Dr. Gulitz Is a Featured Panel Speaker For Maryland Association For Justice

Dr. Gulitz Is a Featured Panel Speaker For Maryland Association For Justice

As my avid blog followers are already aware, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with three Baltimore chiropractic clinics in Baltimore, MD. We treat over one thousand new patients a year who deal with problems ranging from acute headaches, neck pain, and back pain to chronic headaches, neck pain, and back pain. The majority of our patients wake up with some stiffness and come in for some acute care. Other patients are traumatically injured as a result of either Baltimore auto accidents or Baltimore work-related injuries.

One of the problems that has been impacting everyone across Maryland and across the United States is the ubiquitous nature of opioid-based medication (percocet, vicodin, oxycodone, etc) to treat chronic pain. While once thought to be safe in small doses, we are seeing people becoming addicted to this medication at an alarming rate. This causes not only health problems, but community problems as people sometimes turn to heroin which is cheaper and more readily accessible. Further, there is an alarming mortality rate in those who become addicted. This is clearly a problem that is getting worse and we need to address how we limit patient’s access to these medications in the first place.

The Maryland Association For Justice is being proactive about this problem by holding a seminar series entitled “The Opioid Crisis And Alternatives To Treat Pain In Workers Compensation Cases.” They are hosting several panels with members ranging from attorneys who represent injured workers, to pain management physicians, and chiropractors to discuss each of our unique roles in handling opioid-dependent clients/patients.

The link to the panel discussion can be found here. Attorneys Dayna Kipnis (Kahn, Smith, & Collins) and Jason Shultz (Law Office of Jason Shultz) will moderate the discussion. The topics of discussion will be the practice of representing opioid-dependent clients, the opioid crisis and alternatives to treat pain, and the benefits of chiropractic treatment for treating soft tissue injuries.

Be sure to come by Hyatt Place Baltimore/Inner Harbor from 1:00-4:30 pm on Friday March 9, 2018 if you want to learn about how chiropractic care is more cost-effective and less dangerous than drugs or surgery, how patients who see chiropractors first generally have fewer spine surgeries, how chiropractic care is poised to help with the opioid epidemic, and how states such as Ohio are forcing injured worker’s to participate in 60 days of chiropractic care and physical therapy before they are allowed to consider surgery. It’s sure to be an interesting and eye-opening discussion.

If you, or someone you know, has been injured as a result of a work-related injury in Baltimore, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at (443) 842-5500. We’ve got your back on the road to recovery.

Dr. Gulitz

FDA Approves Blood Test To Measure Presence of Concussions

As my avid blog readers are already aware, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with three Baltimore chiropractic clinics in and around Baltimore, MD. We routinely treat patients with acute and chronic headaches, neck pain, and back pain. Many of our patients have suffered whiplash injuries as a result of Baltimore auto accident injuries. In these patients we routinely treat whiplash injuries such as acute post-traumatic headaches, cervical sprain/strain injuries, thoracic spine sprain/strain injuries, and lumbosacral spine sprain/strain injuries. On occasion we treat patients who have experienced concussions as well. While there is not much that we personally do for these patients with concussions, we nevertheless have a duty to record these symptoms and make appropriate referrals to neurologists whenever indicated.

Concussions are nothing more than damage to the soft tissue of the brain. These injuries occur with or without direct head trauma and they can produce a myriad of symptoms in the afflicted individual. The tricky part about concussions is that generally speaking, no two patients experience the same symptoms, and furthermore, no two patients experience the same onset and duration of symptoms. Just like snowflakes, no two concussions ever seem to be the same.

One of the issues that my clinics run into a lot when treating Baltimore auto accident patients is the idea of causality. In a nutshell, we need to be able to say that to a reasonable degree of medical probability the symptoms that a patient is presenting with to our clinic are present due to an automobile accident. Without being able to say that, insurance companies often deny payment for injured clients, claiming that it is possible that the injuries that my patients have was not caused by an auto accident.

Up until now the issue of concussions was a particularly tough one to handle med-legally. After all, it is POSSIBLE that a patient had experienced a concussion prior to an auto injury and then just presented to my clinic after a crash. However, just this week the FDA approved a blood test that can be used to diagnose a concussion, for the first time ever. This is a big deal for amateur and professional athletes everywhere, as well as for chiropractors such as myself that treat injury patients. Now we can produce specific test results that prove whether or not a concussion is present in a patient/athlete. That will help us treat these injuries better by knowing more for certain if they’ve been sustained in the first place.

