Jun 25, 2012 | Brain Injury/Head Trauma, Uncategorized
Purdue University researchers have found support for the key element in the concussion case against the NFL brought by former players: “Repetitive blows to the head produce subconcussive injury and increase the risk of long-term brain damage and cognitive decline.”
This notion has been controversial and has been viewed with skepticism in past concussion suits, and to some extent in the media.
While it has been clear for some time that concussions can cause neurological changes that may greatly affect the medical and psychological futures of football players, the Purdue Neurotrauma Group has now discovered that the cognitive abilities of even football players who never suffered are damaged. Besides pure medicine, a goal of the researchers is to increase safety for football players and have helped in developing helmet technology that reduces the impact of each trauma.
-ScienceDaily (June 12, 2012)
Attorneys for Brain Injury: Reeves, Aiken & Hightower
If you think you or someone you know have suffered a brain injury, seek medical help immediately. Then seek the counsel of experienced brain injury attorneys like those at Reeves, Aiken, & Hightower. We know how to fight for you and your family in serious brain injury cases. Compare our credentials to any other law firm. Then call 877-374-5999 or contact us at this link for a private consultation. Don’t worry. We are here for you.
(more…)
Jun 21, 2012 | Brain Injury/Head Trauma, Uncategorized
It truly is amazing what people survive of these days.
Just a few days ago a Florida teenager’s head was impaled by a spear longer than 3 feet. The spear entered his skull 2 inches above his right eye and exited the back of his head. Amazingly, the spear apparently missed all major blood vessels in the teen’s brain.
The teen was awake during the entire accident, and was able to speak to the doctors before the surgery to remove the spear.
After the spear was removed, the boy could speak in short sentences and communicated that he was not in pain, but was worried about his limited ability to use his left side.
Brain injury attorneys: Reeves, Aiken & Hightower
If you think you or someone you know have suffered a brain injury, seek medical help immediately. Then seek the counsel of experienced brain injury attorneys like those at Reeves, Aiken, & Hightower. We know how to fight for you and your family in serious brain injury cases. Compare our credentials to any other law firm. Then call 877-374-5999 or contact us at this link for a private consultation. Don’t worry. We are here for you.
For the full story and quotes from the doctors see: CBS: Teen miraculously survives spear through his brain, speaks throughout ordeal.
Jun 20, 2012 | Brain Injury/Head Trauma, Uncategorized
Brain injury often results in various disabilities. The disabilities that result rather reasonably depend on the nature and severity of the injury, the location of the injury, and the health and age of the individual.
Common disabilities include problems with:
- thinking, memory, and reasoning (Generally cognition),
- the senses: sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell,
- the ability to speak, be understood, and to understand others, and
- behavior and mental health: individuals might suffer from a variety of mental health disorders or simply experience a personality change.
However, with more serious brain injuries, individuals may experience more serious symptoms:
- stupor: The individual is unresponsive except to the very strongest stimuli;
- coma: The individual is entirely unconscious, unresponsive, unaware, and unarousable;
- vegetative state: The individual is unconscious and unaware of the world, but unlike with a coma, the individual has a sleep-wake cycle and periods of alertness; and
- persistent vegetative state (PVS): The individual stays in a vegetative state for more than a month.
If you think you or someone you know have suffered a brain injury, seek medical help immediately. Then seek the counsel of experienced brain injury attorneys like those at Reeves, Aiken, & Hightower. We know how to fight for you and your family in serious brain injury cases. Compare our credentials to any other law firm. Then call 877-374-5999 or contact us at this link for a private consultation. Don’t worry. We are here for you.
Jun 19, 2012 | Brain Injury/Head Trauma, Uncategorized
Obviously, anyone who suspects their brain has been injured should receive medical attention as soon as possible.
After a brain injury the medical focus is on preventing further injury. This is because most often little to nothing can be done to undo the injury. Doctors will work on maintaining proper oxygen supply to the brain and the rest of the body, maintaining blood flow, and controlling blood pressure to prevent additional injury.
X-rays or CT scans will likely be taken to assess the injury. Whether your doctor will order an X-ray or a CT scan will depend on serious your injuries. A concern whenever there is a serious injury is that doctors, being squeezed by healthcare insurers will skimp on care. Since CT scans are so much more expensive than X-rays, the conservative treatment is to use X-rays.
Middling to more severe brain injuries will seriously life changing and injured patients can expect extensive rehabilitation involving tailored treatment programs in the areas of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech/language therapy, physiatry, psychology/psychiatry, and social support.
Approximately half of severely head-injured patients will need surgery to remove or repair hematomas (ruptured blood vessels) or contusions (bruised brain tissue).
