Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

Soccer: Is heading the ball safe?

The increased attention this week on the World Cup has also focused renewed questions on the safety of heading the ball in soccer.  The New York Times on line edition has published an interesting debate today on this issue. When to Use Your Head

 

Traumatic Brain Injury Act unanimously passes U.S. House of Representatives

Late last evening the United States House of Representatives unanimously approved passage of H.R. 1098, the Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization (TBI) Act of 2013. 

Approximately 2.5 million Americans experience TBI each year and an estimated 5.3 million Americans are living with long-term, severe disabilities as a result of brain injury.

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) and its executive director, Susan Connors as well as the leaders of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr. and Tom Rooney all need to be thanked for their hard work in passing this important legislation.

Originally passed in 1996 and reauthorized in 2000 and 2008, the TBI Act represents a foundation for coordinated and balanced public policy in prevention, education, research, and community living for people with TBI. The TBI Act specifically allocates federal funds for programs supporting individuals with brain injury to federal agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institute for Health (NIH) and the Health Resources Administration (HRSA).

BIAA and other TBI Act stakeholders are continuing to work with the United States Senate to introduce a companion bill.

Major study of brain injury rehabiliation services-Researchers needed

How much rehabilitation should adults with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) receive, in what setting, and at what time?

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has partnered with the Brain Injury Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to answer these questions. Clinicians with expertise in post-acute rehabilitation are needed to participate in a three-year investigation beginning July 1, 2014.

Individuals who sustain TBIs rarely have access to rehabilitation of sufficient timing, scope, duration, and intensity that would allow them to recover to the maximum extent possible. That's because treatment decisions are controlled by payers - insurance companies and public policymakers - instead of by doctors, patients, and family caregivers. When a person's care is delayed, discontinued, or denied altogether, the result is often increased re-hospitalization rates and greater levels of disability. This creates a cycle of joblessness, homelessness, and dependence on public programs.

BIAA and Mount Sinai are addressing this problem through the development and widespread distribution of Guidelines for the Rehabilitation and Disease Management of Adults with Moderate to Severe TBI. The goals of this project are to:

1.Identify and fully describe the continuum of care available following TBI;

2.Determine the evidence for various rehabilitative treatments and, based on that evidence and/or expert opinion, make recommendations for treatment and management in various settings;

3.Produce a document that supports improvements in the quality and consistency of rehabilitation treatment; and

4.Broadly disseminate the recommendations to payer, provider, patient and advocacy communities in an effort to increase access to and quality of care.

Fifty of the nation's top researchers and clinicians are needed to review and assess evidence in functional, medical, cognitive, behavioral, and social domains. If you have expertise in any one of these subject areas and are interested in serving on one of the panels, you can send your CV to Marianna Abashian, BIAA Director of Professional Services.  Indicate which panel interests you. Panels have limited membership. 

TBI and the Juvenile Justice System Webinar

 The HRSA Traumatic Brain Injury Technical Assistance Center has scheduled a Webinar: Children & Youth with TBI: Diversion Programs and Proper Identification and Treatment After Entering the Juvenile Justice System

June 17, 2014  at 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. ET

The webinar will address the following questions:

How do you help a child with an undetected TBI who has entered the juvenile justice system because of behavioral problems? What do juvenile justice personnel, courts, schools, and others need to know to be able to detect a TBI and refer them for appropriate treatment? What are the legal implications?

The webinar will focus on the following topics:

•         National efforts to address the school to prison pipeline

•         Barriers and challenges for youth with TBI in the juvenile justice system, including what happens when they are misidentified or improperly evaluated

•         What HRSA’s Protection and Advocacy (P&A) grantees are doing across various states to divert children from the juvenile justice system and make sure that youth with TBI get referred for appropriate screening and treatment

•         Individual justice planning tools that P&As and others can use to divert children and youth from the juvenile justice system and alternative sentencing options                               

RSVP by clicking here                          

On line discussion of the crisis of sports concussions

I have been invited to share my thoughts following my participation at the White House Healthy Kids and Safe Sports Concussion Summit Sports

This afternoon, at 12:30 PM (eastern time), I will be a gues of Ed Berliner on his internet news show, "Mid Point"-NewsMax TV to discuss the crisis of sports concussions.  you can access the show by clicking here.

President Obma's inaugural concussion summit presented a watershed moment in valdiating and tackling the public health crisis of the long-term hazards posed by concussions in sports and its ramifications.

Now, we need to seize upon the president's iniative and move forward with a national plan to address the crisis of concussion in sports and take all the steps necessary to prevent, preventable brain injuries from occuring and provide the needed support and care to children and adults once a brain injury does take place

 

Centers for Disease Control Concussion App

CDC's Heads Up app helps parents and others learn how to spot the signs and symptoms of a concussion and explains what to do if they think their child or teen has a concussion or other serious brain injury. The app also includes information on selecting the right helmet for an activity and other detailed helmet safety information.

Download the CDC Heads Up Concussion App by clicking here

Sports Concussion Summit-Listen this Sunday when I share my thoughts with Bob Salter on WFAN

Last Thursday, I joined President Obama at the White House for his Summit on Youth Sports Concussions. I will be discussing my thoughts about the new sports concussion initiatives and the need for comprehensive federal legislation this Sunday morning at 7 AM with Bob Salter on WFAN Radio 66 AM, 101.9 FM  You can listen to a live stream of my interview on Sunday by clicking here.