Articles Posted in Queens

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An old woman, 95 years of age, is a patient at a certain Staten island hospital. On 9 June 1998, she became comatose, cyanotic and unresponsive after she became disconnected from her ventilator machine. An employee of the hospital heard the old woman’s room alarm sound but the alarm at the nurses’ station failed to sound. Hence, it could not be determined as to how long the old woman remained disconnected from the ventilator. Respirator assistance was then provided to the old woman by the medical staff of the hospital. Thereafter, she was immediately transferred back to the cardiac care unit, which is where she had been prior to the ventilator incident, and there she received intensive therapeutic care and massive blood transfusions. From 10 June 1998 through 11 June 1998, the consulting neurologist indicated in his progress notes that the old woman had a guarded prognosis and was not receptive to outside stimuli. From 12 June 1998 through 17 June 1998, the progress notes indicated that the old woman was improving. The old woman’s neurologist then noted that she was at baseline, neurologically stable. In other words, the old woman’s neurological condition returned to the state that it had been prior to the ventilator disconnection. Thereafter, the hospital took several remedial measures to prevent any future incidents of this type. The hospital’s Code 15 committee reviewed the old woman’s case to decide whether or not it warranted Code 15 treatment, which consists of reporting to the Agency for Health Care Administration or AHCA within fifteen days of the incident, but later voted against such Code 15 treatment, believing that since the old woman recovered to her neurological baseline, no brain damage or brain injury had occurred. Instead of filing the incident as a Code 15, the hospital reported the occurrence as an adverse incident in its Annual Report of Incidents.

Consequently, the AHCA filed an administrative complaint against the hospital and contends that the hospital violated the law by reason of their failure to report a hypoxic event that caused brain damage to a patient as a Code 15 occurrence.

Sometime in December 2000, a formal hearing was held. After that, the administrative Law Judge or ALJ concluded that the old woman did in fact suffer from a brain damage, a transient or temporary brain damage, and the hospital should have reported the incident as a Code 15; and recommended that AHCA had justification to levy a $5,000.00 administrative fine against the hospital.

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When an accident occurs that involves a personal injury, it is important that the injured person seeks help immediately. The laws of New York are truncated when it comes to personal injury. They have set limits on many of the areas that involve compensable injury. If a person does not file their claim within a certain period of time, they will be barred from recovering damages at all. By the same token, the person must prove that their injury is serious under the guidelines of the law. The law defines the guidelines that describe an injury as either serious or substantial. It also provides guidelines that establish what permanent loss of use relates to. For a person to recover damages based on these statutes, they must be able to establish that their injury falls into these categories.

A substantial injury is one that demands a change in the person’s lifestyle. A person who has suffered from a substantial or serious injury will have to stop doing many of the activities that they used to be able to do. If a person is able to continue performing their jobs, or handling their home lives in much the same manner that they were conducting themselves prior to the injury, then they have not sustained a serious injury in accordance with the laws of the state of New York. Generally, when a person makes a claim for personal injury as the result of an accident, they must bring forth expert testimony that will support their claim. A claim of serious injury that is not supported by medical evidence will fail. In fact, a claim of serious injury that is supported only by medical expert opinion and not supported by concrete medical tests will likely fail as well. When a person files a claim of this sort, it is critical that they are sure that they can present this type of medical evidence in court.

Sometimes, even having several doctors willing to testify in your behalf can be challenged. In one case from New York, a limousine driver was involved in an accident that resulted in his sustaining multiple injuries that he claimed were serious under the statute. In fact, some of his claims involved the fact that he was deprived the use of some body parts. He also claimed a serious spine injury and brain injury. He had no less than four medical experts testify on his behalf that he was unable to work or perform daily functions that he had once enjoyed based upon the injury that he had sustained.

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A Manhattan contractor who owned a home improvement company obtained a contract to renovate a couple’s home. The man worked on the couple’s home: he was up on the roof supervising the repair of the roof when he slipped and fell. He hit his head and sustained a brain injury.

He filed a personal injury complaint against Workmen’s Compensation, against his own company and against the couple who owned the house he was renovating. In that personal injury case, trial was held to determine if the brain injury sustained by the contractor qualifies as a grave injury under the Workmen’s Compensation Law.

During the trial, the contractor adduced proof regarding the extent and nature of his brain injury. His medical experts testified that the contractor had cognitive dysfunction which permanently disabled him from doing any work. The insurance company provided its own expert who conducted a neuropsychological evaluation of the contractor. The expert of the insurance company found that the contractor’s brain injury was severe and traumatic such that he has lost the ability to make decisions required in daily life.

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Defendant American Real Estate Holdings, LP (American), an out-of-possession owner, leased the building where plaintiff’s accident occurred to defendant Levitz Furniture Corporation of Queens (Levitz). The building consisted of a furniture showroom, an office and warehouse space. Prior to plaintiff’s accident, Levitz had sold large furniture shelving rack unit, as well as other similar units, to defendant and third-party plaintiff International Storage Systems, Inc. (International). International was in the business of buying, dismantling, selling and then reinstalling large furniture rack systems. Pursuant to an oral agreement, which is reflected in various invoices and purchase orders, International then hired plaintiff’s employer, third-party and second-third party defendant Heatley Installations (Heatley), to disassemble the furniture rack system and transport it to another location.

A Lawyer said that, plaintiff testified that, just prior to his accident he was in the process of disassembling the free-standing furniture rack system while standing on a particle-board deck located on the third level of the rack. As plaintiff was removing beams from the level above, and dropping them onto the deck, the deck broke, causing him to fall and sustain brain injuries.

