The New Jersey Division of Disability Services has decided to change the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Fund. Current financial conditions and a growth in the number of fund cases has resulted in changes which will impact benefits and coverage. As a result, medical co-pays for doctor visits; pharmaceutical co-pays; health insurance / COBRA premiums; disposable medical supplies; co-pays for therapy services; and medical gym memberships will no longer be covered.

For those individuals who have previously been awarded coverage for these items, the Division will continue payments for up to 90 days of service ending on or before December 31, 2009. As of January 1, 2010, no further payments will be made.

For more information on what these changes will mean to you and your family, visit the Division of Disability Serives online here.

The Brain Injury Association of New Jersey’s Children & Adolescents Committee will hold the next session of Brain Injury Basics for Parents & School Professionals next Tuesday October 20, 2009 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at Rowan University, Chamberlain Building, Room 221, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, NJ 08028. The seminar will be presented by Barbara Leech, Ph.D., a Pediatric Neuropsychologist.

The educational seminars are intended for parents, school professionals, and other interested health and disability professionals. During the seminar, attendees will learn to identify, understand and respond to the special needs of students with brain injuries. Professional Development Hour certificates can be presented to school professionals. For additional information or to RSVP, contact Justin Stanley of the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey at 732-745-0200 or by email at jstanley@bianj.org.

John Conyers (Michigan-D), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he plans to hold hearings on the long-term effects head injuries have caused among National Football League (NFL) players. This decision came after a recent report was conducted which stated that retired players from the NFL had a higher rate of Alzheimer’s disease and other memory problems than other Americans. The hearings will investigate the long-term effects head injuries have on players, as well as how to prevent them, and how to compensate players and their families after permanent injuries have been suffered.

Sean Morey, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver, will chair the committee with union medical director Dr. Thom Mayer. The committee will also include other active players, former players, researchers and physicians who have extensive experience in neurological injuries.
 

After years of denying the long-term effects of concussions sustained by football players, the National Football League has reported on a study it commissioned that found that Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-related diseases appeared to have been diagnosed in the League’s former players vastly more often then in the national population.
 
According to a New York Times story published on September 29, 2009, "These numbers could become the Leagues’ first public affirmation of any connection between Alzheimer’s disease and football-related concussions.”  Dr. Julian Bailes, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at West Virginian University School of Medicine and former team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose research found similar links four years ago, was quoted as saying,  “This is a game-changer - the whole debate, the ball’s now in the NFL’s court.  They always say, ‘We’re going to do our own studies’ and now they have.” 
 
According to the study, the researchers conducted a phone survey of 1,063 retired players who were asked a series of questions which were derived from the standard National Health Interview Survey, so that rates could be compared with those previously collected from the general population.  The researchers found that 6.1 percent of players age 50 and above reported that they had received a dementia-related diagnosis, five times higher than the cited national average of 1.2 percent.  Players ages 30 - 49 showed a rate of 1.9 percent or nineteen times that of the national average of .1 percent.

You can read the full article online here.