Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

New brain injury webinars sponsored by Brain Injury Association of America

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has announced two new Webinars exploring the Epidemiology of Traumatic Brain Injury and the Challenges of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

The brain injury webinars will air as follows:

Wednesday, March 7, 2012, at 3 p.m. ET:

Epidemiology of Traumatic Brain Injury

Mark Faul PhD, MA, Senior Health Scientist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Faul will discuss current research in the CDC's epidemiological study of TBI.

ACBIS Certificants Registration Price: $50

Non-ACBIS Certificants Registration Price: $55

Continuing Education awarded: 1 hour

Registration closes at 5 p.m. ET on March 5.

Click here to register. Information on how to join the webinar will be sent to registrants on March 6. 

Thursday, March 22, 2012, at 3pm ET:

The Unique Challenges of Mild Head Injury

Matthew Dodson, OTD, OTR/L

Caregiver Education Series

 Registration Price: $30

Continuing Education awarded: 1 hour

Registration closes at 5 p.m. ET on March 20.

Click here to register. Information on how to join the webinar will be sent to registrants on March 21. 

Returning to school following a concussion

The Brain Injury Association of NYS is offering a free webinar - Return to Learn: Supporting Students Returning to the Classroom Post-Concussion

The webinar will be held on Wednesday, February 29th from 12pm to 1:15pm (EST).

The presenter, Dr. Brian Rieger, is Chief Rehabilitation Psychologist and Director of the Concussion Management Program at Upstate Sports Concussion Center at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. He is a member of the NYS Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Concussion Management Team and is the Psychology Liaison to the NYSPHSAA Safety Committee.

Space is limited, so  reserve your seat by clicking here 

Brain injuries more prevalent than previously thought

A new study by researchers from Mayo Clinic has found that the incidence of traumatic brain injury is likely greater than has been estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This study differs from previous similar studies in that it uses a new and refined system for classifying injuries caused by force to the head: the Mayo Traumatic Brain Injury Classification System.

“Even mild traumatic brain injuries can affect sensory-motor functions, thinking and awareness, and communication,” says study author Allen Brown, M.D., director of brain rehabilitation research at Mayo Clinic. “In assessing frequency, we have likely been missing a lot of cases. This is the first population-based analysis to determine prevalence along the whole spectrum of these injuries.”

Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a several decades-long compilation of medical records in Olmsted County, Minn., the team determined that TBIs occur in as many as 558 per 100,000 people, compared to the 341 per 100,000 estimated by the CDC. Researchers found that 60 percent of injuries fell outside the standard categorization used by the CDC, even though two-thirds of them were symptomatic.

Mayo researchers found the elderly and the young were found most at risk for “definite” and “possible” injury, respectively, and men were more at risk than women. The findings reinforce ongoing efforts by the CDC to create a brain injury classification that more broadly encompasses traumatic head injury.

Celebrate Brain Injury Awareness Month in New York State with The Brain Injury Association of New York

As part of New York State Brain Injury Association (BIANYS), March  Brain Injury Awareness Month events, the association is hosting an event with the New York Islanders entitled, Brain Injury and Concussion Awareness Day on Sunday, March 4 at 3pm, at the NY Islanders NHL hockey game. BIANYS is able to offer tickets to the Islanders' home game against the New Jersey Devils at a reduced price, but tickets must be ordered in advance. Please visit the Brain Injury Association of New York State web site for ticket information.

Brain Injury Association of New York State-30th Anniverary Celebration

The Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS) is making plans for the celebration of its 30^th Anniversary this June at the association’s annual conference to be held in Albany, NY on June 5^th and June 6^th.  As a three term past president of the association I am proud of the leading role that BIANYS plays in advocacy for victims of brain injury and their families throughout New York.

As part of the 30th anniversary celebration, the association is asking members to tell them what the Association means to you, what impact the Association has had on your life, or a commentary on how the Association has helped someone in the community.

They will print comments in their newsletter and on the website. The Association is also collecting copies of photographs taken throughout the past 30 years for use in a slideshow at the Annual Conference in Albany on June 5 and 6. If you have photos from a BIANYS event you’d like to share, you can send them and your comments to Rachel Swire or mail to BIANYS at:  The Brain Injury Association of New York State 10 Colvin Avenue Albany, NY 12206  

Brain Injury: Anytime, Anywhere, Anyone--Brain Injuries to do discriminate

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has announced its 2012 Brain Injury Awareness Month Campaign to be utilized in conjunction with Brain Injury Awareness Month, March 2012.

The campaign theme and strategy is designed to have broad reach and is adaptable for all affiliates and communities. The new theme is:  Brain Injury: Anytime, Anywhere, Anyone. The supporting message is: Brain Injuries do not discriminate.

