severe head injuries and increased risk of epilepsy

Patients who have severe head injuries have 22 times the normal risk of having epilepsy in the year following injury and seven times the normal risk even 10 years after the initial injury, according to the results of a study. The results were presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) by Per Sidenius, MD, Epilepsy Epidemiology Consultant, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Aarhus.

Doctors and colleagues identified 73,326 individuals with mild brain injury, 5,099 with skull fracture, and 3,850 with severe brain injury. A total of 17,470 people born within the time period had a diagnosis of epilepsy, and of these, 1,031 developed epilepsy after some form of brain injury.Among patients with mild brain injury and those with skull fracture 1.14% and 1.5%, respectively, developed epilepsy in the 10 years following head injuries, whereas 3% of individuals with severe brain injury developed epilepsy in this time period.

Although the relative risk for epilepsy with mild brain injury and skull fracture was higher in the first year following the head injury, the long-term risk was about double that of the general population [relative risk (RR) 2.22 and 2.17, respectively, with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 2.07-2.38 and 1.73-2.71, respectively].

The relative risk for epilepsy in the year following a severe head injury was approximately 22 times the risk for the general population with an ongoing relative risk of over seven times the risk for the general population (RR 7.40, 95% CI 6.16-8.89). When the researchers examined other risk factors, they found that a family history of epilepsy resulted in an even greater long-term relative risk for individuals with all three injury types (mild brain injury RR 5.75, 95% CI 4.56-7.27, P=.03; skull fracture RR 2.71, 95% CI 0.87-8.41, P=.04; severe brain injury RR 10.09, 95% CI 4.20-24.26, P <.00001).

Anecdotal evidence of a link between head trauma and increased risk of epilepsy has been a part of epilepsy care for a long time, but doctors emphasised that this study provides an empirical basis for this link and quantifies the risk. Physicians caring for patients with severe head trauma now have the evidence to support continued evaluation and possibly prophylactic care for these patients. These results should encourage additional attention to safety among the general population. "If you prevent head injuries, for example by giving your children bicycle helmets, you are also preventing epilepsy."

If you have been injured as a result of severe injury, or if you have been misdiagnosed by a doctor for epilepsy, please contact our firm (210) 979-9777 or visit our websites http://www.thebaezlawfirm.com or http://www.sanantoniopersonalinjurytriallawyers.com for a free evaluation of your case.

Police brutality in Texas

Most people turn to the police for protection and safety. As citizens, we trust police officers to use their authority and training to keep us safe. Occasionally, however, some police officers use poor judgment and abuse this authority, causing harm to the very citizens they have sworn to protect, and beginning the cycle of mistrust.

If you have been a victim of police abuse you probably feel helpless and frightened. Your sense of security and right-and-wrong has been forever shattered. While the vast majority of law enforcement officers are dedicated and ethical, the officers who are not tarnish the reputation of the force as a whole, and the community suffers.

Police officers have a duty to know and abide by the limits of their position. Whether or not a crime has been committed, they have a legal responsibility to act within reason. If a crime was involved, you may feel that you have no real defense against the abuse and that taking action puts you at risk for a harsher punishment. If there was no crime, you fear for your reputation and an undeserved permanent criminal record which will follow and limit you for the rest of your life.

Not only is police brutality and misconduct an egregious violation of public trust and authority, it is also illegal, and guilty law enforcement officers can and must be held legally accountable for their crimes. Some common claims upon which police brutality or misconduct charges are built include: excessive use of force, and wrongful imprisonment.

If you have been the victim of police abuse you must act quickly. There are several things you should do right away:
1- Seek medical attention
2- File a complaint
3- Take photos of your injuries
4- Get statements from witnesses
5- Contact The Baez Law Firm

If you, or someone you know has been a victim of police brutality, contact The Baez Law Firm, P.C. at (210) 979-9777, where experienced lawyers will handle your case with respect and dignity. Visit our websites http://www.thebaezlawfirm.com or http://www.sanantoniopersonalinjurytriallawyers.com We care about your legal needs!

Texas wrongful death claims and statutes

A wrongful death has occurred when a person is killed due to the negligence or other liability of a person or entity. Surviving beneficiaries and dependents are entitled to monetary damages in instances of wrongful death.

The Texas Legislature in 1860 enacted the original Texas Wrongful Death Statute. The Wrongful Death Act has been amended, codified and recodified over the years and is now Chapter 71 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.The Act provides the exclusive remedy for wrongful death in Texas, compensating the decedent's spouse, parents, and children for the losses they sustained as a result of the decedent's injury and death. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §71.004(a).

A wrongful death action is separate and distinct from a survival action, where the individual's cause of action for injury to his health, reputation or person survives in favor of his heirs, legal representative, and estate. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §71.021."A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual's death if the injury was caused by the person/agents or servant's wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness or default." Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §71.002(b).

