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Links to Helpful Information for People Injured by Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents or Other Forms of Negligence in Virginia or Washington D.C.

Shevlin Smith is committed to helping people who have been hurt in car and truck accidents, by medical malpractice, or through other means of negligence obtain the fullest possible recovery.  This page contains links to other resources that are often useful for our clients.

Medical Malpractice

• American Medical Association: This link into the American Medical Association site is for patients seeking information about physicians and specific medical conditions.  Through this link, patients have access to select medical journals and publications that address specific medical issues and specific medical conditions.
• Cleveland Clinic Health Information System: This Web site is produced by the Cleveland Clinic Department of Patient Education and Health Information. It is our goal to promote education, inquiry and the well-being of our patients and visitors by providing the most timely, appropriate and useful health information available.
• Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations: The Joint Commission (formerly known as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, or the JCAHO) is accredits and certifies more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Its mission is to "continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations." Its website contains valuable information such as quality reports for participating healthcare organizations and patient education materials.
• Mayo Clinic Health Information System: MayoClinic.com gives users access to the experience and knowledge of the more than 3,000 physicians and scientists from the Mayo Clinic for fast answers about health conditions ranging from common to complex.
• National Cancer Institute: The National Cancer website provides vital information about types of cancer, cancer reseach and cancer clinical trials.
• PubMed Central: NIH's free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.
• The American Heart Association: The American Heart Association's mission is "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke." Its goal is to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010. Its website is a wonderful resource for information and ideas that can help individuals reduce their risk.
• Virginia State Board of Medicine: This site will tell you whether your doctor is licensed to practice medicine in Virginia; whether your doctor has been disciplined by the Board of Medicine; and, in many cases (but not all) whether your doctor has been sued successfully for medical malpractice.

Car / Truck Accidents

• 2006 Statistics for Virginia Motor Vehicle Accidents: In 2006, there were 42,642 fatalities in the United States resulting from motor vehicle accidents. In Virginia, there were 963. This site shows all of the statistics relating to Virginia motor vehicle accidents involving a fatality.
• Child Passenger Safety Tips from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: NHTSA seeks to ensure that all children ages 0-16 are properly restrained in the correct restraint system for their age and size every time they travel in a motor vehicle. This site is a wonderful educational tool for ensuring child passenger safety.
• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: The FMCSA develops and enforces data-driven regulations that balance motor carrier (truck and bus companies) safety with industry efficiency; harnesses safety information systems to focus on higher risk carriers in enforcing the safety regulations; targets educational messages to carriers, commercial drivers, and the public; and partners with stakeholders including Federal, State, and local enforcement agencies, the motor carrier industry, safety groups, and organized labor on efforts to reduce bus and truck-related crashes. Its website is a wonderful resource for rules, regulations, facts and research relating to large truck and bus safety issues.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: The mission of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is to "save lives, prevent injuries and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through education, research, safety standards and enforcement activity." Its website is a wonderful resource for information directed to advancing this mission.
• National Transportation Safety Board: The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in the other modes of transportation -- railroad, highway, marine and pipeline -- and issuing safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents.
• NHTSA Crash Avoidance Research Technical Publications: The Research and Development department of the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminsitration engages in extensive research, development, testing, crash investigation, and data collection and analysis activities. This website lists many of its publications.
• Truck Accident Legal Center: Truck Accident Legal Center provides in-depth information to truck accident victims including immediate steps after a truck accident. We are helping you reassemble your life by being aware of your rights and by assisting you in getting the best possible compensation.
• Truck Safety Coalition: The Truck Safety Coalition is a partnership between The Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) Foundation, and Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T). The Truck Safety Coalition is dedicated to reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by truck-related crashes, providing compassionate support to truck crash survivors and families of truck crash victims, and educating the public, policy-makers and media about truck safety issues.

