Date: 10/11/2008 1:51 PM
ROME (AP) _ The condition of an Italian woman at the center of a right-to-die case worsened after she suffered a massive hemorrhage, doctors said Saturday.
Eluana Englaro has been in a vegetative state for 16 years and her father has led a protracted court battle to disconnect her feeding tube, insisting it was her wish.
This summer a Milan court granted his request, setting off a political storm in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. Italy does not allow euthanasia, but patients have a right to refuse treatment.
Catholic and anti-euthanasia groups protested the ruling by leaving bottles of water in front of Milan’s Duomo cathedral. Prosecutors appealed the decision and the father pledged not to disconnect the tube before Italy’s high court weighed in.
Carlo Alberto Defanti, Englaro’s doctor, told reporters gathered Saturday at a clinic in northern Italy that over the last two days Englaro had been bleeding from her uterus.
“It was a very abundant hemorrhage, which puts her life at risk,” he said. “This afternoon it stopped. We can’t make predications; if it doesn’t restart she may recover.”
Italian news reports said doctors had agreed not to give Englaro a blood transfusion.
Englaro was 20 years old when she fell into a vegetative state following a car accident in 1992. Two years later, doctors called her condition irreversible.
Her father, Beppino Englaro, has said she had visited a friend who was in a similar condition shortly before her accident and had expressed the will to refuse treatment if in the same situation.
The case has drawn comparisons here with that of Terry Schiavo, the American woman who was at the center of a right-to-die debate until her death in 2005. Schiavo’s husband, who wanted her feeding tube removed against her parents’ wishes, prevailed in a polarizing battle in the United States that reached Congress, President George W. Bush and the Supreme Court.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Fatal shooting by police sparks Montreal riot
In a bizarre postscript to last Saturday’s story about the racial riots of the past, one of the world’s most peaceful countries had an outbreak of urban rioting this weekend. (See the below story on the Montreal rioting) Gun violence has always been remarkably lower in Canada, largely because of much tighter gun restrictions. But conflict between urban police and poor people has always been a trigger, regardless of where it happens.
One of the lost areas of brain injury advocacy is in police brutality cases. As primarily an accident lawyer, I have only consulted on these cases, but those innocent victims of police brutality often suffer the same type of permanent brain damage as my accident clients.
We hope that Montreal returns to the serenity of which we think of it, and the Canadian authorities can be trusted to find the truth of what really happened.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
Date: 8/11/2008 11:28 AM
MONTREAL (AP) _ Rioting broke out late Sunday in a Montreal neighborhood where a young man was shot to death by police over the weekend. A police officer was shot in the leg, stores were looted and firefighters were pelted with beer bottles.
Several hundred officers in riot gear fanned out in search of a group of youths who ran off after torching eight cars parked outside a fire station in Montreal North, a multiethnic neighborhood with simmering tensions between residents and police. Fire trucks responding to the call in Montreal North were pelted with beer bottles, while at least three bus shelters were trashed.
The violence erupted following a peaceful community protest against the shooting by police on Saturday of three people, including an 18-year-old man, identified by his sister as Freddy Alberto Villanueva, who died of his wounds.
On Sunday, men and women of all ages crawled through the smashed windows of a pawn shop, a convenience store and a butcher shop, grabbing anything they could. They could be seen running down the street clutching TVs, cigarette cartons and slabs of meat.
Meanwhile, along the residential streets, riot-squad officers were forced to dive for cover at least three times, after blasts of what sounded like gunshots went off around them.
“I had a guy shoot a gun next to me, that’s how bad it was,” said Patrick Parent, who lives on the street behind the convenience store. “I ran home. It was terrifying.”
Parent, who has lived in the area for six years, said locals occasionally hear gunshots but that usually the neighborhood is quiet.
“I thought I would see this only on TV, never in real life,” he said.
Montreal police spokesman Ian Lafreniere said one police officer was hospitalized after being shot in the leg.
An ambulance technician was hit in the head by a bottle and a second police officer suffered minor injuries, he said. Both were released from hospital after treatment.
Montreal police Chief Yvan Delorme said the mob vandalized three fire trucks, the local fire station and broke into 20 businesses.
Three people were arrested for breaking and entering, one for drug possession and two others for charges still to be determined, he said.
Quebec provincial police have taken over the investigation into the shootings Saturday that sparked the riots.
City police said the officers were trying to arrest an individual in Henri Bourassa Park around 7 p.m when they were surrounded by a group of about 20 youths.
