New Jersey Accident and Injury Law Blog : New Jersey Injury Lawyer & Attorney : The Grossman Law Firm : Serving Monmouth County, Bergen County

If all goes well, we could soon have a simple test that allows doctors to test for a brain injury in a patient. Right now, all a doctor can do is rely on a patient's symptoms to diagnose a brain injury.  This means that often, there's a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of brain injury, with serious implications for the patient's recovery and consequently, his quality of life.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department Of Defense is investing in a study to determine the presence of brain biomarkers that can allow physicians to diagnose a brain injury immediately. Cardiac biomarkers allow doctors to diagnose a heart attack quickly in a patient, simply by administering a test. The goal is to determine brain biomarkers, and develop tests that will help detect such biomarkers.

 

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Trials into the effects of a sex hormone on the severity of traumatic brain injury are slated to begin soon, and these promise the first breakthrough in treatment of these injuries in decades.

Traumatic brain injury is often the result of

·         Automobile accidents

·         Truck accidents

·         Motorcycle accidents

·         Industrial or workplace accidents

·         Construction accidents

·         Trip, slip and fall accidents

These can leave persons with short-term and long-term effects that impact their daily lives. 

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A La Salle University student from Marlboro, Monmouth County will receive $7.5 million in damages in a football accident-related brain injury that left the student severely brain damaged. The basis of the lawsuit was that La Salle University cleared him to return to play without getting him seen by a doctor or properly tested.

 

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As a New Jersey brain injury lawyer, I keep myself updated on the latest research trends and developments related to the treatment of traumatic brain injuries.  These injuries can severely impact a person's normal functioning abilities, as well as his quality of life. Brian injuries are often seen in severe car accidents/truck accidents and industrial accidents. Many of these injuries in fact, occur in devastating high impact accidents, like those caused by a driver impaired by alcohol.

A new study suggests however, that brain injury patients, who have consumed alcohol just before the injury, may have a higher chance of survival than patients with no alcohol in their system at the time of injury. The research, conducted by experts at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, seems to suggest that persons who have consumed alcohol before a brain injury may have a lesser chance of secondary brain injury. 

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As a Monmouth County personal injury lawyer, I constantly meet people with debilitating traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, but as this report shows, these are not always caused by workplace related accidents or automobile accidents. It's the season for sledding, skiing and skating, and also the time for some extremely serious and life altering injuries, if you're not careful out there.

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons estimates that every year, these winter sports injuries send thousands of men, women and children to emergency rooms around the country. 

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A Philadelphia journalist sustained traumatic brain injuries in a hit and run car accident in Collingswood, NJ yesterday. According to this news report, Collingswood NJ police are confirming that Brian Hickey, a former editor at the City Paper, was walking at night along North Atlantic Avenue, when an unidentified motorist crashed into him.

It was only later that police officers found Hickey, with a bleeding wound in his head. He was rushed to the Cooper University Medical Center in Camden, where it has been confirmed that he has suffered a traumatic brain injury.   Witnesses at the scene reported hearing a loud bang, and the screech of tires as the motorist fled form the scene. The skid marks on the road were the first indication to police officers that this had been a hit and run accident.

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Motorcycle accidents and related fatalities and traumatic injuries is a serous problem in both New Jersey and our neighboring states. A recent article from The Express-Times reports a 27 year old was recently riding his motorcycle south on Route 611 about 2 a.m. when he veered into the northbound lane and crashed into a curb apparently suffering serious injuries. The police do not know what caused the rider to crash into the curb and the crash is under investigation.

 As Monmouth County and New Jersey motorcycle accident attorney I have witnessed first hand the devastating life altering effects of motorcycle crashes. In this particular situation there could be many factors that made the rider swerve into the opposite lane leading him to strike the curb. What ever the cause of the accident may be, drivers on the road have to make sure they are careful around motorcycle riders. A simple act of having your high beams on can blind a driver and when the driver is a motorcycle rider they can more easily lose control and crash. One way to simply lower the motorcycle fatalities is to always keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the motorcycle and always proceed with caution before entering into a turn or a lane change. Motor vehicle drivers can do their part by being more responsible on the road and hopefully motorcycle riders will do their part by taking the right safety precautions.

 

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We all know that drinking and driving often results in death, serious injury or the destruction of life.  A recent local news story reported an accident in South Jersey recently sent several innocent grocery shoppers to the hospital. A car spun out of control and slammed into 3 people - two of them were in wheelchairs. The police are saying the driver was intoxicated when she crashed into pedestrians on a Shoprite sidewalk in front of the store.

