Brain Injuries

The number of deaths on Wisconsin highways are down 14% so far this year.

According to the state Department of Transportation, 347 people have died in crashes. That’s 55 fewer than at the same time a year ago. When compared to the five-year average, the state is down 27% from 475 wrecks January thru August.

Last year, 587 people were killed on Wisconsin roadways — the lowest total in 64 years. The DOT attributes the decline, in part, to the poor economy.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling car accident cases throughout the state.  Our Wisconsin injury attorneys have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

This is a British public service announcement on the dangers of texting while driving. Warning: The following content is graphic and may be disturbing for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling car accident cases throughout the state.  Our Wisconsin injury attorneys have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office declared Justin Montes brain dead yesterday, after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on the south side of Milwaukee.

At approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Montes and two other individuals were standing near a

Solano, driving a black Ford Tempo, struck Montes and another bystander before continuing down the road.

The third bystander, Montes’ brother, said one victim was thrown to the ground while 17-year-old Justin remained on the car’s hood and windshield until falling off when the car came to a stop.

Solano was arrested at his home. His BAC was recorded as 0.12, but a toxicologist had estimated his BAC was 0.18 at the time of the accident.

Solano was charged with two counts of injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle causing great bodily harm. One of those counts could be upgraded as a result of Montes’ death. Solano was also charged with two counts of failing to do his duty upon striking an occupied or attended vehicle and two counts of operating without a license.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling traumatic brain injury cases throughout the state.  Our Wisconsin injury attorneys have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Southeast Wisconsin Drunk Driving Task Force welcomed the Wauwatosa Police Department to its team yesterday.

The task force is a group of 13 police and two sheriffs’ departments and will officially start operating Saturday, April 25th.

The task force began a pilot program on April 10th, the same day as the Milwaukee Brewers home opener. Thirty-one drivers were arrested, including 8 by Wauwatosa officers.

According to Wauwatosa Lt. Tim Sharpee, the task force will be very visible. Officers will wear bright-colored vests, marking streets with enforcement zones and utilizing eight Wauwatosa officers “just looking for all the tell-tale signs of drunk drivers.”

Many consider the multi-jurisdictional approach a much needed change. Authorities have said that prior to the task force, drunk drivers would avoid freeways and opt to take lesser patrolled side streets or exit the freeway and evade the pursuing officers. The new approach will blur municipal boundaries and officers will use a special radio frequency to respond to incidents.

According to a 2007 Department of Transportation report, there were 8,327 alcohol-related accidents and 337 fatalities statewide. There were 991 accidents involving alcohol in Milwaukee County and 22 fatalities.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our Wisconsin injury attorneys have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

Actually, there is rarely anything “Independent” about medical exams requested by an insurance company.  The insurance company pays for the exam.  It’s easy to understand that the doctor is biased.  This quote from an “Independent” medical doctor is eye opening:

“If you did a truly pure report,” he said later in an interview, “you’d be out on your ears and the insurers wouldn’t pay for it. You have to give them what they want, or you’re in Florida. That’s the game, baby.”

Read the story from the New York Times.  It deals with workers’ compensation in New York, but it is certainly relevant for Wisconsin’s workers’ compensation claims.

Something interesting about this article is the changes that NY has implimented for its “I.”M.E.’s.  They allow the exams to be tape recorded or videotaped.  Seems reasonable to me!  In Wisconsin, personal injury law plaintiffs’ attorneys who ask that an exam be taped or recorded receive a strong objection from the insurance company.  Sometimes even having a friend or family member attend an exam isn’t allowed.

Last I checked, no Wisconsin Appellate Court has held whether a Defense Medical Exam (that is a more accurate description) performed for a personal injury claim may be tape recorded or videotaped.  Federal Courts have held that a Defense Medical Exam regarding a psychiatric examination may be recorded.  Zabkowicz v. West Bend Co., 585 F. Supp. 635 (E.D. Wis. 1974). (See this outline from an Insurance Defense Firm located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin).

-Attorney Jonathan Groth

March is Brain Injury Month. Approximately 1.4 million people will suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) this year, resulting in 50,000 deaths. The four most common causes of a traumatic brain injury are falls, motor vehicle-traffic crashes, instances of being struck by or against another object and assaults. For more information on traumatic brain injuries, please visit our website or the website for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

TBIs are often missed or misdiagnosed in older adults. One example of a TBI going undetected was the tragic accident of actress Natasha Richardson who fell and suffered a TBI while skiing. After suffering what appeared to a minor accident, Richardson intially reported feeling fine. A short while later, she developed a headache and was rushed to a hospital. She died

What to look for if someone you know has suffered a blow to the head:

• Low-grade headache that won’t go away
• Difficulty remembering things, paying attention or concentrating, making decisions and solving problems
• Mood changes
• Slowness in thinking, speaking, acting, or reading
• Getting lost or easily confused
• Lack of energy or motivation, tired
• Difficulty sleeping or sleeping longer than normal
• Feeling light-headed or dizzy
• Increased sensitivity to sounds, lights, & distractions
• Blurred vision
• Loss of sense of taste or smell
• Ringing in the ears
• Change in sexual drive

These symptoms may reflect serious problems and need immediate attention from a healthcare provider.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our Wisconsin injury attorneys have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The widow of Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Korey Stringer reached a settlement with the NFL over her husband’s heatstroke death during the 2001 Vikings training camp in Mankato, MN.

