Brain and Spine Injury Law Blog : Brain and Spine Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Tim Titolo Law Office : Personal Injury & Wrongful Death : Car, Truck, and Motorcycle Accident: Las Vegas, Nevada

Brain Injury Association of America notes The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate health care reform bill at the end of this week.

Call Your Representative NOW – The House will Vote on Health Care Reform this Week!

The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate health care reform bill at the end of this week. If the measure fails, the hope of health care reform will likely vanish for this year and maybe even for years to come.

Even though the House and Senate have both passed their versions of health care reform, the only way forward for the bill is for the House to approve the Senate version.

Your voice matters now more than ever. Call TOLL FREE 1-888-876-6242, if you don’t know who your representative is, click here.

Tell your representative that you are a constituent that is concerned about health care reform.  Specifically, people that have sustained brain injuries need health care reform because:

• Millions with health insurance are now at the mercy of insurance companies that charge premiums beyond affordability.  The legislation would limit these increases.
• Many with insurance find that it won't cover them when they get sick - even after they have paid premiums for years.  The legislation will ban denials based on pre-existing conditions in children and adults.
• Patients who reach their lifetime insurance cap after a catastrophic injury or illness will be able to continue treatment in order to regain functionality and have a better chance of returning to work or school.  The bill will eliminate lifetime insurance limits.

AND...

Investing money now will save the government millions of dollars later when the private insurance companies are required to take responsibility for the premiums they collect instead of turning individuals facing catastrophic injury or illness away to rely on public plans and ultimately, the American taxpayers.

Some representatives in the House are debating on whether to vote for or against the bill. Regardless of how they voted in the past, many are still waying their options.  This measure is vital to the brain injury community, and we need your help to ensure that people with brain injury gain access to the care that they need and deserve!  CALL NOW!

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As a back and neck injury lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada, I encounter untreated or undiagnosed spine injury often.  Even though back pain can affect people of any age, it is significantly more common among adults aged between 35 and 55 years.

Experts say that back pain is associated with the way our bones, muscles and ligaments in our backs work together.  

There are several diagnostic tests to assist physicians in detecting and treating back and neck conditions.

An interesting review entitled "Physical examination for lumbar radiculopathy due to disc herniation in patients with low-back pain" (Van der Windt DAWM, et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010) reveals that diagnosing back pain is not a simple matter. I read the findings.

While lower back pain ranks as a common cause of disability in the United States, determining what causes a person's back pain is often challenging. A new review on diagnosing back pain finds that no single diagnostic test is good at discriminating between patients who have a herniated disc and patients who do not.

Lawrence Kurz M.D., an orthopedic spinal surgeon at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., agreed with the results of this review: No one test is specific and sensitive enough to be used as the sole guide for making an accurate diagnosis of disc herniation as the cause of sciatica.

Healthy discs are spongy cushions of cartilage that fill the spaces between vertebrae in the spine. They act as shock absorbers for the spine and allow flexibility. A herniated disc can occur when a disc incurs damage because of trauma or stress and bulges outside of its normal position to press on a nerve. This can result in pain that radiates down to the lower leg - also called sciatica.
 

In other conditions, including osteoporosis and similar aging disorders, bony structures could press on nerves, causing pain.

Representing injured people with back and neck pain complaints requries diverse diagnositic testing.  Insurance company representative all too often point to one test to either deny or rule out a condition.

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The Washington Post is keeping us apprised of the very serious semi-tractor trailer crash with Nevada Senator Harry Reid's wife and daughter's van this week.

Police said the Reids' van was rear-ended and crushed by a fully loaded tractor-trailer while driving in heavy Virginia traffic.

Luckily, given the severity of the impact and variables making the crash especially dangerous, the outcome appears to be positive.  The tractor-trailer hit the Reids from behind pushing them into the car ahead of them and that car, inturn, into the car ahead of it.  The injuries were reported as a "broken back and broken neck!"

The Senator and his family will continue to receive the hopes and prayers of my family.

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Osteomyelitis means infection of the bone or bone marrow; inflammation of the bone due to infection. Osteomyelitis sometimes occurs as a complication of injury or surgery.

