Virginia Beach Personal Injury Lawyer - Head & Brain Injuries

Beacon House: A Sanctuary for Traumatic Brain Injury Victims

Emily Mapp Brannon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:59:31 GMT

Where do you go after suffering a serious brain injury and the life you used to lead has changed forever? You need help, but don’t know what to do or who to ask. Well, there’s a place in Hampton Roads that is providing assistance to nearly a dozen local people who have suffered from a serious brain injury and found comfort at Beacon House, a community-based clubhouse program for people living with the effects of brain injury, according to The Virginian Pilot.

At Beacon House, individuals can learn, or regain, skills necessary to live a productive and empowering life. Through contributing to every aspect of the clubhouse, members gain confidence and self-respect.

Many of these folks suffered a traumatic brain injury. A traumatic brain injury or “TBI,” is defined by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control as an injury caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States, 50,000 die; 235,000 are hospitalized; and 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department.

TBI’s not only effect the victim, but also their friends and family. Someone who suffered a TBI could endure behavioral and psychological changes that require constant attention and care. Some victims may even need assistance feeding and clothing themselves. It takes an emotional toll on everyone around them.

An example of this is the founder of the Beacon House, local resident Matt Buckley. He created the Beacon House to honor his wife, Mary Buckley. Mary was operated on at Sentara Bayside in 2004 for a routine bunion removal surgery. During the procedure, Mary’s heart stopped briefly and she was placed in a drug induced coma to prevent additional brain damage. Mary remained in a vegetative state for two years before she passed. Matt wanted to do something for other people who suffered like him. That is when he started the Mary Foundation and worked to get funding from local and state government.

The Beacon House is almost like a sanctuary for victims of TBI and Matt’s work should be celebrated. He endured a terrible tragedy, but persevered and is doing something to help numerous Virginians cope with the challenges of a brain injury.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (VA-NC law offices) edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Emily Mapp Brannon

Using Car Seats as Carriers, Mini Craddles Harms Thousands of Babies

Jim Lewis — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:46:55 GMT

Infant car seats save hundreds of babies' lives each year--when the seats remain properly installed in a vehicle. Using car seats to carry infants or hold them while doing chores or taking care of other children, however, injures or kills thousands of babies.

This scope of the problem with misusing infant car safety seats became clear this weekend when Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center orthopedic surgeon and researcher Dr. Shital Parikh told American Academy of Pediatrics meeting attendees that between 2003 and 2007, 43,000 U.S. children had choked, suffocated or fallen and been seriously injured when their parent or caregiver left them in car seats and placed the seats on tables, countertops, beds or other elevated surfaces.

Most of the injuries Parikh documented were head and brain traumas. He also identified broken bones in data collected by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Parikh explained, “When parents or caregivers place the infant car seat on top of a table or elevated surface, the infant can wiggle and end up toppling off out of the seat onto the floor, which can lead to severe injuries.” He also added that “another accident that can happen is the turning over of the car seat on to a soft surface, which can lead to suffocation.”

A report in Tuesday's Daily Press brings the tragic consequences of misusing infant car seats home. A former Newport News day care center operator will face manslaughter charges stemming from the choking death of 5-month-old baby in her charge on Feb. 4, 2009. The woman left the infant in a car seat an unattended for 10 minutes. At some point, the baby apparently squirmed around and got a strap from the seat wrapped around its neck.

The CPSC has issued several recalls of products marketed as combination infant car seats-carriers over the years. A better course of action might be to ban such products altogether.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law, and we have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injuries. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys have handled numerous head injury and brain trauma cases and, in 2000, achieved the largest verdict ever in Virginia for a brain damaged client. Our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC, and we are ready to talk to you by phone right now. We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services.

EJL

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

Head Injury Could Lead to Traumatic Brain Injury

Jim Lewis — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:47:00 GMT

If you’ve been involved in a car wreck or some other type of accident, you may have incurred a serious head injury which could lead to a traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately, brain injuries routinely fail to be diagnosed promptly and you could develop a permanent, debilitating condition stemming from the traumatic brain injury.

I’ve written articles about traumatic brain injuries and I’ve been a personal injury lawyer for over 20 years. Our firm, which deals exclusively with personal injury, has represented clients dealing with serious conditions stemming from these types of injuries. For example, we represented a client who had an engine valve hit him right in the head. The extent of his brain injury was not fully determined until visiting multiple doctors, including a neuro-psychiatrist.

