Blog - CGWC

Traumatic brain injury has become a signature wound of Iraq War veterans and has garnered more public and medical attention as a result. But TBI from automobile accidents, construction accidents, falls, and other personal injury incidents is called a "silent epidemic" by some experts.
Advances in body armor and emergency medical care on the battlefield have allowed soldiers to survive bomb blasts that would have likely proven fatal in past wartimes. Yet, these brave survivors have been left with devastating brain injuries. The tragic brain injury of ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff brought TBI into American living rooms when his story of his recovery from a TBI caused by a roadside blast while reporting from Iraq was broadcast in agonizing detail.

Most cases of TBI occur far away from any war zones on American highways and streets, construction sites, and other areas where mishaps occur too often. More than 40% of traumatic brain injuries occur as a result of automobile accidents. Advances in car safety, like seatbelts, airbags, and motorcycle helmets, allow more motorists to survive traffic accidents, but they often live the rest of their lives with badly wounded brains, much like their heroic counterparts on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan.

TBI can do significant damage without visible signs of trauma. In fact, experts say that significant brain damage can occur even when there is no visible sign of head injury and even when a brain scan comes back as normal. Consequently, injuries are often dismissed early in treatment as mere bumps on the head or resolved concussions. Countless victims of TBI look fine on the outside, but they will never be the same on the inside, suffering from disparate symptoms like short term and long term memory loss, impaired judgment, attention deficit, speech problems, and behavioral and personality changes. Experts believe that much of the damage in cases of TBI occur when the brain's soft and delicate tissue collides with the hard interior walls of the skull, sometimes stretching and ripping nerve fibers during the sudden accelerations or decelerations that occur in seemingly routine traffic accidents or falls. These tiny tears can lead to cell death days after the original injury, and those cells that don't die may never function properly again.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 5.3 million people in the U.S. are living with disabilities due to TBI. Each year, about 1.4 million suffer a traumatic brain injury. That's more Americans than suffer from heart attacks annually. If you or a loved one have sustained injuries in an accident that have left symptoms of TBI, it is important that you consult with physicians well-versed in recognizing and treating closed head or traumatic brain injury patients. Likewise, if someone was responsible for the injury, it is important to choose a law firm experienced in handling cases involving TBI or closed head injuries.

On Monday, a coalition of trucking safety groups called for reform to make America's highways safer from large truck accidents. Over 100 people a week are killed in large truck accidents on U.S. highways. According to the Truck Safety Coalition, a partnership between the Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) Foundation and Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.) dedicated to reducing the number of deaths and injuries from big truck accidents, there has been an increase in deaths from large truck accidents over the last several years. In 2003, there were 5,036 fatalities. In 2004, the number of deaths increased to 5,190, and in 2005, the number of deaths increased again to 5,212.

According to spokespersons for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the effort at truck safety by government officials pales when compared with federal regulation of food safety, for example. While only about 61 people die from e. coli infections each year, and the federal government uses every resource available to stop the public health threat of contaminated food products, little is done to make Americans safer from big rig accidents. The number killed from e. coli infections each year is the equivalent of a mere four day death toll from truck accidents. Unsafe big rigs kill and maim tens of thousands of people each year because truckers are allowed and even encouraged to drive long hours under unsafe conditions. The federal government's Motor Carrier Safety Administration's response has been indifference since its creation in 1999. In fact, the Motor Carrier Safety Administration has increased the number of hours a driver can operate a truck by 28% since 2003, up to as much as 88 hours over 8 days!

According to CRASH, the Motor Carrier Safety Administration has failed miserably, shortchanging public safety for the productivity and economic interests of the trucking industry. When the agency was created, about 5,380 people died in big rig crashes, and that figure has barely budged over the past six years. There were about 5,212 deaths in big truck crashes in 2005, as well as an additional 114,000 injured. And while large trucks account for 3% of registered vehicles, 12 to 13% of traffic deaths involved big trucks.

Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter has recently completed purchase of a spacious office condominium in a newly constructed office building in Uptown Orlando on Orange Avenue. CGWC plans to relocate to the new office space in April.

The new location will be 801 North Orange Avenue and is across the street from the Orange County Bar Association and only a few blocks from the Orange County Courthouse. 801 North Orange is Downtown Orlando's newest mixed use development. 801 North Orange recently received the Outstanding Office Development Award from the Central Florida Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. 801 North Orange was also given the 2007 Golden Brick Award for best mixed use development by the Downtown Orlando Partnership. The eight story building contains office condominiums, retail spaces on the first floor, and a covered parking garage. Citrus, an upscale restaurant, and other retail establishments are already under construction on the first floor and the building is open for business now.

The new location of CGWC's main offices on the top floor of 801 North Orange will allow CGWC to be more centrally and conveniently located in Downtown Orlando and will provide for additional expansion as the law firm grows in service of the Central Florida community.

Alcohol and bikers prove to be a lethal mixture in Volusia County each year during Bike Week and Biketoberfest. Around 25% of Florida's fatal alcohol related motorcycle crashes in recent years have occurred during Bike Week and Biketoberfest. Head injuries are more likely to prove deadly if the victim is intoxicated which adds yet another dimension to the harmful realities of alcohol consumption and motorcycling.

According to a report by the National Highway and Traffice Safety Administration, drinking related deaths in motorcycle crashes have surged among older motorcyclists. Of the 1,264 bikers killed in 2004, alcohol was involved in a large percentage of motorcycle accidents involving bikers between 30 and 49 years of age. There have already been six fatalities during Bike Week this year, and last year, 21 died during the 10 day celebration.

According to a recent report by U.S. Pharmacopeia, a private group that sets standards for the drug industry, surgery patients face a significant risk of medication errors made by hospital staff. From 1998 to 2005 at over 400 hospitals, a total of over 11,000 errors were reported, including giving the wrong dose, giving the wrong drug, or giving the dose at the wrong time.

When you or a family member are undergoing surgery at a hospital, you should be vigilant to observe and question any suspect medication administration to protect your loved ones from potentially fatal medical errors.

Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida is a tradition with roots that go back almost 75 years. In the 1930's, motorcycle races on the beach were followed by parties on Main Street in Daytona. Over the years, Bike Week was born. Bike Week and Biketoberfest have become traditions that make "motorcycles" synonymous with good times in Daytona Beach.

But Bike Week brings dangers with the good times. About half a million motorcyclists roar into Daytona Beach during Bike Week these days. This causes traffic congestion that is a mammoth safety problem for local authorities to manage. Motorcycle accidents are an expected offshoot of the unique celebration of Bike Week and its autumn cousin, Biketoberfest. The potential for serious accidents is the greatest safety worry for visitors, and residents alike. Bike Week 2007 saw 21 motorcycle fatalities.

To avoid accidents during bike week, motorcyclists should be aware that there are cars still on the road. And drivers of passenger cars should vigilantly be on the lookout for motorcyclists on their vulnerable two wheelers. And no one should drink and drive. If you're going to bike week, whether in a car or on a motorcycle, take extra time, and extra care, and arrive alive.