On April 17, BG partner and Institutional Abuse and Neglect team leader Sharon Iskra argued before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in support of a $3.5 million jury verdict rendered against a residential care facility on behalf of two developmentally disabled individuals who had been abused as children.
On March 18, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule prohibiting the use of chrysotile asbestos, the last remaining type of asbestos that was being used and imported into the United States. Considering that asbestos is a known carcinogen that is already banned in more than fifty (50) countries, this is a monumental announcement that is long overdue.
According to the Brain Injury Association of America, more than 5.3 million adults and children in the U.S. are living with some sort of permanent brain injury-related disability, and some 2.8 million individuals will experience a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) every year. Brain injuries – even those considered “small” – can lead to months, years, or even lifetimes of physical, emotional, and cognitive issues. What is particularly sneaky about these types of injuries is that their cause – and effects — might not be recognized until long after the injury has occurred.
Did you know that the Brain Injury Association of America estimates someone in the U.S. sustains a brain injury every 9 seconds? While most of us never imagine ourselves being impacted by a brain injury, these injuries are more common than we may think. Concussions are the most common type of brain injury, defined as sudden movement causing the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull and creating chemical changes in the brain.
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. Traumatic Brain Injuries (an injury also known as a “TBI”) can occur in many ways – through sports, a car accident, a simple fall, or from an assault. In the military, one statistic from the Department of Defense estimated that close to 500,000 service members have suffered some degree of TBIs between 2000 and 2023.
