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Is Coup-Contrecoup Easily Diagnosed?
Try to imagine a scenario where you and your two children were in a minor car accident about a week ago. You struck your head on the door but your children were safely secured in their car seats and didn't suffer any apparent injuries. You were taken to Inova, and your doctor stitched you up, did a precursory exam on you and your children and then sent you home.
Now, a week later, you and your children have been suffering severe headaches, your daughter can't sleep and your son has been obnoxiously irritable. Could your doctor have missed something?
How to Help Your Doctor Diagnose Coup-Contrecoup
Coup-contrecoup can easily be missed during an exam. This is why it is extremely important that you describe your accident to your doctor as well as ask questions about head trauma possibilities with as much detail as possible. Even if your head didn't directly impact or strike anything, sudden force or an abrupt acceleration/deceleration could cause the brain to shift and collide into the skull, causing contusions or countrecoup injuries.
Bicycle Accidents: Dos And Don’ts
Bicycle accidents can happen to anyone at any time-even when cyclists are following the rules of the road. Whether a car pulls out from a parking lot into a bicycle, a driver opens a car door right in front of a bicyclist, or a driver is blinded by the sun and fails to see a bicycle prior to turning, bicyclists are at high risk when riding in traffic and can be seriously injured. Not only can a collision with a car or truck destroy a bicycle, but the rider can suffer serious and even fatal injuries. This is why it is critical that you take certain actions after the crash to help your physical recovery as well as your financial recovery.
What Cyclists Should Do After a Crash
After a bicycle accident, the rider-or a friend or family member if the rider is not able-should take the following steps as soon as possible:
- Get the police involved. Stay at the accident scene until the police arrive. By staying at the scene, the police can get your statement as well as the driver's statement and interview any witnesses. Sometimes police will ticket the driver, which can benefit your injury claim.
What Is A Placental Insufficiency?
Throughout the past 20 years, Washington D.C. has had the unfortunate distinction of suffering one of the highest fetal, perinatal, and neonatal infant mortality rates in the country. According to the Washington Post, D.C.'s rate, although steadily decreasing, is still higher than the National average of 6.1 deaths per 1,000 newborns, The latest data puts it around 8, meaning every year more than 75 infants die due to birth-related injuries.
Many of these tragic fatalities are a direct result of injuries that occur during pregnancy, such as malnutrition, hypoxia, and compromised fetal blood flow. This is why it is extremely important to make sure you're receiving adequate prenatal care and examinations to make sure your baby is receiving the oxygen, nutrients and blood he needs to survive.
The Placenta: Your Baby's Lifeline
The placenta basically acts as a courier for your baby. It allows the transfer of vital nutrients and oxygen from your uterus's blood supply to your baby. In addition to bringing nutrients, it also provides waste management by removing unwanted and potentially harmful uric acid and carbon dioxide from the womb; by traveling through the placenta, the waste is harmlessly filtered into your blood supply and away from your baby. However, if your placenta is damaged in anyway, this transfer can be disrupted and cause severe consequences to your child.
Understanding Pitocin Birth Injuries Due To Medical Negligence
For some women, labor is marked by their water breaking followed by hours of labor and finally the birth of their babies. For other women, labor doesn't seem to start on its own, which causes the need to induce labor. One of the main ways doctors induce labor is through labor-inducing drugs, with one of the most common drugs being Pitocin.
What Is Pitocin?
Pitocin is a synthetic version of the drug oxytocin, which is the substance released by the body during childbirth to cause uterine contractions. When labor doesn't start on its own and a woman is past her due date, or if labor stops progressing, the use of Pitocin can help a woman's body produce contractions. Unfortunately, it is an artificial way to start labor, which has its downfalls.
By administering Pitocin, a woman will have more contractions and stronger contractions than what her body would normally produce. In fact, Pitocin-induced contractions are actually very intense and can cause a baby to suffer a reduced flow of oxygen as a result of the intense contractions. Consequently, serious injuries such as head trauma and brain injuries can occur. This is why giving a woman Pitocin needs to only be done when medically necessary.
How Safe Are Car Safety Features?
Buying a new car can be an extremely exhilarating experience. You walk onto the Falls Church, Jim McKay or Brown Mazda lots and realize you can have any car you want-your perfect car. All you have to do is decide which one is the best.
This is where it may get tricky. Your family's safety is the top priority, so you obviously want one that has all the extra safety features-or do you? Some safety features may actually cause more problems then they solve, putting you and your family at risk.
Potentially Dangerous Safety Features
Car manufacturers are constantly developing and upgrading high-tech safety features into many new model vehicles. Features including advanced airbag systems, automatic steering, rear cameras, and advanced warning systems are meant to help save your life in an collision as well as help prevent accidents all together. However, some features have unintended consequences if you're not prepared.
- Airbags can cause facial fractures, hearing loss, and neck injuries if the deployment force is too great.
Can I Still File A Personal Injury Claim A Year After My Accident?
