Articles Posted in Brain Injury

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this brain injury case and its proceedings.)

DEFENDANT UNIVERSAL HOMES’ INSTANT MOTION

Defendant UNIVERSAL HOMES moves for summary judgment on the grounds the negligence that caused Ms. Smith to be hospitalized was not a legal cause her death due to negligence in that hospital.

In response, plaintiff contends that moving defendant’s negligence was a legal cause of the death of Ms. Smith because her brain injury and subsequent death was caused by the negligence of health care providers she went to see as a result of the defendants negligence. At a minimum, there is a triable issue of fact.

THE STANDARD OF REVIEW

The court’s role here is whether or not there is, or could be, a triable issue on any material fact. Code Civ. Proc. Section 437. A defendant who seeks summary judgment must define all theories alleged in the complaint and then challenge each factually, showing that one or more elements of each of plaintiff’s causes of action for negligence cannot be established or that there is a complete defense to that cause of action. CCP section 437c (p)(2); Lopez v. Superior Court (1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 705, 714.

Summary Judgment is a drastic procedure and should be used with caution. Any doubt as to the propriety of granting the motion is resolved in favor of the party opposing the motion. Stationer’s Corp v. Dun & Bradstreet Inc. (1965) 62 Cal.2d 412,

Continue Reading ›

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this brain injury case and its proceedings.)

FACTUAL SUMMARY cont.

She was thereafter taken by a friend and fellow Universal Home tenant to XYZ Hospital. She had fallen on her left side and was treated for injuries sustained in the fall. She was diagnosed with a left sided chest contusion. It caused her to have intractable left sided thoracic pain throughout her stay. [Declaration of Plaintiff Tammy Bauer] Ms. Smith was admitted to XYZ Hospital by her primary care and admitting physician Robert J., M.D.

After two days in the hospital, Ms. Smith developed and alteration of consciousness, including confusion and somnolence repeatedly trying to get out of bed. In addition, she developed seizures. Dr. J. asked for and received a neurology consultation with Nancy S., M.D. This was not a transfer of medical care to a new physician for a new problem but a simple consultation request by the admitting and primary treating physician.

Dr. S.’s initial exam occurred on April 30, 2005. [The foregoing references are to Dr. S.’s deposition.] The two reasons for the consultation were Ms. Smith’s confusion somnolence, or alteration in her level of consciousness and unexplained tremors she was having. Dr. S. diagnosed intermittent partial seizures. After consulting with the patient and plaintiff, Tammy Bauer, Ms. Smith was started on Dilantin, an anti-seizure medication.

Dr. S.’s evaluation was part of the care and treatment for the falls, not independent of that. Contrary to the basic theme of defendant’s Motion, care for the fall did not conclude at the time Dr. J. sought a consultation from Dr. S. Dr. S. considered the question of whether or not several reported earlier falls ending with the one that brought Ms. Smith to XYZ Hospital had been caused by the seizure disorder she had been asked to consult about.

Continue Reading ›

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this brain injury case and its proceedings.)

Plaintiff’s Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Defendant Universal Homes Motion for Summary Judgment
THE PARTIES

This is a wrongful death action arising out of the death of plaintiff’s beloved mother, Felicity Smith at XYZ Hospital on May 6, 2005. The decedent resided at the Universal Home in Roseville, California owned by defendant UNIVERSAL NURSING HOMES (hereinafter Universal Home ). Due to the negligence of Universal Home, Ms. Smith fell and was injured. Seeking treatment for injuries sustained in the fall, Ms. Smith was taken to XYZ Hospital, owned and operated by defendant XYZ TOWNSHIP HEALTHCARE DISTRICT (hereinafter XYZ Hospital ). Near the end of her hospital stay, Ms. Smith got out of her hospital bed to go to the bathroom. She had not been diapered, and urinated on the floor. She slipped and fell in her own urine striking her head. Ms. Smith died from this head and brain injury.

Plaintiff alleges that the negligence of Universal Home in causing the injury for which Ms. Smith was hospitalized in the first place was a cause of her death.

Continue Reading ›

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the proceedings.)

And again, at the time of delivery, the defendants assured MRS. WHITE that an ENT indeed was present:

A. IT WAS SOMEBODY IN THE ROOM THAT ASKED DR. X., THAT SAID, MRS. WHITE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THE ENT AND ALL NEEDED PERSONNEL ARE IN THE ROOM. AND DR. X. HAD ACTUALLY LOOKED IN THERE AND SAID, YES, MRS WHITE, DON’T WORRY ABOUT A THING EVERYBODY IS HERE. (Deposition of David White, at pp. 12:19-24.)

