Head & Brain Injuries

• Sen. Clinton addresses Lead Poisoning Crisis

  Michael Phelan | October 31, 2007 1:04 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  As part of National Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, Senator Hillary Clinton today introduced legislation to improve coordination among federal, state and local government agencies, update standards for pre-lease or sale inspections required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and establish pilot projects to target areas of high incidence of lead poisoning in...

• Traumatic Brain Injury: Virginia's "Silent Epidemic"

  Michael Phelan | October 24, 2007 4:44 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  The Virginian Pilot reported recently that an estimated 150,000 Virginians may have long-term disabilities because of brain injury. Brain damage typically is caused by trauma such as a fall, a car accident, or violence. Like so many other states, Virginia is ill equipped to deal with this epidemic. A study commission of the General Assembly found that Virginia has only 20 specialized beds...

• Brain Injury Causes Later-Life Depression

  Michael Phelan | May 31, 2007 11:52 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  A study by the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes of over 2,500 retired NFL players found that the rate of clinical depression among the population of retired players is strongly correlated with the number of concussions they sustained during their careers. This study corroborates other findings regarding brain injury and later-life depression in other...

• Traumatic Brain Injuries Stress VA Hospitals

  Michael Phelan | March 26, 2007 8:46 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  The local Richmond newspaper ran a story today about two wounded Iraq veterans whose families report entirely different experiences at the McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The wife of one vet reported that the hospital worked miracles on her husband who broke his back in a vehicle roll-over. In contrast, the wife of a vet who was shot in the head during combat was very critical of the...

• An Open Letter to the American Association for Justice: Reactivate the Trial Lawyers Care Volunteer Project to Help Brain-Injured Iraq War Soldiers

  Michael Phelan | March 12, 2007 10:48 AM | 4 CommentsRichmond, VA

  I read with disgust the latest news account of how the Pentagon is failing to provide necessary medical care for soldiers who suffer brain injuries in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Largely because of the improvised explosive devices used by Iraq insurgents, traumatic brain injury has become the signature wound of the Iraq War. In an article titled, "For War's Gravely Injured, Challenge to...

• Defense Department Memo Reveals Traumatic Brain Injury Now Signature Injury of Iraq War, Yet is Under-diagnosed and Poorly Treated

  Michael Phelan | March 08, 2007 3:41 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  According to a previously undisclosed Defense Department memorandum obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by USA Today: Military Prodded on Traumatic Brain Injuries, the Pentagon lacks a comprehensive plan to identify and treat tens of thousands of troops who may suffer from traumatic brain injury, the signature wound of the Iraq War. The Memo faulted the Pentagon's ability to spot...

• 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...