Sacramento Brain Injury Lawyer Blog

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the proceedings.)

And again, at the time of delivery, the defendants assured MRS. WHITE that an ENT indeed was present:

A. IT WAS SOMEBODY IN THE ROOM THAT ASKED DR. X., THAT SAID, MRS. WHITE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THE ENT AND ALL NEEDED PERSONNEL ARE IN THE ROOM. AND DR. X. HAD ACTUALLY LOOKED IN THERE AND SAID, YES, MRS WHITE, DON'T WORRY ABOUT A THING EVERYBODY IS HERE. (Deposition of David White, at pp. 12:19-24.)

And DAVID WHITE knew his son was injured - by directly viewing the child's injured body because an ENT was not present:

Q. AND WHAT DID YOU SEE WHEN THEY SHOWED YOU DONALD [in the delivery room]?

A. BLUE, LIFELESS.

Q. WAS THAT --

A. HE WASN'T BREATHING.

Q. OKAY

A. JUST LIFELESS.

Q. AND WAS THAT DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU HAD EXPECTED TO SEE?

A. YES.

Q. HARD TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU SAW, BUT SHE SEEMED TO BE LIFELESS AND BLUE?

A. I SAW HIS FACE. HIS FACE WAS BLUE. EVERYTHING WAS BLUE. (Brackets added.) (Deposition of David White, at pp. 52:14-55:11.)

Thereafter, the defendants told DAVID WHITE about the health care providers failure to get an airway into the baby - with an ENT not present:

Q. DURING YOUR FIRST CONVERSATION WITH DR. SEAN Z., THAT'S IN THE HALLWAY WHEN HE TAKES YOU OUT OF THE OPERATING ROOM TO SPEAK WITH YOU. WAS IT YOUR UNDERSTANDING AT THE TIME DR. Z. WAS SPEAKING WITH YOU, THAT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TAKING CARE OF DONALD STILL HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET AN AIRWAY IN THERE EFFECTIVE TO GIVE HIM PROPER OXYGENATION?

A. YES.

Continue reading "Birth Injury Leaves Sacramento Baby With Brain Damage, Part 3 of 8" »

Actress Natasha Richardson died today from a brain injury she suffered during a ski vacation at a resort in Canada. It was reported that Ms. Richardson was taking a beginner's lesson when she fell on a flat portion of a run near the bottom of the mountain. Notably, she was not wearing a helmet.

Right after the fall Ms. Richardson was talking and joking, but shortly she complained of head pain and was taken to a local hospital for observation. "A patient can appear so deceivingly normal at first," said Graffagnino, director of Duke University Medical Center's Neurosciences Critical Care Unit. "But they actually have a brain bleed and as the pressure builds up, they'll experience classic symptoms of a traumatic brain injury."

Such injuries are known as epidural hemorrhage. Blood gets trapped between the skull and the hard layer of skin between the bone and brain, known as the dura mater. As the blood flows from the ruptured artery, the fluid builds and punctures the dura. For comparison, physicians often describe the human brain as an orange. The brain is the meat of the orange, the peel is the skull, and the spidery layer around the meat is the dura mater. ("Dura mater" is Latin for tough mother.)

Physicians working on trauma teams are taught "if a group of people are in a car crash and someone dies, the team should assume everyone else has serious injuries -- even if they look good, and say they feel totally fine," Graffagnino said. This is a fundamental lesson for all of us who experience some kind of head trauma -- don't assume you are okay simply because you feel no immediate obvious effects from the trauma. Seek prompt medical attention.

Continue reading "Gifted Actress Natasha Richardson Dies From Brain Injury" »

Many fans of professional football and hockey are thrilled when players deliver bone-crushing hits to their opponents. However, there are often serious health consequences in collision sports about which most casual fans hear little. A recent article in the New York Times reported that doctors from Boston University’s School of Medicine found another former National Football League player died from a brain injury called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer player Tom McHale died in May 2008 at 45, from repeated head trauma. He is the sixth such NFL player known to have died from CTE.