 As a Monmouth County and New Jersey car accident attorney I have represented hundreds of victims that suffered critical injuries because of alcohol related car accidents.  This news story above highlights a all too common scenario whereby alcohol appears to have impaired this driver’s sense of judgment. The alleged intoxicated driver may have destroyed the lives of these innocent grocery shoppers who never would have imagined that they would fall victim to a drunk driver while going through their normal every day routine of pushing their grocery carts at their local supermarket.  Drinking and driving frequently leads to victim's extreme suffering.  I have witnessed first hand clients that have suffered at the hands of drunk drivers’ : traumatic brain injury, loss of limbs, spinal cord injuries including paralysis fractures, herniated disc injuries leading to spinal fusion or inter-body fusion surgery and a myriad of other life altering injuries and even death.  So as a seasoned New Jersey and Monmouth County accident attorney lawyer I can attest unequivocally that alcohol mixed with driving of motor vehicles, motorcycles or trucks many times equates with the total destruction of innocent life and also destroys both individuals and their families.  We can significantly reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities in New Jersey by never ever driving while intoxicated or in any way impaired.  

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New Jersey traffic accident related fatalities have statistically decreased by 17 percent over the past 12 months however, the actual number of deaths remains at an unacceptable horrifying 207 between January 1st and May 17 of this year. These statistics were reported in a recent Today’s Sunbeam article that interviewed New Jersey State Police Colonel Rick Fuentes. Fuentes stated…“ As alcohol related crashes make up a large percentage of fatalities, the focus of our communities must be first devoted to both deterrence of drinking and driving and secondly to the enforcement of DWI related offenses. 

State Police Deputy Superintendent of Operations Juan Mattos said, "Four of the seven fatal motor vehicle accidents on Memorial Day 2007 were alcohol related. This is a pointless waste of lives we will attempt to avoid by relentlessly pursuing intoxicated drivers." Superintendent Fuentes added "We can only do so much to encourage safe behavior. In the end, New Jersey's drivers must decide to act responsibly."

As a Monmouth County and New Jersey auto accident lawyer attorney, I have witnessed over the past decade the horrific shattering of lives far too often as the direct result of alcohol consumption while driving cars, trucks and motorcycles. Obviously, we should never ever drink and drive. More safety tips can be found at The American Society of Civil Engineers link and I hope this information will be useful and if applied may even help to reduce the number of traffic related fatalities and severe injuries.

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My experience as a motorcycle accident attorney representing many bikers injured throughout central and northern new jersey is that most often these victims suffer extensive fractures, scrapes, burns or traumatic brain injuries as the result of the failure of drivers of a car or automobile to see the motorcycle until it is far too late. Those who ride on our over crowded highways and roads also experience the decay in the infrastructure or the toll that the roads and highways take due to the winter weather and constant pounding of tractor trailer trucks, cars and buses. Reducing the incidences of motorcycle crashes in the nation’s most densely populated state is a noble and vital goal.  

According to the Federal Highway Authority about 2,500 New Jersey motorcyclists are involved in crashes each year. In 2006, in NJ there were 89 deaths which have more than doubled the 40 motorcycle deaths in 1991. As reported in a recent Glouster County Times article, Rowan University partnered with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and Virginia Tech to promulgate a study gathering data about motorcyclist habits that may help to reduce the incidence of motorcycle related fatalities and injuries.   Dr. Yusuf Mehta, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rowan said”Motorcyclists are vulnerable highway users, and we have been watching the number of motorcycle fatalities in our state increase. The goal is to understand the root cause of increasing motorcycle fatalities." Dr. Mehta said his students will look at police reports of motorcycle crashes and investigate several factors such as pavement conditions, street lighting, and visibility. The study will continue through June 2009 and is funded through a $199,000 grant from the State Department of Transportation.

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In New Jersey, as a general rule if you are injured while occupying or driving a motorcycle, moped, commercial vehicle, taxi cab, chauffeured rentals or bus you will not be able to seek PIP no-fault benefits for payment of your medical bills. That's right, if you have private health insurance your medical bills may be covered as long as your policy does not contain any specific exclusions for treatment you receive as a result of an accident while driving for example a motorcycle.  

 

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Maybe. But should that really be the right question when it comes to the safety of motorcycle riders? In New Jersey, state law mandates that all those who ride motorcycles must wear a DOT approved helmet. Each year in the Garden State, 2500 motorcycles are involved in accidents, resulting in at least 50 fatalities.

