Miami Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

It is very common for operators of vehicles in South Florida to use their cellular telephones while driving. Wireless telephones usage while driving is a very dangerous practice as it draws the driver's attention away from traffic, road conditions and vehicle operation. This is especially true of texting while driving. I have seen some drivers recklessly use both of their hands in an attempt to send a text message while attempting to maneuver their steering wheel with their knees. This negligent and reckless practice is a direct cause of numerous automobile accidents each and every day.

Cell Phone Accident Statistics

Researcher Joshua Cohen of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis reported on CBS News that they "calculate that around 2,600 people die each year as a result of this use of the technology." Another 330,000 are believed injured.

In response to the increasing number of automobile accidents caused by the negligent usage of hand held wireless telephones while driving, several state legislatures throughout the Nation have banned both the use wireless phones and the practice of texting while driving. An example of such a ban can be found in the State of California.

California Cell Phone Ban

Under California law, "a person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving." Cal. Veh. Code §23123(a). Under California Law, a violation of said prohibition "is an infraction punishable by a base fine of twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense and fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense." Cal. Veh. Code §23123(b).

Four exceptions are included in the California hand held wireless law prohibition. This prohibition does not apply to the following situations:

1. "A person using a wireless telephone for emergency purposes, including, but not limited to, an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency services agency or entity." Cal. Veh. Code §23123(c).
2. "An emergency services professional using a wireless telephone while operating an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165, in the course and scope of his or her duties." Cal. Veh. Code §23123(d).
3. "A person driving a schoolbus or transit vehicle that is subject to Section 23125." Cal. Veh. Code §23123(e).
4. "A person while driving a motor vehicle on private property." Cal. Veh. Code §23123(f).

Although California law permits the use of a hands-free wireless telephone system to talk while driving, the more dangerous practice of texting while driving was entirely prohibited under California law until 2012. In the year 2012, the California Legislature, following improvements in wireless telephone technology, has permitted the use of texting with a hands-free generated system as well.

California Vehicle Code Section 23123.5. specifically provides as follows:

(a) A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read a text-based communication, unless the electronic wireless communications device is specifically designed and configured to allow voiceoperated and hands-free operation to dictate, send, or listen to a text-based communication, and it is used in that manner while driving.

(b) As used in this section "write, send, or read a text-based communication" means using an electronic wireless communications device to manually communicate with any person using a text-based communication, including, but not limited to, communications referred to as a text message, instant message, or electronic mail.

(c) For purposes of this section, a person shall not be deemed to be writing, reading, or sending a text-based communication if the person reads, selects, or enters a telephone number or name in an electronic wireless communications device for the purpose of making or receiving a telephone call or if a person otherwise activates or deactivates a feature or function on an electronic wireless communications device.

(d) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a base fine of twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense and fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense.

(e) This section does not apply to an emergency services professional using an electronic wireless communications device while operating an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165, in the course and scope of his or her duties.

Most states which have a ban on the usage of cellular phones while driving follow the California example in that the ban only applies to hand-held wireless devices. Hands-free wireless devices are usually permitted in these states as well.

Why Not Have a Similar Cell Phone Ban in Florida?

Unfortunately, the Florida Legislature has not followed these states and drivers are still permitted to recklessly use their cellular phones and pose great threats of danger on our roads. Might we suggest that all Florida citizens contact their legislatures and let them know that Floridian's want a ban on the use of hand held wireless telephones while driving to ensure safer roads in our State as well.

Continue reading "Why Florida Law Must Prohibit the Use of Hand Held Wireless Telephones While Driving" »

Even after suffering a spinal cord injury that would have paralyzed most anyone else, a monkey has been able to move his arm thanks to a new procedure. According to livescience.com, since the nerves above and below the injured area of a spinal cord remain operational, researchers were able to establish an artificial electrical connection between a monkey's brain and the nerves below the injured area, thus allowing the monkey to send neural signals to its spinal cord and move its arm.

Wireless Technology?

A co-author of the study, Dr. Eberhard Fetz, a Neuroscientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, has said that it is conceivable that in the distant future one could get lots of signals from the brain's cortex to trigger stimulation in different parts of the spine and begin restoring some basic functions such as the ability to grasp and some movement. Although medical science is not there yet, it is not difficult to imagine that wireless technology like bluetooth and others that we see today connecting many of our different electronic gadgets becoming adaptive to help patients suffering from spinal cord injuries connect their brains with their spines in a similar fashion.

In the past, scientists had been able to show that monkeys are able to use brain signals to control the electrical stimulation of muscles that had suffered temporary paralysis. Yet this form of direct stimulation of the muscles caused the monkeys to tire very quickly. In this case, however, researchers stimulated the spinal cord instead of the muscles. Their actions were done with the hope to restore a more coordinated and natural movement to the monkey following a spinal cord injury. This particular monkey had suffered a trauma that caused a partial paralysis of one of its upper arms and as a result, could not move its fingers.

