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 Posted on October 18, 2017 in FAQ

After your accident last year, which left you paralyzed from the waist down, the doctor informed you that the first year of recovery was going to be the hardest and most dangerous. He told you to take it one day at a time, and to always be mindful of any potential problems that could be life-threatening. Well, today is the one year anniversary of the accident and thankfully, you're still here.

Although you are ecstatic that your recovery is going well, does this mean you're no longer at risk for fatal complications?

Mortality Rates and Causes for Spinal Cord Injury Sufferers

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the worst types of injuries anyone can suffer. SCIs not only limit normal daily function and mobility, but they also have an extremely high mortality rate.

A study designed and conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH) found that on average, 12 percent of victims suffering paraplegia and quadriplegia died within one year of their accident. The study further revealed that 38 percent of the studied paraplegics and 53 percent of the studied quadriplegics weren't able to survive an additional 40 years after their initial accident.

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 Posted on October 17, 2017 in FAQ

It was all a blur. One second you were dropping your little boy off at Chesterbrook; the next you were getting a call that he was taken to Inova after falling off the swing set. The principal didn't have much information other than he fell and hit his head. As you rushed to the emergency room, all you could think about is how severe your baby's injuries are and what the doctor is going to tell you.

You wait for about 15 minutes until the doctor comes out and tells you that the fall caused hadn't caused any visible open head wounds, but he's still trying to rule out any possible closed head trauma.

Open head? Closed head? What does that mean?

Closed Head Injury Risks Compared to Open Head Injury Risks

Closed head injuries are injuries that affect the brain without affecting the skull. Although the internal damage can be disastrous, the skull remains intact. Open head injuries are injuries where the skull is breached by an outside force.

Both open and closed head trauma are serious medical emergencies and require immediate medical attention. They both have varying degrees for concern. Either trauma should be addressed as soon as possible, but if you suffer from a head injury, you should know these important facts that distinguish a closed head injury from an open head injury.

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 Posted on October 16, 2017 in FAQ

The news is still stunning. Your child was born, and you could not love her any more than you do. Yet, this was not what you imagined. You didn't anticipate that the negligence of a doctor in a northern Virginia hospital would leave your child with a birth injury that would affect her, and you, forever.

Focusing on the Future

You may replay what happened in the hospital delivery room over and over again. You couldn't prevent your child's injury then, and you can't go back and change what happened now. However, as her parent, you do have the ability to change her future. You do have the ability to help her. You may, for example, get:

• A prompt diagnosis of her injury. This may include getting a second, or subsequent, opinion, as appropriate.
• Your child the intense therapy she needs. Early intervention therapies can help your child throughout her life. The therapies she will need depend on her specific injuries. Some may be provided by the Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia, but your child may need more than what is provided by the government.

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 Posted on October 15, 2017 in FAQ

It never seems to fail: you're on your way home after a long day at work. You've gotten past most of the congestion on 66 and your exit is coming up, but you're stuck behind a truck going 60 mph. You don't have time to pass him, so you're forced to slow down and basically crawl the next half mile until you can get off.

Why doesn't he go faster, or better yet, just get out of your way? No one is next to him, and it's blatantly clear you're in a hurry but can't pass him. You would move over for someone else, so why can't he?

Federal Highway Regulations for Trucker Safety

Driving a truck is drastically different than driving a smaller passenger vehicle and can be extremely dangerous if not handled correctly. For this reason, truck drivers must complete extensive driver training and adhere to special federally mandated driving regulations, in addition to normal traffic laws. These regulations, which are administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the United States Department of Transportation, include:

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 Posted on October 14, 2017 in FAQ

The accident happened almost a week ago. You were turning onto when the car behind you smashed into your rear bumper, sending you into a spin. You instinctively slammed on your brakes, causing your head to involuntarily jerk forward and strike your steering wheel. As the front of your car banged into a light pole, your airbag deployed, lurching your head back into the headrest.

After being taken to the hospital to check for serious injuries, your doctor informed you that besides the broken nose from the airbag, the worst injury he found was a severe case of whiplash. He told you to take it easy and let him know if the pain worsened or if your vision, balance, or mood changed.

You're now back at Inova, waiting for your doctor to help ease the debilitating neck pain and headaches that you've been suffering with for the past six days. While you lay there holding your head and rubbing your own shoulders to relieve some of the pain, you wonder why your whiplash is so bad. What specifically caused the pain and could you have done anything to have made it less severe?

