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New York Building Collapse Kills a Construction Worker

  • 20
  • April
    2012

Strides have been made to make construction worksites safer over the years. However, in a tragic late March accident, a 69-year-old New York construction worker died and two others were seriously injured when a building collapsed around them. The building, a warehouse owned by Columbia University, was built in 1915 and was being demolished as part of a university expansion project in West Harlem.

The top story of the two-story warehouse had already been taken down. The three workers were cutting a structural beam when it gave way and the remainder of the building collapsed, burying them in debris. The two workers who survived the New York construction accident were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

Work on the project has been suspended while an investigation is completed.

New Study Shows Possible Link Between Brain Injuries and PTSD

  • 16
  • March
    2012

Traumatic experiences can change people. Most understand that a psychological change occurs as people try to work past the nightmares and anxiety that haunt them. A classic example is how post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects someone after a horrifying experience.

While the tendency has been to associate PTSD to stressful experiences, new research suggests that it could be linked to traumatic brain injuries (TBI) as well. Scientists believe that blows to the head-like those sustained during a car accident-could change key parts of the brain, leading to a greater risk of PTSD.

Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles recently published a study where rats were used to examine the relationship between TBI and PTSD. Their findings stem from the responses from the amygdala, a tiny bundle of neurons is extremely vulnerable to damage during a physical blow to the head. The amygdala regulates fear responses, and scientists can learn a great deal about PTSD from this area.

A New Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative

  • 10
  • February
    2012

Traumatic brain injuries can occur in various circumstances. Whether it's the result of an auto accident or combat mission overseas, brain injuries are serious and happen to millions of individuals every year. Fortunately, first lady Michelle Obama is doing something to promote traumatic brain injury awareness.

She is announcing an initiative to partner with medical schools to improve training for doctors treating veterans, in particular, who suffer from brain trauma as a result of combat.

Goodbye MRIs? Handheld Devices Now Detecting Traumatic Brain Injuries

  • 08
  • February
    2012

The U.S. National Institute of Health has created a new type of imaging detection device that rapidly finds brain injury, and, it amazingly fits in the palm of the hand. This handheld innovation detects conditions like haematoma, which occurs when blood vessels in the brain leak blood into surrounding tissue and cause very dangerous swelling of the brain.

The Optical Society published the team's results in an open-access journal. The team concluded that the handheld device would be a faster and less expensive way to predetermine whether or not haematoma is occurring in traumatic brain injuries. Presently medical personnel use CT scans and MRI testing to look for signs of TBI including swelling, bleeding in the brain and leakage into the surrounding tissue.

Veterans' Head Trauma Highlights Seriousness of Brain Injuries

  • 05
  • January
    2012

The full consequences of any brain injury are difficult to understand immediately after an accident. Many individuals suffer head injuries in car accidents, truck accidents, train accidents, fall down accidents or other violent impacts and need full medical attention to keep their symptoms under watch-even if they are not readily apparent. However, one overlooked source of severe head injuries involves service members and their military actions overseas.

Severity of Military Head Trauma May Be Overlooked

The blast impact of roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan have caused untold harm to soldiers on patrol, and opened up a new area of study for doctors and medical scientists.

Common Secondary Conditions of Spinal Cord Injuries

  • 12
  • December
    2011

Sustaining a spinal cord injury is a traumatic and life-changing event that often results in permanent paralysis. These types of injuries occur in a number of fashions including auto accidents.

The primary issue associated with paralysis is a lack of voluntary control of the body's muscles, a common consequence of which is the inability to walk. In addition to lack of muscle control, a variety of secondary issues related to SCIs can profoundly affect a paralysis victim's health and lifestyle. The parts of the body that are affected by these secondary issues, and to what degree, are dictated by the location of the SCI.

Damaging Emails Point to Possible Cause of 2009 New York Plane Crash

  • 28
  • November
    2011

Emails relating to a 2009 plane crash that killed 50 people when it smashed into a New York home have surfaced and are revealing some interesting information about the possible cause of the crash-pilot error.

Almost three years ago, a flight that took off from Newark, N.J and set to land in Buffalo, N.J. took an unfortunate detour when it crashed into a residential home in the city of Clarence, New York. The plane allegedly went into an aerodynamic stall before falling. Everyone on board, along with a bystander on the ground, perished. The families of the deceased have since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Pinnacle Airlines, the parent company of Colgan Air.

Unapparent Brain Injuries Probable After a Motor Vehicle Accident

  • 24
  • October
    2011

Individuals sustain a wide range of injuries when they are in an auto accident. However, sometimes the worst injuries are those that can't be seen.

Many accident victims suffer severe head injuries, even if they haven't hit their head on anything inside the vehicle. Many victims experience what's known as "deceleration injuries" or injuries that occur when a change in momentum causes the brain to move around inside the skull.

For example, when a vehicle traveling at 30 mph is hit head-on by another vehicle, both vehicles stop immediately. However, simple physics dictate that the drivers and passengers will not. As a result, they fly forward and rebound backward causing their soft brain tissue to slam against the hard bones of their skull.

Last 9/11 Wrongful-Death Case Against Airlines Recently Settled

  • 14
  • October
    2011

Unfortunately, after more than ten years, many lawsuits from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are still pending. The last remaining cases, however, have been consolidated into four "master cases." And one of the master cases, a wrongful-death lawsuit against the airlines and airport operators, was recently settled and closed.

The victim in the remaining case, a professional hockey scout, was killed when a United Airlines airplane, in which he was a passenger, hit the World Trade Center. His family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in New York against United Airlines and its security contractor, Huntleigh USA, alleging that they were grossly negligent in their security operations that resulted in the victim's death.

Family of Iraq War Veteran Files Wrongful Death Suit

  • 16
  • September
    2011

An Iraq War veteran who lost both legs and a hip to a roadside bomb south of Baghdad was killed when he fell from the Ride of Steel roller coaster at the Darien Lake Theme Park Resort recently. According to reports from BuffaloNews.com and NBC affiliate WGRZ News 2, Sergeant James Hackemer was thrown from the ride near its highest point, 208 feet in the air.

The New York State Department of Labor recently indicated that safety and operational requirements were not followed by the ride operators. The rules were posted and visible at the entrance to the Ride of Steel. These rules require that riders have both legs, because the safety devices restrain the legs, shins, and lap to hold the rider safely in the ride's car. Reports indicate that Sergeant Hackemer was not wearing his prosthetics when he was helped onto the ride.

Contact our law firm - If you or someone you love has suffered a serious injury in a car accident or other accident in New York, you need experienced personal injury representation.

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