NFL Makes Major Grant for Brain Injury Research

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently announced a donation of $30 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund future brain injury research.

2012-10-10

October 10, 2012 (Press-News.org) NFL Makes Major Grant for Brain Injury Research

In any personal injury action that involves head trauma, the injury victim's attorney must work diligently to document the full extent and effects of the resulting brain injury. This often presents challenges, because the harm suffered is not always immediately apparent, and patient recovery times can vary substantially.

Medical research into the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injuries recently received a significant boost due to increased attention toward the long-term effects of concussions on professional athletes. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently announced the league's donation of $30 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund future brain injury research.

While the traditional practice in professional football was to take a few minutes to "clear the cobwebs" after a player got his "bell rung," neurologists have identified the potential for lingering adverse effects after even a single blow to the head. Recent studies involving returning soldiers injured by the concussive effects of roadside bombs have significantly advanced this area of medical research.

Personal injury lawyers have long realized that these circumstances produce similar effects to the trauma experienced by people who suffer head injuries in car accidents. While a severe impact to the head can cause obvious wounds and lasting damage, the major forces exerted on the body in a car wreck can cause harm to the brain even if the head is not struck.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, the director of the NIH's Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke said that the money comes with no strings attached. While the NIH announced no immediate plans for how the research will be directed, the focus will likely be on how brain injuries suffered under any circumstance can cause continuing problems throughout the injured person's life.

Consulting With Medical Experts to Assess Head Injuries

Full diagnosis of minor and traumatic head injuries for car accident and other personal injury victims ensures that they do not settle for damages that do not reflect the harm they may suffer years or decades down the line. While the NIH already spends over $80 million annually on head injury research, this new grant should allow researchers to continue to advance diagnostic tools and methods to make brain injury assessment as precise as possible.

A person who is diagnosed with a head injury after a car or truck accident may not feel the worst effects immediately, or might assume that seemingly minor symptoms will dissipate over time. But chronic headaches, mood swings, depression and cognitive deficits can have a lasting effect on a person's employability, self-sufficiency and other attributes.

Article provided by Kurzban Kurzban Weinger Tetzeli and Pratt P.A.
Visit us at www.kkwtlaw.com/

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New Jersey Foreclosure Trends and Hope on the Horizon

2012-10-10

New Jersey Foreclosure Trends and Hope on the Horizon RealtyTrac, a firm that tracks the U.S. foreclosure market, reported that August 2012 foreclosures were up nationally by 1 percent from July, but down 15 percent from August 2011. Bank repossessions, called REOs for short, were also down 2 percent in August from July 2012 and down 19 percent from the year before. That's good news for homeowners and communities in general, but 20 states still saw increased foreclosure activity in August 2012 from the previous year. New Jersey Numbers Among those states was New ...

Property Division in Georgia Divorces: Two Recent Cases

2012-10-10

Property Division in Georgia Divorces: Two Recent Cases To modern ears, the common law conception of marriage sounds like a bad joke or possibly a feminist nightmare. The husband and wife were one, but the husband was the one. Today, of course, a wife's separate property isn't subsumed into her husband's estate, as on the popular PBS series "Downton Abbey." Instead, when a couple divorces, most property is fair game for equitable division. Two recent Georgia divorce cases are a reminder, however, that each party to a marriage can also have separate property. Retirement ...

Study Shows More Males Engage in Distracted Driving

2012-10-10

Study Shows More Males Engage in Distracted Driving Connecticut drivers have probably heard about the increasing number of distracted drivers on the road. Distracted driving has resulted in numerous accidents with tragic consequences. Although females are often characterized by the media as being chatty, a new report shows that the highest numbers of distracted drivers in Connecticut are males. Connecticut was amongst the first states to impose a ban on handheld cellphones as well as texting while driving. Since this ban went into effect in 2006, males have consistently ...

Keeping the Auditors Out of Your Small Business

2012-10-10

Keeping the Auditors Out of Your Small Business According to data compiled by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), there are nearly 28 million small businesses in the country today. Small businesses are an integral part of the American economy, employing about half of the country's workforce. No one would dispute that, for the most part, these businesses are run by hard-working, honest people who are earnestly trying to comply with the thousands of pages of federal regulations that make up the country's tax code. Sometimes mistakes are made, and ...