The Banyan Brain Trauma indicator will function as a simple blood test. The test will be able to look for levels of UCH-L1 and GFAP proteins in the blood within 12 hours post-trauma. In clinical trials this test was able to predict the presence of an intra-cranial lesion 97.5 percent of the time and the absence of a lesion 99.6 percent of the time. While not perfect, these results will undoubtedly help cut down on unnecessary head CT scans, which are, after all, radioactive and can cause their own problems if done repeatedly.

Ultimately there is still a role for neurological evaluations and CT scans following concussion injuries. This blood test, however, will help us determine which injured patients clinically require the CT scans and which don’t which will cut down on unnecessary radiation exposure and unnecessary medical spending, both of which are fantastic for the patients and the community at large.

I am excited to see this blood test gain acceptance and become implemented into clinics across the nation. I am also excited to be able to say with near 100 percent certainty that a given patient did experience a concussion as a result of a Baltimore auto accident injury and not be questioned about it repeatedly by insurance companies looking to deny care for injured parties.

If you, or someone you know, has been injured as a result of a Baltimore auto accident, whether you have or have not suffered from a concussion, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at (443) 842-5500. We would be happy to help!

Dr. Gulitz

Washington State Implements DUI-E Laws. Should Maryland Follow?

As my avid blog readers are aware, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with three Baltimore chiropractic clinics in Baltimore, MD. My fellow chiropractors and I spend our time treating patients with mostly axial spine pain, including (but not limited to) headaches, neck pain and back pain. We do so without the use of drugs or surgery, through methods such as heat/ice, electric muscle stimulation, spinal traction, spinal manipulation/mobilization, and therapeutic exercises. Since the beginning of this year we have seen a sharp rise in the number of auto accident/whiplash patients that have been presenting to our chiropractic practice. I suspect that in large part distracted driving is to blame. I did some research to see what some other states are doing about this epidemic.

It turns out that Washington state last summer instituted a new law that looks to curb DUI-E. As you might expect this stands for “driving under the influence of electronics”. Washington state made it illegal for a vehicle operator to use a phone, tablet, laptop, or video game in a car, whether that car is in motion or not. That’s right – even if the driver is stopped at a red light it would be illegal to send a text message or glance at their phone. First time offenders are being charged fines of $136 and second time offenders are being charged fines of $235. These violations will appear on driving records, and reports of this misconduct will be sent to auto-insurers.

Researchers have discovered that the average text message takes about 10-15 seconds to complete. It is thought that the average motor vehicle traveling on a highway at 55 mph could easily travel the length of a football field while staring at a screen and not paying attention to operating the vehicle. With these high rates of speed and distraction, its no wonder why we are seeing higher speed collisions and worse injuries to vehicle occupants than ever before.

I, for one, am in favor of these strict penalties. I think they may actually help to curb some people’s “addiction” to distracted driving. Even if the financial penalties are stiff, it is a great way to dissuade drivers from unnecessarily taking risks on the road. It is unclear, however, whether or not Maryland will follow suit and enact similar laws locally. Let’s hope they do.

If you, or anyone you know, has been injured as a result of a Baltimore auto accident, whether or not it was the result of driving under the influence of electronics, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at 443-842-5500. We would be happy to get you back on the road to recovery.

Dr. Gulitz

General Motors Sued Over Collision Between Autonomous Vehicle and Motorcycle

As my avid blog followers already know, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with three Chiropractic/rehab clinics in Baltimore, MD. Due to the congested nature of the roads in and around Baltimore, we treat many Baltimore citizens who have suffered from auto accident injuries. Typically these patients present with headaches, neck pain, and back pain. Occasionally these pains radiate from their neck and go down their arm. These symptoms can include radiating pain and/or numbness, tingling, and weakness in the affected extremity. Additionally, we routinely treat patients with sciatica, as they similarly display pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness due to lower back injuries.

I like to skim the headlines for news articles that are likely to impact me and my business. Anytime I see something that relates to autonomous driving and auto accidents I stop in my tracks to read the article. A recent article has surfaced that I find interesting because it has many ramifications on the future of autonomous driving. In past blog posts I have posed the question as to who is ultimately financially responsible if an autonomous vehicle causes a crash? Would it be the manufacturer? The owner of the vehicle?