CTE is a progressive condition that results from repetitive head trauma and can bring on dementia in people in their 40s or 50s. The condition is often associated with former boxers. On McHale, doctors used techniques that can only be administered after a patient dies. Doctors have identified CTE in all six NFL veterans between ages 36 and 50 who have been tested for the condition, further evidence of the dangers of improperly treated brain trauma in football.

These findings underscore the need for anybody suffering with a possible traumatic brain injury, whether it be apparently mild or severe, to seek immediate medical treatment. Concussions are very often the underlying injury that lead to CTE. Such injuries can occur in traffic accidents or contact sports at all skill levels.

Continue reading "Former NFL Player Tom McHale Dies From Brain Injury" »

A Sacramento man died last June from injuries he sustained during an illegal chiropractic session.

The 76 year old man and his wife visited the home of Antonio Arellano, 66 years old, out of which Arellano was operating an unlicensed chiropractic office.

Sacto 9-1-1 reported:

According to police, the victim and his wife went to Arellano's Oak Park home Tuesday. Arellano had run an unlicensed chiropractic business out of his garage for some time and the victim had gone there to receive treatment to alleviate pain in his extremities, police said.

According to Sacto 9-1-1, Arellano was adjusting the victim's neck and seriously injured it. The victim was brought to UC Davis where he was put on life support until he was pronounced brain dead two days later.

Arellano has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

A brain injury is one the most traumatic and frightening injuries a person can sustain. At The Law Office of Moseley Collins, we try the personal injury cases of many people who have sustained such injuries.

If you or a loved one has received a brain injury in an accident that was not your fault, we want to help you. With over 27 years of experience, Moseley Collins knows exactly what you need to win your case and how to do it. Please call us at (916) 444-4444, or visit our website at www.moseleycollins.com.

You will never see a “To-Do List” like this:

• Get laundry
• Pay bills
• Mow lawn
• Get brain injury

Nobody ever asks to get a brain injury but it happens anyway. Everyday, people in all walks of life, become victims of brain injury. Brain injury can be a result of depriving the brain of oxygen, as a result of illness, injury, poisoning, (including alcohol) and even chemotherapy. Sometimes brain injury is an act of nature and sometimes it is an act of another.

The impact of a brain injury on someone’s life is dramatic. It can be as simple as almost unnoticeable personality changes to permanent disability. Delusions, speech or movement problems, and even mental handicap can result from brain injury. In the most extreme, coma or even death may be the result of brain injury.

Sometimes brain injury could be avoided. It can be as simple as a motorcycle rider wearing a helmet. Wearing a helmet has vastly improved the odds of avoiding a brain injury during a motorcycle accident.

Here in Sacramento at the Law Office of Moseley Collins, we are not physicians but we are legal advocates dedicated to helping restore a person’s quality of life. While we cannot change the past, we can utilize every legal resource, every legal remedy available, to rebuild the quality of life that was needlessly taken away.

At the Law Office of Moseley Collins (Sacramento, California), we believe that you have the right to an experienced attorney who will fight for the compensation you deserve. If you have suffered a brain injury and need help, please call us at 916.444.4444. There is never a fee until we win your case.

When you are about to get onto your bicycle, the first thing you should make sure to have once you have taken off, is a helmet on. Ever since I was a small child I was always made to wear a helmet, whether I was bicycling, on a scooter, or on a skateboard. And if I didn't wear a helmet all those times, I could of really hurt myself. I took many spills on my toys that required helmets, always getting scrapes on my elbows and knees, but never injuries on my head.

Many parents now a days let there kids ride around with out helmets, and when they fall, they are sometimes seriously injured. Even if you are over 18 years old and legally not wearing a helmet it is still very unsafe. Just because your older doesn't make you an experienced bicyclist, or skateboarder for that matter.

I decided to get some facts and statistics on helmet use at www.helmets.org:

# There are 85 million bicycle riders in the US.

# 770 bicyclists died on US roads in 2006, down just 14 from the year before. Over 90 percent died in crashes with motor vehicles.

