By Emily Mapp Brannon, Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

A study reported online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association revealed that people who suffer traumatic brain injuries are at high risk for having a stroke within 90 days of the head trauma. “Although previous research has shown that traumatic brain injury can be associated with the future development of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and psychiatric conditions, this the first study to link it to the future risk of stroke,” WebMD Health News states.

The findings were based on health records for 23,199 Taiwanese patients who had been treated for TBIs between 2001 and 2003. Compared with 69,597 people without a history of TBI, the brain-injured patients had a 10 time greater likelihood of suffering a stroke during the first three months of treatment.

As an experienced TBI attorneys based in Virginia Beach, VA, I find these results alarming but not surprising. Recently, my colleague John Cooper reported on a study of Vietnam-era U.S. military veterans that showed a brain injury raised risks for dementia.

Far too often victims of traumatic brain injuries in Virginia and elsewhere end up with further complications and few resources to help them out. For instance, when victims of brain injuries survive car accidents, it can be only the beginning of a nightmare with few residential treatment centers taking insurance or insurance failing to pay for brain rehab. Treatment only routinely gets offered to TBI patients who have money, workers’ compensation coverage or a lawsuit settlement.

In some cases there is help available to the victims. Another driver may be responsible for the injury or it could have been caused by the negligence of a sports coach or the inadequacy of a facility. In such cases a victim, or their family, can launch a lawsuit.

A brain injury from an accident is one of the most serious and life-changing injuries a person can suffer. If you or a loved one sustained head injuries in a car or motorcycle accident, check out our Frequently Asked Questions devoted to the subject.

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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 Kevin Duffan, Virginia Head Injury Attorney

In her latest post to our firm’s VA personal injury lawyers’ website, my colleague Emily Brannon reports on the disappearing spare tire.  These days, a car may have a smaller temporary spare or no spare at all because of fuel economy mandates and safety concerns.

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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 Emily Mapp Brannon,  Brain and Head Injury Attorney

My colleague John Cooper shares tips for protecting young cyclists on our Virginia personal injury attorneys’ website. During the summer more children are learning to ride bicycles, but taking safety precautions such as wearing a properly fitted helmet that conforms to safety standards and staying off roads with high posted speed limits are vital.

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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 Emily Mapp Brannon, Virginia Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

A new study of American troops who have suffered brain injuries from bomb blasts may help doctors understand more about traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs.

The study showed about a third of American troops who have suffered brain injury from bomb blasts “show immediate evidence of stretched and damaged nerve fibers at both the front and the back of the brain,” the Washington Post reported.

The study included MRI scans on 63 members of the armed services. They were all men with an average age of 24. They had been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury. Some of them suffered a loss of consciousness and post-blast confusion, as well as lacking memory of the event that caused their injury.

It’s unclear if these findings in the New England Journal of Medicine will help identify people at higher risk of depression, thinking problems and post-traumatic stress in the wake of a blast injury. Experts hope the study will shed some light on the complex world of TBIs.

“This is not a pregnancy test for TBI,” said Alicia Crowder, a neuroscientist at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, who wasn’t involved in the research, told the Washington Post. “This is a foundation block on which to build a body of knowledge. It is a piece of a puzzle.”

The wide range of symptoms of traumatic brain injury mean estimates of how many troops have been affected in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, vary widely. The researchers are still looking at what these results mean to those affected in the long term.

While the Defense Department estimates fewer than 50,000 troops have received TBI diagnoses either in the war zone or within a month of leaving it, a group of civilian researchers, say there may be as many as 320,000 sufferers.

Our Virginia (VA) traumatic brain injury attorneys have reported on a number of cases of soldiers who have struggled to cope with their injuries after returning from war zone. They include Harris Turner, 26, a  former Marine Corps corporal sustained several minor but lasting brain-rattling jolts from three tours overseas that led to brain injury. When he suffered a car crash in 2009, it exacerbated his combat injuries. He is undergoing rehab at the Alexandria VA Medical Center in Alexandria, Virginia.

