By Jim Lewis, Carolina Brain Injury Attorney

In his latest post to our firm’s Carolina personal injury attorneys’ website, my colleague Randy Appleton reports on a fatal moped accident in Piedmont, South Carolina (SC). Police determined that neither the driver of the motorbike nor the passenger who lost her life were wearing helmets. Randy notes that “no piece of safety equipment is more important than a helmet for a biker.” To read more, click over to “South Carolina Moped Crash Takes Teen’s Life.”

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About the Editors: The VA-NC brain injury lawyers at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injury cases. Our head injury attorneys achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain-damaged client in 2000. The initial award of $46 million rose to $60 million with interest when an appeal was settled confidentially. Check out our other case results to see our track record of success in brain injury and other lawsuits. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), along with an office in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. They have also been named Virginia Super Lawyers since 2010, an honor fewer than 5 percent of outstanding attorneys receive. To get more information about traumatic brain injury law and what to do after an accident, take a look at this free consumer guide written by a brain injury attorney who is licensed in VA and NC.

By John Cooper, Personal Injury Attorney in Virginia

My colleague Randy Appleton has written about a hit-and-run accident that occurred in North Lebanon Township, Pennsylvania (PA), and injured a teenager. The at-fault driver remains at large. Will the victim be able to pursue damages if the at-fault driver is never apprehended? Find out by reading this story: “Teenager Injured in Hit-and-Run Accident.”

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injury cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) but we also have an office in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our attorneys achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain-damaged client in 2000. The initial award of $46 million rose to $60 million with interest when an appeal was settled confidentially. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury lawyers also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against a possibly at-fault person or company that caused your injury, call our office at (800) 752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail. We will return your call.

By Randy Appleton, Carolina Brain Injury Attorney

Researchers at North Carolina universities say they have developed smart football helmets that can measure the force of a blow to help protect players from traumatic brain injury.

Teams at at the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences and at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center say the helmets will provide more protection to football players, according to the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

“The research is focused on future helmet design and rules to limit head trauma exposure and assist trainers, coaches, doctors and players for evaluation of a possible injury and to identify or rule out possible concussions,” the newspaper reported.

According to Daryl Rosenbaum, the lead researcher at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, these helmets will help identify players who have taken a major hit allow on-the-spot real-time evaluation for signs of a concussion, instead of  waiting for the player to notice something is wrong.

“We have submitted a proposal to Toyota to fund the use of helmet sensor technology in local high schools in order to study the effects of football-related head trauma. We just had the system installed at Wake Forest University and used the helmets during spring training,” Rosenbaum said.

Our experienced Virginia (VA) traumatic brain injury attorneys have reported on a number of moves in the sports world to tighten up the rules on concussions in an attempt to prevent long lasting brain injuries. Earlier this year we noted how major league baseball has issued a policy related to concussions and created a seven-day disabled list for mild traumatic head injuries. The policy dictates how concussions, which are sometimes called closed head injuries, are diagnosed initially and will be used to determine when players and umpires can return to the field following a concussion.

My colleague John Cooper reported on how high school baseball players in Virginia cities such as Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, VA, will have to use bats engineered more like traditional ones, with a ban on some types of metal bats coming into effect.

In January 2011, we noted the lack of public information on helmets in sports to help athletes and their parents to make an informed choice. We reported how Virginia Tech engineering professor and safety advocate Stefan Duma is constructing an online database that will show and compare the effectiveness of different brands of helmets.

We welcome any moves to safeguard athletes, given the serious dangers of long term brain damage we now know can be associated with head injuries out in the field.

DM

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injury cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain-damaged client in 2000. The initial award of $46 million rose to $60 million with interest when an appeal was settled confidentially. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury lawyers also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against a possibly at-fault person or company that caused your injury, call our office at (800) 752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail. We will return your call.

By Randy Appleton, Virginia Brain Injury Attorney

The issue of traumatic brain injuries sustained by professional athletes will be tackled on May 22 at a panel discussion in Virginia (VA). Paul Flatley, who is a former receiver with the Minnesota Vikings, will be part of the discussion on brain injuries in Richmond, Virginia (VA), pal-item.com reported. Flatley has said the tragedy of Dave Duerson, will be highlighted at the event.

Our experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI) attorneys noted recently how years of concussions sustained during a long football career may have contributed to a traumatic brain injury that led Dave Duerson to take his own life in February 2011.

After retiring the player remained active on panels that explored how knocks sustained to the head during games left former players struggling with problems such as dementia and Alzheimer disease.

New research has concentrated on a condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or “punch-drunk syndrome.” The dementia-like symptoms were recently highlighted in the Washington Post.

Increased concerns about concussions have led states to pass new laws to protect athletes at schools. Our Virginia (VA) personal injury attorneys recently reported on how new laws were enacted in Massachusetts (MA).

We recently highlighted how, also in Massachusetts (MA), schools are developing a test to recognize concussions in athletes.

As new data on concussions emerged across Virginia (VA), the General Assembly has also passed a new concussion law, requiring medical clearance for students to return to play. Under this law, a student-athlete suspected of sustaining a concussion “shall be removed from play.”

A student-athlete who has been removed from play is not allowed to return to play that same day until he or she has been evaluated by an appropriate licensed health care provider.

If you hit your head in an accident, sports impact, fall or physical assault, you may suffer concussion-like symptoms known as post concussion syndrome, for weeks or months afterward, while traumatic brain injuries can cause memory loss.

Mild traumatic brain injuries are less obvious that traumatic brain injuries, but a mild traumatic brain injury can cause permanent damage. There is a presently a growing body of evidence that these concussion-type injuries, if untreated, can lead to Parkinson-type diseases and dementia.

The heightened awareness of the dangers of brain injuries in sports has resulted in a raft of lawsuits in which victims have claimed institutions have failed to provide adequate care.