Even if you haven’t been involved in a car wreck or some other serious accident, traumatic brain injuries can result from accidents in recreation. An estimated 300,000 sports- and recreation-related head injuries of mild-to-moderate severity occur in the United States each year, according to the Brain Injury Association of Virginia (VA).

Signs and symptoms associated with head injuries can develop immediately after the injury or can take days or weeks to appear, as mentioned above. Here are some tell-tale signs/symptoms to look out for:

•Headache
•Nausea
•Dizziness
•Blurred vision
•Sensitivity to light or noise
•Lack of energy
•Concentration or memory problems
•Confusion

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

13 month-old girl bitten by Pit Bull in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Emily Mapp Brannon — Mon, 04 May 2009 02:52:00 GMT

Friday evening, May 1, 2009 a 13 month-old girl was bitten on the head by a pit bull mix dog. News channel 13 reported that Virginia Beach, VA EMS transported the little girl to the local hospital via the Nightingale. According to police the girls injuries were not life threatening. Animal Control was called and is investigating the incident. The pit bull mix was the family’s pet.

Many dog bites happen with a family pet, it just so happens that this particular pet was a pit bull mix. Lately there has been much attention drawn in the Eastern Virginia and North Carolina area because of the pit bull attack and death to an Outer Banks, NC family's golden retriever. This was popular news because it fueled many comments from both supporters and those who feel a ban on pit bulls is necessary.

The incident on the Outer Banks happened in Kitty Hawk and many residents have prompted the local government to ban pit bull breeds. On the other hand, pit bull owners and advocates across the Outer Banks are speaking out on behalf of the breed stating that the fears against the dogs are unfounded.

No matter which side you choose to take concerning pit bulls there are precautionary measures that a family can take with any type of dog to insure safety for your children. The Animal Planet website has some great tips on keeping your children safe around dogs. Some of their tips are to always keep an eye on your dog when it is around your children. Adequate supervision is the parent’s responsibility. Never allow your child to tease your dog or bother it while the dog is sleeping or eating. Any dog should never be viewed as a toy but as an animal which may be unpredictable.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (VA-NC law offices ) edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, as well as the Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY, who handle car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Emily Mapp Brannon

Brain injury: A major problem in Virginia (VA) and Nationwide

Rick Shapiro — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:54:56 GMT

Brain injury is a major cause of death and disability of people under age 45 and a significant medical/legal issue in tort and insurance law today. According to the Brain Injury Association of Virginia (VA) 28,000 visits to an emergency room occur in Virginia (VA) each year as a result of traumatic brain injury. Across the U.S. traumatic brain injury (TBI) costs over 56 billion dollars every year.

Brain Injury Association of Virginia (VA) provides information to the Virginia Legislature on behalf of family members and people who suffer from brain injury. The organization also provides a toll free helpline for people to provide assistance in coping with this difficult and often misunderstood disease. Their toll free line is (800) 334-8443. According to the Brain Injury Association of Virginia (VA) website, there are over 151,000 Virginians living with long term problems from brain injuries. Because of the large number of members of the Armed Services in Virginia (VA) the issue is particularly important in this state. One of the main types of injury that our soldiers come back from Iraq with are brain injuries as a result of both open head injuries and closed head injuries from improvised explosive devices.

Attorneys handling personal injury and wrongful death cases in Virginia (VA) have become increasingly aware of the prevalence of brain injury in recent years. Clients can suffer life threatening and catastrophic brain injuries in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, slip and fall injuries, trip and fall injuries, bicycle accidents, off road accidents, medical malpractice accidents, and products liability cases like defective ladders. Each of these areas of these personal injury and wrongful death cases may well involve brain injury to the client. Knowing how to identify cases of brain injury and to properly handle them in a Virginia (VA) lawsuit is key to competent representation. To learn more about this subject, please visit our section on Head and Brain Injuries.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro

Brain Damage Possible From Open Wound or Closed Head Injury

John Cooper — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:43:11 GMT

There are three types of brain injury depending upon how bad the injury is. Lawyers who handle traumatic brain injury cases have to be aware of the medicine and science related to the different categories of brain injury.

The injury lawyer who handles automobile accident cases, slip and fall cases, and all types accidents may encounter either in a person with a closed head injury meaning no open wound or broken skin or in an open head injury where the exterior skin is damaged in addition to the brain inside the skull.

