By Kevin Duffan, Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney in Virginia

An article in the 2011 Journal of Neurosurgery makes alarming reading for anyone concerned with preventing concussions and other brain injuries among football players, especially the athletes themselves. In the report, researchers present their findings that “leatherhead” helmets protected players in low- and moderate-speed hits as well as, and sometimes better than, modern plastic helmets. The only benefit for  polycarbonate helmets is sen in reductions of the most severe head and neck injuries from high-speed hits to the forehead and top of the skull.

The article’s lead author, Adam Bartsch of the Spine Research Lab at the Cleveland Clinic, explained in a news release that ”unlike cars, in which seat belts, airbags and crumple zones make the choice between a 1920′s Model T and modern minivan a no-brainer, these results tell us that modern helmets have ample room to improve safety against many typical game-like hits.”

As experienced Virginia (VA) traumatic brain injury attorneys, my colleagues and I have reported many times on the inadequacy of sports helmets for preventing concussions.  Apparent improvements in helmet technology have not prevented a dramatic rise in the number of  young people seeking emergency room treatment for mild traumatic brain injuries.

This video shows the evolution of football helmets:

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 John Cooper, Virginia Brain Injury Victim’s Attorney

As a parent of high school and middle school athletes and a personal injury attorney in Virginia (VA) who has represented numerous clients who have had their lives shattered by head traumas, I was equally encouraged and concerned when I read that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had discovered a 60 percent increase of emergency room visits for concussions in children between 2001 and 2009.

According to the CDC, 248,418 children were treated at ERs for concussions — also known as mild traumatic brain injuries, or mTBIs — during 2009. That number was up from 153,375 in 2001. A majority of the concussions were caused by bicycle accidents, though football injuries constituted the main cause for teen boys and soccer was a primary concussion cause for teen girls.

It is good to see so many parents and coaches no longer treating head injuries as just a child or teenager getting his or her bell rung. As my law firm colleagues and I have stressed repeatedly, even a seemingly minor blow to the head can have negative, lifelong effects on memory, concentration, emotional control and overall health. Immediate, effective and follow-up care are essential to helping any person of any age recover from a concussion.

I do remain concerned, though, because of the shockingly large numbers of youngsters — CDC considers the ages from birth to 19 years childhood and adolescence — who sustain mTBIs each year. Worse,  an athletic brain injury expert interviewed by the New York Times told the newspaper that as few as 1 in 7 concussions in children who play high-impact sports such as football and hockey ever get diagnosed and treated.

But, again, the growing recognition of the potential for and seriousness of mTBIs in children is a good thing. Concerted efforts are being made to improve helmets for everything from bicycling and skiing to football, and Virginia, North Carolina (NC) and 30 other states have enacted laws and regulations requiring education on athletes and concussions, as well as keeping kids out of competition until they are medically cleared.

A good place for parents, coaches and student athletes themselves to start learning about how to prevent and treat concussions is by viewing this free online video seminar from the CDC: Heads Up: Concussions in Youth Sports.

EJL

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, Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

New legislation to protect student athletes from the dangers of concussions is being implemented across the United States, with Wisconsin (WI) being the latest state to consider a bill.

Medical experts, concussion survivors and the head of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association are among those supporting a law that would develop guidelines on the risk of head injuries and provide new rules for young athletes who are hurt on the field of play, JSOnline reported.

The bill “would require new guidelines to educate coaches, athletes and their parents about the risk of concussion and head injury in youth athletic activities. Experts say the number of traumatic brain injuries among young people is on the rise,” JSOnline reported.

The new legislation would also require a young athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury to be removed immediately from the game. The athlete could not return to the field until he or she is looked at by a health care provider trained to evaluate concussion or head other injuries. The athlete should also have permission to return to the game.

Our experienced Virginia (VA) traumatic brain injury attorneys have reported on moves by a number of states to bring in legislation to protect athletes from concussion. Virginia brought in the Student-Athlete Protection Act in January 2011.

There are good reasons for these rules. Recently we reported on how a 17-year-old student athlete from Virginia (VA) committed suicide two days after he suffered a blow to the head during a football game.

High schools and youth sports leagues in North Carolina (NC) and South Carolina (SC) also recently implemented new rules intended to prevent head-to-head contact, returning too early from concussions, and limiting injuries from balls, bats and other equipment.

Our firm obtained the largest personal injury verdict in Virginia history as of 2000 – $46 million – in the case of a gas station attendant who suffered a brain injury and other injuries when he was trapped inside a partly demolished gas station when a Norfolk Southern train derailed following an incorrect switch position.

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 John Cooper, Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

A simple blood test may be able to determine whether athletes or soldiers who have suffered impact or concussive (i.e., shockwave) blows to the head haved developed a concussion, which is medically defined a a mild traumatic brain injury.  Working with federal funding, researchers with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio (OH), have begun a study in which they draw blood from football players immediately postgame to check for high levels of a protein called S100B. Blood concentrations of the protein increase when a concussion occurs.

Experts say the blood test for S100B, combined with other brain-health indicators, could help doctors track the long-term, health impacts of sports and help diagnose traumatic brain injury.

See this video about concussions:

The experienced brain injury attorneys with our Virginia (VA)-based law firm welcome any new test to diagnose head injuries from concussions suffered in sports. Recently, we reported on a college bound student wo committed suicide two days after suffering a concussion during a high school football game. Many other serious physical and mental health problems have been linked to concussions.

When coaches, parents, doctors and even injured people themselves fail to take head and brain injuries suffered while playing sports or doing any other activity seriously enough, liability for lawsuits may exist.

We recently reported that a lawsuit seeking $35 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages has now been filed in Norfolk, VA Circuit Court by the wife of a former police recruit who died during training after receiving numerous blows to his head.

To learn more about what you or a loved one can recover from a wrongful death and brain injury claim, check out our videos on the subject.
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 Rick Shapiro, Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

My colleague John Cooper has posted a new blog to our law firm’s Carolina personal injury layers’ website about a teenager who sustained a serious head injury when he fell off the roof of a moving car. The 17-year-old appears to have been involved in the dangerous game of “car surfing,” leading to his injury in a school parking lot in Gastonia, North Carolina (NC).

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 Rick Shapiro, Virginia Brain Injury and Bicycle Accident Attorney

My colleague John Cooper recently wrote on our firm’s Virginia personal injury lawyers’ website that bike accidents are on the rise in the state, with cyclists being harassed by motorists and distracted by pedestrians and skateboarders. John provided tips on how to stay safe and pointed readers to additional information about bike crashes in our online legal library.

LC

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 Brannon, Virginia Brain Injury Attorney

In his latest post to our firm’s Virginia personal injury lawyers’ website, my colleague John Cooper reports that two teens ended up in a hospital after suffering serious injuries in a DUI car crash. The 18-year-old driver had been drinking prior to taking the wheel. His passenger suffered a skull fracture and traumatic brain injuries when the car hit a tree.

LC

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.

LC

By Randy Appleton, VA Brain Injury Attorney

Common brain injuries such as concussions may raise victims’ risk for developing dementia later in life. My colleague John Cooper recently posted an article about a study on how brain injuries can result in dementia. Check out “Study: Dementia Risk Raised by History of Brain Injuries.”

MC

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, 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 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.

LC

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.