Recently we reported on a $2.5 million lawsuit against Virginia Tech’s basketball camp claiming inadequate facilities and a lack of supervision contributed to a teen’s head injury.

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injury cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain-damaged client in 2000. The initial award of $46 million rose to $60 million with interest when an appeal was settled confidentially. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury lawyers also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against a possibly at-fault person or company that caused your injury, call our office at (800) 752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail. We will return your call.

By Randy Appleton, Brain Injury Attorney

Rock Star Bret Michaelshas filed a lawsuit against a TV show and a network after he suffered a brain hemorrhage in April 2010. Michaels blames the Tony Awards Show and is filing a lawsuit against the show’s producers and CBS.

During the June 2009 ceremony, Michaels was hit in the face by a piece of the set that fell and knocked him over. Eight months later, he was having an intense headache and heard a pop in the back of his skull before being rushed to a hospital.

He suffered a near fatal subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is bleeding beneath the thin tissue covering the brain. The rock star recovered and returned to work. However, he had to cancel many concerts. Michaels is now seeking unspecified damages, according to examiner.com.

A cerebral hemorrhage can seriously affect a victim’s quality of life and cause deaths. In 2009 we reported on how the mother of a jail inmate was suing a health care company after her son died of a brain hemorrhage while incarcerated. Marvette Norman said that the death of her son would not have occurred if not for the of Correct Care Solutions, the health care company that looks after the medical needs of the inmates at Norfolk City Jail, Norfolk, Virginia (VA).  She filed a $5 million lawsuit concerning the death of her son.

Our firm has a long track record of representing victims with head injuries and traumatic brain injury. In 2001 we secured a jury verdict of $365,000 for a railroad engineer who was hit on the head by a valve on an engine. It was suspected that he suffered a closed head/brain injury, and he was referred to a specialist called a neuro-psychiatrist. The engineer suffered memory problems and he lost his job.

Our firm obtained the largest personal injury verdict in Virginia as of 2000 — $46 million, $60 million with interest — for a gas station attendant who suffered a brain injury and other orthopedic injuries when he was pinned inside a partly demolished gas station when a Norfolk Southern train derailed due to a wrong switch position.

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law, and we have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injury cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office  in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain-damaged client in 2000. Our injury lawyers also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Furthermore, we proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services. While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against a possibly at-fault person or company who caused your injury, call our office at (800) 752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail. We will return your call.

By Randy Appleton, Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

Concussion injuries are more common at schools than previously thought, research at a school in New York (NY) has discovered.

At Rye High School, an increased focus on preventing and treating head injuries has yielded alarming. results. Rye’s Concussion Management Team, which was formed last year, has found that all athletes are at risk from mild traumatic brain injury in just about every sport, lohud.com reported.

“We’ve found concussions in every single sport at this school,” said family nurse practitioner Tracy Barnett, a member of the Concussion Management Team.

The highest rates of concussion at Rye were found in girls lacrosse and cheerleading, almost equaling those in football, according to Barnett and Melissa Puterio, the school’s athletic trainer. Soccer, boys lacrosse, wrestling and basketball were other sports with a notable number of head injuries.

Concussion rates vary depending on the study, but football is typically followed by soccer and basketball with the highest incidence rates. Studies also find that female athletes suffer a higher rate of head injuries than males who play a similar sport.

Across the country new laws and tests are being developed to prevent athletes from playing on after suffering concussions.

We recently highlighted how, also in Massachusetts (MA), schools are developing a test to recognize concussions in athletes.

Players should also familiarize themselves with the symptoms of concussion. Parents should find out if their child’s school has a concussion policy.

A mild traumatic brain injury is not always detectable. But a mild traumatic brain injury can be anything but mild and can cause lasting damage.

Our firm has led the way in highlighting the dangers of concussion, pointing out a mild traumatic brain injury, can be anything but mild in its long term effects. We have worked closely with the families of victims and our firm obtained the largest personal injury verdict in Virginia history as of 2000, for a gas station attendant who suffered a brain injury and other orthopedic injuries when he was pinned inside a partly demolished gas station when a Norfolk Southern train derailed due to a wrong switch position.

As new data on concussions emerged across Virginia, the General Assembly recently passed legislation requiring medical clearance for students to return to play.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law, and we have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injury cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office  in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain-damaged client in 2000. Our injury lawyers also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Furthermore, we proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services. While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against a possibly at-fault person or company who caused your injury, call our office at (800) 752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail. We will return your call.

By Randy Appleton, Brain and Head Injury Attorney

Wearing a helmet on a motorcycle can reduce the dangers of spinal injury as well as traumatic brain injury, according to a new story.

The study from John Hopkins University looked at more than 40,500 accidents. See the full story here.

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law, and we have experience handling traumatic brain injury and general head injury cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office  in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain-damaged client in 2000. Our injury lawyers also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Furthermore, we proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services. While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against a possibly at-fault person or company who caused your injury, call our office at (800) 752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail. We will return your call.

By Randall E. Appleton, Virginia Brain Injury Attorney

Three percent of all serious accidents involving teens occur when the child crashes or falls from a motorcycle. While that percentage may seem small, it is significant that about one-third of those serious injuries occurred to the head, neck and brains of the injured teens. The numbers are from a University of Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the researchers concluded with a call for mandatory, universal helmet use. The need for helmets becomes evident when considering another statistic from the study: a quarter of teens who suffer brain injuries in motorcycle accidents end up disabled for the rest of their lives.

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm that  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  in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys have handled numerous head injury and brain trauma cases, and achieved the largest verdict in Virginia’s history for a brain damaged client in 2000. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services. While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against a possibly at-fault person or company who caused your injury, call our office at (800) 752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail. We will promptly return your call.