Types of brain injury used in the assessment by rescue personnel are called the Glasgow Coma scale which is looking at the initial apparent severity of the neurological damage to the brain. Where exactly a person falls on this scale may not directly determine the amount of permanent brain function loss or disability suffered by the injured person. Although the term mild is used for the first level, this is a misleading term because all brain injuries are real and serious physical injuries.

Mild traumatic brain injury typically means a brief period of loss of consciousness. The person may just be dazed and confused where this level of brain injury has occurred. The signs of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) include decreased cognition like the ability to focus and remember things. Other signs of mild traumatic brain injury include headaches, nausea and light sensitivity. Problems with fatigue and sleep disturbance are also typical of mild traumatic brain injury. Psychological symptoms include depression, irritability, anxiety, and mood swings. Balance problems may also be present in those having a mild traumatic brain injury. People who suffer moderate traumatic brain injury in an accident typically have longer periods of loss of consciousness up to two hours, confusion lasting up to a period of weeks, and some of the physical, mental and emotional deficits as described above for mild traumatic brain injury lasting for months or sometimes permanently.

Severe brain injury often involves prolonged unconsciousness or coma of a period lasting up to months. The different types of comas are defined based on how damaged the person's function is in terms of body movement, speech, and vision. Brain death can also result from very severe injury to the brain.

Although not all blows to the head will cause traumatic brain injury, the trauma may occur more than a lay person might imagine. The direct application of force from a motor vehicle crash, fall, or being struck with an object can damage the brain inside the skull. You can have traumatic brain injury which is caused not by a direct blow, but simply by the rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head typical in a car accident event wherein the rapid movement pulls apart nerve fibers causing damage to the brain. This mechanism is also the type of brain injury caused in shaken baby syndrome.

If you think that you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident, please contact a competent attorney as soon as possible to discuss what can be done, if anything, through an insurance claim and or the court system. Often it is not the person who suffered the traumatic brain injury, but a close loved one or companion who realizes that something is not right in the person's physical, mental or emotional status after and event like a car crash or fall. Getting in the hands of the correct medical professionals is essential to managing the sometimes long term effects of TBI.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Head and Brain Injuries.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Cooper

Brain Injury Verdict Among Virginia's Largest

Rick Shapiro — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:24:51 GMT

A woman was recently awarded 12 million dollars for a brain injury from a 2003 fall. The Hampton, Virginia (VA) jury made this large award in a slip and fall accident case.

The large multi-million dollar jury award is probably among the highest in the slip and fall/premises liability category in Virginia (VA) history, and the plaintiff was represented by Stephen Smith, of Hampton, Virginia along with Edward Scher of Richmond, Virginia who did a fantastic job representing the plaintiff.

As an injury lawyer handling these cases for 25 years in Virginia (VA), I know what a good job this attorney did. The defendant was a gas station/convenient store operator with multiple locations in Hampton, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and elsewhere throughout southeastern Virginia (VA). The store had allowed slippery algae to continue to grow unchecked on its sidewalk just outside the store creating a danger for customers.

Brain injury cases are among the most high stakes types of injuries that injury lawyers handle. The results of a brain injury can be so devastating causing life long problems including difficulty staying employed and having normal human relationships with others. In an appropriate case a Virginia jury will be very generous in compensating someone who has suffered a closed head injury also called a traumatic brain injury. Proving the injury which is often hard to diagnosis and demonstrate requires a very skilled trial lawyer. Our law firm has had significant experience in these kinds of cases. In fact the largest verdict ever in Virginia (VA) history for an individual plaintiff occurred in Manassass, Virginia (VA) in 2001 when our law firm teamed with Steve Smith (who handled the Hampton case above also) in representing a traumatic brain injury victim who had been hurt in a train wreck. To learn more about the real cases we have handled and some past results, please look at our law firm website .

The combination of a slip and fall with a brain injury is a very volatile combination which the insurance defense lawyers in the Hampton, Virginia (VA) case obviously failed to manage properly. Sometimes a jury in Virginia (VA) will be hesitant to hold a store owner responsible for their negligence, if there is a strong argument that the person who got hurt was partially at fault for their own injury. For this reason insurance companies are often stingier about resolving a slip and fall case fairly in states like Virginia (VA) that have contributory negligence as a complete bar to recovery. Insurance companies are also quite stingy in traumatic brain injury cases, especially mild or moderate traumatic brain injuries. Part of the reason insurance companies may not be willing to voluntarily pay a fair amount of compensation to a brain injury victim is that they often look fairly normal. To see them across the court room in a first impression you may not be able to realize a person has suffered post-concussive syndrome, closed head injury, or brain injury. The insurance companies hope that they can avoid paying significant compensation to brain injury victims because they hope that a Virginia (VA) jury's first impression may be that the person looks fine. For this reason they may be more willing to let a case like the Hampton, Virginia (VA) case go to verdict. Luckily for the particular client in question, the jury was convinced that the store was at fault, that she was free from fault, and that the brain injury was real and devastating. As a result of this big verdict, hopefully the next time that an insurance company is evaluating a slip and fall case with a brain injury they may be more reasonable knowing that a Hampton, Virginia (VA) jury was willing to arrive at such a large verdict on such a case.

