The field of traumatic brain injury is benefiting from a substantial amount of ongoing investigation conducted by medical experts. Boston University researchers, for example, are now suggesting that ALS may be concussion related. They apparently found a large amount of an abnormal protein called TDP-43 in the brain and spinal cord of two former football players and one boxer all of who suffered from ALS.  The common denominator among all three was a history of repeated blows to the head. It turns out that Gehrig, too, was apparently hospitalized three and four times with major concussions. It’s too early to tell if there is a direct link, so more research will be necessary, but one of the researchers told CNN the following:

Is there a possibility that Lou Gehrig did have this new disease instead of sporadic ALS? It is possible but we really will never know. What’s important to know is that Lou Gehrig, like so many athletes, went back to play over and over again with a repetitive head injury. We know that’s not good.

As a practical matter, most Hoosiers are more likely to “get their bell rung” in a car wreck or in slip-and-fall accidents than in competitive sports. If you or a loved one have been involved in an accident involving a blow to the head, see your doctor immediately, and follow the medical advice given. If the condition was the result of an injury caused by the negligence of someone else, legal representation is also important. Contact the experienced Indiana personal injury lawyers at Young & Young in Indianapolis for a private, confidential, and free consultation.

Hoosiers dealing with Brain Injury should all become associated with the Brain Injury Association of Indiana.  You can find BIAI on the web at http://www.biausa.org/Indiana.  BIAI work to be the point of entry for those coping with brain injury and learning to help those afflicted with brain injury.    BIAI is now seeking registrants for their fall conference.  Registrations are now being taken – click the appropriate link below to register via mail or online. 

Click here to register for the conference ONLINE. 

Click here to register for the conference via mail. 

Clock To register online for the Fall Conference Golf Outing. 

Parents should take note that brain injury does not just happen to Hoosiers in car accidents, truck accidents, drunk driving accidents, etc.  It happens to young athletes with increasing frequency.  It is not clear if there is an increasing intensity in kids sports or if there is an increasing awareness about the signs and symptoms of brain injury.  Whatever the case may be, parents must be informed about brain injury.  A concussion is a brain injury.  It is wise to have the child medically assessed because the affects of concussion can be very serious.  The days of “how soon can we get Johnny back in the game” should be over.  Concussion symptoms are not always obvious. A loss of consciousness is not a prerequisite for a concussion, and in fact, most concussions do not cause a loss of consciousness.  Symptoms can include headache, dizziness, and trouble concentrating. It can takes months to recover from concussion. 

If you think you, or your child may have had a concussion, please, seek medical attention as soon as is reasonably possible.  It could make a huge difference in your recovery.

The IndyStar.com website reports as follows:

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department doesn’t require officers involved in crashes to take breath tests to determine whether they were under the influence of alcohol…”My sense is we will be moving very quickly in that direction” for police,  [Indianapolis public safety director Frank] Straub said.

DUI charges against the officer were dismissed for lack of evidence, but he is far from out the woods.  He still faces reckless homicide and criminal recklessness charges.

Mandatory field sobriety testing following accidents is already in effect for Indianapolis firefighters, so the precedent has been established; it’s likely a similar protocol will soon be implemented for police officers.

Leaving aside the specifics of this controversy, drunk drivers sadly come from all walks of live.  In a drunk driving-related traffic accident, each motorist should be treated equally under the law, and then let the chips fall where they may based on where the evidence leads.

Earlier this week, a motorist in Noble County, Indiana, failed to stop at an intersection and collided with another vehicle. The motorist had his wife and two young daughters (one of whom was a toddler) in the car, and the girls were flown to a Ft. Wayne hospital for treatment for internal injuries. Apparently neither child was buckled in which may have compounded their injuries.  According to media reports, police found open alcoholic beverage containers in and around the car. Police charged him with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and he may have had prior convictions for the same offense. Additional felony charges may emerge from this incident. Fortunately no one was hurt in the other vehicle.

