Jun 18
New evidence reveals over 1000 private U.S. citizens have been killed in Iraq (translation: people hired by private contractors to go to Iraq, drive trucks etc, but not permitted weapons for self protection). The number of PTSD and traumatic brain damage victims is even more staggering.
Read further info.
Dorothy Clay Sims, Esq. ~ Sims, Stakenborg & Henry, PA.
Jun 15
Judge indicates he may reopen PTSD cases based on improper instructions to experts advising them NOT to find PTSD.
Read full article here.
Dorothy Clay Sims, Esq. ~ Sims, Stakenborg & Henry, PA.
Jun 10
Even though April 15 has passed, there is still time for retirees, disabled veterans and others who are disabled and normally do not file a tax return to submit a 2007 form to receive an economic stimulus payment. This is good news for the millions of disabled individuals, who often have limited resources. For more information visit:
Jun 8
Does the defense doctor claim your client’s pain is going down the “wrong” side?
The defense doctor may be “wrong”!
Let’s say your client has a herinated disc on the left side and your client is complaining of right sided pain. Most defense doctors will claim your client is a fraud.
Point out that studies clearly show that a nerve injury on one side of the nerve (in rats) actually showed contralateral neuroapthic pain (pain in the other side). See
Hatashita, Satoshi, MD et all, Contralateral Neruopathic Pain and Neuropathology in Dorsal Root Ganglion and Spinal Cord Following Hemilateral Nerve Injury in Rats, Spine, volume 33, november 12, page 1344- 1355.
5/20/08.
Then ask the doctor about the anatomy of pain and how hemilateral nerve injuries in rats were found to cause contralateral mechanical allodynia induced by hemilateral spinal nerve which was associated with upregulation of satellite cells and TNFa in the contralateral DRG…additional research suggests that spinal astrocytes also played a part in these changes on the opposite side of the lesion.
Ask the doctor if he knows what TNFa is.
How does the upregulation of satellite cells occur?
How do spinal astrocytes play a part in this?
Dorothy Clay Sims, Esq. ~ Sims, Stakenborg & Henry, PA.
Jun 4
Stress plays a role in the disruption of cognitive function and the belief is that higher blood levels of stress-related glucocorticosteroids may interfere with the formation of memory and the retrieval of information from memory stores. Chronic pain is associated with elevated levels of stress and stress hormones (see investigating the link between cognitive dysfunction and chronic pain following the 3 December 2007 pathways, Perspectives in Modern Neurology of Pain Management by Dr. Bruce Dick, Ph.D.). Another confounding factor is sleep impairment and cognitive disruption. (See Blackwell T., Yaffek, et al.) Poor sleep is associated with impaired cognitive function in older women. (The study of osteoporotic fractures J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006:61:405-410, Harrison Y, Horne, JA. Sleep Loss and Temporal Memory. Q J Exp Psychol A. 2000 Feb.; 53(1):271-9. Depression, Joem Volume 50, No. 4, April 2008 Williams, CD, Schouten, Ronald, Assessment of Occupational Impairment and Disability from Depression, page 441 to 450.) This article proposes to give a method for suggested screenings for depression and classifications of impairment using the AMA Guide and Global Assessment of Functioning number. Unfortunately this article also discusses the “alleged conflict” between the treater and the evaluator which of course gives more credibility to the evaluator which is almost always retained by the defense. Page 449: “to some extent these conflicts can be mitigated by recourse to an IME, …” Isn’t that a surprise.
Dorothy Clay Sims, Esq. ~ Sims, Stakenborg & Henry, PA.