"New" tests able to show what negative MRI, CT scans can't

Brain Injured Plaintiff receives $3.3 million dollar personal injury settlement despite negative MRI and CT Scans

Boston, Massachusetts: A decade ago, a plaintiff claiming a brain injury from a workplace accident would have been laughed out of court if his medical records showed negative MRI and CT scans. But times have changed, as demonstrated by the recent $3.3 million settlement a man received after he allegedly suffered head trauma while working on a tunnel project.

The plaintiff was an African-American male in his mid-40s who was working for the general contractor on a water-supply-tunnel project. The plaintiff's job was to lower a large metal tube, or liner, into a shaft to reinforce the walls of the tunnel below. The plaintiff said that while climbing a ladder in a dark area, his head was struck by a shackle on the crane's cable, knocking him 10 feet to the ground. He was taken to the hospital, where a CT scan of his head showed no abnormal activity. He was discharged the following day. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff began experiencing headaches. Three months after the incident, an MRI was taken that came back negative.

After continuing to complain of headaches, the plaintiff was sent to a rehabilitation hospital, where he was observed as hypersensitive to sound, forgetful and prone to difficulty with words and movements of his hands.

Despite negative MRI and CT-scan readings, the plaintiff's attorneys, Douglas K. Sheff and Frank J. Federico of Sheff Law Offices, P.C., introduced evidence of the victim's brain injury through (PET) Positron Emission Tomography and (QEEG)Quantitative Electroencephalograph diagnostic testing. The technology used in these tests have advanced to the point where they can often show more than the so-called standard tests for brain injuries such as MRI and CT-scans.

"The QEEG measures brain waves and finds if they are slow," explained Sheff . "The PET scan injects the subject with sugar water and radioactive dye. The dye lights up as the brains absorb sugar, so you can take a film of the brain and see if the cells are all absorbing at the same rate, [or if] you've got a problem."

Although the MRI and CT scans were normal, the PET scan showed that brain cells over the client's right frontal lobe had a slower absorption rate. "When we talked to clinicians and family members, they said he can't organize anymore," said Sheff . "Well, that's the frontal lobe. You have to really live with the plaintiffs and know them and their families to put together the pieces of the puzzle that a true brain injury is."

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