In a report out last week, the U.S. Army has developed a blood test that could potentially identify mild traumatic brain injury.  The research is on-going, but officials are confident that this will mean a new era in early detection and treatment for individuals who experience such injuries.  This test will not only help in treating soldiers who sustain these types of traumas in combat, but it also can be used for athletes on the playing field and for detection of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) among infants.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can result in losing consciousness, experiencing headaches, dizziness, not being able to remember things, being off-balance, having an inability to concentrate, among other serious reactions. 

While the test is still in its introductory phase, results have demonstrated that the testing involves searching for specific proteins in the blood stream that come from the region of the brain that has been damaged or in some way affected as a result of the injury.  In a study of nearly 40 patients, the test accurately diagnosed the presence of mild traumatic brain injury, which can all too often go undetected in most tests and brain scans.

Clinical trials will continue into 2013 on more than 1,000 patients to ensure the reliability of the blood test.  30 separate trauma facilities in the U.S. will take part in the trials and the outcome of these trials will impact whether or not the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve the use among the public for the proposed test.

In a distressing case alleging child abuse, 30-year-old Heather Dragotta of Weare, New Hampshire and 31-year-old Steve Amos of North Andover, Massachusetts were arraigned yesterday in Salem Superior Court in Massachusetts.  They face charges of assault and battery on Dragotta’s infant daughter and also of permitting injury to a child.  Dragotta and Amos entered not guilty pleas and were released on personal recognizance.   The pair are due back on November 10 for a pretrial conference.

Prosecutors have alleged that Dragotta and boyfriend Amos, who is not the father, abused Dragotta’s infant girl Autumn in May and into June of this year.  The baby girl was just about one month old at the time of the alleged abuse. 

On June 3, Autumn was taken to Children’s Hospital in Boston after being seen at Lawrence General Hospital and doctors stated that her injuries were linked to her being violently shaken.  They also discovered injuries that were already healing and some of these injuries were fractured ribs and fractures in her legs, arms, and in one wrist.  The infant also was found to have hemorrhaging in her brain. Autumn’s mother has stated that her daughter has notable deficiencies of copper and Vitamin D.  This condition is also known as infantile rickets. 

Autumn is now in the custody of her biological father in New Hampshire, with Dragotta allowed to have supervised visitations with her daughter.

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It takes only a moment for a caregiver to become overwhelmed with a crying infant or unruly young child and have a lapse of judgment that could have serious consequences. When a caregiver violently shakes a baby, even for just a short time, the results can last a lifetime. 

Shaken baby syndrome occurs with an alarming frequency. Every year, approximately 3,000 children are diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome (SBS). About 60% of children who are victims of shaken baby syndrome sustain severe brain damage and face a lifetime of disability, not to mention a shorter life span. A sobering 25% of children who sustain injury from shaken baby syndrome do not survive.  

Because shaken baby syndrome can have such life-altering effects on a young child and because it is an intentional act, you can hold a caregiver liable for your child’s injuries. If you suspect your child has shaken baby syndrome, you should talk with a Massachusetts child brain injury lawyer about your legal options to secure compensation on behalf of your child. 

Physical Causes of Shaken Baby Syndrome 

Shaken baby syndrome is very much like its name implies. It occurs when a caregiver violently shakes a baby back and forth. The motion is similar to whiplash in a car accident and can cause brain bleeding and other child brain injuries. In other cases, SBS can result from being slammed, hit or punched in the head, not just shaking in the most literal sense. 

When the blood vessels in the brain burst and bleed from the incessant shaking, the blood puts pressure on other brain tissues. Meanwhile, the brain may swell. The combination ultimately damages brain cells and can result in severe brain injury, and even death. 

Emotional Causes of Shaken Baby Syndrome 

Perhaps one of the main causes of shaken baby syndrome occurs before the child is even injured. It lies with a lack of coping skills on the part of the caregiver. Incessantly fussy babies or those who cannot be easily calmed are especially at risk of SBS from caregivers who lack coping skills. 

Lack of knowledge of parenting skills and child development, as well as a lack of social support can all lead to SBS cases. According to one study, certain groups are more predisposed to cause SBS than others. 

A breakdown of caregivers who cause shaken baby syndrome includes: 

• biological father – 37%;
• boyfriends – 21%;
• female caregivers – 17%;
• mothers – 13%; and
• Others – 12%. 