But recently in Michigan, the group called American Bikers Aiming Toward Education (ABATE) authored a bill which was introduced to the State House which would allow motorcyclists to forego wearing a helmet when they ride as long as riders pay a $100 fee, are at least 21 years old, are licensed to operate a motorcycle for at least two years, have completed a motorcycle safety course and have insurance or security of $20,000 for first-party medical benefits in the event of an accident.

ABATE believes that wearing a helmet infringes on individual freedom of choice and the right to privacy. While that may be arguably true, if you look  at the other states that have repealed mandatory helmet laws, Florida, Kentucky and Louisiana, and you see the exponential rise in injuries and deaths to motorcyclists following the repeal of their helmet laws, you'd have to agree that the interest in keeping the public safe, with something so easy as wearing a helmet is extremely compelling. 

In a recent article in Insurance Journal about the Michigan law, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in the three years after Florida's repeal of its mandatory helmet law in 2000, 933 motorcyclists were killed, an 81 percent increase.

Another study found that fatalities grew by more than 50 percent in Kentucky and 100 percent in Louisiana after those states struck down mandatory helmet laws.

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Tonight's 20/20 program (see "Tragic Mistakes") sheds light on what can only be called a silent epidemic of the occurrence of pharmacy errors across the nation. The segment featured the tragic story of a young mother who gave her four-month old daughter who was born prematurely what she thought was an anti-seizure medication. What she actually gave the infant was an adult dose of a diabetes medication, which left her daughter permanently disabled, unable to talk, walk or feed herself. Walgreen's, the national pharmacy chain, was responsible for the dispensing error, this act of negligence that caused irreparable harm.

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Scientists who specialize in traumatic brain injury ("TBI") research believe that there could be a treatment developed that could slow much of the damage to the brain after a severe head injury. The assumption by many was that resultant brain damage after a head injury was an instantaneous event. But research over the past 10 years has shown that quite the contrary is true; that damage to the brain occurs much more slowly after impact. This is a potentially encouraging discovery in that maybe a treatment could be developed to intervene in the moments after a head injury, thus preventing or reducing the severity of TBI. Read more on MSNBC.com.

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Read this article about the trials one 36 year old woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury after an automobile accident faces on a daily basis and how she is trying to rebuild her life.

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• "Delay, deny, defend" is the battle cry for the auto insurance industry to protect their multi-billion dollar empire. In a recent report filed by CNN's Drew Griffin, he uncovered that this practice is rampant among the nation's auto insurance companies when people are injured in what insurance representatives consider a "minor impact" auto accident.   New Jersey attorneys representing persons who have suffered injuries in auto accidents have long experienced first hand these tactics of the nation's largest insurance companies.  Throughout the past decade I have represented many individuals that were involved in what the insurance company deemed a "minor impact" and as a result of the accident they suffered serious permanent injuries such as a herniated disc. Many times the injuries were so debilitating that after multiple steroid injections, extensive narcotics usage, physical therapy and chiropractic care, spinal surgery became the only option.   The suffering was very real.

 

 

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The Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, recently proposed the Stem Cell and Innovation Fund to the State Assembly. It is being criticized, and rightly so, for being extremely expensive and more importanlty, for allowing monies to be utilized for initiatives unrelated to stem cell research. Read the full article in The New York Times.

 

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Traumatic brain injury, also called TBI, occurs when the brain is injured by a sudden force, or trauma. The brain can be driven into the side of the skull by a sudden blow, or by the force of shaking or “whiplash”. In either case, the brain can suffer bruising and swelling, and in some cases the impact will be sufficient to tear blood vessels in the brain, causing intracranial bleeding.

If the trauma results in damage to the skull itself, such as a crack or break, the trauma is considered a penetrating head injury. More difficult to diagnose are closed head injuries, in which the brain is injured but the skull remains undamaged. This can occur from a blow or impact, or from severe back-and-forth shaking, such as whiplash. Babies and small children can suffer such injuries from being shaken, the so-called “shaken baby syndrome”.

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Every year millions of people are injured in motor vehicle accidents. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of injury in the United States for people ages 1-34.

Many vehicle manufacturers have made safety improvements to their vehicles including air bags, rollover bars, reinforced frames, better tires, etc. Additionally, many states have passed tougher drunk driving laws. As a result, many lives may have been spared. However, with an ever increasing number of vehicles on the road, motor vehicle accidents still occur with alarming frequency. In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every 10 seconds someone in the United States is involved in a car accident.

If you have a young driver in your family, or a young person preparing to obtain his or her first driver's license, take a few moments with your child to obtain some really useful information from the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.

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