California Injury Attorney Blog

Recently, we posted on the serious dangers of what is called mild traumatic brain injury. These injuries are not visible on an MRI, but can cause life long impairments in adults and children. Now the CDC has issued a statement that even mild traumatic brain injuries can result in life-long impairments.

As brain injury lawyers having represented the victims of MTBI, we are well-aware of the dangers of these injuries and the need for the public to be aware of them. As noted by the CDC, "symptoms may appear mild, but the injury can lead to significant life-long impairment affecting an individual′s memory, behavior, learning, and/or emotions."

The CDC's statement about these brain injuries was part of a release of some sobering statistics about US youth and brain trauma. The CDC reports that over the past decade, head injuries resulting in emergency room visits have risen by 60 percent. These head injuries are mainly due to accidents involving kids playing football, soccer, and basketball, riding bicycles and playground activities.

As California personal injury attorneys , we are very aware of the devastating effects these injuries can have. And the numbers are rising. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2001 there were over 150,000 cases of traumatic brain injury in American youth. But the numbers climbed to nearly 250,000 in 2009.

The agency attributes this rise in head injury emergency room visits to greater awareness for both parents and sports coaches who now know that these injuries can be subtle and devastating at the same time. Perhaps the recent press reports regarding the long-term impact of these injuries for professional football players, for example, have also raised awareness.

The CDC also notes that children are more vulnerable to these injuries due to the chemical changes that occur in the developing brain after an injury. The majority of these injuries are occurring in boys. The primary age span is from 10 years to 19 years of age. Not surprisingly, boys are getting injured with more frequency in football and girls in soccer.

Football accounts for nearly 60 percent of the deaths that have resulted from traumatic injuries over the past 20 years. Over ten percent of the deaths that resulted from football were said to have been caused by kids going back into a game after a concussion. This has led over 20 states to require students to stay out of games after a head injury to ensure for their safe return to the field.

The San Francisco, California injury law firm of Hersh & Hersh provides free consultations with one of our experienced attorneys to evaluate your potential case. If you or your child have been injured and believe you might have suffered any form of traumatic brain injury, please contact our law firm to talk with us about your situation.

As California brain injury lawyers, we have represented victims and families dealing with the devastation of head injuries. These injuries can range from mild traumatic brain injury which can itself have devastating symptoms, to traumatic brain injury which can result in tragic medical consequences. The word "mild" does not actually mean that the symptoms are mild. In fact, a mild traumatic brain injury can cause life-changing symptoms and have a major impact on such functions as memory, cognition and other areas of brain function.

And now a medical research project at the VA San Diego Healthcare System which started about three years ago to discern post-traumatic stress disorder from traumatic brain injury, is gaining national attention and could help all patients who are suffering brain injuries.

Mingxiong Huang and his colleague Roland Lee are medical researchers at the University of California San Diego. They have focused on the specific diagnostic tool magnetoencephalography, or MEG, and diffusion tensor imaging to determine whether this tool might be a better diagnostic method than MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

According to the report in the North County Times, these research findings are so promising that Huang is headed to Washington to brief officials as to how these advanced brain-imaging techniques might just be the answer for more accurate detection of not only mild traumatic brain injuries, but distinguishing these injuries from the post traumatic stress disorder.

We are aware that MRI does not reveal some brain injuries after car accidents for example, because we have represented clients that had normal MRI's, but suffered severe symptoms after an accident, such as a rear-end vehicle collision. As it turns out, the research reveals that in fact 70 percent of traumatic brain injuries are not found on MRI which is the most commonly used device for scanning and diagnosing brain injuries.

These researchers have found that "damaged areas of the brain appeared on MEG scans as having slower-than-normal brain waves, while diffusion tensor imaging recorded those areas as black holes or as frayed or weakened fibers." This will not only help doctors distinguish brain trauma from post-traumatic stress disorder in about 90 percent of the cases, it will also help diagnose mild traumatic brain injuries.

Continue reading "San Diego Brain Injury Research Could Provide Better Diagnosis" »

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, 1.5 million Americans sustain traumatic brain injuries annually and 75% of those are considered what is deemed "mild."

But the California Injury Attorney Blog wants Americans to know that even a "mild" traumatic brain injury can be very serious and devastating. In fact, about 15% of those patients with mild traumatic brain injury can suffer disabling and persistent problems.

Recently, San Francisco's injury law firm Hersh & Hersh, which is affiliated with the California Injury Attorney Blog, achieved a substantial settlement for a man injured in a rear end accident. Rear end accidents are common, but can result in persistent injury, including what is called Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI). The firm established through the medical evidence that a low impact rear end accident which causes a whiplash can also cause MTBI and vestibular (inner ear) injury which, when combined, can result in serious, lengthy disability.

The settlement for the MTBI of the injured victim was obtained despite the fact that the defense attempted to characterize the crash as low impact with "experts" that would likely not have been allowed to testify as such at trial because they did not have proper credentials in the area in which they were attempting to testify. The defense hired a neurologist/psychiatrist and a neuropsychologist to try to prove the plaintiff was malingering and/or emotionally disturbed so that he had no injury but imagined it. Those theories were rebutted by the testimony of treating health care providers and a lot of hard work by counsel.

MTBI is an injury that is very commonly overlooked and not diagnosed. However, the injury can be devastating. It can be the result of the forceful motion of the head or impact that causes a brief change in mental status such as confusion, disorientation or loss of memory and can also involve a loss of consciousness for less than 30 minutes. Some symptoms can persist including: fatigue, headaches, memory loss, trouble concentrating, sleep disturbance, dizziness, balance problems and other symptoms.

Mild traumatic brain injury can result in a brief loss of consciousness and/or confusion or disorientation. Brain scans such as MRI and CAT scans can be normal in MTBI, but the victim of this injury can have cognitive and concentration problems, headache, memory problems, mood swings and other symptoms which persist.

The victim of MTBI will often look and act normal even though in fact they are not feeling or thinking in a normal way. If you have been in a rear-end or other auto accident, you may have suffered a MTBI without knowing it. You could be suffering a disabling injury and need medical and other support, including recovery for loss of time at work. Contact the California injury lawyers of Hersh & Hersh for more information on MTBI and your legal rights. We can provide a free consultation and assessment of your situation.