No matter the cause of shaken baby syndrome, the injuries are traumatic, and you’ll want a Massachusetts child brain injury lawyer to hold the responsible party accountable. 

Symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome 

Shaken baby syndrome can be especially tricky to diagnose because you may not see any outward signs of injury, such as bruises and cuts, as with other types of abuse. SBS can be especially problematic because symptoms may not manifest for weeks, months or even years later. 

If you suspect your child may have shaken baby syndrome, look for the following symptoms, including: 

• irritability;
• vomiting;
• dilated pupils;
• difficulty breathing;
• lethargy; and
• altered eating habits. 

Conditions that Result from Shaken Baby Syndrome 

The effects of shaken baby syndrome are permanent. Any damage done to the brain cannot be reversed. 

Some common conditions that result from SBS include: 

• paralysis;
• epilepsy;
• cerebral palsy;
• blindness;
• deafness;
• learning disabilities; and
• behavior problems.  

Seeking Damages for Shaken Baby Syndrome 

If your child has suffered severe injuries from shaken baby syndrome, you have the right to hold the liable party accountable through a Massachusetts personal injury claim. After all, there is a strong possibility that you will have to account for substantial medical bills and permanent assistance for your child – not to mention the pain, suffering and loss of quality of life that resulted from SBS. Your Massachusetts child brain injury attorney can fight for financial compensation for all injuries sustained from SBS and the resulting medical bills, therapy and more. 

A Massachusetts child brain injury attorney can guide you through the process to file a personal injury claim, but know that in general, a claim typically must be filed within 3 years from the time the injury occurred. Since many SBS injuries are not obvious until years later, your Massachusetts child brain injury attorney can request an extension on state limitations to allow you to seek the damages your child deserves. 

When to Contact a Massachusetts Child Brain Injury Attorney 

If your child has suffered serious injury because of the negligence of another, order this complimentary book, Dealing with a Nightmare: The Essential Steps to Take if Your Child Suffers a Serious Injury. The Boston child injury lawyers at Kiley Law Group serve clients in the greater Boston area and will advocate for fair compensation for your child’s injuries. For a no-cost evaluation, contact us today at 800-930-8145.

A tragic story from West Haven, Connecticut involved Yosue-Amil Sierra Gomez, 22, allegedly squeezing his 6-week-old infant son so hard that 11 ribs broke, causing lacerations to his liver, spleen and hemorrhaging in the boy’s chest.  It was also reported that the father had shaken the boy while he was sleeping in his arms and nearly dropped him on the floor.

Sierra Gomez was arraigned Monday on serious charges of assault and risk of injury to a child.  He will stay behind bars for now and has been ordered to stay away from the boy and the boy’s mother, who is his fiancée.  The 6-week-old is in an Intensive Care Unit due to the severity of his injuries.  Doctors have reportedly said that the baby’s injuries were “consistent” with someone squeezing a baby very hard.

Police had arrested Sierra Gomez when they and a Department of Children and Families (DCF) case worker went to the home after having a complaint called in that the mother and the baby boy were being held by her fiancé and couldn’t leave.  They spoke with both parents and then noticed that the boy’s breathing was irregular and concerning and that he had bruises.  

The baby boy was then transported to the hospital by ambulance, while Sierra Gomez will be transported back to court on October 12.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), babies who are younger than age 1 are at the most risk for becoming victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).  Baby boys are at a significantly greater risk of SBS victimization than baby girls are.     

For more information on child abuse and neglect and what you can do to report it to help a child, go here.

Closed head injuries occur when a child either experiences a hard blow to the head, or when a child falls, and the brain rocks against the inside of the skull repeatedly.

Some of the most common ways children sustain closed head injuries include: 

• falls;
• sports accidents; and 
• car accidents. 

In general, accidents at the workplace and assault are also widespread ways in which closed head injuries are sustained. The only factor that separates closed head injuries from an open head injury is that with closed head injuries, no object pierces the skull. 

Even so, the chance for traumatic brain injury is still very real. When closed head injuries occur and the brain swells, further injury can result. Brain cell damage can occur throughout the entire brain, or in just one region. 

If your child has closed head injuries, some symptoms of traumatic brain injury may include: 

• dilated pupils;
• loss of consciousness;
• convulsions;
• speech problems;
• leak of cerebrospinal fluid (most often from the ears and eyes); and 
• vision issues. 

