Effect on stem cell ruling on companies unclear

(Reuters) – Government officials say they will appeal a U.S. District Court injunction that stops new federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research.

The ruling has no direct effect on researchers or companies working with private funds, but government funding often kick-starts the most basic, and risky biological work.

Scientists are working to use them to repair severed spinal cords, regenerate brain cells lost in Parkinson’s disease and restore the tissue destroyed by juvenile diabetes. Continue Reading »

Saudi court backing away from paralysis punishment

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia –A Saudi court is trying to persuade a man paralyzed in a fight to drop his demand to inflict a similar injury on his attacker by having his spinal cord surgically damaged, a judiciary spokesman said Monday. Continue Reading »

Spinal Cord Injuries Create Long Term Health Issues

Major accidents usually result in severe injuries sustained by one or more persons. Among these injuries, however, injuries to the spine is the worst to be suffered by those involved in the accident. Usually, this type of injury results to paraplegia, which is the inability to move the lower portion of the body, or quadriplegia, which is the total loss of movement in all parts of the body. While it is true there are some victims of spinal cord injury that seemed to recover after a year of rehabilitation, they are still susceptible to long-term health issues which may beleaguer them without end. Continue Reading »

Stunt goes wrong

Former Jesse White tumbler sues group after paralyzing injury

Jarvis Williams dashed forward in the red-and-white uniform familiar to anyone who’s seen the Jesse White tumblers defy gravity. Going last in a line of acrobats during the parade in Wheeling, he gathered speed, bounded off the trampoline and turned two-and-a-half somersaults.

Williams would say later he had done the same daring maneuver at least 50 times. The Fenger High School senior had learned to make the jaw-dropping stunts look routine, just as thousands of other youngsters had done as members of the famous team named after Jesse White, the Illinois secretary of state. Continue Reading »

Automobile Accidents: The Leading Cause of Spinal Cord Injuries

The leading cause of spinal cord injuries are automobile accidents. The automobile accident rate has increased over the years, probably relating to the fact that there are more cars and more drivers than ever before. Injury accidents vary in severity; what body part is injured and how severe the collision will determine the impact on a victim’s life. Unfortunately, more than half of the people who have been seriously injured in an automobile accident are between the ages of 16 and 30; to lose body function at such a young age is more than catastrophic. Continue Reading »

Pursuing A Spinal Injury Claim

The emotional and psychological effects of a spinal injury can be devastating. Not only can it affect the loved ones around you, but it can also have far reaching consequences on other major areas of your life. In most cases, you will have to make huge financial adjustments depending on the extent of your injury. If you have been victim to a spinal injury at work, in a road traffic accident, or a fall, then you may be entitled to compensation. Continue Reading »

Quadriplegic man wins gun permit to go hunting again

Resident James Cap, a quadriplegic after a spinal cord injury in 1979, was granted permission in Superior Court on Nov. 10 to obtain a permit to carry a firearm provided it is locked in a safe when not being used and another licensed person works with him when he uses it.

”I am very happy and elated,” Mr. Cap said of the resolution to the appeal. “It has been a two-and-a-half year wait. I felt discriminated against.” Continue Reading »

Judge says handicapped Manville man can get gun permit

There is “no reason” James Cap, a quadriplegic who is physically unable to hold a gun or pull a trigger, should be denied a firearms ID card — a requirement for the purchase of any gun in New Jersey, a judge in Somerville said today.

“I hope you enjoy the use of your firearm,” Superior Court Judge John Pursel said before signing an order that will allow Cap to get a permit as long as any guns he buys are stored in a safe and only qualified people assist him with the weapons. Continue Reading »

Human tests of Geron’s spinal-cord medication put on hold

In a setback for Menlo Park-based Geron, the company announced Tuesday that federal authorities have put on hold its groundbreaking test on people of a spinal-cord injury treatment it developed from human embryonic stem cells.

Officials at Geron, which has yet to give its treatment to humans, were vague about the reason for the hold, saying only that it involved the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s pending review of new animal study data the company had submitted. Continue Reading »

‘You’ve got to keep going’

Jill Mason embodies challenges, successes of people living with spinal-cord injuries

One of the annoying things about life with two paralyzed legs is time, Jill Mason said.

It takes hours to get up, to shower, dress and fix something to eat, the daily routine that an able-bodied person — like the competitive triathlete Mason used to be — could accomplish in minutes.

In the five years since a drunken driver smashed into her bicycle on Highway 12 near Oakmont, severing her spinal cord, Mason, 31, has gotten faster at these mundane chores, but they still take an entire morning. Continue Reading »