# The "typical" bicyclist killed on our roads is a sober male over 16 not wearing a helmet riding on a major road between intersections in an urban area on a summer evening when hit by a car.

# About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries, and 27,000 have injuries serious enough to be hospitalized.

# Bicycle crashes and injuries are under-reported, since the majority are not serious enough for emergency room visits. 44,000 cyclists were reported injured in traffic crashes in 2006.

# 1 in 8 of the cyclists with reported injuries has a brain injury.

# Two-thirds of the deaths here are from traumatic brain injury.

# A very high percentage of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent.

# Direct costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $81 million each year.

# Indirect costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $2.3 billion each year.

# Helmet use in the US varies by orders of magnitude in different areas and different sectors of our society. White collar commuters probably reach 80 per cent, while inner city kids and rural kids would be 10 per cent or less. Overall, our best wild guess is probably no more than 25 per cent. Sommers Point, NJ, where a state helmet law is in effect, found that only 24 of the 359 students who rode to school in one week of the Winter of 2002 wore helmets (6 per cent) until the School District adopted a helmet rule. North Carolina observed 17 per cent statewide before their law went into effect in 2001.

# Helmets are cheap. The typical discount store price has risen from under $10 to about $20, but there are still models available for under $10 at major national retailers including Target and Wal-Mart.

# Only 41 per cent of the kids 5 to 14 at surveyed sites were wearing helmets, although the sites chosen had a bias for higher rates.

# Even at sites where helmets were required, only 52 per cent wore them.

# At sites where wheels are used for transportation, only 38 per cent wore helmets.

# More than a third of the kids wearing helmets did not have them fitted correctly. Conversely, two-thirds did!

# The effect of laws was not well evaluated. Although sites with state-level helmet laws had only 45 per cent wearing helmets and sites without state level laws had 39 per cent, the study did not take into account whether or not there was a local ordinance.

So please, make your children wear helmets, and wear one yourself. It could save your life, and it can send a positive message to your children and the other families on the bike paths.

Moseley Collins is a Sacramento Personal Injury lawyer, who has worked in California for 28 years, and has specialized in severe brain injury cases involving bicycle accidents. If you or a loved one have been badly injured please visit our website at http://www.moseleycollins.com
Or call us at (916) 444-4444.

As a paralegal for a Sacramento personal injury attorney, we have assisted numerous clients who have suffered from a brain injury. Keep in mind that if you are ever wrongfully injured, you may have a personal injury claim.

Facts about Traumatic Brain Injury

What is a traumatic brain injury?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that
disrupts the function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of such an
injury may range from "mild," i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to "severe," i.e., an
extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. ATBI can result in short or long-term
problems with independent function.

How many people have TBI?
Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:
50,000 die;
235,000 are hospitalized; and
1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department.
The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency department or who
receive no care is unknown.

What causes TBI?
The leading causes of TBI are:
Falls (28%);
Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%);
Struck by/against (19%); and
Assaults (11%).
Blasts are a leading cause of TBI for active duty military personnel in war zones.

Who is at highest risk for TBI?
Males are about 1.5 times as likely as females to sustain a TBI.
The two age groups at highest risk for TBI are 0 to 4 year olds and 15 to 19 year olds.
Certain military duties (e.g., paratrooper) increase the risk of sustaining a TBI.
African Americans have the highest death rate from TBI.

What are the costs of TBI?
Direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost productivity of TBI totaled an estimated $56.3 billion in
the United States in 1995.

What are the long-term consequences of TBI?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans currently
have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.
According to one study, about 40% of those hospitalized with a TBI had at least one unmet need for
services one year after their injury. The most frequent unmet needs were:
Improving memory and problem solving;
Managing stress and emotional upsets;
Controlling one's temper; and
Improving one's job skills.
TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, sensation, language, and/or
emotions. It can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease,
Parkinson's disease, and other brain disorders that become more prevalent with age.

For more Stats and Facts please visit: http://www.biausa.org
or just click on the picture below!

