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Recent Blog Posts
Virginia Vacuum Extraction Birth Injury
Vacuum extractions have recently begun to replace forceps extractions during prolonged or difficult deliveries. Instead of inserting forceps to clamp onto the baby's skull, a suction cup is placed on the infant's head, which is then gently pulled out using vacuum pressure. This new procedure has less risk of genital trauma and is thought to be gentler to the head of the infant.
However, vacuum extraction still carries risks. If it is done improperly, the newborn could suffer permanent injuries as a result of vacuum extraction. Since the key to avoiding permanent injury is early treatment, it is vital to know the difference between a common delivery injury in Virginia and an injury caused by improper vacuum extraction.
Common Vacuum Extraction Injuries
Although they appear disconcerting, these symptoms are common after vacuum extractions, and are not usually permanent:
Long-Term Conditions Caused by Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries occur in a number of ways, and have many possible health consequences. The potential causes of traumatic brain injuries include sports injuries, falls, violent attacks, and car accidents. Just as there are many causes of traumatic brain injuries, there are many different consequences of traumatic brain injuries. The long-term conditions suffered by a traumatic brain injury victim depend on two factors: (1) the area of the brain that was hurt; and (2) the severity of the injury.
Potential Long-Term Conditions of Traumatic Brain Injury
Some of the potential long-term conditions caused by traumatic brain injuries include:
- Physical Disabilities: A wide range of physical disabilities can follow a traumatic brain injury. Some traumatic brain injury victims suffer speech problems, decreased motor coordination, blurred vision, hearing problems, or the inability to use their arms or legs.
Helicopter Lands At Virginia Car Accident Site On I-95
Traffic was backed up along I-95 northbound as a medevac helicopter landed at the scene of a Virginia car accident outside Richmond on Sunday afternoon.The accident occurred in the Colonial Heights area just north of Petersburg around 4:00 pm. According to Virginia State Police, a 2006 Mazda was driving down the center lane of Interstate 95 North near mile marker 55 when the driver suddenly ran off the left side of the road. The vehicle struck a jersey wall and flipped over, landing on its passenger side.All northbound lanes were shut down for approximately 30 minutes to make room for a rescue helicopter to land at the crash site. As the woman was loaded into the helicopter, the rescue crews who responded to the emergency surrounded the crash site with a dark-colored tarp to shield southbound I-95 drivers from the scene.The driver of the Mazda was stabilized at the scene and transported via Med-flight to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Police have said that the driver, a 40-year-old woman from Chesterfield, was ejected from the vehicle in the crash and was not wearing her safety belt.The woman's name has not yet been released. Police say that she suffered serious injuries, but they are not believed to be life-threatening. No updates on the woman's condition have been made available.Rush-hour traffic was backed up until around 5:00 pm, when police officers re-opened all northbound lanes.
What Is Implied Consent, And Does It Affect My Virginia Medical Malpractice Case?
Our Fairfax medical malpractice attorneys have heard many defenses from doctors in DC medical negligence cases. One is that a patient gave consent for a particular treatment, but the patient assures us that they did not. So who is right?
Giving Consent For A Medical Procedure
There are generally two ways a patient can give consent for a medical procedure. When a patient agrees to a procedure verbally or signs a document in writing, he is said to have given "express" consent, or has understood the procedure and risks and made a fully conscious decision.
However, there is a second form of consent that is more complicated. "Implied" consent is not directly given by the patient. In this case, the patient has understood the circumstances of the procedure and is aware of the response to possible complications.
Here are a few ways consent may be implied:
- A patient is receiving treatment for a non-invasive, non-complex procedure.
Increased Depression Causes Further Trauma for SCI Victims
Are you currently recovering from a spinal cord injury?
Have you also been feeling unusually worried, sad, tired, or irritable lately?
If you are, you may be experiencing signs of mental trauma and unfortunately, you're not the only one. Spinal cord injury (SCI) victims are three times more susceptible than any other injury victim to experience severe depression during their recovery.
When you're injured, it's normal to feel slightly overwhelmed and uncertain about your future. You need time to cope and process how the injury will affect your life. However, the added pressures of a spinal cord injury can make that process very difficult. Not only do SCI victims have to cope with the physical restraints of the injury, such as immobility, communication problems and incontinence, but they also have to cope with the limitations these restraints have on their lives.
Imagine visiting the International Spy Museum, in D.C. and not being able to pretend you're James Bond. Or worse still, the inability to fantasize about something you always loved doing, because you may never be able to do it again. What if you had to rearrange all of your life's plans, because you could longer perform, work, or physically do what you loved?