Suit may be brought under the Act "only if the individual injured would have been entitled to bring an action for the injury if he had lived." Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §71.003(a). Under Texas law, plaintiffs bringing a wrongful death action are in the procedural shoes of the victim, and the defenses to victim's personal injury action are defenses to plaintiff's wrongful death claim.

The basic elements of a wrongful death claim are:Death caused, in whole or in part, by the conduct of another person or entity. Person or entity was negligent, or strictly liable, for victim's deathThere are surviving beneficiaries or dependentsMonetary damages have resulted from individuals death.

The wrongful death action is subject to all the conditions to which decedent's action would have been subject had he or she only been injured. If a defendant to a wrongful death action dies while the suit is pending, or if an individual against whom an action could be instituted dies before the suit is filed, the individual's executor or administrator may be named as defendant in his place. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §71.008(a).

The surviving spouse, children and parents may bring the suit. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §71.004(b). If named beneficiaries do not bring an action within three (3) months of the death of the injured party, the executor or administrator of the estate shall bring the action on behalf of the beneficiaries unless instructed not to do so by all the beneficiaries. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §71.004(c).

A wrongful death cause of action accrues at death, if it exists at all, 2 years from death.The two-year statute of limitations is absolute from the date of death. The so-called "discovery rule" does not apply in wrongful death and survival actions. In death cases raising limitations issues in medical malpractice claims, the courts have determined that, as between the statute of limitations for death claims, §16.003(b) of the Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann., and the statute of limitations set forth in § 74.251. for health care liability claims, the latter applied.

If your love one has been killed due to the negligence of others, please give us a call (210) 979-9777 or visit our websites: http://www.thebaezlawfirm.com http://www.sanantoniopersonalinjurytriallawyers.com for a free initial consultation. Because we care about your legal needs!

The newest member of our law firm

The Baez Law Firm, P.C. welcomes its newest member Richard G. Fowler to the firm. Mr. Fowler comes to us from Miami, Florida where he was a litigator. He is licensed in all Florida and Texas's courts, which will increase the ability of the firm to represent clients throughout the nation.

Richard Fowler is married and has one child. Richard was picked from a catalog by the firm and by his wife (story soon to follow). Mr. Fowler is a devoted father and a counselor at law. We are proud to bring him on board as a valuable asset to the firm. Our clients will surely benefit from his expertise and charisma.

By adding Mr. Fowler to the firm, we will be able to provide for our client needs even more. The Baez Law Firm, P.C. is truly a general practice law firm, with specialties on personal injury, business law, criminal law, consumer law, and family law.Mr. Fowler is another reason why we say that: "we care about your legal needs."

If you have been injured, please contact us at (210) 979-9777 or visit our websites http://www.thebaezlawfirm.com or http://www.sanantoniopersonalinjurytriallawyers.com for a free initial consultation with an experienced lawyer.

Strong Religious Belief and Jurors

A guide for trial lawyers advises them to be wary of Americans with "extreme attitudes about personal responsibility" when selecting jurors in personal injury lawsuits. The author of the guide says such jurors typically "espouse traditional family values" and often "have strong religious beliefs."David Wenner is a trial lawyer and nationally recognized expert in identifying alleged biases in potential jurors. The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) named the former psychotherapist co-chairman of its "Blue Ribbon Committee on Juror Bias" and included a chapter on the topic written by him in ATLA's Litigating Tort Cases , the industry's guide to winning product liability, medical malpractice and other personal injury lawsuits.In his writing, Wenner accuses those who support tort reform of "stealing" the message of personal responsibility from plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits.

Because of the existence of a "personal responsibility bias" among many jurors, he suggests, "reframing personal responsibility as the plaintiff's message." But some jurors, Wenner believes, are more difficult to convince than others."It is helpful to divide the jurors into two groups: the personal responsibility group and compassion-altruistic group," Wenner wrote. "Jurors who are extreme on the personal responsibility bias, or who have a high need for personal responsibility, will strongly favor the defendant. In contrast, jurors who are extreme on the compassionate-altruistic bias, or who have a high need for compassion, will strongly favor the plaintiff."Based on his research, jurors who believe in moral absolutes tend to have what Wenner called a "personal responsibility bias."The personal responsibility juror tends to see the world with bright line rules on how people should act," Wenner wrote. "People should be self-reliant, responsible, and self-disciplined. When people act irresponsibly and are not self-disciplined, there are consequences. People must be accountable for their conduct."Such jurors, Wenner believes, are likely to question whether the plaintiff could have done something to avoid the injury they suffered."The motto of these jurors is that if a person is committed to personal responsibility, then he or she must first accept blame before blaming others.