A few individuals allegedly broke away from the group and rushed the officers.
According to police, one of the officers then opened fire.
The officers were not wounded.
Provincial police spokesman Gregory Gomez del Prado said there were numerous witnesses to the incident, including people playing sports or just sitting in the park nearby, he said.
“It’s too early to say what happened exactly. We’re talking about the death of a man. It’s a major investigation.”
Villanueva’s sister, Julissa, said from nearby Laval that family members want answers.
“We only know what we see in the news, in the newspapers, that’s all,” she said, breaking into tears as she spoke about her brother, a student who wanted to become a mechanic.
Delorme, the Montreal police chief, said authorities would make efforts to mend the shaky relations between police and the community.
“We’re there to listen, to understand what happened (Sunday) night and to avoid these kinds of situations,” Delorme said Monday. “We have to feel safe in Montreal.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
One of the lost areas of brain injury advocacy is in police brutality cases. As primarily an accident lawyer, I have only consulted on these cases, but those innocent victims of police brutality often suffer the same type of permanent brain damage as my accident clients.
We hope that Montreal returns to the serenity of which we think of it, and the Canadian authorities can be trusted to find the truth of what really happened.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
Date: 8/11/2008 11:28 AM
MONTREAL (AP) _ Rioting broke out late Sunday in a Montreal neighborhood where a young man was shot to death by police over the weekend. A police officer was shot in the leg, stores were looted and firefighters were pelted with beer bottles.
Several hundred officers in riot gear fanned out in search of a group of youths who ran off after torching eight cars parked outside a fire station in Montreal North, a multiethnic neighborhood with simmering tensions between residents and police. Fire trucks responding to the call in Montreal North were pelted with beer bottles, while at least three bus shelters were trashed.
The violence erupted following a peaceful community protest against the shooting by police on Saturday of three people, including an 18-year-old man, identified by his sister as Freddy Alberto Villanueva, who died of his wounds.
On Sunday, men and women of all ages crawled through the smashed windows of a pawn shop, a convenience store and a butcher shop, grabbing anything they could. They could be seen running down the street clutching TVs, cigarette cartons and slabs of meat.
Meanwhile, along the residential streets, riot-squad officers were forced to dive for cover at least three times, after blasts of what sounded like gunshots went off around them.
“I had a guy shoot a gun next to me, that’s how bad it was,” said Patrick Parent, who lives on the street behind the convenience store. “I ran home. It was terrifying.”
Parent, who has lived in the area for six years, said locals occasionally hear gunshots but that usually the neighborhood is quiet.
“I thought I would see this only on TV, never in real life,” he said.
Montreal police spokesman Ian Lafreniere said one police officer was hospitalized after being shot in the leg.
An ambulance technician was hit in the head by a bottle and a second police officer suffered minor injuries, he said. Both were released from hospital after treatment.
Montreal police Chief Yvan Delorme said the mob vandalized three fire trucks, the local fire station and broke into 20 businesses.
Three people were arrested for breaking and entering, one for drug possession and two others for charges still to be determined, he said.
Quebec provincial police have taken over the investigation into the shootings Saturday that sparked the riots.
City police said the officers were trying to arrest an individual in Henri Bourassa Park around 7 p.m when they were surrounded by a group of about 20 youths.
A few individuals allegedly broke away from the group and rushed the officers.
According to police, one of the officers then opened fire.
The officers were not wounded.
Provincial police spokesman Gregory Gomez del Prado said there were numerous witnesses to the incident, including people playing sports or just sitting in the park nearby, he said.
“It’s too early to say what happened exactly. We’re talking about the death of a man. It’s a major investigation.”
Villanueva’s sister, Julissa, said from nearby Laval that family members want answers.
“We only know what we see in the news, in the newspapers, that’s all,” she said, breaking into tears as she spoke about her brother, a student who wanted to become a mechanic.
Delorme, the Montreal police chief, said authorities would make efforts to mend the shaky relations between police and the community.
