Category: Slip and Fall Injuries

Court of Appeal Upholds Record Award for Chronic Pain – Degennaro v. Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital

by John McKiggan

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently released its reasons in Degennaro v. Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. The Court of Appeal confirmed a $3 million compensation award for chronic pain stemming from a slip and fall injury.

As far as I can tell, the decision is the largest compensatory damage award from chronic pain in Canada.

Diane Degennaro was visiting her son who was a patient at the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. A nurse at the hospital offered Ms. Degennaro a bed to sleep in while she was staying with her son. When Ms. Degennaro sat on the bed it collapsed and she fractured her sacrum (the pointed bone at the base of the spine).

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Posted in: Causation, Chronic Pain, Personal Injury, Slip and Fall Injuries, Spinal Cord Injuries, Uncategorized

Brain Injury Myth: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury is not Disabling

by John McKiggan

Perhaps the biggest myth of brain injury is that mild traumatic brain injuries are not disabling.

They Look Okay

Since persons with traumatic brain injuries do not look obviously injured and many can function reasonable well in society, there is a common misperception that a traumatic brain injury is not as disabling as more obvious physical injuries.

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Posted in: Brain Injury, Car Accidents, Child Injuries, Medical Malpractice, Minor Injury Cap, Personal Injury, Slip and Fall Injuries, Uncategorized

Brain Injury Myth – Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Isn’t Permanent

by John McKiggan

Concussions Have Long Term Effects

It was once thought that the effects of concussion, (mild traumatic brain injury) were temporary. Doctors assumed patients could recover from the effects of concussion after a few minutes or hours.

However a famous research study published in Neurology, the Journal of the American Academy of Neurologists, found that after one year, 10% to 15% of mild traumatic brain injury patients still had not fully recovered. In fact, the study determined that many patients had more symptoms than immediately after the accident.

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Posted in: Brain Injury, Car Accidents, Child Injuries, Minor Injury Cap, Personal Injury, Slip and Fall Injuries, Uncategorized

Brain Injury Myth – Effects of Brain Injury can be Identified Immediately

by John McKiggan

As a Nova Scotia Brain Injury Lawyer I have had a number of brain injury cases where the defendant’s experts claimed my client did not suffer a brain injury, because their symptoms did not develop until hours after their initial injury.

Symptoms May Take Time to Develop

Modern medical science now recognizes that the effects of traumatic brain injury may not become apparent until 6-12 hours after the initial injury.

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Posted in: Brain Injury, Car Accidents, Child Injuries, Personal Injury, Slip and Fall Injuries, Uncategorized

Sports Related Brain Injuries in Teenagers on the Increase

by John McKiggan

Head Injuries Increase by 70%

The new school year is well underway and students are signing up for various sport teams. A new study from the Centre for Injury Research and Policy suggests that sports related head injuries among teenagers are increasing.

The study found that the number of young people suffering from head injuries while playing basketball had spiked 70% between 1997 and 2007.

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Posted in: Brain Injury, Child Injuries, Personal Injury, Slip and Fall Injuries, Uncategorized

Slip and Fall Claims: 10 Questions You Need To Answer

by John McKiggan

If you have been injured as a result of a “slip and fall” or “trip and fall” there are 10 questions that you should know the answer to before you call a lawyer. Knowing the answers to these questions will help the personal injury lawyer evaluate whether or not you have a claim that is worth pursuing.

10 Questions:

1. What was the weather like on the day that you fell?

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Posted in: Slip and Fall Injuries, Uncategorized