VitalityHouse Health Articles

New at the Gym?

If you've ever made the mistake of trying to do too much too soon at the gym you'll love this tongue-in-cheek account of one week with a personal trainer Adonis...

Her first week at the gym

Just remember to take it easy when you start to exercise...

Six Myths Regularly Encountered in Forensic Practices

The June issue of Clinical Neuropsychologist contains an article by Manfred F. Greiffenstein, a psychologist from Royal Oak, Michigan. 
 
In his article, Dr. Greiffenstein comments on six myths that he regularly encounters in his defense  forensic practice.  I earlier discussed my agreement with him where he attacks the idea that only the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test battery is legally admissible under Daubert.
 
However, I take exception with him when he implies that there is no permanency resulting from mild traumatic brain injury.
 
In this section of his paper, Dr. Greiffenstein quotes from Dr. Iverson’s 2005 paper stating that the commonly accepted figure for permanent disability following mild TBI is 15% is incorrect. 
 
While Dr. Greiffenstein accurately quotes from Dr. Iverson’s paper, he fails to acknowledge that even Iverson accepts that there is a percentage of mild TBI patients who do not go on to a full and uneventful recovery but rather, develop  long-term chronic and permanent residuals from mild TBI.
 
Dr. Greiffenstein is a co-author with Dr. Paul Lees-Haley of a study dealing with the neuropsychological effects following exposure to manganese.  You will recall that the Center for Public Integrity and Mother Jones recently published an expose with regard to the amount of money paid by the welding industry to Paul Lees-Haley.  Dr. Greiffenstein also acknowledges that his practice includes “defense selected evaluations in personal injury matters.”  He also thanks Drs. Larrabee and Binder for their preliminary reviews and helpful criticisms.  A review of deposition testimony given by Larrabee and Binder reflect that they, like Dr. Greiffenstein, primarily performed defense forensic evaluations.
 
Those who represent people who have sustained traumatic brain injury need to investigate the biases of the authors and journals and editors of journals before being so quickly to accept the authenticity of any cited literature.

Joe Reid Discredited Again

Readers of my blog will remember that last fall I was honored to speak at the annual conference of the National Association of Neuropsychology (NAN).  During my presentation, I accurately indicated that Dr. Joe Reed had misinterpreted a court’s ruling in the case of Chapelle v. Ganger which dealt with Daubert challenges (admissibility) to various expert testimony.
 
Dr. Reed in a 1996 article wrote that in the Chapelle case, the trial judge ruled the fixed neuropsychological test battery met the Daubert standard while the flexible battery did not.This statement, as I correctly pointed out, was an error.
 
Therefore, I was interested to read a recent article published in the Clinical Neuropsychologist by Manfred F. Greiffenstein, Ph.D. entitled “Clinical Myths of Forensic Neuropsychology”. 
 
In his article, Dr. Greiffenstein discusses what he calls various myths surrounding forensic neuropsychology. While I disagree with the majority of this article, Dr. Greiffenstein correctly observed that one of those myths is that “only the fixed battery is admissible under Daubert.”  Dr. Greiffenstein attributes this myth to the article cited above by Reed.  Dr. Greiffenstein writes:
 
 “The assertion of the Halstead-Reitan battery’s superior admissibility is a myth for two reasons.  It is easily disproved by showing that Reed materially mischaracterized the Chapelle ruling....Second, fifteen years of Daubert jurisprudence have not been accompanied by any increase in Halstead-Reitan use or decline in flexible approaches.”
 
Thus, there is further evidence that Dr. Reed’s reading of the Chapelle decision is an error.  Whether this was simply an innocent misreading, a lack of understanding or a material “mischaracterization” as Dr. Greiffenstein charges is left to the reader.
 
What is clear is the assertion that Chapelle upheld the use of the fixed test battery and found that the flexible battery did not satisfy the Daubert standard simply is incorrect.

The Sixth Annual NABIS Conference on Brain Injury

The Sixth Annual North American Brain Injury Society Conference on Brain Injury will be held October 2-4, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This conference is the largest gathering of brain injury professionals in North America with over 50 of the leading experts from North America scheduled to present on the latest advances in the science, rehabilitation and treatment of traumatic brain injury.

The 2008 conference will focus on the following topics:

• Medical-Clinical Best Practices
• Research/Science
• Life Long Living & Working
• Legal Issues in Brain Injury

NABIS will also offer a series of educational sessions that will specifically address the unique challenges presented by wartime brain injury caused by blast. Brain injury professionals working in the military or VA settings are strongly encouraged to attend these sessions. For more information on the upcoming conference, or for information on how to register, please click here.

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