“We’re there to listen, to understand what happened (Sunday) night and to avoid these kinds of situations,” Delorme said Monday. “We have to feel safe in Montreal.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Another Waiting.com Coma Tragedy
From another reader, who got solace from our advocacy on https://waiting.com:
Attorney Gordon Johnson
On Jul 14, 2008, at 7:31 PM, Alina Higuera wrote:
Hello My name is Alina I come from a family of ten kids 7 girls and 3 boys It seems as if my family and I are reliving the devastation of my brothers ( 3rd born ) brain injury that occured on Dec 3, 1979. his injuries were caused by blunt force trauma to the head, he fell out of the back of a pick up truck. The part of the brain that was damaged was at the brain stem. After being in a coma for 3 mo. he returned to us, having to relearn how to do everything, unfortunatly my brother never did regain use of his legs and was able to move his right arm only. he remained very inteligent as he was before this happened. All of his sences were very much intact including pain. He could’nt move anything but he could feel everything, I remember so many many times he would yell for me to come and scratch his itch because he was unable to and we all know how irritating that is, pain was another thing that my brother could feel, it would break my heart to see the unbearable pain on his face when he would be getting therapy or just cleaning him up. My brother lived in that hell for 31 yrs and never one time did I ever hear him feeling sorry for himself, he was always smiling and without fail the first one to say “Good Morning” and nerver forgot a birthday and was the one always doing the cheering up. We lost my brother on Feb 15, 2008 although he is greatly missed I am happy that he is no longer suffering from the bondage that he lived with and through for so many years. On July 12, 2008 my older sister ( 5th born ) 51 years old went into cardiac arrest while visiting another sister over the weekend, after returning from a quick errond as she walked into the front door she found my sister face down on the ground not breathing and with no pulse, she began to administer CPR immediatly, as she called out for help a neighbor came running who happens to be a lifegaurd and assisted my sister with CPR paramedics finally arrived still with no pulse or breathing they began chest compressions and then the electric paddles to try and start the heart, finally after about 15 mins they were able to feel a faint pulse. My sister now lays in a coma on a breathing machine with no responsive reaction. She was having seizures that were coming between every 15 to 30 secs of eachother. because of the lack of oxygen to the brain they say that she does have significant brain damage now to what extent we are not at all sure. Seeing my sister hooked up to machines and just laying there is a de ja vu of 31 years ago. My heart is breaking for my mom because as before she sits along side of my sisters bed talking to her and insisting that she will be just fine as she did with my brother. I can only hope and pray that she comes out of this and returns back to normal ( as normal as possible ) for the sake of my sister she would never want to live as my brother did ( we have all discussed it many times ) and as for the sake of my mom I can only hope and pray and hope and pray that she is strong enough to handle whatever the outcome will be. Only time will tell the fate of my sister, I love her and I miss her sooo very much and God willing she will come back the way she was.
Thank You for reading my story and even more for allowing me to write about it and somewhat releasing it from inside of me.
Alina Higuera
Hello Gordon,
I was so hoping to get a reply back from you. I am very sad to say that after sending this email, we were informed that due to the lack of oxygen to the brain, that my sister was brain dead and that they could do no more for her. She was removed from the machines and to much surprize was breathing on her own for about 36 hrs. she passed away July 18. You absolutley have my permission to post this on your blog, I can only hope that it will bring some comfort to the surviving relatives that they are not alone. Thank You so much for your response.
Alina Higuera
Kudos for our Coma Advocacy
From a user of https://waiting.com:
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
I was thumbing through some old email and I ran across yours. I remember writing you when my mother fell into coma. I remember how helpful this website was to me. How you help me and my family to understand what my mother was going through. I especially like how this site explained all the many different tubes and meaning of words surrounding coma. It educated me, it made me apart of the process. I enjoyed that very much.
My mother was 68 years old and lost the battle of recovery, however, this site helped me to deal with that also. This site gave me hope and kept me inform of what could happen. This site helped prepared me for the future without my mom. I thank God for giving me the strength to go though this and I thank you for educating me on coma so that I know what to pray for. My mother was laid to rest April 5, 2008. Thank you for being there for me.
Sonia
Kind Words about http://tbilaw.com from New Zealand
Below is an email we received with respect to our websites and web advocacy.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
To Gordon Johnson and team, I thank you so much for your site. My name is Wendy and I am a 44 year old woman from New Zealand. I am a victim of Multiple TBI’s. As a child I sustained many head injuries (alot was me being knocked out), and have recieved many since. Most of which I have been knocked out many times, some for long periods, but mainly having the back of my head hitting the ground before any other part of my body. The worst injury I sustained was in 2001 when I had a home invasion and was beaten by 2 people wearing work boots being knoked for 8 or 9 hours. That was the second time I had been knocked out for that long. Other instances were being unconcious for up to 2 hours.
I found your site very easy to understand and informative. All of the symptoms you described were me wrapped up into one big ball. A brain damaged mess with what as a future?!
