Doctors, Regulators and Officials Wrap Their Minds Around Concussion Dangers

10/20/2010
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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Doctors, Regulators and Officials Wrap Their Minds Around Concussion Dangers

A weekend of carnage in the NFL intensified the growing attention football players, coaches, executives and officials have been paying to concussions.

The league levied hefty fines against defenders who delibrately injured ball carriers and receivers with helmet-to-helmet hits and announced rule and policy changes intended to protect all professional players from concussions. Such moves seemed inevitable after evidence surfaced last year that mild, traumatic and repetitive brain injuries were causing current and retired athletes to lose significant playing time, suffer later in life and die early from conditions such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (i.e., "punch drunk syndrome") and suicide.

Closer to home, the Virginia (VA) High School League, which oversees the rules and competition for teen sports in the commonwealth, required high school administrators and coaches to take concussion diagnosis, treatment and prevention more seriously. Since 2008, schools in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake have implemented systems to set baseline healthy mental function for young athletes and ensure full recovery from brain injuries before allowing a return to the playing field.

But that is all about athletes. What does any of this mean for the overwhelming majority of us who never or no longer participate in contact sports?

Plenty.

Traffic accidents, slips and falls represent the greatest concussion risks for most people. But any brain injury suffered while playing sports, no matter how mild, significantly increases your risk for subsequent concussions. Put simply, damage caused by blows to the head may never get repaired and almost always prove cumulative -- each injury to your brain makes any previous injury worse, more debilitating, more potentially fatal.

You need to recognize any serious blow to the head as a problem, especially if you lose consciousness or experience blurred vision, confusion, lack of coordination or prolonged and sometimes intense headaches. Any concussion is a bad concussion; treat it that way.

EJL

Category: Brain Damage/Head Injuries

Labels: Accidents brain injury concussion Cooper Death doctors fall football headache high school injury lawyer NFL slip sports traumatic brain injury

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a VA injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling cases brought by victims of traumatic brain injury and closed head injuries. In fact, in 2000, our firm helped a plaintiff receive what was then the largest verdict ever in a Virginia brain injury case. Then in the year 2012 we won a $21 million brain injury verdict. We also have a blog in which we discuss only topics related to brain injuries and head wounds.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been named to the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009 and listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008.Shapiro and Lewis have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2008. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers receive this professional honor. In addition, our firm was the first in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA injury law firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.
We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Suffolk and Newport News if you or a family member has been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness. While not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential consultations. Call us toll-free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can get back to you.

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Doctors, Regulators and Officials Wrap Their Minds Around Concussion Dangers

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