Modification of Georgia Child Support Turns on Judicial Discretion

2012-10-10

Modification of Georgia Child Support Turns on Judicial Discretion The Great Recession officially ended in 2009. The after-effects continue to be felt, however, in the uncertain economy that has followed. In this altered economy, income or asset reduction due to job loss or other factors happens much more frequently after a divorce settlement than it used to in the past. For people who make or receive child support or alimony payments, the issue of reducing the payments has therefore become a very important one. This article will discuss the process for child support ...

California Death-Spiral Lawsuit Against Health Insurer Blue Shield

2012-10-10

California Death-Spiral Lawsuit Against Health Insurer Blue Shield The phrase "death spiral" has sobering implications in any context. In the health-insurance world, it refers to the events set off when an insurer closes an existing insurance policy to new enrollees, then raises rates on those remaining in the policy to a largely unaffordable level. Those remaining insureds are usually forced to jump to new, more expensive policies with lower coverage levels, or to become uninsured. California Death-Spiral Prohibition In 1993, reportedly in reaction to ...

Florida Trails Far Behind in Passing Adequate Distracted Driving Laws

2012-10-10

Florida Trails Far Behind in Passing Adequate Distracted Driving Laws When motorists or passengers suffer injuries in a car accident or tractor-trailer wreck, a personal injury lawyer's most important role is to assess the circumstances of the crash to identify all potentially liable parties. Whether the accident was primarily caused by reckless behavior, intoxication or driver distraction, a review of witness accounts, police reports and other evidence can unearth negligence to justify full compensation for injury victims. Unfortunately, Florida has lagged behind ...

Prenuptial Agreements: Gaining a Financial Picture Before Marriage

2012-10-10

Prenuptial Agreements: Gaining a Financial Picture Before Marriage Everyone has their own financial personality. Your spending and saving habits may differ greatly from friends and family. According to a 2011 study from Utah State University, married couples who disagree about money issues once a week are twice as likely to divorce than couples who have money conflicts less than once a month. Experts explain that money disagreements encompass a variety of issues that reach beyond financial matters. These contested discussions involve issues of control, freedom and ...

Texas Is Rethinking Its Tough Prostitution Laws

2012-10-10

Texas Is Rethinking Its Tough Prostitution Laws After ten years of crowded prisons and increased incarceration costs, the state of Texas is reconsidering its 2001 decision to send those charged with prostitution to prison after multiple convictions. Instead, the state may pursue sentencing that provides treatment, not jail time. Current Texas Prostitution Laws Include Prison Time In 2001, Texas legislators voted to send people convicted of prostitution with three or more convictions to state prison or jail. The law was passed in an effort to reduce prostitution ...

New Jersey Considers Bill to Expand DNA Sampling to Minor Criminals

2012-10-10

The proposed law could be a boon for law enforcement, but it could also threaten personal privacy and civil liberties. New Jersey's DNA Database The New Jersey DNA Database was established in 1994 and originally required samples to be taken from persons found guilty of, adjudicated delinquent for, or found not guilty by reason of insanity, for certain violent crimes, such as murder, kidnapping, and sex offenses. The databased was then expanded in 2003 to cover persons convicted of any crime of the first, second, third, or fourth degree. The Proposed DNA Sampling ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Ketamine use in chronic pain unsupported by evidence

Covid infection ages blood vessels, especially in women

People with sensitive personalities more likely to experience mental health problems

Want to improve early detection of diabetes? Look in the same households as those with abnormal blood sugar

Unveiling the gut-heart connection: The role of microbiota in heart failure

Breakthrough insights into tumor angiogenesis and endothelial cell origins

Unlocking the power of mitochondrial biogenesis to combat acute kidney injury

MIT study sheds light on graphite’s lifespan in nuclear reactors

The role of fucosylation in digestive diseases and cancer

Meet Allie, the AI-powered chess bot trained on data from 91 million games

Students’ image tool offers sharper signs, earlier detection in the lab or from space

UBC Okanagan study suggests fasting effects on the body are not the same for everyone

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Children’s Hospital Colorado researchers conduct first prospective study of pediatric EoE patients and disease progression