Recent Blog Posts

• Roethlisberger's Injury Highlights Nerve Center for Head Trauma
  A week ago Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger sustained his third concussion, two from football and one from his near fatal motorcycle crash.  Fortunately for Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh has one of the leading concussion management teams in the world headed by neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon and consultants Drs. Mark Lovell and Micky Collins.  Unfortunately, despite this state-of-the-art concussion management care, Steeler coach Mike Tomlin was quoted as saying “He is not permanently injured or scarred at this point - he just has a concussion.”  In an excellent New York Times article published on January 1, 2009 entitled “Roethlisberger’s Injury Highlights Nerve Center for Head Trauma,” Sean Hamill noted that “Several concussion experts, including the former Steelers’ doctor, Julian Bailes, bristled at Tomlin’s remarks.  They said that concussions could not be deemed fully healed for at least two or three days and that ....
• A Wonderful Holiday Present
  I thought Christmas came early when I received my copy of the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, the Official Journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.  This issue contained two articles, one by Erin D. Bigler, Ph.D. and the other by Glenn J. Larrabee, Ph.D. both addressing the use of the flexible versus the fixed battery in forensic neuropsychology.  As if that was not enough, the issue also included a re-publication of the original article published by James N. Butcher, Ph.D., attacking the validity of the Lees-Haley Fake Bad Scale.   For anyone interested in forensic neuropsychology, these articles are a must read.     ....
• Brain Injury Association of America Supports Widespread Use of New Prevalence Estimates for Traumatic Brain Injury
  Below is a press release which I received from the Brain Injury Association of America in which they applaud the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Injury Prevention on their efforts in funding traumatic brain injury research. I as well applaud the CDC's efforts and offer my continued support for an increasingly necessary area of medical research.    (WASHINGTON D.C.) - The number of civilians in the United States living with a long-term disability from traumatic brain injury (TBI) is now estimated to be 3.17 million, according to a new article published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 394-400). The new prevalence estimate reflects the use of updated methodology and is not indicative of a reduction in the annual incidence of TBI, which remains at 1.4 million civilians in the U.S. The estimate is based on the results of statistical modeling and analysis of TBI hospitalization data from three states (Maryland, Vermont and New ....
• IBA Announces 8th World Congress on Brain Injury
  The International Brain Injury Association has announced that the 8th World Congress on Brain Injury will be held from March 10 - 14, 2010 in Washington, D.C., USA.  The conference is for all professionals involved with serving persons with acquired brain injury. For more details, the reader is invited to the IBI web page which can be found online here. ....
• The Assessment of Amnesia Following Mild TBI
  I recently found a website which I think will be very helpful to the readers of my blog. The site is an online presentation established by the Department of Psychology at Macquarie University in Australia which is designed to assist people who have suffered from a mild Traumatic Brain Injury through the administration of the Abbreviated-Westmead Post-Traumatic Amnesia Scale. The scale was developed in order to assist in the early identification of cognitive impairment following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The site states that early identification of patients with cognitive problems after a traumatic brain injury is imperative in the management of the injury. The most common symptom associated with mild traumatic brain injury is memory loss or amnesia. You can read more on Macquaire University's presentation here. ....
• Passenger in Car Accident Receives a $3.5 Million Settlement for Injuries
  On January 22, 2007 I represented a resident of Trenton, New Jersey who was a passenger in a car which was hit head on by a dump truck while traveling on State Highway 68. The dump truck that hit her was unable to stop and attempted to avoid colliding with another vehicle by entering the northbound lane. While the driver was able to avoid one accident, he was unable to avoid striking the vehicle our plaintiff was in. As a result of the accident she sustained a traumatic brain injury, multiple fractures of her left shoulder and arm, and fractures to her right leg. My client also suffered numerous process fractures of the lumbar spine and multiple rib fractures. The case went to mediation and settled for $3.5 million.    ....
• Diffusion Tenser Imaging Identifies Abnormalities in Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
  A new study published in the Journal of NeuroTrauma (November 2008) supports the use of Diffusion Tenser Imaging (DTI) in mild traumatic brain injury patients to assist in diagnosing this injury.  Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center conducted the current study, the purpose of which was to identify otherwise occult white matter abnormalities in patients suffering persistent cognitive impairment due to mild traumatic brain injury.  The researchers retrospectively analyzed DTI MRIs of seventeen patients who had cognitive impairments due to mild TBI that had occurred eight months to three years prior to imaging.  These studies were then compared to ten healthy controls. This study is important not only because it supports the use of DTI with mild traumatic brain injury patients, but also is one of the first of its kind to demonstrate abnormalities in MTBI patients during the chronic phase of this disorder.  Also of ....
• Lees-Haley Debunked Once Again
  Readers of this blog are familiar with my entries regarding bogus scientific literature published in the name of science but paid for by the pharmaceutical, insurance and other large industries of corporate America.   I recently came across another article by Paul R. Lees-Haley, Ph.D. entitled Propaganda Techniques Related to Environmental Scares.   Again, those familiar with this blog, will certainly recognize Dr. Lees-Haley’s name.  It was recently revealed in Federal Court documents that Dr. Lees-Haley had been paid in excess of $800,000 by the welding industry.  Not coincidentally I’m sure, Dr. Lees-Haley had published numerous articles defending the welding industry from claims that exposure to their product caused cognitive injuries.    In this “Propaganda Techniques” article, Dr. Lees-Haley wrote, “Psychologists have studied several perceptual factors that helped explain how reasonable people conclude that they have ....