I do wish so much that your firm was over here in New Zealand as I have had no help from our ‘system’ as one may put it.
Thanks so much for putting this information on the net. People need to understand more about becoming brain damaged and how it affects the victim and how it changes them. Its helped me with my youngest daughter (13), as she never really understood why Mum wasnt like she used to be. I really hope that someday in someway that there will be some miracle cure for thoses affected by TBI or Multiple TBI’s..
Kindest Regards, Wendy. :o)
A Weekly Update on Federal Policy Activity Related to Traumatic Brain Injury
From the Brain Injury Association of America:
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
Brain Injury Association of America
Policy Corner E-Newsletter – June 27, 2008
A weekly update on federal policy activity related to traumatic brain injury
__________________________________________________________________
Dear Advocates:
Legislative activity related to traumatic brain injury policy ensued on numerous fronts this week, as Congress made progress on several bills before leaving town for a week-long July 4 recess beginning on Monday.
Progress on appropriations occurred this week on the Senate side, as the full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and approved its Fiscal 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education funding bill.
Meanwhile – on the other side of the Capitol – as marked up on the Subcommittee level last week, the House Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education Appropriations funding measure contains increased funding for some federal TBI programs. Unfortunately, this bill was not approved by the full House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, as a major breakdown in the Committee’s markup process occurred as a result of partisan disputes. The fate of all House appropriations bills are now uncertain.
Progress on several important bills not related to appropriations also took place this week. On Thursday, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee approved provisions contained in S. 2921, The Caring for Wounded Warriors Act. BIAA has strongly supported and endorsed this legislation, which was recently introduced by Sen. Clinton (D-NY), and would strengthen supports for family caregivers of returning servicemembers with TBI.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 3195) with strong bipartisan backing by a vote of 402-15. Earlier in the week, BIAA formally endorsed this legislation, which is designed to strengthen protections for individuals with disabilities originally enacted through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.
Also this week, the Senate approved a compromise version of the war supplemental funding bill, readying the legislation for president’s expected signature. This legislation contained a moratorium – strongly supported by BIAA – on the implementation of several harmful Medicaid regulations.
Finally, the House and Senate were unable to agree on a final Medicare package, which would have prevented deep cuts beginning on July 1 in Medicare payment rates for physicians. Negotiations on such a package are expected to continue when Congress resumes session on Monday, July 7.
Please note that the next issue of Policy Corner will be published on Friday, July 11, as Congress is in recess next week.
*Distributed by Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA Director of Government Affairs, on behalf of the Brain Injury Association of America; 703-761-0750 ext. 637; lschiebelhut@biausa.org
BIAA’s Policy Corner and Legislative Action Alerts are made possible by the Centre for Neuro Skills, James F. Humphreys & Associates, and Lakeview Healthcare Systems, Inc. The Brain Injury Association of America gratefully acknowledges their support for legislative action.
To sign up to receive future BIAA Policy Corner E-Newsletters and Legislative Action Alerts, please go to http://capwiz.com/bia/mlm/signup/
__________________________________________________________________
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill Advances in Senate; Stalls in House
Progress on appropriations occurred this week on the Senate side, as the full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and approved its Fiscal 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education funding bill.
The Senate’s markup provided the same funding amounts for several TBI programs as last year, including $5.7 million for TBI programming within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and $8.754 million for the HRSA TBI State Grant Program.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Capitol, as marked up on the Subcommittee level last week, the House Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education Appropriations funding measure contains increased funding for some federal TBI programs compared to last year. The House Subcommittee markup includes $11 million for the HRSA TBI State Grant Program (+$2.246 million over last year) and $6.6 million for TBI programming within CDC (+$0.9 million over last year).
Unfortunately, though, this bill was not approved by the full House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, as a major breakdown in the Committee’s markup process occurred as a result of partisan disputes. In fact, partisan vitriol reached such a high level during the attempted House markup of the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill that Rep. Obey (D-WI), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, threatened not to allow any further progress to occur this year on House appropriations bills. Stay tuned.
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Approves Caring for Wounded Warrior Act Provisions
On Thursday, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee approved provisions contained in S. 2921, The Caring for Wounded Warriors Act, S. 2921. BIAA has strongly supported and endorsed this legislation, and several recommendations made by BIAA during the legislative drafting process were incorporated into the bill.