In what’s thought to be the first lawsuit of its kind, a motorcyclist in San Francisco is suing General Motors, manufacturer of the Chevy Cruise for injuries and pain and suffering stemming from a December 7th collision in which the motorcyclist alleges that the Chevy Cruise changed lanes and knocked the cyclist onto the ground, injuring his neck and shoulder. By the way, we routinely treat patients with neck and shoulder pain so these symptoms would not be shocking to me or the Chiropractors that I work with.

As is the case with any motor vehicle collision or car accident, there are two sides to the story. The motorcyclist reports that he was lane-splitting (riding between two lanes of traffic, which apparently is legal in California) when he reported that the Chevy Cruise left the center lane and attempted to merge into the left lane. He then reports that the Cruise veered back into the lane that he was in, striking him, and causing his motorcycle to wobble before finally hitting the ground and injuring him. It is thought that the speeds during the collision were relatively slow, somewhere between 12-17 mph. As my chiropractors and I are aware injuries can definitely occur even at relatively low rates of speed.

Another interesting twist to the article is that there was a human assistant driver behind the wheel of the Chevy Cruise at the time of the collision. He reportedly tried to take control of the vehicle to avoid impacting the motorcyclist but he was unable to. Will he also be named in the lawsuit? I think its too early to tell.

The police report alleges that the motorcyclist was at fault, stating that the Cruise attempted to merge left, aborted the merge, and then came back into its own lane. It further alleges that the motorcyclist made an unsafe lane change when conditions did not permit it.

First and foremost I hope that the motorcyclist, regardless of who is ultimately at fault for the accident, makes a complete recovery. The more interesting thing that remains to be seen over the next few months is the case-law component. That is, who will the courts find is ultimately responsible for injuries inflicted upon motorcyclists and car passengers when an autonomous vehicle is found to have caused injuries. As soon as I know the answer I’ll be sure to post an update to this blog post.

For now, if you, or someone you know, has been injured as a result of a Baltimore auto accident injury, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at (443) 842-5500. We would be happy to get you back on the road to recovery!

Dr. Gulitz

Maryland Considering Lower Blood Alcohol Levels from .08 to .05

As my avid blog followers are already aware, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with three Baltimore Chiropractic clinics in Baltimore, MD. The great part about our clinics is that not only do they serve the Baltimore city community, but with our convenient locations are are also accessible to the Baltimore county communities of Catonsville, Arbutus, Halethorpe, Pikesville, and Dundalk. Lately all of these clinics have been seeing an uptick in the number of Baltimore auto accident injury patients that have been injured as a result of drunk drivers. So it got me thinking – what, if anything, are we doing to make the roads safer?

An article I found on WJZ (local CBS affiliate) seems to indicate that law makers are considering decreasing the legal blood alcohol content from .08 to .05. You can see a copy of that link here. Apparently over two billion people in the world are already capped at a max BAC of .05 before they are considered to be driving under the influence. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University state that on American roads there are approximately 10,000 deaths a year that are directly linked to alcohol related drunk driving car accidents, with approximately 1,200 of those occurring within the state of Maryland. That seems like a high proportion of those deaths happening in this state. Between our density of local colleges and our big cities with bars on every corner, it sort of doesn’t surprise me.

In addition to considering lowering the legal limit of BAC, the state is considering increasing taxes on alcohol, limiting the ability of alcohol manufacturers to advertise for their products, and restricting the supply of alcoholic beverages during major events such as sporting events.

To further confuse matters – exactly what would a lower blood alcohol content from .08 to .05 mean to me or you? Can we still have a beer or glass of wine with dinner? How can we tell the impact it will have on our particular bodies with the way that we individually process alcohol?

Personally I think the only acceptable level of consumption of alcohol to get behind the wheel is 0. That is, with the abundance of rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft, its reasonable to never have to drive having even consumed one alcoholic beverage. I personally would feel safer if there was a “zero tolerance” law around alcohol and driving. But, that’s easy for me to say since I don’t really like drinking. As my friends with legal DUI practices like to remind me, it’s way cheaper to spend ten dollars for an uber ride than it is to spend $5,000 or more on DUI defense. If you unfortunately need to consult with a DUI attorney please contact the law office of Ross Albers here.

If you, or someone you know, has been injured as a result of a Baltimore auto accident due to drunk driving, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at 443-842-5500. We would be happy to see you today in any one of our three Baltimore chiropractic clinics and get you back on the road to recovery.

Dr. Gulitz