Halifax Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Perhaps the biggest myth of brain injury is that mild traumatic brain injuries are not disabling.

They Look Okay

Since persons with traumatic brain injuries do not look obviously injured and many can function reasonable well in society, there is a common misperception that a traumatic brain injury is not as disabling as more obvious physical injuries.

But They're Not Okay

However, the National Institute of Health concluded that the consequences of traumatic brain injury can include a dramatic change in the patient’s life course, profound disruption of the family, enormous loss of income or earning potential and significant expenses over a life time.

Consequences Can be Devastating

The social consequences of mild, moderate and sever brain injury are significant and serious and include increased risk of suicide, divorce, chronic unemployment, economic strain and substance abuse.

Continue reading " Brain Injury Myth: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury is not Disabling " »

I have to admit it, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love seeing all the cute and scary costumes, and decorating our house so it looks like a haunted mansion.

But Halloween can also present dangers to children that parents need to be aware of. Here is a simple list of Halloween Safety Tips for parents to consider.

Halloween Safety Tips

• Look for the words “flame resistant” on all costumes, masks, beards and wigs. Remember, many of those scary jack-o-lanterns have burning candles inside them. Meaning your child may be exposed to a lot of open flames. Keep in mind, flame resistant doesn’t mean the costume can’t burn. But it does mean that the costume should be easy to extinguish if the unthinkable happens and they do catch fire.

• Choose bright, visible costumes. Decorate or trim costumes with reflective tape that will glow in the beam of a car’s headlights. Reflective tape is cheap and can be purchased at hardware or sporting goods stores.

• All children should carry flashlights.

• Use the buddy rule. Children should never trick or treat alone. Young children should trick or treat with an adult.

• Children should never go inside a house to get treats. Even if they know the person who lives in the house.

• Costumes should be short to prevent children from tripping over them.

• Do not obstruct children’s vision. Make sure masks and other costume pieces are on securely.

• Remind your children to use sidewalks, not to cut across lawns (hoses, rakes, Halloween decorations and lawn ornaments can present a danger for trip and fall injuries in the dark).

Have Fun

Halloween should be a safe and fun time for everyone. By following a few of these safety tips you and your children can have a safe and happy Halloween.

BOO!

This week Evenflo, one of the largest manufactures of infant car and booster seats, announced it is recalling more than 18,000 child car seats in Canada and the U.S. after Consumer Reports crash-tested the seat and found that it can crack and fail in a simulated 48 km/h frontal collision.

The recall affects the Evenflo Maestro Combination Booster Seat. Canadians who own the seats should call 1-800-265-0749 for more information.

The news made me think of some of the claims I have had in the past where children were injured in car accidents even though they were secured in car seats. The fact is that many parents are not aware of some of the issues that need to be considered when buying and using infant car seats.

Transport Canada statistics show that as many as 30% of children are not properly restrained in vehicles (either in a car seat or with a seat belt).

Car Seats Mandatory

Every province in Canada has laws requiring children to be placed in proper car safety seats or booster seats.

Unfortunately, every year infants, toddles and young children are injured because the seats have not been properly installed or are not used.

Selecting a Child Safety Seat

Canada has standards for child safety seats that are published by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). The proper seat for your child will depend on his or her size (which is usually estimated by age). Safety seats usually have a sticker on the side of the seat indicating the proper age range for children that can safely use the seat.

Which Seat is Right for Your Child?

There are four main types of child car seats and each has certain risks and benefits.

Rear Facing Seats

Infants up to 20 pounds should be placed in a rear facing seat. These types of seats provide maximum support and protection for an infant’s body.

However, in order to be properly installed the seat must be placed at the proper angle. Newer infant car seats come equipped with special indicators that allow parents to adjust the angle of the car seat.

Benefits: Statistics indicate that rear facing seats provide children with the best protection in collisions.

Risks: Many infant seats come with hanging toys to amuse the child. These features can be dangerous in a collision because they can hit and injure your child. Some rear facing seats “snap in” to a base unit. If the base unit is not properly secured to the vehicle the safety seat can release during a collision.

Convertible Seats:

Some car safety seats can be used as a rear facing when the child is an infant and then be turned to face forward when the child gets older or larger. These seats are popular because parents can use the seat for a long period of time.