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 Posted on October 13, 2017 in FAQ

Traveling by car is one of the cheaper and more fun ways to get your family to your vacation. It can also be dangerous if you are not careful.

Families traveling on road trips get into car accidents in Virginia every year. From distractions by the kids and GPS to getting drowsy after extended periods behind the wheel, there is a lot that can cause an auto accident. With proper preparation and a healthy level of care, you can get your family safely to your destination.

Road Trip Safety Tips for Virginia Families

As a Virginia car accident attorney I see many accidents happen because people are not paying attention or not properly prepared for long trips in the car. Here are some tips that I've learned over the years to help keep you and your family safe.

• Have your mechanic look over your car before you leave. Before you hit the road, take your car to your mechanic to look over. Let him or her know that you are going on a road trip so he knows what to look for. He will check your tires, fluid levels, and make any minor adjustments that could prevent car failure on your vacation.

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 Posted on October 12, 2017 in FAQ

Imagine walking into Inova for a routine skin biopsy one day, and being wheeled out a week later with an uncertain future. Although the biopsy was only supposed to take 24 hours from start to finish, your week long stay was the result of an infection caused by a dirty scalpel; your uncertain future is the direct result of that infection making your entire leg necrotic, whereupon it had to be amputated.

You know you have grounds for a major insurance claim, but will it be enough to reconcile the pain, anxiety, and difficulty that will now be associated with the rest of your life?

When you or a loved one suffer from the careless actions of a medical professional, it's hard to even fathom assigning a value to it; it's almost like agreeing that the pain is worth it, as long as you're paid enough for it. That really isn't the case: the nature of non-economic damages is that you can't put a monetary value on the losses.

So how do you and your lawyer determine a reasonable estimate for non-economic damages?

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 Posted on October 11, 2017 in Brain Injuries

It is normal for most surgeries to require some type of anesthesia, but the use of anesthesia comes with great risks. This is why anesthesia administration needs to be done with great precision, and patients on anesthesia need to be monitored with great care. The frightening truth is that errors and complications do occur during and after the administration of anesthesia, which can result in brain damage and other tragic consequences for the patient.

Although there are three different types of anesthesia-local, regional, and general-errors made while patients are under general anesthesia are often the most serious. With general anesthesia, patients are put to sleep during their surgeries. And although anesthesiologists often tell patients the side effects associated with the use of general anesthesia, the risks-such as brain damage and death-are often skipped over. Even for elective surgeries or routine surgeries, there are risks associated with the administration of anesthesia.

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 Posted on October 11, 2017 in Library

Whether you have been in a car accident before or not, it is important to know how to deal with the insurance company before making mistakes that can destroy your personal injury claim and ruin any chance of getting fair compensation for your damages and losses. Because adjusters deal with car accident claims every day and are looking to minimize claim payouts, it is critical that you learn the basics of speaking with an insurance adjuster.

What You Can Say to an Insurance Adjuster

When speaking to a representative of an insurance company, limit yourself to the following topics of conversation:

• Accident facts. Report the facts and nothing more. You can give the insurance adjuster the date, time, and location of the crash. You can even report the weather conditions, but you shouldn't offer too much more information about the collision. Insurance adjusters are trained to subtly get people to tell them more about accidents or provide them with recorded statements. The more information you give the insurance adjuster, the higher chance some of your words could harm your case. However, if you did see the other driver engaging in texting or if the other driver ran a red light, you can provide this information to your insurance adjuster. If the insurance adjuster is asking for a recorded statement, politely refuse at this time.

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 Posted on October 11, 2017 in FAQ

You've just gone through the most devastating experience of your entire life. After living through a horrendous accident, you've just had to listen to your doctor tell you that you may never walk again. Your entire life has just taken a complete 180 degree turn and you have no idea what to do next. What you do know, however, is that you're going to have to have a lot of treatment and help because you're going to fight to recover as much mobility as you can.

There are currently dozens of centers throughout D.C. that specialize in spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment. Some institutes, such as Kennedy Krieger, offer intense activity-based therapy sessions to promote mobility, while others, like MedStar's SCI day treatment sessions, offer low-impact occupational and physical therapies like aquatic therapy to help ease into recovery. But how do you decide which type of treatment center is right for you?

Questions to Ask Before Deciding on a Treatment Center

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