Provisions in the legislation, which was recently introduced by Sen. Clinton (D-NY), would strengthen supports for family caregivers of returning servicemembers with TBI. Specifically, provisions would require two pilot programs to be implemented through the Department of Veterans Affairs, improving the resources available to those caring for returning servicemembers with TBI.
A quote from BIAA President and CEO Susan H. Connors was included in Sen. Clinton’s press release announcing passage of the bill’s provisions:
“Traumatic brain injury not only affects individuals but entire families as well. The Brain Injury Association of America applauds Senator Clinton and Members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee for their leadership in passing this legislation, which compassionately and responsibly provides much-needed supports to family caregivers of servicemembers with TBI,” said Susan H. Connors, President and CEO of BIAA.
BIAA will continue to monitor the progress of this important bill, and thanks advocates for urging their Members of Congress to become cosponsors of this legislation.
House Passes ADA Amendments Act of 2008 By Wide Margin
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 3195) with strong bipartisan backing by a vote of 402-15. Earlier in the week, BIAA formally endorsed this legislation, which is designed to strengthen protections for individuals with disabilities originally enacted through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 is the product of meaningful negotiations and discussions with experts in the disability community, business and employer groups, Members of Congress, and congressional staff. The measure prohibits consideration of mitigating measures in the determination of whether an individual has a disability, with the exception of ordinary eyeglasses and contact lenses. The bill also affords broad coverage for individuals “regarded as” having a disability under the ADA.
A copy of BIAA’s endorsement letter, which was circulated to all Members of the House of Representatives prior to the vote this week, is available at http://www.biausa.org/policyissues.htm.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
Brain Injury Association of America
Policy Corner E-Newsletter – June 27, 2008
A weekly update on federal policy activity related to traumatic brain injury
__________________________________________________________________
Dear Advocates:
Legislative activity related to traumatic brain injury policy ensued on numerous fronts this week, as Congress made progress on several bills before leaving town for a week-long July 4 recess beginning on Monday.
Progress on appropriations occurred this week on the Senate side, as the full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and approved its Fiscal 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education funding bill.
Meanwhile – on the other side of the Capitol – as marked up on the Subcommittee level last week, the House Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education Appropriations funding measure contains increased funding for some federal TBI programs. Unfortunately, this bill was not approved by the full House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, as a major breakdown in the Committee’s markup process occurred as a result of partisan disputes. The fate of all House appropriations bills are now uncertain.
Progress on several important bills not related to appropriations also took place this week. On Thursday, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee approved provisions contained in S. 2921, The Caring for Wounded Warriors Act. BIAA has strongly supported and endorsed this legislation, which was recently introduced by Sen. Clinton (D-NY), and would strengthen supports for family caregivers of returning servicemembers with TBI.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 3195) with strong bipartisan backing by a vote of 402-15. Earlier in the week, BIAA formally endorsed this legislation, which is designed to strengthen protections for individuals with disabilities originally enacted through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.
Also this week, the Senate approved a compromise version of the war supplemental funding bill, readying the legislation for president’s expected signature. This legislation contained a moratorium – strongly supported by BIAA – on the implementation of several harmful Medicaid regulations.
Finally, the House and Senate were unable to agree on a final Medicare package, which would have prevented deep cuts beginning on July 1 in Medicare payment rates for physicians. Negotiations on such a package are expected to continue when Congress resumes session on Monday, July 7.
Please note that the next issue of Policy Corner will be published on Friday, July 11, as Congress is in recess next week.
*Distributed by Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA Director of Government Affairs, on behalf of the Brain Injury Association of America; 703-761-0750 ext. 637; lschiebelhut@biausa.org
BIAA’s Policy Corner and Legislative Action Alerts are made possible by the Centre for Neuro Skills, James F. Humphreys & Associates, and Lakeview Healthcare Systems, Inc. The Brain Injury Association of America gratefully acknowledges their support for legislative action.
To sign up to receive future BIAA Policy Corner E-Newsletters and Legislative Action Alerts, please go to http://capwiz.com/bia/mlm/signup/
__________________________________________________________________
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill Advances in Senate; Stalls in House
Progress on appropriations occurred this week on the Senate side, as the full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and approved its Fiscal 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education funding bill.
The Senate’s markup provided the same funding amounts for several TBI programs as last year, including $5.7 million for TBI programming within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and $8.754 million for the HRSA TBI State Grant Program.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Capitol, as marked up on the Subcommittee level last week, the House Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education Appropriations funding measure contains increased funding for some federal TBI programs compared to last year. The House Subcommittee markup includes $11 million for the HRSA TBI State Grant Program (+$2.246 million over last year) and $6.6 million for TBI programming within CDC (+$0.9 million over last year).
