By Emily Mapp Brannon, Carolina Brain Injury Attorney

In his latest post to our firm’s Carolina personal injury lawyers’ website, my colleague John Cooper reports that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has joined with UK-based baby products maker Lifemarque to recall LittleLife Discoverer Child Carriers. The carriers designed to be worn on parents’ back can fail, dropping the infant in the carrier to the ground and putting the child at risk for head, neck, spine and brain injuries. To read more, click over to “Infant Carriers Recalled Over Fall Risks.”

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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 Jim Lewis, Birth and Brain Injury Attorney in Virginia

A Michigan teenager whose cerebral palsy, quadriplegia and other permanent disabilities appear to have been caused by the negligence of the doctor who delivered her at William Beaumont Hospital in Oakland County, MI, in 1996 has won a medical malpractice lawsuit against the health care facility and the obstetrician. The girl, who is now 15, is set to receive $144 million, which will come down to $130 million after legal fees and costs are paid.

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger told WXYX Action News 7 that the amount awarded represents no more than the bare minimum of lifelong care for the girl “at $12 an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for 77 years into future.”

Key to the successful resolution for the plaintiff in this medical negligence/birth injury case was showing that the doctor and administrators at the hospital were negligent in not recognizing and responding to risks to the newborn from a complicated pregnancy and delivery. The girl’s mother had developed gestational diabetes, and the girl’s birth weight was more than 10 pounds. Both problems indicated a caesarean section was safer than a vaginal delivery, but the c-section was never ordered nor performed.

Cerebral palsy often results from a mistake or negligence by the doctor or nurses attending a birth. As a medical malpractice lawyer based in Virginia (VA) who has represented several children and families whose lives have been made almost unimaginably difficult by preventable birth and brain injuries, I know that the pressures and costs of providing lifelong care for disabled kids and adults are unsupportable without compensation from the health care providers and facilities that caused the injuries.

I wish the Michigan teen and her family well and hope their burdens are now eased.

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 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 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.

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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 Kevin Duffan, VA Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

Plenty of evidence shows that helmets protect motorcyclists, athletes and people riding bicycles.

But a tragic accident in Hawaii (HI) has highlighted how head protection should be worn in other high-risk activities. Kameron Steinhoff, 21, died of head injuries following a skateboard accident this week, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Friends said the student was not wearing a helmet while skating on a street. The Medical Examiner’s Office said alcohol and drugs were not factors in this tragic accident.

The accident bears similarities to the death of a 16-year-old skateboarder in Loudon, VA, earlier this month. That skater was also killed after hitting his head while not wearing a helmet.

“I highly recommend all athletes to wear protective gear and to limit your actions to your ability,” Stephen Jefferson, the executive director of a Virginia skateboard project told the Loudon Times.

Last year our experienced VA personal injury attorneys reported on a highly preventable skateboarding accident in which a 14-year-old teenager fell off his skateboard and sustained head injuries on a pavement while he was being pulled by a car driven by a 17-year-old.

Traumatic brain injury and head wound victims often suffer side effects such as blurred vision, memory loss, and cognitive functions. They may end up needing 24-hour care. There have been numerous safety campaigns to highlight the importance of wearing helmets on skateboards, including a 500 mile trip on a skateboard made across North Carolina (NC) by Marion Karr, who suffered a brain injury on a bicycle, 30 years ago.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission notes skateboarders sustain about 18,700 head injuries a year. The figures are for 2004. Of these about 760 victims were hospitalized with more serious head injuries.

I grew up as a young kid riding skateboards, and we didn’t wear helmets back then.  Now, I realize that helmets really can and do save lives, and I will make sure my children wear protective gear when they are riding bikes, scooters, and skateboards.  Also, as experienced brain and head injury lawyers based in Virginia  the attorneys at our firm consistently emphasize the need for helmets to be worn and also for Helmet manufacturers to be mindful of whether their equipment is up to the job.

These manufacturers are under consistent scrutiny to improve their helmets to safeguard young people. But, notwithstanding any potential issues over helmets, the most dangerous course of action is not to wear one at all.

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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 John Cooper, Newport News Brain Injury Attorney

Full recovery is expected for an infant who suffered a skull fracture while under the care of a babysitter in Newport News, Virginia (VA). The child was just 8 months old when he suffered the traumatic head injury at the home-based day care operated by Savannah O’Berry.

The baby’s parents suspected their child was ill or injured after they picked him up on October 6, 2010, and the child began vomiting and stopped responding to stimuli. Doctors at a local hospital detected fluid on the baby’s brain and broken bones in his head. Surgery relieved pressure on the child’s brain before any permanent damage was done.

O’Berry now faces two charges of felony child neglect for causing or permitting the infant to suffer a life-threatening injury and for showing reckless disregard for human life. The former child care provider could serve 15 years in jail if convicted and sentenced to the maximum penalties.

Police who arrested the babysitter did not release details about how the baby’s skull got fractured, but statistics on the causes of serious head injuries and traumatic brain injuries indicate that a fall, drop or abuse (assault) may have occurred. Data also show that infants, toddlers and children younger than 4 years of age are the most likely group to sustain TBIs.

As a parent and personal injury attorney who has represented several families whose children have suffered TBIs, I know how distraught the parents in this case must feel. They put their trust in a day care provider only to see their baby put at risk for brain damage and a lifelong struggle with disabilities. The worst seems not to have happened here, but it is comforting to know that the babysitter who allegedly harmed the child is being held responsible.

EJL

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 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.

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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, 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 Randy Appleton, Head and Brain Injury Attorney

Virginia Tech mechanical engineering professor Stefan Duma has issued a call for an online, searchable database of information on how bicycle, football, hockey and other helmets get tested. The proposed database would also present test results for the products and allow users to compare different companies’ helmets, Duma said in an article summarized on our firm’s website. Duma noted the information he wants to collect and make public is currently controlled almost entirely by manufacturers and generated using standards that are in some cases nearly five decades old.

EJL

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 Injuryboardas 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.