Researchers created an artificial bridge between the brain and the spinal cord using signals recorded from the brain to control electrical stimulation. This allowed the monkey to flex his wrist muscles. Seeing that this worked, scientists then created a self-reinforcing loop by feeding the signals from the muscles back into the spinal cord. The results of the study suggest that control of the limbs may be restored if scientists/doctors are able to create an artificial connection between the brain and the spinal cord.

Other Attempts To Re-Route Signals

This is not the first attempt made by scientists to re-route electrical signals from the brain to undamaged areas of the spinal cord. In our post dated May 28, 2012, we talked about the case of a 78-year-old man with an injury to his C7 vertebrae who is now able to move his hands because his doctors re-routed some of his working nerves and connected them to an area of his spine above the the injury, allowing for communication between the brain and hands to be restored. Of course, in that case the injured area was physically "bypassed", while in the case of the monkey, the bypass was wireless.

In another case, researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago have been able to create a neuroprosthesis that combines a brain-computer interface (BCI) that is wired directly into approximately 100 neurons in the motor cortex of the patient's brain with a functional electrical stimulation (FES) device that's wired into the muscles of the patient's arm. Yet, as mentioned before, this type of direct connection to a subject's muscles creates fatigue very quickly and is therefore not the best way to accomplish movement.

We Have The Necessary Experience

Unfortunately, none of these procedures will be cheap when they become available and even those that are available now are not inexpensive. Consequently, the best hope for victims that have suffered their spinal cord injuries in accidents lies with an experienced personal injury lawyer that can help them recover the funds necessary for their rehabilitation. The lawyers of Greenberg, Stone & Urbano, P.A. have been handling accident cases, including those where clients have suffered spinal cord injuries, for over three decades. Please visit the Notable Cases section of our website to familiarize yourself with our work and contact us at 305-595-2400 as soon as possible.

Continue reading "Monkey Has Amazing Recovery From Spinal Cord Injury" »

Running a red light is a dangerous thing to do. Recently, dangerous turned into deadly: according to sunsentinel.com, five teenagers are dead after another young man ran a red light in the early hours of Sunday morning and t-boned their vehicle.

Ran A Red Light

At about 12:25 a.m. Sunday morning, 21-year-old Jabari S. Kemp of Florida City drove his 2008 Mercedes Benz into the side of the victims' 1994 Lexus, causing it to rollover. Police has identified four of the occupants of the Lexus as 21-year-old Jason A. Mahlung; 17-year-old Shonteria Grimsley; 14-yer-old Makita Campbell; and 17-year-old Christina Oliver Joseph. They were all from Riviera Beach, Florida. Three of the passengers in the Lexus were not wearing their seat belts and were ejected from the vehicle upon impact. It is not clear whether the driver was buckled up. The fifth occupant of the vehicle was wearing his seatbelt, but his name has not been released pending notification to his family.

The duty to stop at a red light is established by Florida Statute 316.075 (1) (c) (1), which states in relevant portion that "Vehicular traffic facing a steady red signal shall stop before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then before entering the intersection and shall remain standing until a green indication is shown." Considering that Mr. Kemp failed to stop at the red light, he is presumed to be at-fault driver. As a result of his injuries, Mr. Kemp had to be transported to the Hospital in serious, but stable condition. The accident is under investigation as a possible traffic homicide and no charges have been filed as of yet.

Many Still Don't Wear Seat Belts

It is unknown if there would have been as many fatalities if all the Lexus' victims were wearing their safety belts. Florida Statute 316.614 (4) (b) establishes that it is unlawful "to operate a motor vehicle in this state unless the person is restrained by a safety belt." According to sun-sentinel.com, just between Thursday and Sunday of last week, eleven people lost their lives in car accidents in Palm Beach County alone. Seven of them were not wearing their seat belts and six were ejected from their vehicles. Authorities estimate that about fifty percent of the drivers in Palm Beach County do not buckle up.

Four Days of Multiple Car Accident Fatalities

For example, 30-year-old Mariano Rivera and 20-year-old Susan Miller, both residents of Port St. Lucie, were not wearing their seat belts and were ejected from the vehicle when Mr. Rivera lost control while driving North on I-95 close to Donald Ross Road on Sunday. After they were ejected, the two occupants landed on the southbound lanes, where they were struck by a vehicle heading South. This gruesome accident included three other occupants of Mr. Rivera's car. They were not wearing their seat belts either and were ejected as well but, thankfully, they did not lose their lives.

Similarly, a man who ran a stop sign on Sunday crashed with another car and was ejected from his car because hi was not wearing his seat belt. He subsequently died when his own vehicle landed on top of him. The duty to stop at a stop sign is clearly established by Florida Statute 316.123 (2) (a) and any driver failing to stop as prescribed there incurs in a non-criminal traffic violation.

In another crash, a Riviera Beach police officer and his passenger were both killed when the officer lost control of his vehicle and they were ejected from the car. Neither were buckled up.