Brain injuries are often misdiagnosed and are among the most misunderstood kinds of personal injuries. It can be difficult for a jury to sympathize with a victim because traumatic brain injuries can be invisible and non apparent.

But brain injuries can wreck lives. in 2001, our Virginia head injury attorneys represented a client who received a $365,000 jury verdict after a valve on a locomotive hit him on the head. While the effects of the injury weren’t obvious, this engineer suffered memory loss and a loss of cognitive function.

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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 Emily Mapp Brannon, Virginia Brain Injury Attorney

Any blow to the head can cause a concussion. Things to watch for are lingering or frequent headaches, dizziness, changes in mood or behavior, and blurred vision. To see a complete list of warning signs you have suffered a serious closed head injury that produced a concussion, check out our website.

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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.

By Emily Mapp Brannon, Brain Injury/Head Wound Attorney in Virginia

It is a side effect many people are not aware of. The perception of brain injury victims is that most suffer some type of memory loss or maybe a loss in cognitive function. However, a change in behavior can occur and lead to incalculable pain and suffering for the victim and loved ones.

Take, for example, Sandy Tyler. Her son suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2006 after a serious car wreck. As a result, her son lost virtually all control of his impulses. One moment, he would be fine. The next moment, he would punch and kick his mother. The son was put into a nursing home but was kicked out for attacking a patient, according to The Virginian-Pilot. Now, Mrs. Tyler is struggling to find a good place for her son.

Unfortunately, the people who rely on Medicaid suffer a rude awakening when they discover that brain injury victims with behavioral disorders routinely wind up in nursing homes or local jails. The facilities that specialize in treating people with brain injuries are typically privately owned so Medicaid will not cover their cost.

“There is virtually no system of care for individuals with behavior problems resulting from a head injury who cannot afford private care,” according to the Virginia Brain Injury Council. “As a result, such individuals may be placed in a nursing home or incarcerated in a local jail or state prison, where the person is unlikely to receive needed services.” 

The Pilot article mentioned that people who have a lawsuit settlement are better able to find suitable care for their loved one. This is why it is so critical for you to consult with an attorney if you or your loved one suffered the brain injury in an accident caused by the carelessness of another person or company. A portion of a brain injury claim settlement or jury award may be used to cover the enormous medical expenses that routinely accrue because of these life-altering injuries.

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 in based 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 a pro bono public information service.  While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against the at-fault person or company who caused your injury, call our office at 1-800-752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail and we will promptly return your call.

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By Emily Mapp Brannon, Brain Injury Lawyer in Virginia

When an airplane crashes, the result is routinely loss of life or serious, debilitating injuries. The plane accident in San Andres, Colombia was no different. An 11-year-old girl suffered a traumatic brain injury and a 72-year-old woman was killed, according to the Associated Press.

Authorities do not know the exact cause of the plane wreck, but it did occur in the midst of a thunderstorm. There is some speculation that a shift in wind may have attributed to the accident.  

This crash highlights just how dangerous it is to navigate a plane in bad weather, especially a serious storm. Not only are winds a concern, but you also have to combat with rain and lightning.

Large portions of the plane broke apart during the crash and it is a miracle that only a limited number of people were seriously injured or killed. There were 131 passengers on board the airplane and 51 were taken to the hospital. Of course, that does not lessen the pain the 11-year-old girl and her family is going through at this moment. Her life may be changed forever due to the brain injury.

Investigators should be able to determine what exactly caused the plane wreck within three to four months. It is important to find out what happened because if the crash was not directly caused by the storm, but rather a mechanical error or negligence, the families of the 11-year-old girl and 72-year-old woman deserve to know.

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 in based 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 a pro bono public information service.  While not every brain injury case meets our criteria, if you or a loved one is thinking about taking legal action against the at-fault person or company who caused your injury, call our office at 1-800-752-0042 for a free consultation. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, be sure to leave a voicemail and we will promptly return your call.