Someone who may be an active alcoholic has no business getting the wheel and putting his or her own family in harm’s way.  What about the other potential innocent victims too? In this particular incident, two families came close to almost being destroyed in a car wreck that apparently could and should have been avoided. What will take for people to get the message?

If you (or a loved one) have been injured in a drunk driving accident through no fault of your own, Young & Young wants to help you with our experience as Indiana drunk driving accident lawyers and attorneys. Call us toll free, at 1-888-639-5161, for a no-obligation consultation.

In June, we blogged about a Virginia study suggesting that sleep deprivation may be a factor the high rate of teen traffic accidents. Police are investigating this incident, and it  remains to be seen if the driver in this case dozed off.  As another common-sense principle, drivers should never get behind the wheel if they are having a hard time keep their eyes open.

Leaving aside the age of an offender, if you or a loved one have been seriously hurt in a traffic accident on Indiana roads owing to the actions of a reckless, impaired, or negligent driver, please contact the Indiana personal injury lawyers at Young and Young to obtain full information about your legal rights to recover money damages in civil court. With 55 years of experience, we stand ready and able to help you make the person who caused the harm to fully compensate you for that harm.

• -  Keep your dorm room door locked whenever the room is unoccupied, if you are in
•    the room alone or if you are sleeping.
• -  Take care of your room keys. Don’t give anyone the opportunity to duplicate
•    them and never leave a key over the door or nearby your room. [That could also
•    apply to car keys]
• -  Don’t leave valuables, like your wallet, checkbook or jewelry, in open view.
• -  Keep drapes closed when changing clothes.
• -  Never walk or jog alone at night. If alone, avoid secluded or dimly lit areas. Stay
•    away from wooded areas or locations where shrubs or buildings might provide
•    cover for assailants.
• -  Never hitchhike or offer rides to strangers.
• -  Have your car or residence hall key (or swipe card) in hand and ready as you
•    approach your vehicle or dorm.
• -  If you are at a party, never leave your drink unattended. It becomes an easy
•    target for someone to spike with alcohol or drugs.
• -  Trust your instincts. If you feel uncomfortable in a place or situation, leave.

In addition, with binge drinking unfortunately also a popular activity on and off campus,  college students should once again be reminded never to drink and drive. As we have documented time after time, the consequences of getting behind the wheel in an intoxicated condition can be horrendous. A car wreck or even a  fatal accident, caused by a drunk driver be the result. Call a cab, make arrangements with a designated driver, or find another safe way back home or to the dorm. As we mentioned in a previous blog entry, tell your college-age children to stay put if it’s safe; anything to keep them from drinking and driving.

All this reminds us to take just a minute to talk about defensive driving. What is defensive driving and why is it important?

Defensive driving is essentially driving in a manner that anticipates the actions, reactions and mistakes of others sharing the road with you. Defensive driving means following the rules of the road including driving within the speed limit. Defensive driving means maintaining sufficient distance between all cars around you. Defensive driving means being alert at all times (no cell phones or texting). Defensive driving means resisting the urge to drive aggressively. Defensive driving allows us to avoid accidents that we could not avoid if we are not paying attention or are driving aggressively. Why is this so important? It is important because you do not want to have to live with the guilt of seriously injuring or causing the wrongful death of another. It is so important because as social beings, we must respect the rights of others so that they may lead their lives in peace with the freedom to earn a living, care for their families and enjoy life. You deserve those things as well, and if we all work together, the roads will be safer. Roughly 41,000 die annually in traffic collisions, with an additional 3,236,000 injuries.

If you, or a loved one has been injured in a drunk driving accident, Young & Young wants to help you with their experience as Indiana drunk driving accident lawyers and attorneys. Call us, toll free, at 1-888-639-5161, or contact us on the web at john@youngandyoungin.com. Thank You.