Here at the offices of Moseley Collins we believe that you have the right to an experienced Attorney who will fight for the money you deserve.

I have a bouncing, beautiful baby boy. He is two years old, has long curly blond hair and a smile that won’t quit. He also has Cerebral Palsy.

According to Webmd.com, Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a group of motor problems and physical disorders related to a brain injury. The charitable organization March of Dimes estimates that approximately 2-3 children of every 1,000 born in the U.S. develop Cerebral Palsy. Around 800,000 people in the U.S. are currently diagnosed with CP. Most who suffer with CP are born with it, as was the case with my son.

However, some children can acquire CP after birth due to a traumatic brain injury. Car crashes are a leading cause of this type of Cerebral Palsy. As a paralegal for a Sacramento personal injury attorney I have seen a number of children badly injured because of a traumatic car collision. If someone else is at fault such a child has a claim for personal injury. If, God forbid, your child, or another child you know, is ever severely injured in an automobile accident with a brain injury or head trauma, ask the doctor to look for signs of the development of CP. The symptoms to watch for, per the Web site Webmd.com, are discussed below.

These babies and young children may retain newborn reflexes and fail to reach age-appropriate developmental milestones. Parents and caregivers usually are the first to notice that a baby has developmental delays that may be early signs of CP.
When CP is severe, signs are often noticed at birth or shortly thereafter. However, some early signs of severe CP vary according to the specific type of CP present.
Common signs of severe CP that may be noticed shortly after birth include:
• Problems sucking and swallowing.
• A weak or shrill cry.
• Unusual positions. Often the body is either very relaxed and floppy or very stiff. When held, babies may arch their backs and extend their arms and legs. These postures are different from and more extreme than those that sometimes occur in babies with colic.
Some problems related to CP become more evident over time or develop as a child grows. These may include:
• Smaller muscles in affected arms or legs. Nervous system problems prevent movement in affected arms and legs. Inactivity affects muscle growth.
• Abnormal sensations and perceptions. Some people with CP feel pain when touched lightly. Even everyday activities, such as brushing teeth, may hurt. Abnormal sensations can also make it difficult to identify common objects by touch, such as feeling the difference between a soft foam ball and a hard baseball.
• Skin irritation. Drooling is common when facial and throat muscles are affected. Drooling irritates the skin, particularly around the mouth, chin, and chest.
• Dental problems. Children who have difficulty brushing their teeth have increased risk of developing cavities and gum disease (gingivitis). Seizure medications may also contribute toward developing gum disease.
• Accidents. Falls and other accidents are a risk, depending on muscle control, joint stiffness, and general physical strength. In addition, CP-related seizures can cause accidental injuries.
• Infections and long-term illnesses. Severe CP causes problems with eating. If food is inhaled into the lungs, a child's risk of developing pneumonia increases. Adults are at a higher risk for heart and lung disease.
Some children with CP often also display a group of behavioral symptoms, such as excessive sleepiness, irritability, and little interest in their environment.

Fourteen year old Jerry Pham from Milpitas, just south from the capital Sacramento, California, is now suffering from serious brain injuries after being underwater for several minutes before anyone saved him from drowning in a pool.

On October 12th Milpitas high School's Physical Education teacher Kristina Edwards had a mandatory swimming unit day. Edwards didn't take in account that Jerry Pham was filed as a "non-swimmer" when he entered the pool for the class.

according to http://www.themilpitaspost.com:

"Edwards was socializing with students about clothing styles that were popular in the 1980s. Meanwhile Pham began to drown. Students began to notice something at the bottom of the pool, some believing that they saw clothing, according to the claim. When Edwards noticed the commotion and realized Pham was laying at the bottom of the pool, she ordered everyone out of the pool, but did not dive in to rescue her drowning student."

Edwards called for campus security but not 911, and once security arrived Edwards was no where to be seen and had fled the scene. Now the School and Mrs. Edwards are being sued for negligence in several regards. The School should not have appointed Edwards to do swimming activities if she was not trained in that area. They also should of had some type of device, such as a pole with a large hook on the end, to pull him up. If they could have saved him from nearly drowning he probably would not be suffering from brain injury or any sort of personal injury for that matter.