Unfortunately, though, this bill was not approved by the full House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, as a major breakdown in the Committee’s markup process occurred as a result of partisan disputes. In fact, partisan vitriol reached such a high level during the attempted House markup of the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill that Rep. Obey (D-WI), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, threatened not to allow any further progress to occur this year on House appropriations bills. Stay tuned.
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Approves Caring for Wounded Warrior Act Provisions
On Thursday, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee approved provisions contained in S. 2921, The Caring for Wounded Warriors Act, S. 2921. BIAA has strongly supported and endorsed this legislation, and several recommendations made by BIAA during the legislative drafting process were incorporated into the bill.
Provisions in the legislation, which was recently introduced by Sen. Clinton (D-NY), would strengthen supports for family caregivers of returning servicemembers with TBI. Specifically, provisions would require two pilot programs to be implemented through the Department of Veterans Affairs, improving the resources available to those caring for returning servicemembers with TBI.
A quote from BIAA President and CEO Susan H. Connors was included in Sen. Clinton’s press release announcing passage of the bill’s provisions:
“Traumatic brain injury not only affects individuals but entire families as well. The Brain Injury Association of America applauds Senator Clinton and Members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee for their leadership in passing this legislation, which compassionately and responsibly provides much-needed supports to family caregivers of servicemembers with TBI,” said Susan H. Connors, President and CEO of BIAA.
BIAA will continue to monitor the progress of this important bill, and thanks advocates for urging their Members of Congress to become cosponsors of this legislation.
House Passes ADA Amendments Act of 2008 By Wide Margin
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 3195) with strong bipartisan backing by a vote of 402-15. Earlier in the week, BIAA formally endorsed this legislation, which is designed to strengthen protections for individuals with disabilities originally enacted through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 is the product of meaningful negotiations and discussions with experts in the disability community, business and employer groups, Members of Congress, and congressional staff. The measure prohibits consideration of mitigating measures in the determination of whether an individual has a disability, with the exception of ordinary eyeglasses and contact lenses. The bill also affords broad coverage for individuals “regarded as” having a disability under the ADA.
A copy of BIAA’s endorsement letter, which was circulated to all Members of the House of Representatives prior to the vote this week, is available at http://www.biausa.org/policyissues.htm.
The Search for the Perfect Plaintiff
The technique almost all attorneys hired by insurance companies use to defend brain injury cases, is to blame all of the problems the injured person has after the accident on psychological problems the plaintiff had before the accident. The reason is that post concussional symptoms have much in common with the symptoms someone might have from depression. For that reason, defense attorneys and the doctors they hire will blame it on pre-morbid (pre-injury) factors, even if there is no documentation of such psychological issues beforehand.
Thus, experienced plaintiff attorneys become progressively more gun shy about representing someone who has had documented problems before they got hurt. History of migraine, don’t want the case; history of counseling, don’t want the case; prior accidents, don’t want the case. The list of reasons to not represent someone with a brain injury could go on for two pages, but suffice it to say I have heard lawyers I respect give entire lectures devoted to all the reasons not to represent someone.
To a degree, such caution is a self preservation instinct, because the amount of money and time a plaintiff attorney invests in a case. When a plaintiff attorney chooses the wrong brain injury case, not only do they risk not making any fee for his or her time (almost all of these cases are handled on a contingent fee basis) but the lawyer may lose tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, to get the case ready for trial. I confess to turning down cases that other lawyers are willing to take a chance on. My firm and our colleagues only have so much time and resources. Sometimes, there are just too many negatives to justify going forward.
Yet while I turn down many cases, I am turning down fewer cases because of concerns about a pre-morbid mental health issue. While such issues make a case more difficult, they also make it more significant. Concussion, quite simply, does not disable most people. But it does disable a significant minority, probably in the neighborhood of 15%. Pre-injury psychological problems might make a case more complicated, but to me, they also make it more credible. The “perfect plaintiff”, is considerably less likely to be the person disabled by a seemingly routine concussion. That person would likely have a steady improvement over the first few days after the concussion, and like young jocks, be back in the game a week or two later.
Yes, I suppose there are cases where a remarkable individual – with no clouds on their medical or emotional history – suffers a moderate to severe brain injury and becomes clearly disabled. But if you represent only the “perfect plaintiff” you will turn down far too many people whose cases merit representation. While I choose my challenges carefully, the challenge of connecting pre-morbid vulnerabilities to actual resulting pathology and disability, is one I am shying away from less and less.