Finally, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, a vehicle traveling southbound on Interstate 95 hit a disabled van parked on the shoulder of the road and the driver died because he was not wearing his seat belt.

Comparative Negligence

Another good reason to buckle up is that Florida is a "comparative negligence" state. This means that in a car accident case the court will apportion liability between both parties. For example, if an occupant of a vehicle was not wearing his or her seat belt, and the jury decides that based upon the evidence they would not have sustained the injuries that they did had they been belted, than the jury may assign a percent of liability for the resulting injuries to that victim. Consequently, any resulting award that the victim will get reduced by that percentage.

We have the Necessary Experience

The lawyers of Greenberg, Stone & Urbano, P.A. have more than 100 years of combined experience helping victims injured in all types of car accidents recover the compensation they were owed and may be able to you too. Please go to our Notable Cases section to learn more about some of the car accident cases we have handled over more than thirty years.

Continue reading "Five People Dead When Driver Runs A Red Light" »

According the insurancejournal.com, an analysis of the top ten driving distractions that lead to fatal car accidents conducted by Erie Insurance shows that one in ten of the over 65,000 people killed in motor vehicle crashes over the last couple of years were involved in accidents where at least one of the drivers was distracted.

Eerie Insurance based the analysis on data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in its Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which is a nationwide census of fatal car accidents.

Many Distractions Cause Car Accidents

According to Doug Smith, Senior Vice President of Personal Lines at Erie Insurance, they looked at accident reports filled by police officers across the country and were disturbed about how many fatal car accidents were caused by distractions. The analysis included fatal crash reports from 2010 and 2011 and police officers listed a majority of drivers as "generally distracted" or "lost in thought".

Being distracted is not the only distracting activity that drivers indulge in that causes car accidents. Among others, the ten most common are:

1. Sixty two (62%) percent of drivers daydream, which is the common term for being "generally distracted" or "lost in thought";
2. Twelve percent (12%) of drivers were distracted using their cell phones (talking, listening to a conversation, dialing, texting);
3. Seven percent (7%) of drivers were distracted by a person, object or event outside the vehicle (rubbernecking);
4. Five (5%) percent of drivers were distracted talking to passengers or looking to other people traveling in their car;
5. Two percent (2%) of drivers were distracted while trying to reach or using a device in their car (like headphones or a navigational devise like a GPS device);
6. Another two percent (2%) of drivers were distracted while eating or drinking;
7. Two percent (2%) of drivers were distracted while adjusting the radio or climate controls in their vehicle;
8. One percent (1%) of drivers were distracted other controls integral to their car, like adjusting the rear view mirrors, seats or using the OEM navigation system in newer vehicles;
9. Another one percent (1%) of drivers were distracted while trying to move an object (like a pet or a box) inside their vehicle or trying to get rid of an insect;
10. One percent (1%) of drivers were distracted while smoking, which includes lighting up, putting ashes in the ashtray, etc.

Please note that as admitted by the authors of the analysis, the data from FARS is very difficult to verify because it is basically based on the police officer's observation after the crash and the distracted driver's reluctance to make any incriminating statements to the police after the accident. Yet, the authors feel that if anything, the numbers underscore the seriousness of the situation with driving distractions.

Moreover, despite the unverifiable nature of the data, the authors feel that the statistics are meaningful because as opposed to surveys where drivers self-report the different kinds of distracting behaviors they engage, this information relates to actual accidents and the actual police reports generated for those fatal crashes.

Don't Let Devices Distract You

The solution is simple: don't get distracted by devices. Erie Insurance recommends that drivers not answer incoming calls and let them go to voice mail. Otherwise, answer the call, tell them to call you later and hang up. Most of the times the incoming call will not relate to an emergency. If you see that the call is from a close relative (and thus feel that it may be an emergency), pull over if traffic and circumstances allow and take the call while stopped by the side of the road and not while driving. The same applies to texting. Finally, lead by example: show your children how to drive safely if you want them to eventually become safe drivers.

Continue reading "Top Ten Driving Distractions That Cause Fatal Car Accidents" »

According to the miamiherald.com, a suspect being pursued by police drove his 2013 Chevy Suburban SUV the wrong way on I-95 and crashed head-on with a 2013 Kia minivan, killing four family members.

Deadly Police Pursuit

The suspect, identified as Willie Dumel, was fleeing Opa-Locka police after an officer saw some suspicious activity and tried to stop Mr. Dumel. At some point in the pursuit, the suspect drove his SUV northbound in the southbound lanes of I-95 at Ives Dairy Road. Shortly thereafter, between Ives Dairy Road and Hallandale Beach Boulevard, the SUV crashed head-on with the minivan. The four occupants of the minivan, who were reportedly all family members, died at the scene. The victims have not yet been identified, but police say that they believe them all to be adults. According to police, one of the victims was ejected and the minivan was completely destroyed in the crash. Similarly, the front of the Chevy Suburban was completely destroyed as well.