It's amazing how an accident can seem to alter the flow of time. Surprise, frustration, anger and pain can make a second feel like an hour and a month feel like a day. During an accident, time can seemingly slow down as you helplessly watch and feel yourself get injured, but once it's over, you realize it only lasted a fraction of a second.
Likewise, living with the constant pain of an accident as well as the emotional and financial stress of an injury can cause days to blur into one and weeks to blur into months; one second you're being discharged from Inova, the next you're been fired from your job for overextending your sick leave.
When recovering from an injury, you're focus tends to be solely on feeling better, not on how the accident may affect the rest of your life nor the steps you need to take to file a lawsuit. However, in order to receive potential compensation for your injury, you must file a claim before it's too late.
Virginia's Statute of Limitations
Why Is Sexual Assault By My Doctor Considered Medical Malpractice?
It doesn't matter if you're a doctor at Inova Fair Oaks, a psychiatrist at St. Elizabeth's, or a nurse at Sibley Memorial, you and your professional peers must all take an oath to uphold your patients' medical rights and to prevent them harm to the best of your ability. When you go against that oath and either willingly or carelessly put your patient in harm's way, you're committing medical malpractice.
Medical professionals who abuse the doctor-patient relationship could have their medical licenses taken away as well as go to jail. It's against the medical code of ethics to have a sexual relationship or sexual contact with a patient, because it could negatively affect their medical care. Unwanted or coerced sexual advances can also cause serious psychological harm to the patient, as well as be considered sexual harassment or rape, depending on the severity of the advances.
Three Common Situations of Sexual Misconduct
Doctors and other medical professionals are put in a unique situation of trust with their patients. Generally, when your doctor tells you to do something, you trust that he has your wellbeing at heart. However, some professionals will use this trust to manipulate specific situations for their own sexual gratification.
Quadriplegia Can Be The Result Of Medical Malpractice
Brain and spinal cord injuries caused by traumatic accidents or medical negligence can lead to paralyzing injuries such as quadriplegia. Sadly, quadriplegia can affect someone for life and even burden the person's family with enormous medical costs and caregiving responsibilities.
This is especially upsetting when medical professionals-the very people we trust with our lives-cause the paralyzing injury.
Defining Quadriplegia
Quadriplegia (also known as tetraplegia) is defined as paralysis of the arms and legs. A quadriplegic generally loses function and sensation in all four limbs and torso; however, sometimes the arms may function but the fingers do not work. Quadriplegia usually refers to paralysis from the shoulders down. It does not discriminate by age; quadriplegia caused by medical malpractice can impact older people, adults of any age, children and teens, and even newborn babies.
Quadriplegia From Medical Negligence
Will My Child Suffer More Complications Because He Has Cerebral Palsy?
Being told that your child has or may have cerebral palsy is a horrifying experience. Your child is the most precious thing in your life, and to think that a birth disorder could cause him life-altering problems is heartbreaking.
The initial onset of cerebral palsy can be extremely hard on a child, causing seizures and muscle problems. Unfortunately, the even more tragic aspect of this disorder, is that it can also lead to additional complications as the child grows; in some cases even preventing him from being able to enjoy traditional family outings like riding bikes through Lincoln Park or playing catch at Meridian Hill.
Additional Complications of Cerebral Palsy
Although none of these effects is guaranteed to occur as a result of cerebral palsy, because the disorder affects both the spine as well as the brain, complications are a definite possibility. It is important to be aware of your child's movements, actions, and development in order to identify any possible problems or complications as early as possible. The earlier they are detected, the better the treatment options. The signs to watch for include:
What To Expect When Working With A Truck Accident Attorney
Before hiring an attorney for a truck accident case, you want to know what you can expect of your attorney. Here are some things you should expect of the lawyer you hire:
- Free consultation. All personal injury lawyers should be able to offer you a free initial consultation. Usually the complimentary consultation will take place at the law firm, but sometimes due to the extent of injuries, the consultation can take place at one's home, the hospital, or over the phone. You should expect to get to know your lawyer during this meeting, be able to ask questions, and be advised of your rights during this initial consultation.
- Experience. You may or may not know this, but all lawyers are not equal. Some attorneys have years of experience and others are just getting their careers started. Some lawyers may practice personal injury law and others may practice a different type of law. Even if you hire a personal injury attorney following an accident with a large commercial truck, some personal injury lawyers may not have experience handling truck accident cases. The reason it is important to hire an attorney with experience in this field is that the laws surrounding truck accidents are very specific and may affect the outcome of your case. For instance, your case may hinge on a truck driver disregarding the hours-of-service law. If you hire an attorney who isn't familiar with the laws that apply to trucking crashes, you may not get as much compensation as you probably deserve.
703-591-0067
10513 Judicial Drive, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22030
703-591-0067
From our office in Fairfax, Shevlin Smith, P.C. serves clients throughout Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., including Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Ashburn, Burke, Centreville, Dale City, Fair Oaks, Leesburg, Manassas, McLean, Oakton, Reston, Springfield, and Woodbridge, as well as Fairfax County, Arlington County, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