Thus, experienced plaintiff attorneys become progressively more gun shy about representing someone who has had documented problems before they got hurt. History of migraine, don’t want the case; history of counseling, don’t want the case; prior accidents, don’t want the case. The list of reasons to not represent someone with a brain injury could go on for two pages, but suffice it to say I have heard lawyers I respect give entire lectures devoted to all the reasons not to represent someone.
To a degree, such caution is a self preservation instinct, because the amount of money and time a plaintiff attorney invests in a case. When a plaintiff attorney chooses the wrong brain injury case, not only do they risk not making any fee for his or her time (almost all of these cases are handled on a contingent fee basis) but the lawyer may lose tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, to get the case ready for trial. I confess to turning down cases that other lawyers are willing to take a chance on. My firm and our colleagues only have so much time and resources. Sometimes, there are just too many negatives to justify going forward.
Yet while I turn down many cases, I am turning down fewer cases because of concerns about a pre-morbid mental health issue. While such issues make a case more difficult, they also make it more significant. Concussion, quite simply, does not disable most people. But it does disable a significant minority, probably in the neighborhood of 15%. Pre-injury psychological problems might make a case more complicated, but to me, they also make it more credible. The “perfect plaintiff”, is considerably less likely to be the person disabled by a seemingly routine concussion. That person would likely have a steady improvement over the first few days after the concussion, and like young jocks, be back in the game a week or two later.
Yes, I suppose there are cases where a remarkable individual – with no clouds on their medical or emotional history – suffers a moderate to severe brain injury and becomes clearly disabled. But if you represent only the “perfect plaintiff” you will turn down far too many people whose cases merit representation. While I choose my challenges carefully, the challenge of connecting pre-morbid vulnerabilities to actual resulting pathology and disability, is one I am shying away from less and less.
Footnotes to the Nightmare of War Time Brain Injury
Editor’s Note: This week, I am engaged in an intense writing project on my other brain injury blog: http://tbilaw.blogspot.com on the Nightmare of Wartime Brain Injury. There are some footnotes and funnies that don’t really work as a direct part of that project, so I am posting them here. Later in the week, I will comment on Henry VIII’s brain injury here as it is quite pertinent to that topic as well. http://tbilaw.blogspot.com/2008/06/loss-of-smell-was-missed-sign-of-brain.html
Henry the VIII and Brain Injury Behavior Changes
From my co-author of https://waiting.com:
For those who watch the Showtime series, The Tudors, this season brought a lot of changes in the life of King Henry VIII. Although not happy with his new queen’s inability to deliver an heir, Anne’s prospects got a lot worse after the king suffered a fall from a horse in a jousting accident.One very believable theory as to why Henry VIII had such a dramatic change in weight was that he lost his sense of smell, which can dramatically change a person’s eating habits. See a related blog at http://tbilaw.blogspot.com/2008/06/loss-of-smell-was-missed-sign-of-brain.html
Some historians conjecture that Henry was severely affected by a leg injury he suffered at the time, but others further hypothesize that Henry, who is reported to have been unconscious for several hours, may have suffered a brain injury which led to the drastic change of behavior he exhibited towards Anne Boleyn after his fall.
When one considers the sort of activities the king engaged in prior to his fall -jousting tournaments and break neck hunting expeditions – it might be expected that the king most likely had a history of “knocks to the head”. Regardless, his perception of his wife, Anne, certainly became very distorted and in keeping with many of the symptoms of a brain injury.
Very suddenly, he became convinced that the woman he had risked a kingdom for, had seduced him with witchcraft and he became very susceptible to the reports of wrongdoings from her enemies at court. Eventually this led to several trials for infidelity and treason. Five men were accused on unconvincing evidence and sentenced to death, including her own brother, George Boleyn.
The signs are in the change of behavior in the king. When he had divorced Catherine of Aragon, although she was banished from the court, she was treated with some sort of compassion and her daughter Mary was given safe refuge. Not so, with Anne Boleyn. She was granted no mercy and the king was impatient for her execution and announced his betrothal to Jane Seymour 24 hours later, believing that he had a sign during his period of unconsciousness that she was his salvation.
It was a somewhat chilling reminder to me of the type of fill in memory that exists after a major brain injury, in which facts are easily distorted or replaced because the survivor must make sense out of the gaps which occur. I can easily imagine Thomas Cromwell’s whisperings to the king of Anne’s shortcomings suddenly becoming accepted as truth in an attempt by Henry to replace his own confusion.