The suspect, who initially was incorrectly identified as 24-year-old Paolo LaFrance, was taken to the hospital with two broken legs and would have to undergo surgery. Dumel's condition was stable Wednesday night and he was expected to recover. The initial confusion with his identity was due to the fact that he was carrying an ID from another man at the time of the accident. Police say that upon learning of the accident, the gentleman who's ID had been stolen came to their headquarters to let them know that he had nothing to do with the accident and that his ID had been stolen four years earlier.

Police also reported that at some point during the pursuit the suspect tossed a gun out the window of his SUV. The gun was later recovered and placed into evidence. Mr. Dumel has so far been charged with fleeing or attempting to elude, but is likely to face more serious charges.

Police Liability

However, regardless of the criminal charges that authorities may end up charging Mr. Dumel with, it is important to know that the government itself may be liable for the wrongful deaths of the four occupants of the Kia minivan. There are laws and even police policies that restrict the police from pursuing suspects under certain circumstances. Typically, these rules prevent police from engaging in high speed pursuits under most circumstances. Typically these rules prevent police from pursuing suspects depending upon the seriousness of the offense they may have committed and the potential danger they present to the public. Under no circumstances, should the police officer in question have commenced a high speed chase and if he did, his supervisors should have told him to stop. The ongoing investigation will determine whether police broke any of these rules. Yet, it would be in the victims' best interest to have an experienced law firm conducting it's own investigation to determine liability.

A number of years ago our firm handled a case where the police chased a suspect's car and caused it to crash and kill a college co-ed. We were able to prove that the police broke the law and their own pursuit policies. In our case, the police saw a "suspicious car," much like the facts in this latest case, and started a high speed chase at night which resulted in the death of a innocent teenager. In our case as well as in the latest tragedy, the officer lied about the facts and circumstances of the chase. In our case, we were able to reconstruct the police officer's actions and those of his supervisor conclusively proving that the police conduct was wrong.

Although liability may be limited by statute depending on what government agency ends up being responsible (apparently several agencies, like the Opa-Locka police department and the Florida Highway Patrol where involved in the pursuit), our firm has successfully obtained Claim Bills thru the Florida Legislature to compensate victims of governmental negligence for amounts far greater than the statutory cap.

Continue reading "Police Pursuit Ends in Mortal Car Accident" »

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has given a green light to Neuralstem to test a human spinal stem cell transplantation therapy called NS!-566 on patients with spinal cord injuries. The first phase of the program will involve eight patients that suffered their injuries between one and two years before the treatment, with those injuries having caused complete paralysis below the level of their spinal cord damage.

All patients in the study will receive six injections of stem cells, followed by physical therapy and drugs to prevent the body from rejecting the stem cells. However, half of the patients in the study patients will receive doses lower than the other half in order to determine the right amount necessary not only to accomplish the maximum improvement possible, but the to avoid adverse reactions.

According to fool.com, the main purpose of the trial is to evaluate how safe is NSI-566. The company will also test how well the transplanted grafts survive and more importantly, whether those stem cell grafts are actually effective in helping increase function lost as a result of the injury, like motor and sensory function, as well as bowel and bladder control.

Successful Tests On Lab Rats

Studies conducted by Neuralstem on paralyzed laboratory rats proved successful in having NSI-566 turn into neurons across the break in the spinal cord, which resulted in a significant recovery of loco-motor function. NSI-566 has already been tested in a phase 1 trial on patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease.

As we have discussed in previous posts, the gravest form of injury to a spinal cord is when the cord itself is severed at some point. Such an injury prevents the orders sent by the brain to the spinal cord (by way of electrical impulses) commanding it to move the limbs and other parts of the body. With NSI-566 helping bridge the gap across the injured area of the spinal cord, those signals once again flow, allowing for sensory and motor functions to resume. The tests performed by Neuralstem have not produced a complete cure to paralysis, but are without a doubt an important step in that direction.

However, these experimental treatments are not cheap. For victims who are paralyzed due to the negligent acts of others, an experienced personal injury, trial attorney may be the only way to obtain the compensation they need to pay for medical treatment, including rehabilitation therapy, as well as daily living expenses.

Continue reading "FDA Approves Stem Cell Transplants To Treat SCIs" »

For several decades, Florida has been a "no fault" state when it comes to motor vehicle accidents. What does this mean? In essence, owners of motor vehicles have been required to have PIP ("no fault") insurance which would pay for the first $10,000.00 of medical expenses and/or lost wages as result of an automobile accident, regardless of fault.

Recently, the Florida legislature has enacted changes which will significantly affect your rights to benefits under the PIP portion of your automobile insurance policy. These changes will go into effect on January 1, 2013. I will summarize some of the more important changes.

Timing of Care

The patient will be entitled to PIP medical benefits if, and only if, the patient receives an initial service within 14 days after the accident. If the patient's first doctor or hospital visit is on the 15th day after the accident, or beyond, there is no PIP coverage. Therefore, it is imperative to seek initial medical treatment within 14 days after the accident if you intend to avail yourself of PIP benefits for medical expenses.