Remember, water is dangerous, especially if you cannot swim well.

These type of accidents can be prevented, but when they're not there are serious consequences. This young man will now have to live with these personal injuries for the remainder of his life. He will have to pay medical bills, and may never be able to earn a living. But obtaining a lawyer could help him pay off the medical bills and give him a reasonable sum with which to start his life over.

Here at the offices of Moseley Collins we believe that you have the right to an experienced Attorney who will fight for the money you deserve.

Way back in 2003, a Truckee man shocked the world with his bizarre injury...and miraculous recovery. The story was so unbelievable that many wrote it off as a hoax, but, in fact, it actually happened.

Up in beautiful Truckee, CA, an adventure-resort town just a few hours north of Sacramento, California, lives a man named Ron Hunt, nick-named the "Miracle Man". In 2003, Hunt was working at a construction site when he fell from a ladder and landed, face first, upon an 18 inch, 1 1/8 inch chip-auger drill bit. The drill went through his eye, pushed his brain aside, and exited his skull by his ear. Tahoe World reports the following:

Just to write the description of the injury gives us the heebie-jeebies. But miraculously, Hunt survived the accident with minimal trauma, losing the eye and having titanium plates installed where the bit went through his skull, as well as some minor nerve damage in the right side of his face.

Amazingly, Hunt survived! The whole world was captured by this story and Hunt was interviewed by many magazines, newspapers, and even television programs, including Good Morning America.

Clearly, God wants to keep this man around for a while!

Please see tahoe-world.com by clicking on this link. There are some amazing pictures you need to see!

Though this article brings us good cheer, many head injuries do not end so happily. Many head injuries result in brain trauma, which can severely damage a person's cognitive ability, making the tasks they did at their jobs before the accident difficult or impossible. Brain trauma can also hurt the victims' family life, and can possibly cause them to become paralyzed. If you or a loved one has suffered a head injury that was not your fault, we can help you. Please call our office at 916.444.4444, or visit our website by clicking this link.

God bless you.

Brain Injuries are often times either fatal or severely debilitating. A young woman, Anna Kindt, knows the fragility of the brain first hand. Driving her car one night, Anna, lost control of her Honda Civic as she passed another vehicle and swerved into a nearby lawn. Slamming into several trees later, the Civic was left totaled, with a collapsed roof and smashed side.

Anna was rushed to the hospital. Suffering a traumatic brain injury, doctors tried to keep Anna’s brain from swelling.

There is a relatively new method some hospitals have been implementing to prevent serious brain injury and death after an accident such as Anna’s. The method is to place the patient in a state of hypothermia. This method of hypothermia has been show to have some positive effects on an injured brain. For one thing, when a brain suffers an injury, it will produce a chemical that can be harmful to its cells, hypothermia can slow this down. Hypothermia also reduces swelling, which in injured brain can cause severe mental damage and even death.

After 32 days in the hospital and 10 days in a state of hypothermia, Anna was released from the hospital. She has had an amazing recovery. Anna's initial prognosis was a mere 20% for survival and, if she did in fact survive, mental retardation was a guarantee. Although Anna's family says that her personality has altered somewhat with more moodiness and she suffers from memory loss, Anna's beat out the odds by a dramatic amount.

If you have been injured in an accident at someone else’s fault, and have suffered from a traumatic brain injury, please call the Law Offices of Moseley Collins. We are here to help.

Web Resources:

Hypothermia May Help With Severe Head Injuries, Red Orbit

At our Personal Injury Law Office in Sacramento, we can face the most horrific of acts carried out against an individual. I was reading the news today, when I came across one of those acts in the nearby area of Auburn, California. The story told of a case against a woman for allegedly killing a 16-month old child through shaken baby syndrome.

