Recently in Brain Injury Category

Congress recently addressed the issue of youth sports concussions and whether legislation to protect young athletes from the effects of concussions could become federal law. The New York Times reports that the House Energy and Commerce Bill, which is also known as the Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act or the Contact Act, was officially refined and ready for a vote on the House floor.

The Contact Act requires Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to assemble experts who would propose general guidelines for managing concussions in athletes between the ages of 5 and 18 and who are involved in all sports. The bill also sets aside federal grants to states that put policies and safeguards in place.

Though sports injuries are common among child athletes, the number of basketball associated concussions and other brain injuries have increased during the last few years. Researchers calculated that roughly 4.1 million kids between 5 to 19 years of age have gone to an emergency room between 1997 and 2007.

According to Reuters Health, almost 400,000 children and teens from the United States are admitted into an ER each year because of basketball related injuries. The Pediatrics Journal reported traumatic brain injuries (TBI), such as concussions and skull fractures, make up about 109,000 ER visits nationally each year. The number of brain injuries rose 70 percent over time, from more than 7,000 in 1997 to nearly 12,000 in 2007.

There are two sides in every case, and in this case, there are two cases. Do you follow me? Well, both sides of an incident, the victim and the policeman, are both suing the state of New York in personal injury cases.

First I will discuss the victim's case. Iman Morales, a mentally ill man, fell to his death after receiving a Taser shock when he was ten feet off of the ground. He was standing naked outside of his mother's apartment building swinging an 8-foot-long florescent bulb. When the officers tried to subdue him with the Taser, he fell off of the side of the building and died.