BIAA has developed materials to support the new theme.  The new flyer/poster and fact sheet can be downloaded by clicking here.

March 2012 is Brain Injury Awarenes Month

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) will mark Brain Injury Awareness Month this March with a campaign entitled “A brain injury can happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone”.  Details will be unveiled next week by the Brain Injury Association. 

A new approach to legal action against the NFL

Today's New York Daily News has a guest editorial authored by my partner, Shana De Caro and myself:

"Lawyers assert need for NFL to do more to address needs of players suffering from concussions"

The full story is below:

BY Sports Editor

By Michael V. Kaplen and Shana De Caro

As the New York Giants and the New England Patriots prepare for their Super Bowl showdown amid great hype and fanfare, another battle is being waged off the field which is not spoken about all that publicly.

While the National Football League's management of traumatic brain injuries has been duplicitous at best, the current groundswell of class-action lawsuits will neither provide essential assistance for brain damaged players nor protect those on the field.  

They do not redress the league's deliberate misconduct denying players' contract disability benefits, but rather aim to penalize the league for morally reprehensible conduct - failing to design safe concussion management protocol. Failure to acknowledge scientific evidence and institute proper return-to-play protocol is not equivalent to legal liability. The failure to fulfill the terms of a guaranteed benefit plan, however, does expose the league to liability.

Cumulative sub-concussive and concussive blows have left a wake of brain injured football players with lifelong consequences. Retired players question if they will suffer the effects of an untended brain injury. Each week, crowds roar, cash registers ring, and players are devastated by concussions. Current lawsuits ignore complex worker's compensation immunity issues, assumption of risk, and complications proving the time of suffering brain damage.

The Congress of Neurological Surgeons repudiated the misconception that concussion requires loss of consciousness more than 30 years ago. A National Institute of Health consensus statement on Brain Injury Rehabilitation in 1999 confirmed that traumatic brain injury has cognitive, behavioral, social and emotional consequences. The league continues to ignore the warnings and consequences of brain trauma despite these impartial findings. Players who deliberately ignore symptoms and knowingly assume the associated risks in exchange for short-lived glory must share in the responsibility for the current crisis. This bargain includes a long-term disability plan ostensibly intended to provide lifetime medical benefits and economic compensation. The league's intransigent and systematic denial of brain injury disability retirement applications precludes brain injured players from receiving these benefits.

The NFL has steadfastly refused to acknowledge the accumulated and overwhelming medical link between head trauma, concussions, and disability, in administering the league disability plan. Conspiring with their physicians, the league has engaged in a pattern of civil racketeering, wrongly depriving player's benefits, due process, and a full and fair opportunity to obtain disability benefits, including medical and rehabilitation care.           

The league should be commended for changes in concussion management, albeit precipitated by Congressional hearings, media attention, and threatened federal legislation. But there has been no redress for wrongful denial of disability benefits. Contract changes are vital to remove the disincentive for players to hide their symptoms. It is essential that concussion disabled players receive full contract and disability benefits.

Although brain injury is part of the game, players should not be doubly penalized. They must be assured of receiving necessary medical rehabilitation and future lost earnings. Appropriate and effective legal action must tackle the irrefutable, wrongful, and malicious league conspiracy denying disability benefits if the goal is to right the lifelong wrongs inflicted upon brain damaged professional football players.

Michael V. Kaplen is a Pleasantville lawyer who specializes in concussion cases and serves as chairman of the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council, an advocacy agency for concussion patients. He is also past president of the Brain Injury Association of New York State and past chair of the American Association for Justice, Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group. Attorney Shana De Caro is the treasurer of the American Association for Justice, Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group and secretary of the Civil Justice Foundation. They believe the NFL needs to do more to address the needs of players who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.

New concussions management standards issued by Canadian Paediatric Society

The Canadian Paediatric Society, has issued a new position statement stating that it is "vital" that athletes, coaches, trainers, parents and doctors be aware of the signs and symptoms of concussions and any child who sustains a head injury should be seen by a doctor as soon as possible.

To minimize the risk of concussions, hockey associations should ban hits to the head, checking from behind, or checking outright in younger age groups as well as fighting. The pediatrician's group is also discouraging parents from enrolling their children in sports such as boxing that promote "intentional injury to the head."

The CPS recommends a child or teen who has sustained a head injury should:

- Be removed from play immediately, not allowed to return to play that game, monitored closely for any signs of deterioration and not be left alone;

- Be seen by a doctor as soon as possible;

- Rest until all symptoms are gone;

- Not play sports, exercise or participate in any recreational activities until they have recovered;

- Limit reading, texting, watching TV, computer work or electronic games until symptoms have resolved; and

- Be cleared by a doctor before returning to school or sports.