The accused woman, Veronica Salcedo, was babysitting three children the night of the incident. The youngest child, Hannah, is the center of the case. According to News 10, prosecutors are calling for Veronica to be tried for “second degree murder and child abuse causing death or great bodily injury”. It is their claim that Veronica shook Hannah so violently that the child ended up in the hospital on life support and died two days later.

On the opposing side, defendants state this is not what happened at all, but rather the cause of Hannah’s death was from a neurological undiagnosed illness. They state that there is evidence that the child’s brain was swelling the night before the incident. However, doctors never did the neurological testing for the illness, so there is no way of truly knowing.

Veronica did state that she shook Hannah. However, she states that it was only slightly and just to get her to come to when she found her unresponsive. Supposedly, Veronica had confessed to shaking the child harder when police first spoke to her, but has now withdrawn that on account of a language barrier (Veronica only speaks Spanish).

Shaken Baby Syndrome is child abuse. Shaken Baby Syndrome, or SBS, occurs when a child is shaken hard enough that their brain bounces inside the child’s skull, causing damage or death. This diagnosis usually will occur in children two years or younger. At this age children have weak necks, large, heavy heads, and developing brains. These characteristics put together make an instance of strong shaking very threatening to a baby’s life.

If you have a child who has been diagnosed with SBS because of someone else’s abusive behavior, please call me at the Law Offices of Moseley Collins.

To read the full news article, please click here.

For more information on Shaken Baby Syndrome, please click here.

I was reading the news today when I came across a story about a young girl who was a part of a car accident 10 months prior. The crash left her in a coma and in critical condition. Two other passengers of the car were killed and the driver, her boyfriend at the time, was also in critical condition. It is amazing how one moment can so incredibly alter the course of one’s life. The young girl, 19-year old Savannah Willson, now is learning to cope with life again, from a different angle.

The car crash was caused by Savannah’s boyfriend, who took part in a sudden street race on his way home from a night out. His car reached speeds of 70 mph, well over the posted 25 mph speed limit. The car lost control in midsts of the race and slammed into a tree. From that moment on, Savannah would see her life change. After a week in a coma, she awoke to find the right side of her body paralyzed. She had suffered brain damage to the left side of her brain in the accident, causing neurons to disconnect. She also was not able to swallow her saliva and doctors had to perform a tracheotomy, which left a tube in her windpipe for 90 days.

Three months after the accident Savannah was able to leave the hospital and had regained partial use the right side of her body. Savannah will continue to undergo physical therapy and rehabilitation to regain use of the right side of her body.

Savannah’s ex-boyfriend is now facing trial for two counts of vehicular manslaughter. Street racing is such a dangerous game to play, especially when others' lives are involved. The lives of loved ones, friends, and even strangers can be alter and/or lost forever.

To read the full article in the Sacramento Bee, please click here.

I was reading an article in the Sacramento Bee this afternoon on the amount of children that fall out of windows and injure themselves. The article states that thousands of children fall out of windows each year and are hospitalized as a result. That is incredible to me, but it does make sense. Children are so curious, especially at young ages they want to explore everything that catches their eye. An open window is an open invitation for these children to accept. In our Sacramento area alone, doctors at UC Davis hospital stated that over the course of three years, 44 children were hospitalized after falling out of a window.

The Sacramento Bee gave an example of a little girl, Taia Herring, who fell out of a second-story window just days after her third birthday. She was left alone for a moment and out the window she went. Her mom found her on the grass outside, barely conscious. She was rushed to the hospital to find out that she had suffered major brain injury and fractured her femur.

Taia’s parents were devastated, but they held fast to hope and submitted themselves to prayer every day for their daughter. And then her remarkable recovery took hold. Within two months, Taia was able to speak and left to return home. She is still learning to walk on her leg and continues with physical therapy. Her parents say that they know it is the blessing of God that Taia was saved in that fall.

If you have small children take precautions to prevent them from climbing out of windows. This could protect your child from suffering from a major brain injury or even death. Keep objects away from windows that could enable your child to get easy access to the outside. Close windows on the second story or keep close watch on your children when they are playing upstairs.