Sometimes, closed head injuries may not result in the permanent damage so often caused from traumatic brain injury. Usually, physicians can get a good idea of the brain injury’s severity based on the time the child was unconscious (a few seconds vs. several months), and the child’s progress made within the first month after injury.  

If your child’s closed head injuries did cause mild or severe traumatic brain injury, a Boston child brain injury attorney can advocate that any liable parties are held accountable. Contact a Boston child brain injury attorney to discuss the potential for an injury claim and the types of damages for which you may be eligible. 

When to Contact a Boston Child Brain Injury Attorney 

If your child has suffered serious injury because of the negligence of another, order this complimentary book, Dealing with a Nightmare: The Essential Steps to Take if Your Child Suffers a Serious Injury. The Boston child injury lawyers at Kiley Law Group serve clients in the greater Boston area and will advocate for fair compensation for your child’s injuries. For a no-cost evaluation of your child injury case, contact us today at 800-930-8145.

One of the most troubling aspects of closed head injuries is that you cannot always tell just by looking at your child that they have sustained such an injury. This is because with a closed head injury there is no fracture to the skull. 

Closed head injuries occur when a child (or adult) takes a blow to the head from an outside force. This could be intentional, in the case of physical assault where blunt force is used from another person. Most often, closed head injuries are unintentional – such as when a child without a helmet falls off a bike onto concrete, or is the victim in a car accident. 

In the case of unintentional closed head injuries, your child could be vulnerable to traumatic brain injury, even though there may be no visible damage to the skull. If your child has sustained closed head injuries because of someone else’s negligence, you may be able to hold them financially liable. 

After seeking medical attention for your child’s closed head injuries, seek advice from a Boston brain injury attorney on whether you have grounds for an injury case and should proceed in legal action.

 What Happens During Closed Head Injuries 

When your child takes an extremely hard hit to the head, there is a good chance the brain may swell. With closed head injuries there are no fractures, so the brain doesn’t have enough room to expand. 

It’s at this point brain tissues may compact, or squeeze together, causing even further brain injury. The brain may put unusual pressure on the eye sockets, which can cause nerve damage in the eyes. Pupil dilation is often a key indicator of brain damage with closed head injuries, and it’s often one of the first things physicians check for during emergency room visits. 

Closed head injuries open up the victim to the whole spectrum of traumatic brain injury. Since there is no cure for traumatic brain injury, you’ll want your Boston brain injury attorney to take into consideration the total damages your child may need for the months and years of rehabilitation that lie ahead. 

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Every 23 seconds someone in the United States sustains a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The Brain Injury Association USA estimates that 3.17 million Americans currently live with disabilities resulting from a traumatic brain injury. By age 16, 4% of all boys and 2.5% of all girls will have suffered some for of brain injury. As you can see, males are twice as likely to suffer from this type of injury.

Traumatic brain injury is a head injury where there is evidence that the brain has been affected.

Such evidence presents as:
a) an altered level of consciousness (for example, drowsiness, lethargy, confusion, coma); or
b) neurologic signs, such as localized weakness, that indicate that part of the brain has been injured.

TBI is a spectrum injury; there is no single description or diagnosis of the resulting medical issues. The effects of TBI are unpredictable, sometimes delayed, and often permanent, so please seek immediate medical attention any time your child has received a serious blow to the head.

The most common cause of TBI is motor vehicle accidents. An improperly restrained or unrestrained child can suffer brain injury at speeds as low as 4 mph.

TBI can also be the result of other accidents where the head is hit or severly jostled, like sledding, skating, skiing or biking; contact sports like football, hockey or boxing; fights and other impact injuries; abuse – impact or shaking; and previous brain injury.

Behavioral and physical issues from a previous TBI often result in a child being more vulnerable to ending up in injury situations, making it one of the most common risk factors for sustaining a TBI.

There is much vocabulary surrounding TBI. Some of the terms which you should be familiar with are: open brain injury, closed brain injury, coup contusion, contre coup contusion, and focal brain injury. A contusion is simply a bruise. An open brain injury is caused by something penetrating the skull and piercing or hitting the brain directly, while a closed brain injury occurs when the skull is not penetrated. A coup contusion occurs when the brain injury causes bruising on the cortex at the point of impact. A contre coup contusion, however, is caused when the bruising is located on the brain opposite from the point of impact, resulting from the brain bouncing against the other side of the skull.

