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 Kevin Duffan, VA Brain Injury Lawyer

My colleague John Cooper reported recently on our law firm’s Norfolk Injuryboard blog site about the suicide of a Virginia high school student after a football concussion and the awareness brought to the lasting effects of sports-related brain injuries by lawsuits brought by former players against the National Football League.  To learn more about what to you or a loved one can recover from a wrongful death and brain injury claim, check out our videos on the subject.

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 Rick Shapiro, Virginia Tramatic Brain Injury Lawyer

The death of a 17-year-old college-bound student from Virginia (VA) two days after he suffered a concussion has renewed concerns about the links between traumatic brain injuries and suicide.

Austin Trenum of Nokesville, VA, had planned to enroll in James Madison University. Those plans became irrelevant, though, when he sustained a concussion in his final high school football game and, two days later, hanged himself. The Associated Press reported that Trenum’s parents are convinced a concussion that wasn’t taken seriously enough led to their son’s death and are donating his brain for research.

The death raises new questions about concussion awareness in sport, an issue our experienced Virginia TBI lawyers have written about in-depth. It is also the latest in a spate of suicides that have followed concussions in sport. Last year an autopsy on 21-year-old Owen Thomas, a captain of the University of Pennsylvania football team who committed suicide, revealed brain damage.

“We know that a concussion can be followed with depression,” Dr. Robert Cantu, clinical professor of neurosurgery and co-director of Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy told  the AP. “And depression can be serious enough that hospitalization is required in a small number of cases.”

BU researchers found that the college football player, Thomas, had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is also called dementia pugilistica because it’s associated with career boxers who have suffered repeated blows to the head. Earlier this year we reported on how CTE was diagnosed  in NFL football star Dave Duerson, who also took his life.

As awareness increases into the potentially fatal effects of concussions, schools and health care providers have to recognize the warning signs. In the case of Austin Trenum, staff at a hospital told his parents to “make sure their son had 24 hours of restful activity,” AP reported.

His parents later learned he should have had no stimulation at all. Failure to take these concussion related injuries seriously could leave hospitals and schools open to lawsuits. Earlier this year I reported on a $2.5 million lawsuit brought by a camper at a Virginia Tech basketball camp in Blacksburg, VA, who claimed inadequate facilities and supervision contributed to a severe head injury.

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

Other agencies, such as police departments, need to be aware of the dangers of head injuries. Recently we reported on how a lawsuit seeking $35 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages has been filed by the wife of a former Norfolk, VA, police recruit who died in training. The lawsuit alleges his death was the result of “repeated, violent blows to the head” by instructors that produced bleeding in the brain.

Our Virginia head and brain injury lawyers have handled many TBI cases including a 2001 case in which we secured $365,000 for a CSX locomotive engineer who suffered mild traumatic brain injury after he was hit on the head by a valve in an explosion.

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 pinned inside a partly demolished gas station when a Norfolk Southern train derailed due to 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.

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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 Rick Shapiro, Brain Injury Attorney

Companies that make helmets for young athletes could have just nine months to improve their standards if new legislation is passed.

If the companies failed to improve their standards, the Consumer Product Safety Commission would be required to set standards aimed at reducing the number of brain injuries sustained by athletes under the age of 18 , MedPage Today reported.

A bill was introduced last week in the House by Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-New Jersey (NJ). who is the co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, and in the Senate by Sen. Tom Udall, D., New Mexico (NM).

The bill would direct the CPSC to determine within nine months whether the voluntary safety standards for helmet-makers are adequate to result in reduction of the risk of injury. If the voluntary standards are found to be not good enough, the CPSC would have 30 days to set new standards for all football helmets that manufacturers would be required to follow.

The bill also would require manufacturers to post warning labels on helmets noting their limited protection capabilities, a date of manufacture, and the date the helmet was last reconditioned.

It would increase potential penalties for using false injury prevention claims to sell helmets and other sports equipment.

The bill notes that a football helmet’s ability to protect athletes from injury declines over time as the helmet receives hits. Many football helmets are more than a decade old, the bill said.

Sports are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI) for Americans ages 15 to 24, according to the bill. Every year, 3.8 million U.S. athletes suffer sports-related concussions, and football is responsible for more concussions than any other sport.

Defective and worn out sport equipment as well as conditions at a sporting facility can be a leading cause of injury and lawsuits against manufacturers.

Our firm has handled a number of interesting cases where parties were held accountable for sports equipment defectst. In one case in Virginia (VA) the manufacturer and the seller of a baseball pitching machine had improperly designed their product in such a way as to cause a facial injury to an athlete using the equipment.

Although high school football programs often take every precaution possible to protect their players, some programs may fail to protect players who have received concussions from playing in upcoming games. In other instances, players may not have sufficient helmets or could be put in a dangerous situation. If your child has been seriously injured while playing high school football due to a preventable event not connected with the sport, you should speak to a Virginia head injury lawyer.

DM

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.