By Mark Favaloro, Virginia Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

A new report reveals that college athletes may find it more difficult to learn after head injuries sustained on the field. Football and hockey players in particular have shown post-season declines in learning, the study shows.

Conducted at Virginia Tech, Dartmouth and Brown University, the study shows a connection between head injuries and academic performance in collegiate athletes. These athletes wore special helmets that measured impact of hits to the head for a season, and then were tested post-season for mental function. Shockingly, 24% of football and hockey players performed poorly on these tests. None of the athletes had a history of concussions.

This study shows just how dangerous impact can be on the human brain, even when proper safety equipment is utilized. Contact sports can be rough on young minds – the average athlete in this study took approximately 450 blows to the head each season.

Though this particular study only lasted for a short time and is not conclusive by any means, parents of young athletes should consider it food for thought. Imagine if your youngster begins playing a contact sport at 8 or 9. Ten years later, if they’re playing at a collegiate level, they’ll have had a decade of consistent blows to the head. Who knows just how much damage might have been caused, or how much of the ability to learn might have been lost?

Our experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI) attorneys noted recently how many years of concussions can take a toll on the brain. 

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

By Randy Appleton, Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney in Virginia

A collision with a car on Bainbridge Boulevard in Chesapeake, Virginia (VA), left a bicyclist with a fatal traumatic brain injury. According to the Virginian-Pilot, the accident occurred at the on ramp to Military Highway, and the car was driving in the same direction as the bike rider before the bicyclist hit the side of the vehicle.

The man thrown from the bicycle was declared brain dead at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, and his family has agreed to have his organ donated.

View a larger map of the Bainbridge Boulevard intersection where a bike rider died after colliding with a car in Chesapeake, VA.

The newspaper did not indicate whether the 20-year-old who lost his life was wearing a helmet, but the detail about the driver following the bicyclist is potentially telling. While police have not filed charges in relation to the wreck, the only way it seems possible for a bike rider to hit the side of a car that had been behind him was if the car’s driver turned in front of the bicyclist.

No one can know for sure whether that is what happened until the police complete their investigation into the deadly accident. Still, as a Virginia personal injury and wrongful death attorney who has helped many victims of car accidents, I know that far too many bicyclist, motorcyclists and scooter riders are hit and injured or killed by drivers whose only explanation is “I didn’t see them.” That is never an acceptable excuse.

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

By Jim Lewis, Virginia Attorney for TBI Victims

A collision with a car on Jefferson Avenue in Newport News, Virginia (VA), left a motorcycle rider hospitalized in critical condition with a traumatic brain injury. The accident occurred at around 9:30 pm on April 27, 2012, near the intersection with Hogan Drive.

Police continue to investigate the crash, but officials told reporters that the driver of the car the motorcyclist hit was traveling toward the bike rider and attempted to make a left-hand turn just before the accident. Left for police to determine is whether the motorcyclist was speeding or operating unsafely, or whether the person behind the wheel of the car failed to yield right of way.

Media reports did not indicate whether the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet.

View a larger map of where a motorcycle-car crash in Newport News, VA, left a biker with a life-treatening TBI.

What is undeniable, though, is that yet another motorcycle rider wound up with a TBI after a car or truck turned in front of him. As a Virginia personal injury attorney who has assisted victims of motorcycle accidents and brain injury victims, I have seen too often the terrible aftermath of collisions resulting from drivers failing to watch out for people on bikes when turning or changing lanes.

I wish the biker hurt in this crash a full and speedy recovery.

EJL

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

By Jim Lewis, Virginia Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney

The cause of an accident at the intersection of E. Water and 4th streets in Charlottesville, Virginia (VA), has yet to be determined, but the outcome was decidedly dire for one man. According to police reports, a scooter rider was thrown from his motor bike when he collided with an SUV and suffered life-threatening head and brain injuries when he landed on the pavement.

Apparently, the scooter rider’s helmet was not properly secured, and it came off at some point after the crash, leaving the man’s skull unprotected.

View Larger Map

Police could not immediately determine whether the SUV driver or scooter operator had the right of way. Regardless of who was at fault, drivers, motorcyclists, bicyclists and scooter riders can take two important lessons from the accident. The first is that anyone approaching or entering an intersection must watch for motor bikes. Two-wheelers can be difficult to see, especially for people behind the wheel of large vehicles like SUVs, vans and trucks. But “I didn’t even see them” is never an acceptable explanation or excuse for hitting and injuring a person on a motorcycle, bike or scooter.

The even more important lesson is that while helmets absolutely save lives and prevent injuries, the safety equipment only works if it is used properly. When putting on a bike helmet or a motorcycle helmet, make sure it fits tightly without causing discomfort and does not obscure your vision. Also snap the chin strap securely.

EJL

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

By Randy Appleton, West Virginia Brain Injury Attorney

A bike accident in Putnam County, West Virginia (WV) that sent an 11-year-old girl to a nearby hospital with injuries has brought charges of criminal neglect against the child’s father. According to police reports, a car collided with the girl as she was riding along heavily traveled Mount Vernon Road in the town of Teays Valley during the evening of March 22, 2012. The youngster was trapped under the car’s bumper and dragged several feet before the driver could stop.

The girl was not wearing a helmet, which is required safety equipment for any bicyclist younger than 15 years of age in West Virginia. While the child does seem to have been spared a brain injury, the high risk for that outcome and the fact that her parents were not supervising her at the time of the accident led police to file charges against the father.

View a larger map of where a car struck and injured an 11-year-old girl in Teays Valley, WV.