To read the full article in the Sacramento Bee, please click here.

A story I blogged about a couple weeks ago on a high school football player has been updated. In Southern California, a high school senior, Scotty, is still in critical condition after he collapsed on the field during one of the high school football games about two weeks ago. News reports state that he actually stumbled off the field and then slipped into a coma. He has been comatose since this incidence.

His doctor informs news sources that Scotty’s injury is due to a traumatic brain injury, very similar to what one would see from a serious car accident. Despite suspicions that the injury was due to a previous hit or accident, Scotty’s doctor says that this injury had to have happen within hours of Scotty reaching the hospital.

Doctors cannot predict how Scotty will, or even if he will, recover. At this point in time, with such a major brain injury, and with Scotty in such a deep coma, it is difficult to see signs of recovery. Over the past couple of weeks, Scotty has only slightly moved the right side of his body and cracked his eyes open once. Unfortunately, this could be due to reflexes rather than signs of improvement.

Students and parents around the area of San Marcos have formed a support group for Scotty. The team had their first game this past Friday, and the stadium, on both sides, were filled with people adorning Scotty’s football number, number 54. There were also fundraisers at the game to help pay for the extensive medical bills that Scotty’s parents will undoubtedly face.

It is such a tragedy to see someone so young go through such horrific injuries. Scotty’s football coaches have scoured videotapes of the game in which Scotty was injured, but have yet found an exact hit which caused Scotty's traumatic brain injury. Let’s pray for Scotty’s recovery and strength for his family.

To read the full article on Scotty’s traumatic brain injury, please click here.

South of our Sacramento home, in San Marcos, California, a high school football player suddenly collapsed during one of his games. Reports still have yet to fully discover why the teen collapsed, but most likely he suffered a concussion that was not diagnosed right away.

Brain injuries are a serious concern, no matter how little. A concussion is a small brain injury that may not seem to be a very big deal at the time of the accident, but can have lasting and long-term effects. Athletes have many different terms they use to describe a concussion, including; getting your “bell rung”, feeling “foggy”, and “getting dinged”. These terms can make concussions sound pretty innocent, but we should be aware of the impact this mild brain injury can have.

This is important to know and diagnose because a concussion IS a brain injury and deserves special attention. Having one concussion also makes you more susceptible to further concussions in the future. Statistics show that suffering from one concussion will make you 4 to 6 times more likely to suffer another concussion. In addition, the more concussions one suffers from, the worse it is for them. Studies have shown that each additional concussion has an additive effect, amount to more and more damage to the brain each time it suffers from a concussion.

Brain injuries are always a serious matter. If you or a loved one has ever been injured and have suffer from a brain injury, please call me at the Law Offices of Moseley Collins. I am here to help.

Be aware…

To read the full article on this news story, please click here.

Brain injuries can come from a array of accidents, including extreme sports like skateboarding. We all know how much kids, especially boys, enjoy being out with their friends, scraping elbows and bruising knees. Sometimes, these cuts and scrapes can lead to more serious injuries as well. As a Personal Injury Attorney, I know full well the dangers of these sports. No, I am not telling you to lock your children inside the house, forbidding them to participate in the games, but simply to be aware and give some helpful advice when needed.

One recent skateboarding accident that could have wound up more serious, occurred at the X-Games in Los Angeles, California this month. Skateboarder Jake Brown fell 45 feet off his skateboard at the Big Air event’s quarterpipe, landing feet-first on the flatter part of the ramp. Jake was unconscious for a moment after the fall and suffered from a minor concussion. Had he fallen head first, or had he not been wearing a helmet, well, that would be a whole other story.

So what is the advice here? First of all, if your children are going to be skateboarding, protect them with a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. Secondly, if a skateboarder is going to fall on a ramp, he/she should try to slide down the ramp, rather than going for a direct hit on the bottom as Jake did at the X games. If someone does fall while skateboarding and loses consciousness for a moment, take them immediately to received medical attention.

Have fun and play safe...

For more the full article on Jake Brown's accident, please click here.