Merck advises Osteomyelitis occurs most commonly in young children and in older people, but all age groups are at risk. Osteomyelitis is also more likely to occur in people with serious medical conditions.

There are three types of osteomyelitis:

• Acute osteomyelitis - the infection develops within two weeks of an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.
• Sub-acute osteomyelitis - the infection develops within one or two months of an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.
• Chronic osteomyelitis - the bone infection starts at least two months after an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.

Infections can reach a bone by traveling through your bloodstream or spreading from nearby tissue. Infections can also begin in the bone itself if trauma exposes your bone to germs. Bone infections commonly affect the long bones of your body, such as your leg bones and upper arm bone, as well as your spine and pelvis.

The symptoms are pain.  Doctors treat chronic osteomyelitis with surgery and antibiotics. In acute osteomyelitis in children or vertebral osteomyelitis, surgery isn't always necessary.  Once considered incurable, osteomyelitis can be successfully treated today. Still, osteomyelitis is a serious condition, requiring aggressive treatment to prevent spread of your infection and to save the affected bone. 

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BIAA Unveils 2010 Legislative Fact Sheets

On March 3, 2010, BIAA made available its 2010 legislative fact sheets. The fact sheets outline the agenda for this year including, access to care for both civilian and military populations, TBI Act and research funding, TBI Act reauthorization, caregiver assistance, and support for the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force is now available on our home page!

Brain Injury Awareness Day 2010

Don’t forget that this year’s Brain Injury Awareness Day on Capitol Hill is set to take place on March, 17, 2010. 

Below is the schedule of events for the day:

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM - Brain Injury Awareness Fair, First Floor Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building

2:30 PM – 4:00 PM - Briefing: “From the Playground to the Pros: A Heads-Up on

Concussion”, Capitol Visitors Center – Congressional Meeting Room South

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM - Reception Celebrating Brain Injury Awareness Month, First Floor Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building

Hope to see you there!

Health Care Reform Update

House leaders this week prepared a schedule to bring health care reform to a vote before Congress adjourns for its two-week spring recess, which begins on March 26, 2010. BIAA continues to advocate for provisions important to the brain injury community and will alert grassroots advocates if action is necessary.

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The Brain Injury Assocation of America posted this Health Care Reform Update.  Yesterday, President Obama and members of Congress and the Senate, Republican and Democrat, met to hash out a Health Care Reform Bill.  American Association of Justice President, Anthony Tarricone, appeared on Anderson Cooper 360: http://www.vimeo.com/9761801

Health Care Reform Update

On February 22, 2010, in the wake of the legislative hold put on Congress after the recent Massachusetts election, the White House released an 11-page health care overhaul proposal that would extend coverage to more than 31 million people, at a 10-year cost of $950 billion. The White House says that the cost would be offset by spending reductions and tax increases, resulting in $100 billion of deficit reduction. CQ

Also this week, a bipartisan summit convened to discuss the administration’s health care plan. The White House facilitated the six-hour summit to focus on controlling costs, overhauling insurance regulations, reducing the deficit and expanding health coverage. 

The group of 40 representatives and senators agreed on a new set of baseline insurance regulations but were still at odds about things like the cost of insurance premiums, patient choice issues, and deficit calculations. 

BIAA is monitoring the situation closely and will continue to advocate for a health care reform plan that will provide people with brain injury access to the full continuum of care that they need and deserve.

Brain Injury Awareness Month

As most of you already know, March is brain injury awareness month! BIAA will be unveiling its 2010 legislative agenda on Tuesday, March 2, 2010. Fact sheets outlining the agenda for this year including, access to care for both civilian and military populations, TBI Act and research funding, TBI Act reauthorization, caregiver assistance, and support for the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force will be available on our website starting Tuesday!

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Truck driving safety is provided in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  There are specific limitations on the number of hours a driver can be on duty.  Violation to these limits is unsafe and can create liability for a trucking company and its driver.  Fatigued drivers make highways and roads dangerous places for all of us.

