Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

People who take the St. John’s wort (SJW), an herb and herbal supplement widely used to treat depression, may be at greater risk for developing cataracts, according to a University of Alabama Department of Epidemiology study recently published in the journal Current Eye Research and reported on InjuryBoard.com. The study of more than 31,000 adults aged 40 years and older, which was part of the ongoing National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), found that participants who reported cataracts were 59 percent more likely to report that they had used SJW for at least a year.

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New hope for people living with the physical and mental impairments of traumatic brain injury has emerged from Clemson University. Assistant professor of bioengineering Ning Zhang used a combination of synthetic and natural materials in developing an injectable biomaterial that showed great promise for brain tissue regeneration in laboratory tests.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has approved updated labeling for antieplieptic drugs used in the treatment of epilepsy, psychiatric disorders and other conditions including migraine and neuropathic pain syndromes, to include warning in the labeling of the risks of suicidal thoughts or actions.

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Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are being taken much more seriously in the U.S. armed forces now than ever. Doctors and scientists estimate that as many as twenty percent of troops returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan have some form and degree of TBI, ranging from blast related concussions to blunt force trauma and penetrating wounds.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as part of an ongoing safety review, has notified manufacturers of licensed botulinum toxin products – also known as Botox and Botox Cosmetic and Myobloc – of the need to strengthen warnings in product labeling and add a boxed warning of the risk of adverse events when the effects of the toxin spread beyond the site where it was injected.

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Last month we shared the story of Jason Stanley, an Auburn University student who sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI)when three other men ambushed and maliciously attacked him in an alleyway. Jason lost consciousness after falling and hitting his head on the concrete pavement, yet one of the assailants continued to kick him in the face, according to a witness. The attack left Jason with a spectrum of physical and psychological problems – a fractured skull, severed nerves, loss of hearing, dizziness, anxiety, confusion, anger, depression – all symptoms of a TBI that took doctors days to discover.

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Carol Stanley’s life took an unexpected turn one day in January of 2007 when her son Jason, a student at Auburn University, was physically assaulted by three other men. The attack left Jason with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that might have eluded medical staff if it weren’t for his worsening symptoms and his mother’s persistence in finding the right care for her son. The life-altering incident set Jason on a path to recovery and led Carol on an often frustrating crusade for better laws – laws that are more favorable to victims and less protective of those who commit the crimes. We will tell their story in segments over the next few days.

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Several popular medications prescribed to treat depression, including Effexor, Paxil, and Prozac, have issued changes to the “Contradictions and Warnings” sections of their labels to warn of a potentially life-threatening adverse reaction known as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS).

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