South of our Sacramento home, in Modesto, California, a boy was severely injured in a car accident several months ago, suffering from a traumatic brain injury. This week, he is coming home to his family and friends. The boy, Tyler Allen, is going through a long process of recuperation and it will be some time before he is able to regain abilities he had before, such as walking and talking.

The accident, a collision between a semi-truck and a BMW, happened on May 9th. Tyler was sitting in the passenger seat of the BMW. Following the accident, Tyler was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a broken hip, a broken knee, multiple head injuries, and placed in a coma. The driver of the BMW died at the scene.

Often times, the degree of severity for a coma will be described using the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS). The GCS assess several different aspects of a person’s skills, including verbal, eye, and motor responses. The final outcome is a number range from 3 to 15, 3 being the worst and 15 the best. Tyler has scored about a five which indicates a very severe injury.

Let’s keep Tyler in our prayers. If you or a loved one has suffered from a severe brain injury, please call our Law Offices for legal help and advice.

Take care…

Read the full news article on Tyler’s injury and rehabilitation.
Read more about comas.

The date for the annual California State Fair in our home of Sacramento is rapidly approaching. August 17th the gates will open and remain a place filled with rides, games, and treats until September 3rd. My family and I have always loved going to the fair. You can’t help but feel like a kid again, running around from ride to ride and smelling all the delicious goodies. But along with the fun, amusement parks can at times be dangerous. I just saw a recent article on roller coasters and injuries, in particular brain injuries. At our Personal Injury Law Firm, we know how costly (emotionally, physically, monetarily) a brain injury can be.

The article states that a head or brain injury can occur from the jerking motions of a roller coaster ride. It states that people can be particularly susceptible to this when riding in the dark (for example a tunnel) or when turning their heads while on the ride (for example to see the view, or a parent checking on their child).

Reading other articles, such as one from the Brain Injury Association, roller coasters do not seem to be one of our biggest threats in causing brain and head injury, but nevertheless, we should be aware of the possibilities that exist in a given situation.

If you or someone you love have ever been injured and suffered from a head or brain injury, you should get legal help. Please call the Law Offices of Moseley Collins for advice and assistance.

Have fun and be safe…

To read more about brain injuries and roller coasters see the full news article and the Brain Injury Association website.

As a Personal Injury Law Firm in Sacramento, California, we see a lot of brain injury cases occurring from various accidents. Sports have been the catalyst for many brain injuries in young people these days. Interestingly enough, the sport that causes the greatest amount of brain injury in young people is not snowboarding as you blast down the mountain or even cumbersome football players slamming into one another, but rather horseback riding.

In the late July issue of its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that horseback riding is the number one culprit for causing traumatic brain injury in young people, with ice skating coming in as number two.

The CDC stated that each year about 65% of all sports-related brain injuries occur in people ages 5 to 18. When calculating all ages into the equation, basketball comes in number one, bringing in 603,239 people a year, and bicycling heads up number two with 524,692 people a year.

Traumatic brain injury is nothing to ever take lightly. If you or your child have ever been in an accident and suffered from a brain injury, please call the Law Offices of Moseley Collins. We would love to speak with you about your case and subsequent options.

Until next time…

For more information on sports-related brain injuries, please go to the CDC website or this article.

At the Law Offices of Moseley Collins, we know auto accidents, motorcycle and truck accidents occur every day in Sacramento and throughout California.

Severe car, motorcycle and truck accidents can leave a crash victim with a traumatic brain injury. As a Sacramento car accident law firm we regularly assist victims who are suffering from a catastrophic brain injury. If you ever find yourself in this position, as an auto accident victim with trauma to the brain, one key aliment to watch out for is vertigo. This will assist your lawyer or attorney in representing you.

According to Dr. Kuljit Singh, “Head injuries from motor vehicle accidents or any other kind of trauma would result in traumatic vertigo. Vertigo occurs when sensation from the inner ear, eyes and sensation throughout the body are mismatched.”

Continue reading "Vertigo: Common in Car Accidents & Brain Injury" »