How Much Will PIP Insurers Pay for Medical Benefits?

If the patient is diagnosed with an emergency medical condition (EMC) by and M.D., D.O., dentist, physician assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner, the patient will qualify for a maximum of $10,000.00 in benefits. A chiropractor cannot make this diagnosis. However, the patient will only be entitled to $2,500.00 in PIP benefits if there is a determination by one of the above providers, including a chiropractor, that there is not an emergency medical condition (EMC). It will be important for all persons who have been injured in an automobile accident to be aware of any findings made by hospital staff and/or treating medical care providers with regard to any emergency medical condition, as this alone can determine whether or not the injured person is entitled to $10,000.00 of benefits or is limited to $2,500.00 of benefits.

What is an Emergency Medical Condition (EMC)?

EMC means a condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity which may include severe pain, such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in any of the following:

a. Serious jeopardy to patient health
b. Serious impairment to bodily functions
c. Serious dysfunction to any bodily organ or part

What About Massage and Accupunture?

Massage and acupuncture are no longer covered under PIP. It does not matter if the provider is a doctor, licensed physical therapist, or a massage therapist.

Lost Earning Capacity

The statute on this issue has not changed. There is still $10,000.00 in lost earning capacity regardless of whether or not the injury is considered an emergency medical condition. Payment is made at 60% every two weeks.

Insurance Medical Examinations

If your PIP insurance company advises you that you must attend an insurance medical examination, then you must in fact attend the examination. If you fail to appear for the examination, in all likelihood, your bills will be denied and it will be very difficult for you to overcome this denial.

Examinations Under Oath

You may be required by your PIP insurance company to sit for an examination under oath at a time and place of the insurance company's choosing. Your compliance with a request to an examination under oath is now a condition precedent to receiving benefits. As a condition precedent, this means that the insurance company will not be under any obligation to pay outstanding medical bills, unless you attend the EUO and provide the insurance company with answers to their questions under oath. An insured's refusal to submit to, or failure to appear at two examinations under oath raises a rebuttable presumption that the insured's refusal or failure was unreasonable. In all likelihood, at that point, your benefits will be terminated, your PIP coverage will be denied, your medical bills will remain unpaid, and it will be very difficult for you to prevail against your PIP insurance company on these issues.

As you can see, there are numerous changes to Florida's PIP statute which will have significant and longstanding effects to your ability to recover payment of medical expenses incurred as a result of a motor vehicle accident.

Continue reading "New Changes To Florida's PIP (No Fault) Statute" »

A new study has shed light on the link between the neurological damage caused by a spinal cord injury, spontaneous motor function recovery and long-term motor deficits may lead to better treatments.

Researchers studied how laboratory rats recovered motor function four months after researchers simulated a C-6 partial spinal cord injury. Scientists found extensive kinetic, anatomical and electrophysiological data demonstrating how the rats compensated for their permanent loss of motor function.

According to Dr. W. Dalton Dietrich, III, PhD, who is the scientific director of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, "this paper is important to the spinal cord injury field because it provides a comprehensive assessment of motor performance up to four months after cervical spinal cord injury, identifying progressive sensorimotor compensatory processes that indicate new targets for therapeutic strategies to promote recovery and repair."

Effective Drug

On a separate note, researchers at Ohio State University have tested a new drug on laboratory mice that helped improve the animals' limb movement. According to dispatch.com, the drug used in this case crossed the blood-brain barrier, did not increase pain and had no toxic effects.

In their study, researchers looked at a small molecule called oligodendrocytes. The molecule prevents the death of cells by surrounding and protecting long projections of a nerve cell called axons, by wrapping them in myelin which is an electrically insulating material that forms a layer (called the myelin sheath) that helps increase the speed at which electrical impulses (the orders sent by the brain to the spinal cord) propagate.

A spinal cord injury causes a protein named P75 to kill oligodendrocytes, whose death in turn causes the axons they support to degenerate, preventing the successful reception of the electrical impulses (orders) that the brain sends to the spinal cord. The experimental drug is the first to be developed with a specific target as a potential therapy for spinal cord injury. It has been named is LM11A-31 and was developed at Stanford University by Dr. Frank Longo, Professor of Neurology and Neurological Services.

Continue reading "Treatment Options Improved and Effective Drug Developed for SCI" »

According to abclocal.go.com, paralyzed patients have hope to walk again with the help of new bionic suit. The suit is already giving back the use of his legs to one man, 27-year-old Aaron Bloom, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a July, 2010 accident.

In his own words, Aaron said "it's really important that you just get up after something like that. I think that's what's most important." Thanks to this new technology he can do just that: get up and walk again. Explaining how the experience made him feel, Aaron continued saying "mentally it's a wonderful feeling to be upright and moving."

Aaron has spent the last three months training on the "Ekso," a ready-to-wear battery-powered bionic suit. The suit was originally designed to help soldiers carry heavy loads. Now it's helping paralyzed patients bear their own weight. In essence, while Aaron provides the balance and body position, the "Ekso" bionic suit does the rest.