A college student in Florida alleged that the tractor-trailer driver violated federal motor carrier safety rules by failing to take the required off-duty time after working a 24-hour shift as a county firefighter. Lymon v. Bohn No. 53-2007-CA-7728 (Fla., Polk Co. Cir. Mar. 20, 2009).

Kendra Lymon, 19, was driving through an intersection on a green light when Robert Bohn, driving a tractor-trailer truck, made a left turn into the intersection even though his view was obscured by another truck in the opposite turn lane. Bohn’s tractor-trailer T-boned Lymon’s car on the driver’s side, crushing the vehicle and sending it spinning off the highway.

Her injuries included brain damage that resulted in a motor speech disorder, difficulty swallowing, mild left hemiparesis, bowel and bladder incontinence, cognitive defects, and seizures. She also sustained a fractured left scapula.

Lymon’s mother, Vanessa, on her behalf, sued Bohn and his employer, Bynum Transport, Inc. Vanessa Lymon alleged that the trucking company had provided no ongoing safety training or defensive driver program for its drivers and that it failed to enforce federal motor carrier safety rules about driving hours and rest periods.

The plaintiff alleged that Bohn began his shift without taking the mandatory 10 hours of off-duty time after working a 24-hour shift as a battalion chief for the county fire services, a violation of federal rules. Furthermore, the plaintiff claimed, he violated basic traffic safety rules by turning without waiting for a clear view.

The jury awarded the plaintiff $65 million. The defendants have appealed.
 

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In a new book titled "Religion and Psychiatry: Beyond Boundaries," the author considers why and how, when and where religion (and spirituality) are at stake in the life of psychiatric patients.  The interface between psychiatry and religion is explored at different levels, varying from daily clinical practice to conceptual fieldwork.

Religion is one subject that many people around the world feel extremely passionate about, either feeling strongly in their belief of a certain religion, or being against religions generally or specifically. Other people do not engage with religion at all. These choices represent a part of who we are, and as such it is essential for psychiatrists to understand and be able to relate to their patients' decisions and beliefs in this area.

Religion and Psychiatry is recommended reading for residents in psychiatry, postgraduates in theology, psychology and psychology of religion, researchers in psychiatric epidemiology and trans-cultural psychiatry, as well as professionals in theology, psychiatry and psychology of religion.

Religion (and spirituality) is very much alive and shapes the cultural values and aspirations of psychiatrist and patient alike, as does the choice of not identifying with a particular faith.  Patients bring their beliefs and convictions into the doctor-patient relationship.  The challenge for mental health professionals, whatever their own world view, is to develop and refine their vocabularies such that they truly understand what is communicated to them by their patients.

"The boundary between religious belief and the practice of psychiatry is becoming increasingly porous," say the editors in the Preface to Religion and Psychiatry: Beyond Boundaries. "No longer can psychiatrists in a multi-faith, multi-cultural globalized world hide behind the dismissal of religious belief as pathological, or behind a biomedical scientism, as they are more frequently confronted by distressed patients for whom religious belief may determine their choice of symptoms and their compliance with treatment."

Published on behalf of the World Psychiatric Association, Religion and Psychiatry: Beyond Boundaries, addresses the impact that religion and spirituality have on shaping cultural values, as well as the choice of not identifying with a particular faith. With this book, Peter Verhagen and colleagues provide a framework to understand the importance of these factors in mental well-being, and how to develop and refine their vocabularies to ensure they truly understand what their patients are telling them.

This is the first time that so many psychiatrists, psychologists, and theologians from all parts of the world and from so many different religious and spiritual backgrounds have worked together to produce a book addressing these important issues.

The book discusses what religious traditions can learn from each other to assist the patient, as well as the neurological basis of religious experiences. It describes training programmes that successfully incorporate aspects of religion and demonstrates how different religious and spiritual traditions can be brought together to improve psychiatric training and daily practice.

In the Foreword to Religion and Psychiatry Mario Maj, President of the World Psychiatric Association, states "The WPA welcomes this comprehensive and multifaceted volume, produced by one of its most active Scientific Sectors, hoping that the effort will continue to clarify the issue and stimulate further reflection and research."
 

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