Benefits: According to Consumer Reports convertible seats usually have higher weight capacities which allow parents to use the seat in the rear facing configuration longer (thus providing greater protection to their child).

Risks: Convertible seats are often harder to secure in vehicles and are therefore at greater risk of releasing during a collision.

Forward Facing Seats:

Toddlers up to 40 pounds (4 years of age) must be secured using a front facing car seat.

Benefits: Forward facing car seats come in a variety of shapes, sizes and weights which allows parents to maximize the useful life of the car seat.

Risks: Some forward facing car seats have higher backs that can interfere with the car’s seat belts.

Booster Seats:

In Nova Scotia, for example, children must use a booster seat until they are either 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) or 9 years old

Booster seats are typically appropriate for children between age 4-9.

Benefits: Booster seats are cheap so that you can buy separate booster seats for each vehicle that your children may ride in. Newer booster seats come with guides showing how to properly position the seat belt over your toddler’s waist.

Risks: Children often quick to want to “grow up” too soon. Children and parents may be too quick to place their children into a booster seat simply because of the added convenience.

However, if a child is too small for a booster seat they run the risk of serious abdominal injuries because the toddler’s seat belt doesn’t go over the child’s pelvis but instead goes over the child’s stomach or abdomen. When children are not properly belted into a vehicle they can run the risk of serious internal injuries in even comparatively minor collisions.

More Information:

Canadian Pediatric Association

Canadian Standards Association

Transport Canada

Consumer Reports

Concussions Have Long Term Effects

It was once thought that the effects of concussion, (mild traumatic brain injury) were temporary. Doctors assumed patients could recover from the effects of concussion after a few minutes or hours.

However a famous research study published in Neurology, the Journal of the American Academy of Neurologists, found that after one year, 10% to 15% of mild traumatic brain injury patients still had not fully recovered. In fact, the study determined that many patients had more symptoms than immediately after the accident.

Modern medical research has found that mild traumatic brain injury can result in deficits (problems) in the speed of information processing, attention, and short term memory.

Recovery from these deficits can take several weeks or months and a small percentage of patients may never fully recover.

Continue reading " Brain Injury Myth - Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Isn’t Permanent " »

Children Vulnerable to Head Injury

Children do not lose consciousness as easily as adults. Because they don't get “knocked out” as often as adults, a myth developed that children did not suffer brain injury as easily or as often adults.

Another myth about children and brain injury is that children are more resilient than adults and that they recover or “bounce back” faster after a traumatic brain injury.

However, Dr. William Singer, a specialist in pediatric brain injury, has been quoted as saying:
“While children are resilient to many things, T.B.I. is not one of them. Children just don’t bounce back after a traumatic brain injury”

Normal I.Q. Doesn't = No Brain Injury

I.Q. scores have sometimes been used to measure the effects of brain injury in children. Unfortunately I.Q. tests are not a reliable indicator of the effects of brain injury. Brain injury does not affect a victims I.Q.

Putting the Puzzle Together

Brain injury affects the victim’s ability to organize and retain information. I.Q. tests are not a reliable of a child’s learning ability after brain injury because most intelligence tests measure prior learning. But mild brain injury does not affect prior learning.

Brain injury affects the ability to learn, retain and organize new information. In a sense, brain injury prevents the victim from being able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to make sense out of the information they have; to be able to see the whole picture.

The problems created by brain injury can only be effectively and objectively measured by neuropsychological testing.

Continue reading " Brain Injury Myth - Children Recover Quickly From Brain Injury " »

Last week the British Columbia Supreme Court released its decision in More v. Bauer Nike Hockey Inc.

Helmet Met Standards

In 2004 the plaintiff was a 17 year old hockey player. He was wearing a helmet certified by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). The helmet met all of the CSA standards.

During the game, More crashed into the boards, hitting his head. He suffered a subdural hematoma, a serious brain injury. As a result, More was severely and permanently disabled.

His parents sued a variety of defendants including the manufacturer of the helmet, Bauer, and the CSA. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed. However, there was one part of the judgment that I found very interesting.

Were Standards Negligent?

Bauer defended the case on the basis that they manufactured their helmet in accordance with CSA standards. The plaintiff launched a creative argument that the CSA standards were negligent. In other words, it didn't matter that the helmet met CSA standards, because the standards themselves were not adequate!