Still amazed at the technology, Aaron stated: "I just started using this pro-step function yesterday so this is still pretty awesome, in my mind."

For other spinal cord injury patients, the dreams go further as they watch in awe Aaron operate the suit. For example, Lupe Meza, 47, who became paralyzed after a cliff-jumping accident, dreams of being able to dance with the suit.

Very Expensive Proposition

Although the suit is only available for use a rehab centers, Michael Parkinson, a physical therapist at Huntington Hospital in Southern California says that the short term goal is to get them ready for patient use at home. Mr. Parkinson continued saying that the suit will become " lighter weight, it will be easier to get on and it will be custom made for them."

However, as with any new technology, the suit is not cheap: for now the cost of the suit is $150,000.00 and its use in therapy is not covered by medical insurance. Hopefully insurance companies will change their mind and start covering the use of the suit, as rehabilitation specialists say it not only helps give patients the satisfaction of being able to move again but, in helping them do that, the suit helps them keep their bones strong.

For patients whose injury has been caused by someone else's negligent actions, the only hope to get this kind of technology may rest with the lawyers of Greenberg, Stone & Urbano, P.A., who have experienced in dealing with this kind of cases and may be able to help them recover the funds they need.

Continue reading "New Bionic Suit to Help Paralyzed Patients Walk Again" »

According to redorbit.com, scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, have discovered that MRI scans often show signs of mild traumatic brain injuries that may be missed by CT scan.

Better Scans, Better Diagnosis

The study included 135 individuals that had suffered mild traumatic brain injuries over a two-year period. Participants were first given CT scans and then given MRI scan a week later. While most patients (99) had no sign of brain injury on the CT scan, more than a quarter (27 out of 99) of those who had a "normal" CT scan showed detectable spots (called "focal lesions," which are signs of microscopic bleeding in the brain) on their MRI scans.

The study's senior author, Dr. Geoffrey Manley, who is the chief of neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital and the vice-chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF, recently stated that "this work raises questions of how we are currently managing head injury patients via CT scans. Having a normal CT scan doesn't, in fact, say that you are "normal."

The team of researchers believe that finding the focal lesions will assist doctors in their task of predicting ongoing neurological problems for head injury patients. There are long-term neurological consequences for approximately 15 percent of the individuals that suffer from mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI). However, at the present time, there is no accurate diagnostic tool to enable doctors to opine whether patients suffering from these mild traumatic brain injuries will have long-term neurological issues.

The Problem With Mild TBIs

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have alerted physicians that mild traumatic brain injuries can be particularly problematic because patients are treated at the Emergency Rooms and then released without being admitted to the hospital for follow-up. Although many patients do recover from mild traumatic brain injuries, others don't. Brain injuries can lead to permanent impairment for patients due to the lack of follow up treatment and improper diagnosis.

This research is important because about 1.7 million people in the United States suffer from acute head injuries. About three quarters of those people will suffer from symptoms such as amnesia, temporary loss of consciousness and other symptoms common in cases of mild traumatic brain injuries. This study is believed to be important because it can help researchers develop better ways to evaluate patients that have suffered a head injury and can help doctors better diagnose these patients and have them complete a more thorough follow up, instead of just sending them home because the injury to their brain was not detected initially.

Continue reading "MRIs Better Than CT Scans at Detecting Brain Injuries" »

Up until now it was thought that monitoring the intracranial pressure of patients that have suffered a traumatic brain injury was crucial to their survival. Not necessarily, says a new study by researchers from the University of Washington...

When a person suffers a traumatic brain injury, cells at the point of impact die as a result of the trauma. As they decompose, these dead cells release toxic substances that make the brain swell and as the swelling grows within the limited space of the skull, the veins and arteries that carry vital oxygen to the brain are constricted or reduced, cutting the flow of oxygen. This oxygen deprivation causes more brain cells to die, turning this into a vicious circle that if left untreated, can cause a patient's death.

Consequently, doctors monitor the intracranial pressure caused by the swelling brain in order to determine if surgery is necessary. If so, the surgeon bores a whole in a patient's skull in order to relieve the pressure caused by the swelling brain. An intracranial pressure under 20 mm (millimeters of mercury) is usually the benchmark. Once the inra-craneal pressure reaches 20 mm, doctors usually elect to do something to avoid permanent neurological damage or death by reducing or relieving the pressure.

New Approach

The study consisted of following 324 patients over the age of 13 that were being treated in intensive care units at four hospitals in Bolivia and two hospitals in Ecuador and assigning them to one of two specific protocols. One protocol would consist of intracranial pressure monitoring (ICP), while the other would consist of imaging and clinical exam. The patients were evaluated by a combination of survival time, impaired consciousness, three and six-month functionality and six-month neuropsychological status assessed by a blinded examiner.

Much to the surprise of researchers, the composite measure for intracranial pressure monitoring was a median of 56 versus 53 for imaging and clinical exam. Almost no difference...

