Brain and Spine Injury

October 21, 2010

Baltimore Ravens Helmet Hit Sheds Light on Danger of Sports Head Injuries

Maryland sports fans who follow the Baltimore Ravens know what to expect when they witness the spectacle that is professional football. It’s rough, it’s fast, and it’s exciting. But now safety advocates and the NFL are growing increasingly concerned about head injuries that can result when men the size of refrigerators hit each other head first.

A New England Patriots safety was fined $50,000 for a helmet-to-helmet collision on a Baltimore Ravens tight end during this past weekend’s match-up. This was not an isolated case: two other teams also received hefty fines for players who used their heads as battering rams in helmet-to-helmet hits on other players.

The NFL regards such hits as “dangerous and flagrant,” while some defensive players contend that’s just how the game is played. As the NFL promises to impose stricter sanctions to avoid helmet-hit head injuries, some players who say they’ll be hamstrung by such restrictions threaten to quit.

May 1, 2010

Maryland Motorcycle Traffic Accidents in the News, Though National Motorcycle Accident Death Rates Have Declined

by Jeff Butschky

Maryland news media report that three fatal motorcycle accidents have occurred in recent weeks in the state, now that the weather is warm and more motorcycles are on the road.

According to Southern Maryland Online, a motorcycle accident that occurred on April 17 in the area of Prince Frederick, Md., is believed to have caused fatal injuries to a 53-year-old biker who died shortly after the motor vehicle accident. Police investigators reported that the operator lost control of his Harley Davidson motorcycle and struck a tree. While the man seemed uninjured by the crash and did not seek immediate medical attention, he was later found unresponsive in his home and was brought to an area hospital, where he died. The cause of death of this motorcycle accident victim remains under investigation.

Brain injuries can result from motorcycle and other car and truck accidents, and the severity of those injuries may not always be apparent immediately after the accident — particularly if the person who has suffered a head injury is able to speak after the crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that head injury is the number one cause of death of motorcycle riders involved in traffic accidents.

April 26, 2010

DWI Driver in Maryland Car Crash that Injured Judge May Go to Jail

by Jeff Butschky

Experienced Baltimore County, Maryland car accident attorneys know that when someone intoxicated gets behind the wheel, everyone on the road with them is at risk.

Anyone can be hurt or killed in drunk-driving traffic accidents-including justice and law enforcement officials who work to prevent such car, truck, and pedestrian accidents from happening. Last year on Aug. 21, a Maryland judge found himself in the path of a drunk driver, with serious consequences. It was not the first time the two had met.

The Washington Post reports that a retired Maryland judge and his wife, both in their 80s, were seriously injured when a man driving a Chevy SUV struck their Honda automobile. The car accident occurred in Montgomery County, Md. The judge’s injuries included a leg fracture and broken ribs, and his wife suffered spinal injury and multiple broken bones. Ironically, the judge had spared the same man jail time when he stood before him in court years earlier, on a different drunk-driving charge.

March 4, 2010

Maryland Brain Injury Association: March is Brain Injury Awareness Month

by Jeff Butschky

The Brain Injury Association of America announces that March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. The group hopes to raise awareness of the seriousness of head injuries and traumatic brain injury (TBI) — particularly in regards to school sports injuries. The group’s website offers resources about head injury, fall and accident prevention, and brain physiology, explaining that the brain can be injured even if the head isn’t struck (such as in a whiplash car accident, where the neck and head are jarred violently).

The Brain Injury Association of America has a Maryland office and plans to hold an educational conference in Towson, Maryland, in April.

As Baltimore County, Maryland injury lawyers know from experience with client families, debilitating and deadly brain injuries can result from a number of scenarios, including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that an astonishing 1.4 million people suffer a TBI in the U.S. every year, with some 235,000 people requiring hospitalization and 50,000 dying from their traumatic brain injuries. Primary causes:

December 13, 2007

State of Maryland Pays $1.5M in Foster Care Abuse Suit

by Jeff Butschky

In what is most likely the largest individual settlement of its kind, the State of Maryland agreed this week to settle the suit of a 6 year old child abused while in foster care. Presently, the severely brain-damaged boy, Brandon, is confined to a hospital bed in his Southwest Baltimore home, where he requires daily dialysis and tube feeding. In July of 2004, young Brandon sustained his horrific injuries when a teen age girl in his foster home with a history of violence allegedly slammed his head into a set of concrete steps. Amazingly, the Department of Social Services had removed another child from the same foster home in 2003 due to abuse by the same teenager, but for reasons unknown the home was re certified later that year. Brandon was placed in foster care in May of 2004 after his mother suffered a sickle-cell anemia episode, while she was in the Maryland Witness Protection Program. Prior to sustaining his brain injuries, Brandon also had his arm broken, a fact also missed by DSS.
This settlement is long overdue, and clearly highlights the ongoing problems with Maryland Social Services. It is unfortunate that preventable tragedies like this are allowed to occur. It is even more sad that the State of Maryland has to be forced to acknowledge the extent of the problem through litigation. Kudos to Brandon’s legal team for this groundbreaking settlement.