If you’ve been involved in a car wreck, contact the North Carolina auto accident lawyers at HensonFuerst today.

Forms, forms, and more forms.  If there is one certainty about Worker’s Compensation Law, it’s that virtually everything is addressed by one form or another.  If you get one in the mail from your employer, the insurance company, or the insurance company’s attorney, do not take it lightly.  Failure to either properly fill out or timely submit a form could have irreversible consequences and forever bar an injured worker from further benefits.  If you receive one of these forms, make sure you have an attorney review it.  It could be completely harmless, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.  The following link will take you to the forms I’m talking about:  http://www.ic.nc.gov/ncic/pages/forms.htm.

The concussion suffered by University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in Saturday’s game against Kentucky certainly has the sports world talking about the impact of the injury on Florida’s season, but to brain injury lawyers like me, the real issue should be proper education of medical personnel involved in high school and collegiate athletics.  Thankfully more trainers on the gridiron sidelines are following the American Academy of Neurology guidelines on grading of concussions:  Grade 1 concussion is defined as the athlete having transient confusion with no loss of consciousness. A Grade 2 concussion is when those symptoms, including mental confusion, lasts longer than 15 minutes, and a Grade 3 concussion is when there is any loss of consciousness, even if it is for just seconds.  A player with a Grade 1 concussion can return to play the same day, while a Grade 3 concussion may require a player to be out for a full week.  An important consideration is also whether a player has suffered multiple concussions. 

Parents, please make sure your child’s football, lacrosse and soccer coaches and medical staff are properly educated on recognizing and treating concussions.  Do not assume such personnel have been properly trained.  While many are, some have not received the requisite training to properly evaluate head injuries, and tend to follow the old school thought that a player “just got his bell rung, he’ll be okay”.  Nothing is further from the truth.  Take it seriously, and protect your child.  For more information regarding brain injury, concussion, and proper head injury evaluation in children, please click on the following link:  http://brainline.org/content/2008/08/concussions.html?gclid=CP2j3JerlJ0CFcZM5Qod9zPN7Q

September 24, 2009

A man lost his life after a recent Chapel Hill motorcycle accident, according to The Cary News.

The man was riding his bike down the road when a sport utility vehicle pulled out in front of him. When he tried to avoid the SUV, he slid down the road and was thrown from his motorcycle.

He was taken to a local hospital after the Chapel Hill motorcycle accident, but he later died.

Authorities are still investigating the North Carolina motorcycle accident.

Read more

The Chapel Hill motorcycle accident lawyers at HensonFuerst can help if you were injured in a North Carolina motorcycle accident.

Members of HensonFuerst will be joining others in the fight to end Alzheimer’s disease during the Memory Walk on October 3. As an event sponsor, the law firm will help raise awareness and funds to battle this disease, which affects more than 5 million people in the United States.

Read more.

A recent article in the New York Times highlights the vulnerable and lonely feeling experienced by many nursing home residents who do not want to be in a facility, but have no choice.  Such a plight serves to remind all of us being that alone and completely vulnerable to your caregivers is bad enough, but that abuse and neglect suffered as a result of corporate greed of facility owners is inexcusable.  A new program has helped some residents to find a way to reintegrate back into their community, and given them hope in the process.   To view the entire article, please click on the following link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/19/health/policy/19aging.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=nursing%20home&st=cse

The link between poor care and understaffing at nursing homes has long been established – study after study, including one by the Institute of Medicine, show that insufficient numbers of nurse aides and qualified nurses lead to bad outcomes, yet our nursing homes remain critically understaffed – and patients suffer needless injury and death as a result.  The Institute of Aging in Chapel Hill  is presenting a UNC expert’s lecture on the impact of nurse aide turnover, part of the staffing problem, tomorrow. Attendance is open to the public and free.   Attendance information follows:

Sally Stearns, PhD, Professor, Health Policy and Management, UNC Chapel Hill will present:

“The Effect of Nursing Aide Turnover on Nursing Home Resident Outcomes” on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd from 3:00-4:30 p.m. at the Institute on Aging in the 2ND FLOOR conference room.  This seminar is free and open to the public.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18, 2009

Contact: Beth Horner, Communications Officer, Governor’s Highway Safety Program
Phone (919) 733-3083

GOVERNOR’S HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAM AWARDS MORE THAN $9 MILLION IN HIGHWAY SAFETY GRANTS

RALEIGH — The N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program announced today that it has approved more than $9 million in highway safety grants for the 2010 grant year. A total of 139 grants were awarded to police departments, sheriff’s offices and other state and local agencies across North Carolina.

“We are pleased that we are able to provide these funds, which are aimed at improving highway safety in North Carolina,” said GHSP Director Darrell Jernigan. “They provide law enforcement agencies the resources to continue to focus on traffic safety, keeping our cities and towns a safer place to travel.”

The funds are from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and must be used towards highway safety projects. Agencies apply for the grants annually and are chosen based on need, commitment to highway safety, traffic crash and fatality data.

GHSP’s mission is to promote highway safety awareness and reduce the number of traffic crashes and fatalities in North Carolina through the planning and execution of safety programs.

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For a complete listing of agencies that received funding see attached or visit the GHSP Web site at: www.ncdot.gov/programs/ghsp.

Press Release

The Washington State Supreme Court rendered a decision recently that will significantly improve the ability of someone in that state who is abused or neglected in a nursing home to hold the facility operators accountable for the abuse.  In Putman vs. Wenatchee Medical Center, the Court struck down and held unconstitutional the rule requiring a certificate of merit to be filed prior to the filing a lawsuit for medical negligence.  (North Carolina has a similar rule in effect.) The Court found that the rule unduly burdens the right of access to courts, recognizing that it may be impossible for a plaintiff to know exactly how the negligence was committed prior to engaging in the discovery process available once suit is filed.  This is especially problematic in nursing home abuse cases, where nursing home operators routinely hardly ever volunteer information to a family who is trying to find out exactly how their loved one was abused or neglected.  I applaud the Washington Court  for their foresight and actions, and urge the North Carolina legislature and appellate courts to consider this issue as well.  The safety of our seniors depends on their ability to hold accountable those who put profits over patient safety.  To view the entire legal opinion, please click on the following link:  Putman v Wenatchee Valley Medical Center

It has been recently reported in the Kansas City Star that Enterprise Rent-A-Car company ordered a fleet of approximately 66,000 Chevy Impalas without side impact airbags, for vehicles manufactured between 2006 and 2008.  Despite the fact that these important life saving devices come as standard equipment, the rental car company special ordered the vehicles without the airbags.  Even more appalling is that after renting the vehicles to unsuspecting consumers, they then sold the vehicles through their website, but failed to tell buyers that the safety equipment was missing.  This decision reportedly saved Enterprise approximately $11.5 million dollars.

Research through the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and many other independent organizations unequivocally shows that side impact airbags are important tools for reducing the risk of serious injury, such as brain injury, and death.  As advocates for the prevention of unnecessary brain injuries in children and adults, we must hold corporations accountable for actions such as this.

Click here for more details:  http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1385463.html