Serious Personal Injury Lawyers Blog | Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata, & Siegel P.C.

So much is being written about Traumatic Brain Injury that it is appropriate to again address the topic in numerous entries in this blog. This is the first of a series. Traumatic Brain Injury is a sudden physical damage to the brain. The damage may be subtle, to small vessels in the brain or dramatic, when a gunshot passes through the skull and piercing the brain. Damage to the brain can be caused by the head forcibly hitting a dashboard or steering wheel of a car or when one strikes their head, either the front or back, when tripping and falling. The major cause of head trauma is motor vehicle accidents and others include: falls, sports injuries, violent crimes and child abuse. The physical behavior or mental changes that take place in an individual after an injury to the head depend, to a large degree, on the areas of the brain that are injured. If a small, defined area of the brain is damaged, that is called “focal brain damage”. If the brain is shaken, as it frequently is in an automobile accident, then many areas of the brain would be damaged and that is called a “diffuse brain injury”. Diffuse brain damage occurs when impact of the injury causes the brain to move back and forth against the inside of the skull. In those circumstances, both the front and temporal lobes of the brain, the areas that control speech and language, often receive the most damage. Under those circumstances, communication difficulties can occur following a closed head injury. Other symptoms may include changes in the ability to smell, memory, thinking, walking, balance and coordination.

The Law Firm of Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. has had a member of the armed services that spent time in Iraq describe the opportunity for brain injury. We are sympathetic to the needs of our returning servicemen and servicewomen. Because of that, we are reprinting below the entire article entitled, “TBI: The Invisible Injury, Returning Servicemembers and Veterans”.

"TBI:
The Invisible Injury

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury. The injury is caused by falls, motor vehicle crashes, assaults and other incidents. Blasts are a leading cause of TBI for active duty military personnel in war zones.

Any TBI—whether diagnosed as mild, moderate or severe—can temporarily or permanently impair a person’s cognitive skills, interfere with emotional wellbeing and diminish physical abilities.

Individuals with TBI may experience memory loss; concentration or attention problems; slowed learning; and difficulty with planning, reasoning, or judgment. Emotional and behavioral consequences include depression, anxiety, impulsivity, aggression, and thoughts of suicide.

Physical challenges of TBI may include fatigue, headaches, problems with balance or motor skills, sensory losses, seizures, and endocrine dysfunction. TBI often leads to respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and neurological diseases, including epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.

Poor outcomes after TBI result from shortened length of stays in both inpatient and outpatient medical settings; insurance coverage denials for rehabilitative treatment; and inadequate funding for public services. Too often individuals with TBI are prematurely discharged to untrained, unsupported family caregivers or inappropriately placed in nursing homes, psychiatric institutions or correctional facilities.

Maximal recovery and long-term health maintenance for people with brain injury can only be achieved through a comprehensive, coordinated neurotrauma disease management system providing for immediate treatment, medically necessary rehabilitation, and supportive services delivered by appropriately trained TBI specialists in the public and private sectors.

The Brain Injury Association of America and its nationwide network of advocates call on Congress to enact and fully fund balanced, coordinated and responsible public policy that provides for basic and applied research; acute inpatient and outpatient treatment and rehabilitation; long-term disease management, and appropriate, accessible social services and supports following neurotrauma.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Traumatic Brain Injury Needs
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Traumatic Brain Injury Act Reauthorization

The TBI Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-166), as amended in 2000 (P.L. 106-310), authorizes agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to conduct studies and establish innovative programs with respect to TBI.

Since the law’s enactment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has produced and disseminated data on the incidence, prevalence, causes, and consequences of TBI and engineered nationwide public education campaigns. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has conducted basic and translational research to ameliorate the effects of TBI. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded grants to States and Protection and Advocacy (P&A) systems to improve coordination of and access to services by individuals with TBI and their families.

It is critical that legislation to reauthorize the TBI Act be passed by Congress and signed into law by the President within the next few months and before the end of the 110th Congressional Session.

The Senate passed its version of the legislation, S. 793, by voice vote on December 11, 2007, and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is currently in the process of marking up the House version, H.R. 1418, which is nearly identical. It is essential that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce promptly report the bill to the floor and that the bill is then passed by the full House of Representatives in the very near future.

Passage of bipartisan TBI Act reauthorization legislation is particularly important in light of the influx of significant numbers of returning servicemembers and veterans with TBI, as this influx stands to increase the demand for TBI supports and services within local communities.

TBI Act Appropriations: $30 million for FY2009 Continued and expanded funding for TBI Act programs is vital to the development of statewide systems of care for individuals with brain injury.

An appropriation of $9 million to CDC is required to strengthen state and local data collection activities; improve linkage of persons with TBI to services; increase public education and awareness; and conduct public health research related to TBI.

An appropriation of $15 million to the HRSA State Grant Program will ensure that every state, territory and the American Indian Consortia can coordinate and maximize resources to serve their TBI population and provide training and technical assistance to grantees.

An appropriation of $6 million to the HRSA P&A Program is needed for population based allotments to all States to ensure adequate and appropriate assistance to individuals with brain injury in exercising their rights and accessing public service systems."

This article can be found at: http://www.biausa.org/elements/pdfs/tbi_invisible_injury_dhhs_2008.pdf