At the time of his accident, the Staten Island plaintiff was not utilizing an available order selector provided for use in retrieving furniture at higher levels. An order selector is a piece of equipment resembling a forklift, which has a platform upon which a worker can stand. In addition, although he was wearing the safety belt provided to him by his employer, plaintiff had not properly tethered to the order selector, despite having been directed to do so less than one hour before his accident.

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A man worked for a Greek restaurant as a dishwasher and as a deliveryman for food ordered for delivery. The Greek restaurant in Staten Island gave the deliveryman a bicycle to use for delivering its food products. On August 5, 2006, the deliveryman was en route to making the last of the fifteen deliveries he had to make during his shift. He was on Pershing Street and was turning left on Manton Street in Briarwood, New York when a car struck him.

The Queens deliveryman was knocked off his bike and he hit his head. He was not wearing a helmet. He his skull and suffered bruising in his brain. His brainwas swollen and so he filed a complaint in damages against the lady driver and owner of the car that struck him on the road. The deliveryman based his claim on the negligence of the lady driver on the road.

The lady driver and owner of the car also filed a complaint against the Greek restaurant, the employer of the bike deliveryman. The lady driver wants the Greek restaurant to indemnify her or at least contribute to the payment of damages claimed by the deliveryman.

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Blast TBI (traumatic brain injury) happens to many combatants, according to doctors. It can rightfully be considered a new class of TBI. While it might share a lot of features with standard TBI, it has some unique aspects that are all its own.

The milder forms of TBI can be very similar to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), but it also has distinct aspects of its own. The military currently uses civilian standards of care for TBI when it comes to bTBI (explosive blast TBI), but they are constantly revising their standards to better provide for those injured on the field, according to sources. The theater of war requires different standards of medical practice.

It is apparent that there need to be more studies done on the precise effects of bTBI, both scientifically and clinically. The research will have to be focused upon how explosive blasts can lead to TBI. It is also important to learn how prevalent this disease is, and the exact causes. Once the research reaches a certain level, it will become much easier to diagnose and treat bTBI. A clinical definition of bTBI should quickly create the means to treat bTBI, doctors in Queens and Staten Island believe.

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State Representative Dewayne Bunch, also a Whitley County High School teacher, is improving. According to the public relations and marketing director for Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, the 49-year-old who sustained a head injury while trying to break-up a fight between two students in the school’s cafeteria, in April, is recovering nicely.

The teacher was transported to Baptist Regional Medical Center and then transferred to the University of Kentucky Medical Center. Two weeks after that, he was moved to the intensive care unit at Shepherd Center, a hospital specializing in the treatment of brain and spinal cord injuries.

The State Representative’s traumatic brain injury (TBI) has improved enough that he has now even been moved to the hospital’s rehabilitation unit.

His wife was quoted as giving thanks to the public. “I appreciate the outpouring of support and kindness we’ve received from the community. Please continue to keep [my husband] in your prayers as he continues his journey to recovery.”

More extensive details on his recovery and prognosis are not available at this time. Realizing how varied brain injuries can be, an Attorney, has said that his brain could be recovering from a minor hurt, or it could be trying to reconnect neurons after a serious injury left him with a damaged portion of his brain. While it is unclear what the extent of the TBI is, the fact that the teacher is going to rehabilitation is a good sign. The first periods immediately after a TBI are extremely important and rehab helps tremendously.

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The importance of the initial examination when it comes to closed head injury cannot be stressed enough, according to Manhattan doctors. The conscious level may be the best way for a clinician to assess brain function after a head injury. The level of consciousness is often tested early, as the medical professional tests the patient’s response to certain stimuli. Often, this assessment is taken before secondary brain injury sets in; if the injury seems to worsen, it may indicate there are problems with the brain that require a closer look. CT scanning helps with this process, but examination of the conscious level still remains a useful part of head injury observation, especially when the injury does not appear to be severe enough to require a scan at first impression.

The conscious level also helps to measure how serious the injury is, according to doctors. How conscious the patient is can help determine the extent of the injury, when coupled with how much time has passed since the impact. Other factors must be taken into account in these cases, however. Drugs, ethanol, lack of oxygen, and other factors can cause loss of consciousness, and these should also be ruled out.

Later evaluations can monitor and document the duration of loss of consciousness. This is yet another way to measure the severity of brain injury, studies have learned. These methods require away to measure impairments of consciousness, which fortunately medical professionals in Queens have had available for decades.

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The whole method of determining consciousness is changed when it comes to infants and young children, doctors have discovered. Often, the severity of a head impact is overestimated, but it’s much more common for the reverse to be true. When an infant cries because of a head impact, it is thought to indicate full consciousness, when in fact serious brain damage may have occurred.

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) uses verbal and motor responses to assess consciousness, which is not possible for preverbal infants. Even after they learn to speak, a frightened but fully conscious child might not be able to fully aid in assessing his or her own state of mind. Doctors in The Bronx are well-aware of attempts to devise a scale that operates for children who are five years of age or less, so their needs can be better served.

Pediatricians and neurological nurses have studied these preverbal responses and are of great help in devising a scale that can assist in the treatment of small children. One such scale includes social, adaptive, vocal and motor responses, and even suck/cough responses, either spontaneous or induced by stimulus. Each of these was given a score from 0 to 4. Another scale was based off the Glasgow scale for eye opening and motor responses, but it had different criteria for the verbal portion, including such things as smiling, eye orientation, consolability, and interaction.

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Researchers recently found that soldiers who wear military helmets one size larger and with thicker pads, have reduced the severity of blunt and ballistic impact traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The one-year study funded by the U.S. Army and the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) was aimed at comparing the effectiveness of various military and football helmet pads.

The particular research facility used was chosen via a review committee. The committee concluded that the LLNL research lab had the best set of skills, and their previous experience working on blast-induced TBI would prove valuable.

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