No Duty of Care

The CSA argued in defence of the claim that even if the court found that the standards for certifying hockey helmets were unreasonably low, the CSA couldn't be sued because they didn’t owe More a duty of care.

No Reliance?

In other words, even if their certification standards were negligent it wasn’t foreseeable that children wearing the helmets would rely on the CSA certification.

Standards Must be Reasonable

Justice MacAulay found that organizations that create certification standards can be sued for negligence if the standards themselves are not adequate.

MacAulay, J. stated:

“I am satisfied that it was reasonably foreseeable that a hockey player and wearer of a mandatory certified hockey helmet might suffer harm if the CSA set the certification standard unreasonably low in the circumstances. …

"By legislative definition, any hockey helmet that is not certified is a hazardous product and cannot be sold in Canada. No matter how well designed the helmet may, in fact, be, no manufacturer can offer it for sale unless it is certified. The consumer hockey player has no choice and buys, or otherwise obtains, the helmet for the purpose of self-protection in a game that has inherent dangers. Nonetheless, there is some reliance by the consumer on the fact of certification and an expectation that the risk of at least some injuries is reasonably reduced. Otherwise, there would be no need for any helmet at all.”

What does it mean?

In product liability cases, it is common for the manufacturer of an allegedly defective product to defend a plaintiff’s claim on the basis that the product met all of the certification standards required by whatever organization certifies the product.

The More case clearly establishes that certifying organizations themselves may be sued if their standards are too low.

Are professional organizations at risk?

But I think the case goes beyond that. In every province professionals are certified by their respective "professional association”. Lawyers have to meet certain standards set by provincial Bar societies, doctors are licensed by provincial medical societies, engineers are certified by their provincial professional organization, and so on.

If a plaintiff suffers a loss as a result of professional negligence it is conceivable that an argument could be made against the organization that certified the professional and the organization may be held liable if their certifying standards are found to be unreasonably low.

Admittedly it may be a stretch to assume one will be able to find an expert willing to testify that the standards of their own professional organization are unreasonably low.

On the other hand, if there is a significant difference in the standards required between various provincial organizations, one can see how an argument might be made by an expert from a neighbouring jurisdiction that differing professional certification standards may be unreasonably low.

I received a notice from the Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Nova Scotia that I wanted to pass along.

Just Imagine

Imagine kicking back and relaxing while enjoying the sights and sounds of the ocean during an overnight stay at the famous White Point Beach Lodge.

Or you might find yourself enjoying an Annapolis Valley getaway at the Garden House Bed and Breakfast in Wolfville.

Imagine no more! You could be enjoying this!

Tell Me How!

How? If you are one of our top three fundraisers during our annual bowlathon later this month.

When's It Happening?

BIANS Bowlathon taking place on Saturday, October 23 at the Fairlanes Bowling Centre, New Minas from 10 am to 12 pm and the next Saturday, October 30 at the Woodside Bowlarama in Dartmouth.

Want More Information?

Call (902) 473-7301 or email bians1@ns.sympatico.ca BIANS for more information.

Brain Injury Association of Nova Scotia
Room 13-009/010
13th Floor, Victoria Building, VG Site, QEII
Phone: (902) 473-7301
Fax: (902) 473-7302
Mail: PO Box 8804, Halifax, NS B3K 5M4
Website:

A Helping Hand to a New Beginning

As a Nova Scotia Brain Injury Lawyer I have had a number of brain injury cases where the defendant’s experts claimed my client did not suffer a brain injury, because their symptoms did not develop until hours after their initial injury.

Symptoms May Take Time to Develop

Modern medical science now recognizes that the effects of traumatic brain injury may not become apparent until 6-12 hours after the initial injury.

Becomes Obvious When Victim Returns to Work

The effects of traumatic brain injury can be so subtle that they do not become apparent until the victim of brain injury attempts to return to their normal daily activities or work place demands.

It is only after the brain injured person is exposed to the increased organizational demands of the work place or school that their cognitive deficits, organizational problems or memory difficulties become apparent.

Continue reading " Brain Injury Myth - Effects of Brain Injury can be Identified Immediately " »