All of the above may result in either general or focal brain injury. Focal brain injury specifies that the injury has affected a very localized area.

While TBI is unpredictable, with focal brain injury however, we can project types of damages and resulting issues based on the location of the trauma. One major area of localized trauma occurs in the 4 lobes of the forebrain. Damage to any of these lobes may affect very specific functions:

- The frontal lobes assist in coordinated fine movement, the motor aspects of speech, executive function (thinking abilities that allow us to have goal-directed behavior), motivation, social skills, and certain parts of what we call personality.
- The temporal lobes are important for memory, receptive language, and musical awareness.
- The parietal lobes are important in the interpretation of sensory information (including high level skills such as reading and understanding of spatial relationships) and attention.
- The occipital lobes perceive and interpret visual stimuli seen by the eyes.

The diencephalon – the final part of the forebrain – along with the midbrain and hindbrain create the brain stem. The brain stem is responsible for the transfer of sensation; autonomic control – basic bodily functions; equilibrium, voluntary muscle control and coordination; and some emotional control.

In addition to this localized function disruption, TBI may lead to neurological issues such as post concussion syndrome, headaches, seizures, hydrocephalus (water on the brain), and motor impairment; psychiatric issues such as AD/HD, agitation or aggression, depression and personality change; and disruption of the endocrine and immune systems.

In short, a child with TBI may suffer impairment in learning and thinkingm speech and language, balance and movement, and behavior. Parents and caregivers of a child with TBI must also be on the lookout for delayed injuries like bleeding and edema (swelling of the brain).

The costs associated with TBI can be staggering. They include medical care and treatment at the time of the injury and potentially for the life of the child; home health care; special education needs; respite care, and rehabilitation and therapy including physical, occupational, speech, vocational, and psychological. As with children suffering from birth trauma, the parents of children with TBI may wish to set up a trust to ensure they will be cared for beyond the life of the parent.

No amount of money can make up for the injury of your child. The cost of care, however, can be overwhelming. And studies have shown that monet can matter to the quality of life of a debilitated individual.

If your child’s injry is due to negligence and insurance offered is insufficient, you do have recourse to help ease your potentially ongoing financial hardship.

While some TBI is unavoidable, there are some things you can do to protect your child.

- Use car seats and safety restraints at all times.
- Make sure your child wears a helmet when participating in sports or recreational activities such as sledding, skating or biking.
- Keep an eye on your child and see that your child is properly supervised when you are not present.

The anguish, confusion and upheaval resulting from a TBI can be overwhelming. Please remember that you are not alone. Please see our Support Sites page for more information.

- This has been an excerpt from the book “Dealing with a Nightmare – The Essential Steps to Take if Your Child Suffers a Serious Injury” by Massachusetts child brain injury attorney Thomas M. Kiley. To order your FREE copy of this book, please visit Mr. Kiley’s website, or click here.

A distressing news brief out of New Hampshire yesterday left us with an unthinkable case of child abuse.

The parents of a 2-year-old girl claim that their daughter inflicted her own injuries on herself and, to what can only be interpreted as their desperate attempts to prove it, they videotaped the girl hitting and poking herself.  Police were able to increase the background volume on the tape and confirmed that the mother instructed her daughter to hit herself and to poke her own eyes.

When doctors examined the girl, whose name was not released, they discovered significantly severe injuries, such as concerning bruises, numerous blood clots behind her eyes and bleeding in the brain.  The little girl also had a serious infection on her face. 

The couple stated to police that their daughter’s behavior was out of the ordinary, in that she would hit herself while she slept, pull out her own hair, and reportedly have seizures.  When the little girl had one of her seizures, the mother told police that she slapped and shook her daughter to revive her. 

In an overview on child abuse, one of the more typical injuries in an abused child is “bleeding in the back of the eye, seen with shaken baby syndrome or a direct blow to the head.” 

In the Union Leader article from above, the parents said that their daughter was pulling her hair out, which resulted in them shaving the hair off completely.  Thinning or patterns of baldness on a child’s head can be a result of the abuser (parent/caregiver/guardian) pulling the child’s hair out, and not necessarily the other way around. 

Both parents have each been charged with falsifying evidence, which is a felony. The case remains under investigation and time will tell if additional charges will be brought against the parents in this apparent case of child abuse.

If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected in any way, go to this site to learn how. 

Your help could save a child’s life.