That means playing the blame game is unacceptable if the plaintiff was in the best position to avoid the injury," Wenner wrote. "If the plaintiff has not been completely responsible, do not expect the personal responsibility jurors to find for the plaintiff, even though the plaintiff may have been only partially at fault."Potential jurors "who hold extreme attitudes about personal responsibility," Wenner found, also tend to share a common belief system."The personal responsibility jurors tend to espouse traditional family values," Wenner continued. "Personal responsibility jurors often believe that when someone harms you,the best response is to turn the other cheek.A lawsuit is viewed as revenge and unproductive ... often, these jurors have strong religious beliefs."If such a "bias" appears insurmountable, Wenner suggests that the plaintiff's attorney take decisive action before it's too late. "The only solution is to identify these jurors during voir dire and exclude them from the jury," Wenner concluded. Voir dire is an archaic French term for questioning potential jurors.Rob Boston, spokesman for the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State is troubled by Wenner's inclusion of religion in his profile of "personal responsibility jurors.""Certainly a good lawyer will try to ferret out any evidence of prejudice, whether it's religious prejudice or racial prejudice, prejudice against women, whatever, that's legitimate," Boston said. "

But, for a lawyer to simply assume that certain religious beliefs will dictate certain behaviors is naive and I think it does a disservice to our legal system."Boston believes many potential jurors would react negatively if they were aware that their religious beliefs were being evaluated as factors in determining their fitness to decide a case."Although I know jury duty isn't the most favorite pastime of the American people," Boston explained, "I think a lot of folks would be pretty angry if they felt that they were being summarily excluded because of what they believe or don't believe about God."Todd Young serves as policy director for the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a conservative public interest law firm. He called the prospect of even considering potential jurors' religious views "incredibly dangerous."There used to be, many years ago and to the great shame of this nation, the exclusion of minorities and women from juries. That has since been found unconstitutional and rightly so," Young recalled. "It's beyond bold that the trial lawyers' association or people speaking on their behalf would suggest [eliminating] people of faith from juries."That is akin to saying, 'there's a black person, strike them [from the jury pool] because they're black,' or 'there's a woman, strike her because she's a woman,'" Young said. "[Will they say,] 'There's a Christian,' or 'there's a Jew' or 'there's a Muslim,' strike them because they're Christian or Jewish or Muslim? It's incredibly dangerous."

In an interview with CNSNews.com , Wenner insisted that discriminating against people of faith has never been his intention."That's exactly the opposite of what I was suggesting. In fact, my mother would be really upset that she spent all that money on bar mitzvah lessons for me if that's what I had meant," Wenner said, laughing.The goal of identifying potential juror "bias" based on religious beliefs, Wenner said, is to insure that people of faith avoid what he believes in an unfair crisis of conscience when their religious teaching contradicts secular law."You are now asking that person to make a choice between their religious beliefs and the laws that exist in your specific state," Wenner explained. "Why should they have to be put in that position?"The psychotherapist-turned-trial lawyer said if such a conflict becomes apparent while interviewing potential jurors, he acknowledges it."I say, 'you know, Mr. So-and-so' or 'Ms. So-and-so, that's perfectly okay to have that belief.You have every right to believe that and to think that and, from your standpoint, it may be the right way to believe. That's okay,'" Wenner said. "I say, 'but, because of how you feel, Ms. So-and-so, don't you think it would be better for you, and for this plaintiff who has a right to bring this case, for you to sit on ... a different type of case where it doesn't ask you to choose between what the civil justice system says is allowed and your religious beliefs?'"His job during the pre-trial process, Wenner explained, is "to pick a jury that is going to start the case and give each side a fair hearing on the evidence without too many prejudgments influencing the decision-making process."That does not mean, Wenner stressed, that plaintiffs' attorneys should have any less respect for potential jurors with deeply held religious beliefs."

Lawyers shouldn't vilify jurors or be suspicious of them because of their beliefs," Wenner said. "On the contrary, I teach [attorneys] to accept [jurors] where they are and to use those [beliefs] to help [jurors] understand the world they live in, so [attorneys] can better communicate with [jurors] rather than trying to change them."Mario Mandina is chief executive officer of the National Lawyers Association (NLA), which bills itself as "a national bar association, organized to improve the image of the legal profession, to advance legal institutions and respect for the law, and to educate the public on such matters." The group has become a refuge for conservative attorneys displeased with the liberal positions often taken by ATLA and the American Bar Association (ABA).