Kelci Stringer sued the league and football equipment maker Riddell Inc. after her husband’s death. The lawsuit claimed the NFL hadn’t done enough to ensure that equipment used by players protected them from injuries or deaths caused by heat-related illnesses. The lawsuit against Riddell remains pending.

When Stringer, 27, collapsed, the heat index — a combination of temperature and humidity — was 110. Experts advise that such a high index is one of the first red flags that NFL teams must monitor.

Stringer’s death, the first attributed to heatstroke in the NFL’s 82-year history, made national headlines. It also focused attention on a trend that hasn’t commanded as much attention — an upsurge in heat fatalities at all levels of football.

Last season, the deaths of a college player and a high school player also were attributed to heatstroke. From 1995 through last season, there were 19 such deaths in high school and college football, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina.

Heat stroke is a life-threatening, but preventable, condition which occurs when the body is unable to cool itself. When body temperatures rise to 103 or 104, the brain’s hypothalamus loses its ability to regulate the heat. The heart beats faster to increase blood flow to the skin to aid in evaporation, leaving less blood in the heart and other muscles. Brain death begins around 106 degrees, but death from heat stroke can be gradual, taking three or four days while organs begin to fail.

There were a total of 20 football-related deaths in 2006; two “pick-up” game players, three college players and 13 middle and high school players. Just one of the 20 deaths was not heat-related, involving a 17-year-old high school player who suffered a spinal cord injury when tackled in practice. There have been 31 total since 1995.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court made a one-of-a-kind decision last week in ruling cheerleading is a contact sport and therefore its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries.

The court ruled that Brittany Noffke, a Holmen High School varsity basketball cheerleader, cannot sue a teammate who dropped her during a practice routine. The court also said that she cannot sue the school district for the coach’s alleged lack of supervision.

The Court had to decide whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries.

Despite the law failing to mention which sports qualify and the District 4 Court of Appeals ruling last year that cheerleading doesn’t qualify because there’s no contact between opposing teams, all seven members of the Supreme Court agreed to overturn the decision.

Justice Annette Ziegler said the sport has “a significant amount of physical contact between the cheerleaders that at times results in a forceful interaction between the participants.”

Noffke fell backwards off the shoulders of another cheerleader resulting in a head injury.

Justice Ziegler said the school district cannot be sued for the coach’s behavior under a Wisconsin law that shields the government agencies from lawsuits for the actions of employees.

Cheerleading accounted for nearly 2/3 of fatal, disabling or serious injuries between 1982 and 2007, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Parents make sure you have good health insurance, discuss the risks with your child and speak with the coach about safety during practice.

-Attorney Jonathan Groth

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Super Bowl represents the No. 1 at-home party event of the year. Believe it or not, it’s even bigger than New Year’s Eve.  In addition, The Nielsen Company ranks the Super Bowl 8th among the highest beer selling occasions for the year.

With that being said, we remind you to please drink responsibly. Be mindful of these statistics before getting behind the wheel:

• Alcohol-related car crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and injure someone every two minutes.
• In the United States, drunk driving is the leading criminal cause of death.
• More than 17,000 people are the victims of drunken driving accidents every year.
• Approximately 40% of all motor-vehicle fatalities are alcohol-related.
• Frequent drunk drivers are responsible for almost 60% of alcohol-related fatalities.
• In 2008, drivers between the ages of 16-20 were involved in 1,719 drunken driving accidents

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a story about 24-year-old Ryan Hock. Ryan suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) when his Toyota Celica was hit head-on by Daniel Kannegiesser’s van last July in Waukesha County. 

Ryan suffered an incapicitating injury. An incapicitating injury is any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities he/she was capable of performing before the injury occurred.

Unfortunately, incapacitating injuries in alcohol related accidents occur three times as often as alcohol-related deaths. In Ryan’s case, the accident left him in a semi-coma with two broken legs, a broken clavicle, a collapsed lung, and shearing in his brain.

Brain shearing, also referred to as a diffuse axonal injury or axonal shearing, is often seen in car accidents after high-speed stops. The damage is caused by twisting and turning of the brain tissue. An axon is a part of the nerve that carries impulses or messages between nerve cells. The shearing movement causes axons and small blood vessels to tear. This disrupts the communication between brain cells and can lead to cognitive, behaviorial and emotional changes. For more information on traumatic brain injuries (TBI) click here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the total cost of acute care and rehabilitation for TBI victims in the United States is $9 billion to $10 billion per year, not including indirect costs to families and society (e.g., lost earnings, work time, and productivity for family members, caregivers, and employers, or the costs associated with providing social services).

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.