According to Randall Chesnut, a Neurosurgeon at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and main investigator of the study, this means that a new multi-modality monitoring approach should be used more frequently, something that would translate into more focused treatments, less unnecessary treatments and shorter stays at the intensive care unit for patients.

Strong Support By Latin American Neurosurgeons

According to sciencedaily.com, the idea for the study came from intensive care specialists from Bolivia trying to figure out whether they should spend money on new costly monitors (at more than $700.00 each). This passionate group of latin american physicians wanted to help survivors of traumatic brain injuries, but didn't know how to best help them. They formed the Latin Brain Injury Consortium and teamed up with Dr. Chesnut and his colleagues to conduct this study. The most important result of this study is that it challenges the traditionally held belief that traumatic brain injury patients need intracranial invasive monitoring to survive and proves that a good clinical exam combined with appropriate imaging has the potential to be as good as the intracranial monitoring.

Continue reading "Intracranial Pressure Monitoring Not As Important As Thought For TBIs" »

According to sciencecodex.com, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center have discovered a special magnetic resonance imaging technique that could help predict whether patients suffering from a traumatic brain injury will recover or not.

Measuring Water Movement in The Brain

The technique, called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), allows doctors to measure the uniformity of movement of water molecules (called fractional anisotropy or FA) within and along axons, which are the nerve fibers that form the brain's white matter. Areas of low FA tell scientists that there is an axonal injury and areas of abnormally high FA indicate changes in the brain.

Scientists have been able to correlate abnormally low FA within white matter with cognitive impairment in patients that have suffered a concussion. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.7 million people in the United States suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) each year. Of those, about 75 percent are concussions and other mild forms of traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs). Some patients experience a loss of consciousness following a concussion, with other symptoms including headaches, dizziness, memory loss, attention deficit, depression and anxiety. In some cases, some of these conditions persist for years.

Post-Concussion Questionnaires

Researchers at Einstein conducted a study of 17 patients that had been brought to the emergency department at Montefiore and Jacobi Medical Centers and diagnosed with mTBIs. Considering that most TBI studies try to assess cognitive function, this time scientists had the patients complete two questionnaires asking about their post-concussion symptoms and how these affected the patients' health status and quality of life. After comparing the DTI data to the questionnaires, researchers realized that the presence of abnormally high FA predicted fewer post-concussion symptoms and better functioning, which suggests that the brain may be actively compensating for its injuries in patients showing elevated FA on DTI.

Continue reading "New MRI Technique To Predict Recovery From TBI " »

A team of researchers from Cambridge University has been able to transplant olfactory ensheathing cells into the injured part of the spinal cords of dogs for the first time and restore some of the movement to their back legs.

Walking Again

The scientists used 34 dogs that had suffered trauma to their spinal cords and were unable to use their back legs. Olfactory cells from 23 of the dogs were removed from the lining of their noses and grown and expanded in the laboratory. The cells were then transplanted directly into the injury site. The rest of the dogs were just injected with a neutral fluid.

According to bbc.co.uk, many of the 23 dogs showed considerable improvement and were able to walk again on a treadmill with the support of a harness. On the other hand, none of the dogs in the support group regained any mobility in their back legs.

Professor Robin Franklin, a regeneration biologist at the Wellcome Trust-MRC Stem Cell Institute and co-author of this study has stated that the results of the experiment were "extremely exciting" because they show for the first time that transplanting these cells into a severely damaged spinal cord (in the real world, not in a lab) can bring about significant improvement. Dr. Franklin continued saying that although the team is confident that the procedure can help restore at least a small amount of movement in human patients with spinal cord injuries, they are note saying that it will restore all lost function.

Not Full Recovery For Humans

While the transplanted olfactory ensheathing cells can help regenerate nerves around the damages area of the spinal cord, they cannot help repair the nerve connections over long distances, like those that would allow the brain to connect with the spinal cord. This means that while it could enable some recovery of limb motion, it would not help with the recovery of control over sexual function, bladder function, hand function, temperature regulation, etc.

Long Rehabilitation Process

Therefore, victims of spinal cord injuries will continue to face a long and expensive specialized rehabilitation process, which is why those who have been the victims of a car accident, a motorcycle accident, a tractor-trailer accident, an amusement park accident or any other kind of accident caused by someone else's negligence need the help of an experienced lawyer that can get them the funds they need for their rehabilitation therapy, as well as for their daily survival. It is very important that these victims (or their families) hire a lawyer quickly and allow this lawyer to begin working on their case immediately. Their attorney will then be in a position to do the same thing the attorneys for their opponents' insurance companies are doing from the moment of the accident: preserving evidence and speaking with potential witnesses while the incident is fresh in their minds.

Continue reading "Olfactory Cells Restore Mobility on Paralyzed Dogs" »

For some time now scientists have known that the scarring that forms after an injury blocks nerve regeneration in spinal cords. Scarring is produced by the activation of astrocyte cells (which are major nerve support cells in the spinal cord) at the point of injury. Upon activation these cells change in shape and stiffness, creating the scarring that forms a barrier to nerve regeneration.