In a tragic shaken-baby incident, a 6-month-old baby boy’s life ended in March, while his father was charged in a first-degree murder indictment.

According to prosecutors in the case, the father, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab administrator, Geoffrey Wilson, 31, shook his baby (Nathan, only 6 months old), and did not even call 911 before driving the bruise-covered baby from Malden to Children’s Hospital in Boston. The incident occurred on March 7.

Wilson is being held without bail after pleading not guilty last Thursday after he was indicted in son’s death.

According to the police, Wilson said that his wife, Dilkushi Wijesinghe, left for church shortly before 11 am on March 7, leaving their son in his care, the Boston Herald reported.

When Wijesinghe returned home about 90 minutes later, Nathan looked like he was having trouble breathing, and when his wife picked the baby up, he looked “floppy,” Wilson told investigators. He allegedly told his wife to leave the baby alone. He also told investigators, that he started to worry when Nathan didn’t wake up. However, even then, Wilson allegedly waited about a half-hour before trying unsuccessfully to reach a doctor.

His wife asked him to call 911, but instead he said they would get to a hospital faster, and the couple drove Nathan to Children’s Hospital. At this point it was too late for the baby. Nathan was pronounced dead at 10:30 pm that day.

According to Wilson, Nathan was being “fussy” and “cranky,” so he shook him for 10 seconds to try to calm him down. Although Wilson described the shaking as “not violent”, an autopsy revealed bruises on Nathan’s forehead, chin and cheek, as well as above his right eye, on the backs of his arms, and in the middle of his back.

The autopsy showed that the baby’s lungs also were inflamed.

Court filing also list other signs of injury, including a subdural hemorrhage (which revealed signs of an acute injury), as well as injuries that were three to five days old, and one at least a month old.

Dr. Alice Newton, head of the Child Protection Team at Children’s Hospital, diagnosed Nathan as a victim of multiple episodes of Shaken Baby Syndrome, the article said. Newton said that the last time Nathan was shaken, he likely lost consciousness.

“It would have been evident that he was in distress . . .,” prosecutors said. “Nathan would not have appeared normal in any way.”

The Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a form of child abuse

An exerpt from Thomas M. Kiley’s free book on child brain injury tells us that it takes “as few as 3 shakes to lead to SBS. A child can be left with brain damage, seizures, blindness, motor dysfunction, and paralysis.”

It is such a serious condition that one child out of every three or four dies. Of those who survive, only 15% escape brain damage. Most children who die or suffer severe consequences from SBS are under 1 year old, with the average being 3-8 months.

Nathan was only 6 months old.

The 8-month-old baby boy from New Hamsphire who was found unconscious while in his babysitter’s care, remains under critical condition at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

Police have charged the babysitter, Elizabeth Torrey, 26, of Candia, NH, with a first-degree assault on the toddler, who was assaulted so severely that he suffered a brain injury.

Even though Torrey was the one who alerted people about the baby’s unresponsiveness, police, after consulting with the team of doctors who examined the boy, decided that it was her who injured the baby and arrested her. Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital concluded that the boy’s injuries came from severe, abusive head trauma, which could have been caused by violent shaking.

Dr. Alice Newton, leader of the child protective team at Boston Children’s Hospital, said the findings were a result of extensive evaluation and testing. She wrote in her report that, “This severe of an injury would lead to immediate symptoms which would be very obvious, limiting the time of the injury to the period after he was last alert, conscious and normal.”

The violent shaking resulted in a hemorrhage and brain injury, according to Newton.

The babysitter told police that she only left the baby alone after he spit up formula on her. According to her statement she left the baby on the floor to clean up and when she picked him up “his head was ‘balancing side to side’ and she knew something was wrong.” This kind of injury points out to Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), which is a form of child abuse.

An exerpt from Thomas M. Kiley’s free book tell us that it takes “as few as three shakes to lead to SBS. A child can be left with brain damage, seizures, blindness, motor dysfunction, and paralysis.”

It is such a serious condition that one child out of every three or four dies. Of those who survive, only 15% escape brain damage.

Most children who die or suffer severe consequences from SBS are under 1 year old, with the average being 3-8 months.

In the meantime, Torrey was freed on a $500 bail, and is due back in court on Aug. 4. If convicted, she could face 7 1/2 to 15 years in state prison.

To find out more about SBS, please click here, or order our FREE Consumer Guide on Child Injury & Abuse.