While Mandina understands that people of faith might be offended by Wenner's advice, he said the principles are not as controversial as many might believe."If you're going to put out a book to tell lawyers to pick good juries to get you money for your clients, you've got to tell them the truth," Mandina allowed. "Unless it was derogatory, I couldn't fault somebody. If you're going to do that, you'd better do it right, or you'll get sued. You couldn't ignore the obvious."Mandina explained that the primary duty of a lawyer is to represent his or her client "within the bounds of the rules of ethics."As an officer of the court, he or she is empowered or expected to notify the court of any violations of the code of ethics and not to present perjured testimony," Mandina said. "If it crosses that, you've got a duty [to report it]. But say it doesn't cross it? Say it just gives you a choice between an extremely liberal panel or an extremely conservative panel? No lawyer worth his salt would ignore those factors."But the duty to one's client would be no excuse, Mandina said, for attorneys to make sweeping generalizations about people of faith serving on juries. Mandina is concerned that some trial lawyers are moving in that direction."They may start asking questions like, 'Do you believe in the Ten Commandments?'Someday, the way this country's going and, if you raise your hand, you would be automatically excluded," Mandina speculated. "If you can't set aside, for example, your personal views of Christianity - which no true Christian could do - then you'll be excluded from the panel.

Those days are coming if things don't change in this country."Wenner agreed that jurors should not be excluded merely for their religion. But he still contends that there are some potential jurors who will not or cannot work within the system."There are a lot of people out there who have very, very, very strong feelings about the jury system today, who can't be fair because of their beliefs," Wenner claimed. "That presents a problem for the trial lawyer."The attorney's goal, Wenner contended, should not be to stack a jury in favor of his or her client, but to strive for an objective hearing for their side of the case."I'm not asking for a biased jury and I'm not teaching people how to get a biased jury. I would not want to see other people teaching [attorneys] how to manipulate a jury," Wenner said. "All I'm asking for is a fair jury."

If you have been injured in an accident contact the baez law firm: http://www.thebaezlawfirm.com or http://www.sanantoniopersonalinjurytriallawyers.com we offer free initial consultation. We care about your legal needs!

Auto Accident in Texas...

Car accidents occur each day on roads in Texas, in every county, city and town. While many auto accidents are simple "fender benders," others result in substantial property damage and serious injury.

Many injured victims of car accidents are overwhelmed by the avalanche of telephone calls, insurance forms, accident reports, medical bills and general correspondence that is received immediately after an auto accident.

Further, those that have been injured in an accident may not be in the proper frame of mind to deal with inquiries from insurance companies, whether written, recorded or verbal. ...Car accidents or accident victims in general should appreciate that, while they are still receiving initial medical treatment, the parties at fault have already notified their insurance company of the accident.

Every insurance company has a team of adjusters, investigators and attorneys whose primary responsibility is to limit the liability of the insurance company and minimize the amount of money to be paid to injured parties.

In Texas, auto accident victims who have suffered personal injury may be entitled to recover damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, disability, permanent disfigurement, dismemberment, wrongful death, and other types of general damage.

Texas also allows for recovery of "special" damages, such as past, present and future medical bills, wage loss, loss of earnings potential and other out-of-pocket expenses.Sometimes in Texas certain "no-fault" benefits can be paid following a traffic accident. This type of benefit may serve to pay a portion of lost wages and medical bills.

The Báez Law Firm, P.C. can help "level the playing field" by providing auto accident victims with information regarding the practical and legal aspects of personal injury law and auto accident claims. For a review of your claim, please click the "contact us" button and completely fill out the form provided.

Please contact us at (210) 979-9777 or visit our websites at http://www.thebaezlawfirm.com http://www.sanantoniopersonalinjurytriallawyers.com for a free consultation. We care about your legal needs!

Dog Bite Law in Texas

(AP)-According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 4.7 million Americans will suffer a dog bite injury this year, most of them children. Each year, about 800,000 dog bite injury victims are treated at clinics and hospitals and about a dozen people die from dog attacks.Dog bite injuries can involve puncture wounds and lacerations that may result in scarring.

Reconstructive surgery may be necessary. If the dog has not been vaccinated, the dog bite victim may need to undergo a painful treatment for rabies. Infection is always a concern.Dog bite injury victims often suffer emotional as well as physical trauma. Psychological therapy may be required, especially for children.

Texas follows the ancient and outdated "one bite rule." This means that legal liability for a dog bite is based on one of the following circumstances: (a) the owner knew that the dog had bitten someone previously or had the dangerous propensity to bite a person, (b) the accident was cause by the negligence of the person handling the dog, (c) the accident was caused by a violation of a leash law, prohibition against dogs trespassing or running at large, or a similar animal control law, or (d) the injury was caused intentionally by the person handling the dog.On the other hand, new law went into effect for criminal liability.

Under the new law, the owner of a dangerous dog can still face misdemeanor charges if the animal injures someone. That same owner now can be on the hook for a felony and prison time if the victim dies or suffers wounds requiring hospitalization.

Our lawyers will pursue full compensation of all current and future expenses related to the dog bite injury. Please contact The Báez Law Firm, P.C. http://www.thebaezlawfirm.com for further information about the laws concerning dog bite injury victims or serious injuries caused by others visit us http://www.sanantoniopersonalinjurytriallawyers.com We offer a free consultation to review your case and discuss your rights. We care about your legal needs!