A new study in the journal “JAMA Psychiatry” revealed some disturbing information about people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. After sorting through data on more than 218,000 people who had suffered TBIs, researchers concluded that having experienced such an injury was associated with a much greater risk of premature death seemingly unrelated to the injuries themselves. The researchers...
Read MoreThe tragedy happened in 2009: a couple went to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale in Southern Illinois for the birth of their son. According to legal papers, test showed everything was fine when the mom arrived at the hospital. Beginning at about 40 minutes before his birth and continuing until 10 minutes afterward, the baby was deprived of oxygen. He...
Read MoreWhen researchers at Baylor University began their recent study, their goal was to identify which techniques used to help rehabilitate people with traumatic brain injuries were most effective. They set out to analyze the outcomes for patients at 21 rehabilitation centers using the Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, or TBIMS, measuring the patents’ progress at the time of discharge...
Read MoreIn 2007, a new mom and her infant son were set for discharge from the hospital less than 48 hours after the birth. That’s not uncommon. The baby had a case of jaundice, which characterized by yellowing skin and eyes caused by the build-up of a naturally-occurring blood product called bilirubin, which some babies can’t metabolize at first. That’s...
Read MoreEngineers and cardiology researchers at Johns Hopkins University have designed a new biosensor that could help prevent serious brain injuries during heart surgery. The new device is still in development, but the researchers found that a prototype of the biosensor was successfully able to detect a protein associated with brain injury and alert surgeons to the problem. Cardiac surgery...
Read MoreWhen a Nebraska high school student suffered a concussion playing football this fall, there was good news. His school had taken the latest concussion research seriously and had a plan in place for assessing his readiness to return to sports. Unfortunately, there was no plan to assess his readiness to return to the classroom without risking further injury to...
Read MoreWhen it comes to our nation’s veterans, nothing but the best medical care will do. Unfortunately, we don’t always live up to our values. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Veterans Affairs paid out $91.7 million in medical malpractice claims last year — a frightening, substantial jump. While claims naturally vary from...
Read MoreA participant in a National Institutes of Health-funded study at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was hoping she could obtain some relief from a bowel condition while helping the advancement of science, but she ended up with a brain injury that left most of her face paralyzed. When she sought treatment for the paralysis the day after...
Read MoreIn one of the most tragic examples of medical malpractice reported recently, a 4-year-old girl with a heart defect was suffocated by cold medication at a Washington hospital in 2008, causing her a devastating brain injury. After nearly five years of litigation, a judge has ordered the hospital an unprecedented $15.2 million in damages to the now 8-year-old girl...
Read MoreThe Food and Drug Administration recently put out a warning that the drug Depakote, known generically as divalproex sodium, taken during pregnancy may cause brain damage that could lower the child’s IQ by as much as 11 points, on average. The drug, which is prescribed to treat seizures, bipolar disorder and chronic migraines, already carries a warning that it...
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