And DAVID WHITE knew his son was injured – by directly viewing the child’s injured body because an ENT was not present:

Q. AND WHAT DID YOU SEE WHEN THEY SHOWED YOU DONALD [in the delivery room]?

A. BLUE, LIFELESS.

Q. WAS THAT —

A. HE WASN’T BREATHING.

Q. OKAY

A. JUST LIFELESS.

Q. AND WAS THAT DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU HAD EXPECTED TO SEE?

A. YES.

Q. HARD TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU SAW, BUT SHE SEEMED TO BE LIFELESS AND BLUE?

A. I SAW HIS FACE. HIS FACE WAS BLUE. EVERYTHING WAS BLUE. (Brackets added.) (Deposition of David White, at pp. 52:14-55:11.)

Thereafter, the defendants told DAVID WHITE about the health care providers failure to get an airway into the baby – with an ENT not present:

Q. DURING YOUR FIRST CONVERSATION WITH DR. SEAN Z., THAT’S IN THE HALLWAY WHEN HE TAKES YOU OUT OF THE OPERATING ROOM TO SPEAK WITH YOU. WAS IT YOUR UNDERSTANDING AT THE TIME DR. Z. WAS SPEAKING WITH YOU, THAT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TAKING CARE OF DONALD STILL HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET AN AIRWAY IN THERE EFFECTIVE TO GIVE HIM PROPER OXYGENATION?

A. YES.

Continue Reading ›

Actress Natasha Richardson died today from a brain injury she suffered during a ski vacation at a resort in Canada. It was reported that Ms. Richardson was taking a beginner’s lesson when she fell on a flat portion of a run near the bottom of the mountain. Notably, she was not wearing a helmet.

Right after the fall Ms. Richardson was talking and joking, but shortly she complained of head pain and was taken to a local hospital for observation. “A patient can appear so deceivingly normal at first,” said Graffagnino, director of Duke University Medical Center’s Neurosciences Critical Care Unit. “But they actually have a brain bleed and as the pressure builds up, they’ll experience classic symptoms of a traumatic brain injury.” For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Such injuries are known as epidural hemorrhage. Blood gets trapped between the skull and the hard layer of skin between the bone and brain, known as the dura mater. As the blood flows from the ruptured artery, the fluid builds and punctures the dura. For comparison, physicians often describe the human brain as an orange. The brain is the meat of the orange, the peel is the skull, and the spidery layer around the meat is the dura mater. (“Dura mater” is Latin for tough mother.)

Physicians working on trauma teams are taught “if a group of people are in a car crash and someone dies, the team should assume everyone else has serious injuries — even if they look good, and say they feel totally fine,” Graffagnino said. This is a fundamental lesson for all of us who experience some kind of head trauma — don’t assume you are okay simply because you feel no immediate obvious effects from the trauma. Seek prompt medical attention.

Continue Reading ›

Many fans of professional football and hockey are thrilled when players deliver bone-crushing hits to their opponents. However, there are often serious health consequences in collision sports about which most casual fans hear little. A recent article in the New York Times reported that doctors from Boston University’s School of Medicine found another former National Football League player died from a brain injury called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer player Tom McHale died in May 2008 at 45, from repeated head trauma. He is the sixth such NFL player known to have died from CTE.

CTE is a progressive condition that results from repetitive head trauma and can bring on dementia in people in their 40s or 50s. The condition is often associated with former boxers. On McHale, doctors used techniques that can only be administered after a patient dies. Doctors have identified CTE in all six NFL veterans between ages 36 and 50 who have been tested for the condition, further evidence of the dangers of improperly treated brain trauma in football.

These findings underscore the need for anybody suffering with a possible traumatic brain injury, whether it be apparently mild or severe, to seek immediate medical treatment. Concussions are very often the underlying injury that lead to CTE. Such injuries can occur in Car Accident “>traffic accidents or contact sports at all skill levels.

Continue Reading ›

A Sacramento man died last June from injuries he sustained during an illegal chiropractic session.

The 76 year old man and his wife visited the home of Antonio Arellano, 66 years old, out of which Arellano was operating an unlicensed chiropractic office.

reported:

You will never see a “To-Do List” like this:

• Get laundry

• Pay bills

When you are about to get onto your bicycle, the first thing you should make sure to have once you have taken off, is a helmet on. Ever since I was a small child I was always made to wear a helmet, whether I was bicycling, on a scooter, or on a skateboard. And if I didn’t wear a helmet all those times, I could of really hurt myself. I took many spills on my toys that required helmets, always getting scrapes on my elbows and knees, but never injuries on my head.

Many parents now a days let there kids ride around with out helmets, and when they fall, they are sometimes seriously injured. Even if you are over 18 years old and legally not wearing a helmet it is still very unsafe. Just because your older doesn’t make you an experienced bicyclist, or skateboarder for that matter.

I decided to get some facts and statistics on helmet use at www.helmets.org:

As a paralegal for a Sacramento personal injury attorney, we have assisted numerous clients who have suffered from a brain injury. Keep in mind that if you are ever wrongfully injured, you may have a personal injury claim.

Facts about Traumatic Brain Injury

What is a traumatic brain injury?