The driver who hit the bike rider and caused the girl significant bruising and scrapes was not cited for a traffic violation. That would not necessarily prevent the injured child’s parents from filing a personal injury claim, especially if signs of physical or mental disabilities persist or appear over time.

But what strikes me as the real story here, as an attorney who has represented both children and adults who have suffered traumatic brain injuries, is that any parent would allow a child to ride a bike while not wearing a helmet. Head protection is required by law because helmets absolutely save bicyclists’ lives. Regardless of the outcome of the criminal neglect case against this girl’s father, I see it as a very good sign that police take the West Virginia bike helmet requirement so seriously.

EJL

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

By Emily Mapp Brannon, Virginia TBI Attorney

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and March 21, 2012, is Brain Injury Awareness Day. On that date, an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Brain Injury Association of America and its Congressional Brain Injury Task Force focused on “ensuring access to care for the millions of Americans living with brain injury.”

According to brainline.org, a person suffers a traumatic brain injury every 19 seconds in the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1.7 million people get diagnosed with a TBI each year. Falls are the leading cause of serious brain injuries, which account for more than a third of all brain injuries. The next most common cause of TBI? Car crashes and traffic-related incidents.

As Virginia (VA) brain injury attorneys, my colleagues and I see too often how victims’ lives change after head and brain trauma. By highlighting the dangers associated not only with sports, but also with accidents like falls and car wrecks, we can make sure brain injuries are properly diagnosed and treated quickly and appropriately. Left unresolved a brain injury can cause permanent disability, unemployment, homelessness depression and suicide.

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

By Randy Appleton, Brain Injury Attorney in Virginia

Study findings published in the journal Brain Injury reveal that concussions are particularly harmful for teenagers. While concussions — common among soccer, football and rugby players —  have been known to cause long-term damage, most coaches until recently referred to the injuries as “getting your bell rung” and encouraged student athletes to walk it off.

Now, evidence is overwhelming that concussions negatively affect teens’ working memory, the mental processes that allows students to retain and use information for short periods. This ability is critical to learning. When student athletes are concussed, they frequently deal with the memory problems for up to a year afterwards. Worse, repeated concussions dramatically change athletes’ brains, leading in the worst cases to personality changes and dementia.

Even mild traumatic brain injury cannot be underestimated. Safety equipment can protect athletes to some degree, but parents of student athletes should understand the constant risk of concussion with or without protection. As more research is conducted about the long-term effects of concussions, we get a better idea of just how such brain injuries affect everything from memory to personality.

Be on the lookout for signs of a concussion in your child.

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

By Rick Shapiro, Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney in Virginia

A man who became permanently disabled after falling backwards off a Segway during a company-sponsored demonstration of the two-wheeled motorized scooter and sustaining a traumatic brain injury has won a $10 million jury award in Connecticut (CT). Evidence presented at trial showed that Segway representatives allowed the man to ride the vehicle through an obstacle course while blindfolded and without wearing a helmet. According to the brain injured man’s attorneys, Robert B. Adelman and Neil Sutton, the company reps brought no helmets to the demonstration at all.

As this clip from The Ellen DeGeneres Show indicates, crashing and falling from a Segway is surprisingly easy:

The talk show host suffered no injuries, but the man in this case sustained a TBI and brain damage that forced him to drop out of college just one year shy of earning his bachelor’s degree. During the trial, the brain damaged man’s lawyers emphasized the neglect and recklessness Segway reps showed in not providing helmets and the loss of future earnings and quality of life for their client, who now works as a low-paid handyman.

As a Virginia (VA) personal injury attorney whose firm often represents traumatic brain injury victims, I have seen firsthand how a closed head injury can adversely affect a person for a lifetime. I also know that no person on a motorized scooter should ever ride without a helmet, let alone be allowed by a responsible party like a Segway representative to operate the vehicle while not having his or her head protected. No one should ever suffer a TBI due to another person’s negligence.

EJL

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

By Randy Appleton, Brain Injury Victims’ Attorney in Virginia

An attorney with the Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton law firm has published an article discussing how important it is for traumatic brain injury victims to hire a law firm whose lawyers have experience handling serious brain injury cases. To learn more, take a look at “Brain Injury Specialists in Virginia Beach Understand How to Handle TBI Claims.”

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

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By Kevin Duffan, Virginia Brain Injury Attorney

A new study has revealed the dangers associated with heading balls on the soccer field. Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that repeatedly hitting a soccer ball with one’s head increases the risk for brain injury and cognitive impairment.

The researchers studied 38 amateur soccer players who had played the sport since they were children. They were asked how many times they headed the ball in the past year. Then, the researchers ranked the players based on heading frequency and compared their brains images. What did they find? That frequent headers showed brain injury akin to that of patients with concussions.

Because soccer is such a popular sport, parents across the country need to consider this study before allowing their children to play. Some 18 million Americans play soccer, and 78 percent of them are children. This news could potential affect millions of young athletes across the country.

Brain injuries cannot be taken lightly. The researchers said many of the effects of heading injuries aren’t noticed by parents, or even doctors. Because the effects can be so long term, they are often misdiagnosed. “The impairment will not be immediate and can easily be attributed to other causes like ADHD or learning disabilities,” said Dr. Michael Lipton, associate director of Einsteins Gruss Magnetic Resonance Reseach Center.

The purpose of this article is not to create panic, or have parents pull their children out of youth soccer league, but parents should be informed about all of the risks associated with the sport. Heading the ball is an essential part of the game, and is unlikely to be eliminated despite safety concerns. The study shows even heading the ball once and a while  may cause long-term damage, especially at the higher levels where the ball is traveling up to speeds of 34 mph.

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