Many of Henry’s behavioral changes are in keeping with the theory that he suffered a brain injury. Although his leg injury may have complicated his activities, his sudden disinterest in exercise and former activities certainly would help explain many of the medical symptoms he suffered from that point on, foremost being the obesity he suffered until the end of his life.
The reason I found this historical incident so intriguing is because it related to my own experience with a severe brain injury survivor in which confabulation played a key role. The survivor would fill in gaps with whatever information the people he had contact with gave him, true or false, he had no ability to discern reality himself. Thus, in a situation with hostile family members, this led to some very distorted views of his situation, despite proof to the contrary.
Not only did he fill in holes in his memory with random information, whatever information he was given was exaggerated with every telling. Given the facts of his accident, each time he repeated what he believed to have happened, it became more and more fantastic. This point struck me on The Tudors when Henry breaks down and cries that Anne had slept with hundreds of men when proof of her infidelity was sketchy at best.
It is no doubt, chilling, to realize that the 72,000 executions King Henry VIII ordered in his lifetime may have been perpetuated by an undiagnosed brain injury.
Regardless of the actual historical facts surrounding Henry’s injuries, the depiction that the writers for The Tudors chose to encompass was very true to the nature of brain injury. Henry had other injuries that the doctors were more concerned with and his head injury would have gone untreated. He was unable to discern that those around him had their own personal political agendas and became vulnerable to a desperation to fill in missing gaps in his own memory of the facts. He exaggerated fantastic gossip to mammoth proportions. His former grief and compassion for his enemies turned to an unemotional detachment towards those around him. And a former inclination for personal gratification escalated to a point that would make him an infamous character in history.
One can dispute the argument, but the change of person exhibited by Henry following his accident leaves many questions as to what damage actually occurred in his jousting accident.
Rebecca Martin
Bridge Back from Brain Injury Despair
In 1997, Becca Martin and I created https://waiting.com. It is certainly the most important thing I have done in my career. One of the most important contributions of that page was that its Bridge from Despair was the first internet collection of stories from those who had suffered the tragedy of brain injury on the internet. The internet was young then, and people were just beginning to discover the value of the connection it creates.
Yesterday I got this story, and I thought this blog would be a good place to tell this story, a story we will probably add to https://waiting.com/waitingbridge.html
Yesterday I got this story, and I thought this blog would be a good place to tell this story, a story we will probably add to https://waiting.com/waitingbridge.html
Dear Mr. Johnson,Thank you Lisa for allowing me to post your story on this blog.
10 months ago I had a serious car accident and was in coma for 1 week. I had 3 brain-bleedings and 2 brain contusions. While I was in the coma my parents were with me and spoke to me. My father is German and we live in Germany, my mother is English. And I think she spoke a lot in English with me, because since the coma I often think in English. I am very, very grateful to them that they were by my side. This is the most important thing in the world. The love of your parents. You feel it and you know that they are with you, although you are in the coma. To give this deep love is the most comforting and the most beautiful thig you can do to the person you love. And to know that there are people who don`t look at you like doctors look at their disabled patients is comforting. I want to thank you very much for your work. You really help the people. If you come back, sort of return to the world, it isn`t easy at all to talk to people about this time. Mostly they don`t understand, how could they?
I had just one possibility to get to know another person with a near death experience. And this was so different from mine. I don`t remember anything concerning the accident. And I even lost months of memory before the accident, but I can recall my near death experience. I saw multiple universes in higher dimensions. I`m sorry, I don`t know why I am telling you this. Maybe because I don`t know anyone I could talk to about this. Since I am reading books about the quantum-physical possibility of multiverses I feel a bit reliefed, because I know now, that there`s a scientific explanation for what I saw. But I know that every physicist I`d talk to about this topic would bring me to the booby hatch.
I know, that I was very lucky, that I can think again.
The neurologist couldn`t explain my improvement. Although I have problems remembering things, I want to finish the exams on the university in Munich. It might sound queer, but after I have been hating the woman who ran into me far too fast (and sometimes I still hate her and try not to do it) I thought that following Kant`s categorial imperative and wishing a peaceful earth for everyone, I hope that I can release the hate. And I am grateful that I was able to go through this near death experience.
You give the people hope, information and the feeling that one can talk about the accident. Thank you!
Lisa
alchwarizmi@web.de