The Extent Of Your Virginia Spinal Cord Injury May Affect Your Settlement
If you're considering a spinal cord injury lawsuit in DC, you should be aware that there is a wide range of classifications of spinal injury. Injuries may range from partial paralysis to total loss of mobility, requiring many different levels of care.
Understanding the Extent of Your Spinal Cord Injury
The extent of your back injury may be taken into account when the court awards damages. This can be done using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), which many doctors use to determine a patient's physical capabilities and predict the patient's future lifestyle.
Patients are rated from 1 to 7 on the FIM scale: 1 indicates a total reliance on a personal caregiver to perform an action; 7 means the patient can perform the task completely independently; the numbers in between represent a range of capabilities.
FIM Categories
The FIM scale measures a patient's physical responses across 6 different categories:
- Basic mobility includes standing, sitting, getting out of bed, and walking.
Three Teens Crash Stolen Vehicle In Vienna
Three teens will face charges for joyriding, crashing a stolen vehicle and fleeing police after a Virginia car wreck on January 29.
The accident took place shortly before 4:00 a.m. Police officers spotted a suspected stolen vehicle driving in the 300 block of East Street SE in Vienna, and attempted to pull the vehicle over. The car began to slow down in response to the sirens, but before it came to a full stop, the driver and two passengers jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot.As the police gave chase after the suspects, the stolen vehicle continued ahead until it crashed into a utility pole guide wire.The suspects had gotten a few blocks from the vehicle before four Vienna police officers caught up with them. All three of the suspects were under the age of eighteen and had recently escaped from a local juvenile detention facility.The vehicle was discovered to have been stolen from an address on Rambling Road in Vienna just outside town limits.The suspects were taken to the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center, where they were charged with grand larceny, fleeing police officers and other misdemeanor offenses. One of the juveniles was also charged with underage possession of alcohol, since evidence to support the charge was found at the scene.While the teens were being processed at the Detention Center, officers found out that the three offenders were currently in violation for leaving another detention facility without probation. The officers then served detention orders on the juveniles.
Future Care Is Necessary After a Spinal Cord Injury
Although no two spinal cord injuries are identical, most people who suffer serious spinal cord injuries are often left with some form of paralysis. Because paralysis causes a loss of sensation and movement, patients who are paralyzed will need ongoing medical care and in-home care to help them with their day-to-day living.
Types of Necessary Care for People with Spinal Cord Injuries
While some family members may fill the role of taking care of their loved one's needs at home, people living with spinal cord injuries have other aspects of care management that require assistance from the following professionals:
Doctors. Follow-up appointments with a physician are necessary to make sure they're healing properly and getting appropriate treatment. Sometimes additional surgeries or care may be needed. Typically, people with spinal cord injuries see their physician once a year and their spinal cord injury specialist in clinic ever couple of months.
Doctor Calls Virginia Head Injuries A Silent Epidemic
Doctors in Virginia are employing new ways of studying the effects of traumatic brain injury, which they have labeled "a silent public health epidemic."Dr. Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, says that effects of head injury can take weeks to present, but can also be permanent. "In many cases, people will have a mild head injury and people around them will tell them to ‘Shake it off, you'll be okay in a little while.' And they seem fine a day or a week later. But often what will happen after a period of time, one will start to see changes in behavior that will be directly related to TBI," Dr. Friedlander told reporters.Dr. Friedlander says traumatic brain injuries can be difficult to diagnose, since current testing procedures are not precise enough to detect the injury. He suggests that new methods, such as functional MRIs to study brain function immediately after the injury and each day during the healing process, can give patients a better chance at full recovery. About 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with TBI every year. If left untreated, victims can have trouble controlling emotions, experience memory loss, or have permanent changes in the way their brains work. Traumatic brain injury can be a result of many things, but car accidents, falls and contact sports are the leading causes. "Amongst children, from about birth to age 14 in the U.S., TBI is the leading cause of death, and the leading cause of disability of children," Dr. Friedlander says. If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury in DC, our Fairfax brain injury attorneys can get you the compensation you deserve. Call Shevlin Smith today at 703-591-0067 for your free consultation.
Can Your Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Cause You Additional Problems?
Some of the most widely prescribed medications are drugs that lower a patient's cholesterol level. These drugs are known as "statins." While the effectiveness of statins in lowering cholesterol is well established, recent studies show that these medications can cause unintended side effects such as memory loss, new onset diabetes, and muscle pain. TheFDA has recently issued a safety alert for these side effects. Patients who take statins, and patients who are recommended to start statin therapy, should consult with their doctors about these newly recognized risks, and should develop a plan for monitoring for the development of these side effects.
703-591-0067
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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.
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