failed to take reasonable steps to develop appropriate and necessary guidelines to recognize, diagnose and treat players with concussions," and it failed to develop a satisfactory "return-to-play" policy that would keep concussed players off the field until they could safely return.

Exercise may prevent brain damage

Regular exercise could help prevent brain damage associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, according to research published this month in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

"Exercise allows the brain to rapidly produce chemicals that prevent damaging inflammation", said Professor Jean Harry, who led the study at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the United States. "This could help us develop a therapeutic approach for early intervention in preventing damage to the brain."

Previous research has already demonstrated that exercise after brain injury can help the repair mechanisms. This new study shows that exercise before the onset of damage modifies the brain environment in such a way that the neurons are protected from severe insults.