According to medicalxpress.com, lab samples of researchers from Liverpool and Glasgow have shown that long-chain sugars, called heparan sulfates, play an important role in scar formation. Now scientists have found that Schwann cells from peripheral nerves, which have proven to be the most effective kind of stem cells to help regenerate those damaged nerves, also release the heparan sulfate sugars that can over-activate protein growth factors that promote astrocyte scarring. Thankfully, scientists discovered that certain heparins chemically modified in the laboratory can inhibit that over-activation.

More Cell Studies Needed

Professor Jerry Turnbull, from the Institute of Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool, has said that "spinal injury is a devastating condition that can result in paralysis for life. The sugars we are investigating are produced by nearly every cell in the body and are very similar to the blood thinning drug heparin." Adding that while some sugar types promote a scarring reaction, other types, which can be chemically produced in the laboratory by modifying heparin, can prevent scarring in their lab models.

Professor Turnbull says that "studies in animals are now needed, but that the exciting thing about this work is that it could, in the future, provide a way of developing treatments for improving nerve repair in patients, using the body's own Schwann cells, supplemented with specific sugars."

According to Professor Sue Barnett, from the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation of the University of Glasgow, scientists already knew that Schwann cells have the potential to promote nerve regeneration. Now they know that these cells secrete these complex sugars that promote scarring, but they've also learned how to intervene in the process and promote central nervous system repair.

Continue reading "Scarring Manipulation May Help Cell Regeneration in Spinal Cord Injuries" »

According to news-medical.com, the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics at Vanderbilt University has developed a light weight, compact exoskeleton that allows spinal cord injury victims paralyzed below the waist to stand up, walk and even climb stairs.

New Technology

Technological developments that have taken place in the last 10 years in the fields of robotics, microelectronics, batteries and electric motors have allowed for the development of the exoskeleton. In fact, Parker Hannifin Corporation, a World leader in motion and control technologies, has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Vanderbilt University for the development of a commercial version of the exoskeleton, which they hope to introduce in 2014.

Somewhere between 236,000 and 327,00 people in the United States live with serious spinal cord injuries and about 155,000 have paraplegia.

A "wearable robot", as these devices are known, is like an external skeleton that straps tightly around the torso, has rigid supports strapped to the legs that extend from the hips to the knee and from the knee to the foot. The joints at the knees and hips are driven by computer-controlled electric motors powered by advanced batteries and patients have to use a walker or forearm crutches to help maintain their balance. Basically, if the patient wearing the exoskeleton leans forward, the device makes him or her move forward. If the patient leans back and holds that position for a few seconds, the device makes him or her sit. If the patient leans forward and holds that position for a few seconds while sitting, the device makes him or her stand up.

Brian Shaffer, a victim that was completely paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident on Christmas night 2010, says that although it takes concentration to use at first, once the patient catches up, it is not hard because the device does all the work. Mr. Shaffer adds that he does not expect the device to completely replace his wheelchair, it will come very handy in situations where the wheelchair would not work, like when walking a daughter down the aisle or sitting in the bleachers watching a son play football.
Yet, this technology is not only about allowing victims to attend social events. According to Claire Hartigan, a physical therapist at Shepherd Center, one of the nation's leading hospitals for spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation, just getting victim's bodies upright can pay major health dividends, like avoiding the serious problems that lack of mobility causes to their urinary, respiratory, cardiovascular and digestive systems, as well as to avoid getting osteoporosis, pressure sores and blood clots.

Expensive New Technology

The Vanderbilt exoskeleton is not the only device of its kind. Yet, at 27 pounds it is the lightest one (as compared to the other models that weigh around 45 pounds) and has a modular and slimmer design that allows for patients to carry it on the back of their wheelchairs and to put it on (or take it off) by themselves as needed. Moreover, the Vanderbilt design has two distinctive and very important advantages over the competition: (1) The amount of robotic assistance adjusts automatically for users with some muscle control in their legs, allowing them to use their own muscles while walking. When the user is completely paralyzed, then the device does all the work. (2) It is the only device that incorporates a proven rehabilitation technology known as functional electrical stimulation (FES) that applies small electrical impulses to paralyzed muscles making them contract and relax. FES improves strength in the legs of patients with incomplete paraplegia while it improves circulation, changes bone density and reduces muscle atrophy in those with complete paraplegia.

However, these devices are not cheap. Other exoskeletons have a price tag as high as $140,000.00, plus a considerable annual service fee. Parker Hannifin has not set a price for Vanderbilt's device yet and it is hoped that a combination of the device's minimalist design with the company's manufacturing ability will translate into a more affordable price. However, for victims of spinal cord injuries caused by accidents, the hope to buy one of these devices may lay only with a lawyer experienced handling this kind of cases getting them the funds needed from the wrongdoer that caused their injury.

Continue reading "New Exoskeleton Allows Mobility for Victims of Spinal Cord Injuries" »