I thought Christmas came early when I received my copy of the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, the Official Journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.  This issue contained two articles, one by Erin D. Bigler, Ph.D. and the other by Glenn J. Larrabee, Ph.D. both addressing the use of the flexible versus the fixed battery in forensic neuropsychology.  As if that was not enough, the issue also included a re-publication of the original article published by James N. Butcher, Ph.D., attacking the validity of the Lees-Haley Fake Bad Scale.
 
For anyone interested in forensic neuropsychology, these articles are a must read.
 
 

Below is a press release which I received from the Brain Injury Association of America in which they applaud the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Injury Prevention on their efforts in funding traumatic brain injury research. I as well applaud the CDC's efforts and offer my continued support for an increasingly necessary area of medical research.

  
(WASHINGTON D.C.) - The number of civilians in the United States living with a long-term disability from traumatic brain injury (TBI) is now estimated to be 3.17 million, according to a new article published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 394-400). The new prevalence estimate reflects the use of updated methodology and is not indicative of a reduction in the annual incidence of TBI, which remains at 1.4 million civilians in the U.S. The estimate is based on the results of statistical modeling and analysis of TBI hospitalization data from three states (Maryland, Vermont and New Jersey) in 2005 and does not include persons with TBI who were treated and released from the emergency department or other healthcare setting and those who did not seek treatment. 
           
The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) applauds the CDC for funding this important research and urges swift and widespread use of the new prevalence estimate in the field of brain injury. The Brain Injury Association of America reminds advocates, clinicians, researchers, policymakers and the public that the 3.17 million people living in the U.S. with a long-term disability are unique individuals whose lives are forever changed by their injuries and who need and deserve ongoing specialized rehabilitation, lifelong neurological disease management and individualized services and supports in order to maximize their health, independence and happiness.

The International Brain Injury Association has announced that the 8th World Congress on Brain Injury will be held from March 10 - 14, 2010 in Washington, D.C., USA.  The conference is for all professionals involved with serving persons with acquired brain injury. For more details, the reader is invited to the IBI web page which can be found online here.

I recently found a website which I think will be very helpful to the readers of my blog. The site is an online presentation established by the Department of Psychology at Macquarie University in Australia which is designed to assist people who have suffered from a mild Traumatic Brain Injury through the administration of the Abbreviated-Westmead Post-Traumatic Amnesia Scale. The scale was developed in order to assist in the early identification of cognitive impairment following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

The site states that early identification of patients with cognitive problems after a traumatic brain injury is imperative in the management of the injury. The most common symptom associated with mild traumatic brain injury is memory loss or amnesia.

You can read more on Macquaire University's presentation here.

On January 22, 2007 I represented a resident of Trenton, New Jersey who was a passenger in a car which was hit head on by a dump truck while traveling on State Highway 68. The dump truck that hit her was unable to stop and attempted to avoid colliding with another vehicle by entering the northbound lane. While the driver was able to avoid one accident, he was unable to avoid striking the vehicle our plaintiff was in.

As a result of the accident she sustained a traumatic brain injury, multiple fractures of her left shoulder and arm, and fractures to her right leg. My client also suffered numerous process fractures of the lumbar spine and multiple rib fractures. The case went to mediation and settled for $3.5 million.