Head & Brain Injuries

• CDC Reports Increase in Rate of Hospitalization for Traumatic Brain Injury

  Michael Phelan | March 06, 2007 1:43 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  On March 2, 2007, the Centers for Disease Control published an article in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Review (MMWR), entitled, Rates of Hospitalization Related to Traumatic Brain Injury---Nine States, 2003. The data reported by the CDC shows a significant increase in the rates of hospitalization for persons with traumatic brain injury. According to the CDC:"Traumatic brain injury (TBI)...

• Controversial Chairman of NFL's Committee on Concussions Resigns

  Michael Phelan | March 01, 2007 12:17 PM | 2 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Dr. Elliot Pellman, a rheumatologist, whose qualifications as the 13 year chairman of the N.F.L.'s committee on concussions have been questioned by brain injury experts, resigned Monday. His resignation follows recent articles in the New York Times about the devastating effects of concussions on retired football players and a October 2006 ESPN The Magazine expose which criticized the...

• Attorney Ford Interviewed on Infant Brain Injury

  Aubrey Ford | February 26, 2007 5:44 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  A front-page article in the Waynesboro, Virginia " The News Virginian" newspaper discusses a major case involving a traumatic brain injury to a child and includes an interview with the child's counsel, Aubrey Ford of Cantor Arkema, P.C. Ethan Holley, now three years old, suffered a brain injury in utero while his mother served as a Waynesboro police officer resulting from the negligence of...

• Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury

  Michael Phelan | February 24, 2007 4:00 PM | 2 CommentsRichmond, VA

  In 2006, ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff was an embedded journalist in Iraq. Mr. Woodruff sustained a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) when an improvised explosive device blew up the military vehicle in which he was riding. Some good for other TBI victims is going to come from Mr. Woodruff's tragedy. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA), Mr. Woodruff, and his family have teamed up...

• New Chemical Helps Prevent Brain Injury

  Christina Cole | February 21, 2007 3:22 AM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  Each year, approximately 1.5 million Americans suffer from a traumatic brain injury. About 30 percent of these people will die, says Dr. Bruce Spiess from Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia."There is no magic pill or treatment for traumatic brain injury in terms of salvaging brain tissue. There is no way that we know of now to keep brain tissue alive," Speiss said. The brain...

• Man Dies of Severe Head Injury

  Shannon Weidemann | February 14, 2007 3:26 PM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, Chesapeake & Suffolk, VA

  A carpenter working on the University of Tennessee's new aquatic center died after suffering severe head trauma on the worksite. The 53 year old man was found at the base of one of the walls.The Tennessee office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, according to Milissa Reierson, communications director for TOSHA. Investigations take 4-6 weeks to complete, she...

• Another Former NFL Star Says, "There's Something Wrong With My Brain"

  Michael Phelan | February 02, 2007 9:16 AM | 2 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Middle linebacker, Ted Johnson, was the captain of the New England Patriots in 1998 and 2003, and helped the Pats win three Super Bowls before retiring in 2005. According to a story in the New York Times, Mr. Johnson now forgets people's names, misses appointments and...can become so terrified of the outside world that he locks himself alone inside his Boston apartment in bed with the blinds...

• Cantor Arkema Prevails in Brain Injury Ruling

  Aubrey Ford | January 25, 2007 7:54 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Aubrey Ford served as lead counsel in a case pending in the Augusta County Circuit Court involving a brain injury suffered by the infant of a police officer employed by the City of Waynesboro. Augusta County Circuit Court Judge Wood ruled in favor of the infant in a very complex ruling on sovereign immunity. The case involved the serious traumatic brain injury suffered by the fetus of the...

• Suicide by Former NFL Player Linked to Brain Injuries

  Michael Phelan | January 18, 2007 9:44 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Sports fans were shocked to learn last November that hard-hitting former Eagles safety, Andre Waters, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The New York Times reports today that Mr. Waters's brain has been examined by Dr. Bennet Omalu, a leading forensic neuropathologist, who concluded that Mr. Waters sustained strong>brain damage > from playing football which led to his depression...

• Case "Vignette" Published in New England Journal of Medicine Contains Outdated Theories Concerning Concussion

  Michael Phelan | January 12, 2007 1:00 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  The January 11, 2007 issue of the NEJM contains a "case vignette" entitled, Concussion. Ostensibly, a case study about a 64 year old woman who fell on ice and hit her head on a sidewalk, the article reads like an HMO-authored attack on the alleged overuse of CT scanning. The article relies on outdated research and offers medical conclusions that have been long debunked. For example, the...