Birth Injuries

• Brachial Plexus Injury Information from National Institute of Health: An overview of health issues relating to brachial plexus injuries
• Center for Disease Control: Birth injury information by the Center for Disease Control
• Cerebral Palsy Information: An overview of health and legal issues relating to cerebral palsy
• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD) was initially established to investigate broad aspects of human development as a means of understanding developmental disabilities, including mental retardation, and the events that occur during pregnancy. Today, it conducts and supports research on all stages of human development, from preconception to adulthood, to better understand the health of children, adults, families, and communities. Its mission is to ensure that every person is born healthy and wanted, that women suffer no harmful effects from reproductive processes, and that all children have the chance to achieve their full potential for healthy and productive lives. Its website is a robust resource for research and data on issues relating to pregnancy, childbirth and child development.
• Well Child Care in the U.S.

Brain Injuries

• Brain Injury Association of America: Founded in 1980, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is the leading national organization serving and representing individuals, families and professionals who are touched by a life-altering, often devastating, traumatic brain injury (TBI). Together with its network of more than 40 chartered state affiliates, as well as hundreds of local chapters and support groups across the country, the BIAA provides information, education and support to assist the 5.3 million Americans currently living with traumatic brain injury and their families.
• BrainSource:

  BrainSource is a current, up-to-date resource that addresses issues relating to the development and functionality of the human brain, including issues relating to traumatic brain injury.

• Centre for Neuro Skills: The Centre for Neuro Skills was founded in 1980. Its mission is "to reduce disability, maximize independence, and achieve the maximum possible quality of life for clients who have suffered brain injury within the client existing financial constraints." Its website provides information and additional resources for people who have personally suffered a brain injury, or who have had a loved one suffer a brain injury.
• Centre for Neuro Skills TBI Resource Guide: The Centre fror Neuro Skills is a rehabilitation center for patients who have suffered a traumatic brain injury.  Its website contains valuable information about traumatic brain injuries, treatment and rehabilitation.
• Harvard Medical School - Whole Brain Atlas: This site is a collection of MR images of the brain. It shows images of the normal brain and the diseased brain including cerebrovascular disease, neoplastic disease, degenerative disease, and inflammatory/infectious disease. For the lay user, the neuroimaging primer explains some of the different tools used to collect these images. For the more sophisticated, the site provides tours that demonstrate and explain the progression of brain injury and disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, brain tumors, and herpes encephalitis.
• Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation: For each of the last three years, Kessler Institute has been named one of the nation's top 2 Rehabilitation Hospitals. It is recognized for its level of care for patients who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. If you or a someone close to you has suffered a brain injury, this website will hopefully provide you with answers to some of the many questions you are facing.
• Northern Virginia Brain Injury Association: The Northern Virginia Brain Injury Association (NVBIA) is a non-profit organization whose mission
  is to improve the quality of life of brain injury survivors and to promote the prevention of brain injury. Its website is a terrific resource for information concerning brain injury, treatment and prevention.

Spinal Cord Injuries

• Medical Article: "Repairing the Damaged Spinal Cord": Dr. John W. MacDonald and the Research Consortium of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation write about the significant advances in the understanding of spinal cord injuries and new approaches for the treatment of spinal cord injuries.
• National Spinal Cord Injury Association: Founded in 1948, the NSCIA is the nation's oldest and largest civilian organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Americans living with the results of spinal cord injury and disease (SCI/D) and their families. Its website is an invaluable resource for health, legal and research issues relating to spinal cord injury and disease.
• Spinal Research: Spinal Research is the United Kingdom’s leading charity funding medical research around the world to develop reliable treatments for paralysis caused by a broken back or neck. Its website provides valuable information concerning the nature of spinal cord injuries, treatment for such injuries and new areas of research that will hopefully lead to even better treatment protocols.
• The Miami Project To Cure Paralysis: The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis is the world's largest comprehensive spinal cord injury (SCI) research center. It is dedicated to finding more effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure for paralysis.

Do I Have A Case? A Patient's Guide to Virginia Medical Negligence Law

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