• Gulf War Illness Confirmed
  A new and extensive federal report released this week concludes that roughly one in four of our US Veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness.  According to the 452 page report, “Scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans.”   Soldiers diagnosed with Gulf War syndrome have wide-ranging problems including headaches, dizziness and loss of balance, memory problems, chronic fatigue, loss of muscle control and shortness of breath.  It is believed that brain cancer deaths and Lou Gehrig’s disease are also potentially connected to service during the Gulf War.   Hopefully, this new study will lead to the necessary treatment that these wonderful veterans certainly deserve.   ....
• Advances in Diagnostic Testing
  Research on sophisticated diagnostic tests were presented this weekend at the annual meeting of the society for neuroscience in Washington, D.C.  According to a report published in USA Today, researchers from the University of California-San Diego combined “two advanced brain scanning techniques-MEG (Magnetoencephalography) and DTI (Diffusion Tensor Imaging)- that permitted them to detect brain damage in patients with mild traumatic brain injury in which conventional MRI and CT scans had been normal.  Mingxiong Huang, the presenting researcher from this study, stated “More research is needed before the dual technology can be used clinically in patients with such injuries (MTBI).” Also presenting at the annual meeting were researchers from the University of Miami (Andrew Maudsley) who “reported that they used a new all-brain method of magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) to detect for the first time widespread brain damage that sometimes ....
• Advances In Neuroimaging
  At present, the gold standard for objectively proving that an individual sustained a mild traumatic brain injury is through neuropsychological testing.  As we know, standard diagnostic testing such as CT scans, MRIs and EEGs, due to their lack of sensitivity, rarely if ever detect brain abnormalities in patients with mild traumatic brain injury. However, advances in neuroimaging may soon eliminate the need for neuropsychological testing to diagnose brain damage.  Advances in FMRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) will soon become the gold standard. I recently read an article published in Brain entitled “Structural Dissociation of Attentional Control and Memory in Adults with and without Mild Traumatic Brain Injury”.  The article by S. N. Niogi et al, noted that executive function such as attention and memory are among the most significant human brain processes impacting overall cognitive function.  The study contained 43 patients prospectively recruited ....
• New Study on Word Memory Testing
  I have written several times in the past on the validity of Word Memory Testing in diagnosing and treating traumatic brain injuries. A new study calls into question statements continuously made by Paul Green that the SVT measures on the Word Memory Test requires minimal to no cognitive effort.  Reporting in this month’s issue of the Journal International Neuropsychological Society (2008), 14, 1074-1080, Batt et al., from the Department of Psychology McQuarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, measures the effect of distraction on the Word Memory Test (WMT) and Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) performance in patients with a severe brain injury.  According to the paper, the “research compares the performance of a sample of non-litigating participants with severe brain injury on both the WMT and TOMM under conditions of (1) full effort, (2) distraction, or (3) simulated malingering.”  The study included sixty participants with a severe brain ....
• Pascrell Praises VA Decision to Expand Compensation for People with Traumatic Brain Injury
  United States Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. of New Jersey, the co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, applauded the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for increasing disability payments for veterans diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The VA estimates that compensation for mTBI victims will increase from about $117 per month to as much as $600 per month. The VA states that these changes will help roughly 3,500 to 5,000 veterans each year. A recent study estimates that up to 320,000 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered from a traumatic brain injury. “I’m pleased that the VA has finally opened its eyes, and more importantly its wallet, to the thousands of veterans and their families who have silently suffered from traumatic brain injury,” stated Representative Pascrell.  “This decision was a long time coming, but marks significant progress.  Unfortunately, there is still long way ....
• Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health
  In previous blog entries, I have discussed the recent exposé regarding industry’s payment of money to scientists to publish "research" that is supportive in industry’s defense of defective products.  I just finished an outstanding book entitled "Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health" by David Michaels.  Dr. Michaels is an epidemiologist and Director of the project on scientific knowledge and public policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.  He previously served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety and Health under the Clinton administration. Dr. Michaels illuminating book documents "the way in which product defense consultants have shaped and skewed the scientific literature, manufactured and magnified scientific uncertainty, and influenced policy decisions to the advantage of polluters and the manufacturers of ....
• Brain Injury Association of New Jersey - Board of Trustees
  I was honored on October 23, 2008 to be reelected to serve a second three-year term on the Board of Trustees of the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey. On Thursday, BIANJ held their annual meeting.  Besides the election of new officers, BIANJ presented three awards.  The first award was the Founders award for volunteer service which was given to Michael Barnes, for his hard work in volunteering to assist campers with acquired traumatic brain injury at BIANJ’s summer camp.  The Silvio O. Conte award for public awareness and education was given to the entire children and adolescents committee of BIANJ for their work not over the past year but for their hard work over the many past years.  Members of the children and adolescents committee who were awarded were: Stephanie Bar Am              Malia ....