If you are dealing with spinal cord injury because of the negligence of another, the lawyers of Young & Young stand ready to assist you in obtaining the fair compensation to which you are entitled. We hear, all the time, “I am not the suing type, I just want what’s fair”. We are glad to hear this. Although there are always exceptions to the rules, almost no Hoosier is the suing type. You’d have to be crazy to want to put yourself through such a trying ordeal. For all your troubles, you get to be cross examined by smart attorneys hired by the insurance company. There are always insurance companies, but in Indiana we have to sue the person who caused the harm, we are not allowed to even mention insurance. I am here to tell you, there is almost always insurance. Think about it, we have mandatory financial responsibility laws that require all drivers have insurance. You get to have your truthfulness questioned, you get to have people be suspicious of you for not being honest, just because you are asking a negligent person to make for the harm they did. Nobody, who has a spinal cord injury, and is paralyzed in any part of their body is the suing type. They are just asking to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect, those things everyone is entitled to.

If you are dealing with the impact of a spinal cord injury, and the resulting paralysis, you either know, or will find out, that your health depends on good medical attention and adaptive equipment. These things are not cheap. When asking another to pay fair compensation for the harm they caused, these things are as important as anything to help you live as you are entitled, happy and as comfortable as you were before their negligence forced this new set of circumstances on you. What your mother taught you is still true: If cause harm, you fix it, you make up for it. You don’t fix it half way, you fix it as best you can. When Young and Young works with Hoosiers dealing with spinal cord injury, we employ the finest minds available to help us calculate the full extent of the costs to help you live your life as you are entitled to. Call us toll free at 1-888-639-5161 or contact us on the web at john@youngandyounin.com.

We can help with any social security issues as well.

We have been following the sad story of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer.  As you know a Marion County Superior Court judge cast significant doubt on the admissibility of the blood tests taken from Officer David Bisard.  Officer Bisard was involved in a collision while operating his police cruiser, allegedly under the influence of alcohol.  The crash killed Eric Wells, who was stopped on the road on his motorcycle.  The judge refused to suspend the officer’s license because there was no probable cause to take blood from the officer.  The police officers at the scene state that they did not smell alcohol on Bisard, nor did he appear to be impaired.  Therefore they did no field sobriety tests to justify the taking of the blood sample.

The Wells family, and many members of the public are outraged at the decision.  Suspicion is high that the officers of IMPD are not being truthful about what they observed of Officer Bisard after the collision.  The logic goes like this:  The blood test came back .19.  At that level a person is drunk and exhibiting signs of impairment and would smell of alcohol.  The officers at the scene, therefore, are not being honest about their observations of Officer Bisard.  They are not being honest to cover for one of their own.  In any event, IMPD is the center of the firestorm.  The Wells family is planning a rally on monument circle on August 20, 2010, at 6:30 is support of Eric.  We will continue to follow this story. However it ends, we hope that the Wells family can find some peace from this tragedy.

Keeping up with the news:  The Carmel teenager, who has not been identified by name because he is a minor, who fled the police and during the flight hit a telephone pole resulting in the death of his two friends has admitted that the charges against him are true. We believe that this is an important step in allowing healing for the families of the deceased young men and for the young man who must live with these haunting memories.  We now urge the insurance company for the 15 year old to pay the families of the deceased children the full amount of the liability coverage which insured the car.  This will not bring back those young men, but it is another step in the right direction.  What is the right direction?  The right direction is what you were taught by your mother when you were young, if you make a mess (break something, hurt someone) you admit what you have done and you make up for it.  You make up for as best and as completely as you can.

An Indianapolis man was killed in a van/semi tractor-trailer accident, yesterday in an accident on Interstate 70, east of Indianapolis, near Greenfield. The accident occurred around 5:00pm. Our sincere sympathies go out to the family of the man killed.  He has not been named pending notification of his family.

Be careful out there.  When an accident does occur and either you and Your family or friends have been seriously injured, we stand ready and able to help you make the person who caused the harm to fully make up for that harm.