If you think you or someone you know have suffered a brain injury, seek medical help immediately. Then seek the counsel of experienced brain injury attorneys like those at Reeves, Aiken, & Hightower. We know how to fight for you and your family in serious brain injury cases. Compare our credentials to any other law firm. Then call 877-374-5999 or contact us at this link for a private consultation. Don’t worry. We are here for you.
Jun 18, 2012 | Brain Injury/Head Trauma, Uncategorized
Unless you are a doctor (or an experienced brain injury attorney), you may not have a good idea of what a traumatic brain injury is or would mean for you or for someone you know.
A traumatic brain injury is a brain injury caused by damage from a sudden force, or other trauma, to the brain. These brain injuries usually result from a sudden collision with an object or when an object pierces the skull and touches brain tissue. These injuries can occur in a car accident, in a boating accident, on the job, skiing, or anywhere enough force is being through around. Traumatic brain damage is not always severe, but can also produce mild and moderate symptoms. A brain injury sufferer may not even know they have been injured, or the symptoms can be immediately acute.
What are the immediate symptoms? (remember this is neither medical or legal advice, see a doctor or an experienced brain injury attorney as appropriate). You might imagine that you would necessarily lose consciousness, but in mild cases, you may retain consciousness. In more serious cases, you may lose consciousness up to a few minutes.
Later symptoms for mild traumatic brain injury include:
- headache
- confusion
- lightheadness
- dizziness
- blurred vision
- tired eyes ringing in the ears
- bad taste in the mouth
- fatigue
- lethargy
- change in sleep patterns
- behavior and mood changes
- trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking
In moderate and severe cases, traumatic brain injury might show some of those symptoms and also:
- headache that gets worse or doesn’t go away
- repeated vomiting or nausea
- convulsions
- seizures
- inability to wake from sleep
- dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes
- slurred speech
- weakness or numbness in the extremities
- loss of coordination
- increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation
If you think you or someone you know have suffered a brain injury, seek medical help immediately. Then seek the counsel of experienced brain injury attorneys like those at Reeves, Aiken, & Hightower. We know how to fight for you and your family in serious brain injury cases. Compare our credentials to any other law firm. Then call 877-374-5999 or contact us at this link for a private consultation. Don’t worry. We are here for you.
Jun 9, 2012 | Brain Injury/Head Trauma, Car Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, Personal Injury, Uncategorized, Wrongful Death
I was on the way to work yesterday morning. The sun was out. It was going to be a light day at the office. Everything just seems better on Friday. Traffic was typically congested for that time in the morning. As I was about to change lanes, I observed, thankfully, a motorcyclist speeding and weaving through cars. Frankly, I almost pulled out in front of him. As a motorcycle accident attorney, I know full well what can happen when a car abruptly pulls out in front of someone riding on a motorcycle. Motorcycle accidents frequently result in serious personal injury, brain or closed head injury, and even death. I know. This is what I do. But here, in this case, the motorcyclist seemed to have no care or concern for his own safety. He was wearing all black clothing which seems to make him disappear in my rear view mirror. At least, he was wearing a helmet, but again, it was all black. He was not watching out for cars. Instead, he was darting in and out of lanes and coming dangerously close to moving traffic. He was also wearing a heavy book bag which can easily shift and cause a loss of control. Fortunately, he made it to his exit and left the interstate. I can only hope he made it to wherever he was going so fast.
Even though I represent injured and killed motorcyclists for a living, I would happily do anything else if only people would be safe on the road. Motorcyclists and their passengers are particularly susceptible to injury as they have no benefit of safety belts or airbags. Instead, in serious accidents, their bodies simply fly through the air until they land in the road or strike an object. And, they are propelled unprotected at whatever speed their motorcycle was traveling at the time of accident. Serious bodily injury and death are often the result. When I was an ICU Registered Nurse (RN), the motorcycle accident victims that I treated almost always broke bones or lost a body part.
Motorcyclists know they are never totally safe when on the road. However, to be as safe as possible, always wear bright colors with reflective strips for night driving. Always wear a DOT approved helmet with reflective strips. Always watch for traffic changes. And always anticipate bad driving by other drivers. Have an escape plan at all times. Know where you will go if someone pulls out in front of you or changes lanes without seeing you. Assume you are invisible to other drivers and never dart in and out of lanes. It is always safer, and frankly, more fun to ride alone. But, if you must have a passenger, instruct them before you head out how to ride with you and not against you. Keeping these basic safety tips in mind throughout your travel will help keep you alive and get you home safely. That’s all anyone wants. Ride to live. But live to ride again.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed in a motorcycle accident, please visit our website at www.rjrlaw.com to learn more about your options and our lawyers’ credentials. For a private consultation with any of our attorneys, please call us directly at 877-374-5999 toll free. Our practice is state wide. We will come to you. Try not to worry. We are here to help. This is what we do. Call today.