Authored By: Randall E. Appleton

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro

New Methods to Detect Brain Injury Explained

Staff Writer — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:05:55 GMT

For the last several decades, doctors and hospitals have used a device called a pulse oximeter to measure the amount of oxygen in someone's blood during medical procedures and surgeries. The purpose of this device is to ensure that while the patient is unresponsive due to anesthesia, he does not suffer a brain injury because of loss of oxygen in the blood. The pulse oximeter is a device that is placed on the patient's finger and measures "systemic" blood oxygen to monitor brain function and prevent brain injury.

A new device has recently appeared in the medical community called a cerebral oximeter. The difference between a cerebral oximeter and a pulse oximeter is that the cerebral oximeter measures oxygen going to the brain itself, rather than "systemic" oxygen levels. This improves the medical community's ability to prevent brain injury during medical procedures that require sedation or total anesthesia to the patient.
In a recent brain injury study which examined over 2,250 patients, it was found that the incidence of permanent brain injury on patients that were monitored with a cerebral oximeter was less than 1%. While the incidence of brain injury in patients in patients who were not monitored by cerebral oximeter was over 2%. This significant breakthrough bodes well for the further prevention of brain injury during medical procedures in the future.
If you, a friend or family member is about to undergo a surgical procedure, you should be sure to ask your doctor whether or not he has a cerebral oximeter available and insist that he put it to use for your benefit. If he says that he does not, you may wish to ask him if he knows any facilities where this new device is available.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Man Dies of Severe Head Injury

Shannon Weidemann — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:26:07 GMT

A carpenter working on the University of Tennessee's new aquatic center died after suffering severe head trauma on the worksite. The 53 year old man was found at the base of one of the walls.

The Tennessee office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, according to Milissa Reierson, communications director for TOSHA.
Investigations take 4-6 weeks to complete, she said.

No details have been released about what happened, but police have taken statements from those at the scene and ruled it an accidental death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

New Court Decision Holds Hotels Liable For Many Criminal Attacks

Rick Shapiro — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 19:35:51 GMT

It is reasonable for the law to impose upon the innkeeper, and on the common carrier, a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect his guests against injury caused by the criminal conduct on the part of other guests or strangers if the danger of injury by such conduct is known to the innkeeper or reasonably foreseeable...."

In March, 2006, the Virginia Supreme Court announced a major decision that affects hotel and motel liability where guests are assaulted, injured or killed.

Many lawyers in Virginia had thought that there was very limited liability for hotels when a guest is assaulted by a criminal in a parking lot or other location. However, in this case, Taboda v. Daily Seven, Inc., the Virginia Supreme Court said that an innkeeper or hotel's liability is similar to the higher duty of care on a common carrier. The court reasoned that because the common carrier alone knows the condition of his vehicle and the dangers of the neighborhoods and environs through which the roots of travel may lie...., thus the higher duty applies.

The Virginia Supreme Court went on to state:

"It is reasonable for the law to impose upon the innkeeper, and on the common carrier, a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect his guests against injury caused by the criminal conduct on the part of other guests or strangers, if the danger of injury by such conduct is known to the innkeeper or reasonably foreseeable...."

The case noted that this innkeeper or hotel standard of care is higher than that on a landlord or business invitor. The Virginia Supreme Court went out of its way to state that notice of a specific danger under the concept of reasonably foreseeable danger does not require degree of knowledge of criminal assaults but the general concept of reasonably foreseeable dangers in general.

In this specific case ruled upon, the hotel guest was shot eight times in the hotel parking lot. He was walking from the hotel back to his vehicle in the parking lot while having just checked in. The court took note that the hotel had employed uniform security guards in the past, but had stopped doing so to save money. Also, in the prior three year period preceding the shooting, there had been ninety-six police calls to the hotel.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro