Virginia updates in category: Head & Brain Injuries

Today, the New York Times continues what must be at least a two year series of reports on one of the hidden tragedies of the Iraq war- the growing tide of combat veterans who come home with...

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On June 23, a 59-year-old Fairfax physician sustained serious personal injuries after a dog chased after his bicycle and attempted to grab the back wheel. The man was caused to be launched over...

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Here's another sad story about the federal government trying to screw our brave, wounded soldiers who are simply trying to collect their disability benefits. A psychologist who helps lead the...

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Recent reports indicate there may be health hazards linked to lead in the artificial turf currently installed in schools, parks, and stadiums nationwide and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety...

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When representing victims of traumatic brain damage, I typically ask the treating physicians whether, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, he or she can say that, as a result of the head...

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On March 5 2008 I criticized the use by professional defense neuropyschologists of a controversial malingering test called the Fake Bad Scale See Fake Bad Scale Weapon of Defense...

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A recent hearing before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee highlighted the bureaucratic hell wounded war veterans are facing when they return home from Iraq. The mountains of Department of Veterans' Affairs paperwork and red tape encountered by veterans seeking medical care is especially problematic for those with traumatic brain injuries. Sadly, brain damage from improvised explosive...

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The Fake Bad Scale (FBS) is a bogus test created by Paul Lees-Haley to wrongly label personal injury claimants as "fakers." The FBS is junk science and should not be allowed in a court of law. Indeed, it violates the province of the jury by attempting to divine the credibility of witnesses. No test can act as a lie detector, which is how forensic defense neuropsychologists are trying to use...

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The American Academy of Neurology has expanded the definition of the acute or immediate signs of concussion. Symptoms of brain injury can be mild to severe with some symptoms showing up immediately and others not appearing until several days or weeks after the injury. The AAN categorizes the signs of concussion as follows:Immediate Signs of Concussion(Seen within seconds/minutes):* Any loss of...

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No matter how politicians view the war in Iraq, they all say publically that they support the troops. The signature injury of this war, brain damage, results in a host of symptoms including depression, suicidal ideation, and post traumatic stress. In opposing a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the government of illegally denying mental health treatment to troops returning from Iraq and...

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Researchers studying brain injury believe that people with unrelated social or cognitive problems may have something in common: a long-forgotten blow to the head. It is widely accepted that severe head injuries can lead to cognitive and behavioral problems. What is new, according to brain researchers Wayne A. Gordan, M.D. and Mary Hibbard, Ph.D., is the contention that there are many other...

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A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine represents the military's first large-scale effort to gauge the effect of mild head injuries -concussions (many from roadside blasts)- that some experts worry may cause a host of undiagnosed neurological problems. My last blog reported on a study concluding that undiagnosed head trauma is the cause of a host of later cognitive and...

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God willing, you will never be in a serious car accident. God willing, no one you know will ever be in a serious car accident. BUT, if you are, here are some important tips:1. Go to the hospital right away. A jury will think something is up if you wait a week or two - so go, just in case there is something wrong.2. Notify your insurance company - AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. 3. Do not give tape-recorded...

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On Tuesday, Rhode Island's Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of The Lead Hazard Mitigation Act (LHMA) which went into effect in 2005. The purpose of the LHMA is to reduce the hazards of deteriorating lead based paint to humans. Lead is a neurotoxin which can cause severe brain damage. Toddlers are particularly susceptible because they tend to put everything in their mouths and...

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Scientists studying traumatic brain injury from bomb blasts are finding disturbing news. The invisible surge of compressed air traveling from these blasts is causing cellular death in the brain that leads to symptoms like memory deficit, headaches, vertigo, anxiety, apathy, or lethargy that may not surface for months or years. This newly discovered brain damage at the cellular level can be...

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