Nissan recently recalled a number of its 2008 Altimas.  The issue relates to a loose bolt, which could lead to disastrous results if it fell out, including difficulty in steering the car. 

According to a report issued by NHTSA, the transverse link bolt on the front suspension may not always be tightened to specifications before it leaves the factory.  NHTSA further said that this could cause the bolt to become loose and possibly fall out while the vehicle is being driven.  If this occurs, the driver may lose control of the car, resulting in a crash.  

If you own a 2008 Nissan Altima, take it in to the dealer immediately.  Due to the recall, Nissan dealers will tighten the bolt free of charge.  For more information, contact Nissan at (800) 647-7261.

When automobiles leave the factory without being properly made according to the specifications, this can lead to disastrous consequences.  These types of cases fall under the category of Products Liability.  If you have been injured due to a defective product, and would like to speak to a lawyer, contact St. Louis personal injury lawyer Josh Myers. 

Kansas City Star recently quoted a study by an insurance industry group which suggests raising the driving age to seventeen or eighteen.  The report cites that "the rate of crashes, fatal and non-fatal, per mile driven for sixteen-year-old drivers is almost ten times the rate for drivers ages thirty to fifty-nine."  Additionally, the report cites that many industrialized countries in Europe, as well as certain states throughout the country, have a driving age of seventeen or eighteen. 

I certainly don't doubt the statistics that the rate of car accidents is much higher among sixteen-year-old drivers.  However, I see no evidence indicating that increasing the driving age would make the roads significantly safer.  The one issue that the study does not address is whether incidents of car wrecks occur less frequently with seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds because they are more mature, or rather, because they have gained a year or two of valuable driving experience.  As a St. Louis injury attorney specializing in car accident cases, I very rarely handle cases with a sixteen-year-old driver.  It is quite clear to me that drivers at any age can be inattentive. 

If you have been injured in a car accident and would like to further discuss your case, please feel free to contact St. Louis injury attorney Josh Myers.  It is always free to discuss your case, and there is never any fee until we recover on your behalf. 

One of my new clients was severely injured while driving in Saint Louis. While driving, she was struck extremely hard in the rear of her car. The collision threw her car into the median causing it to flip around several times. Apparently the man who hit her was fleeing from the police. This is often the case; he does not have any insurance from which she would recover for her injuries. Luckily, my client has uninsured motorist coverage. I was first concerned with the fact that she carried only the minimum limits of $25,000.00. However, after further investigation, we discovered that she has three different cars which all carry the minimum limits. What some owners may not know is that you are able to combine the coverage from all of these three different cars so that we now have $75,000 of uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage is a kind of coverage which is required by state law. Basically it applies when you are injured by someone who does not carry liability insurance. Your own insurance essentially steps into the shoes of the uninsured driver.   

The little twist in this case is that the local police department was engaging in a high speed pursuit. Apparently, the only reason is because the uninsured motorist was speeding. The problem for the police department is that there are strict laws stating when they can and cannot engage in a high speed pursuit.  Obviously, these laws and regulations are to help protect the safety of the general public, to prevent circumstances like this. As for now, my client is continuing to visit the doctor and recover from her injuries.  Once that is done, we will proceed against collecting from her insurance company and possibly the police department as well.

If you have been injured in a car accident, you need to contact a personal injury attorney immediately. Situations such as those described above are a good example of why you need an attorney who focuses their practice exclusively on personal injury. If you have been injured, feel free to contact Josh Myers. He will not charge an hourly fee, so you will not have to pay any money for us to being handling your case.  Case consultations are always free.

As a St. Louis Workers' Compensation attorney, a growing trend that I see is the use of nurse case managers.  Workers' Compensation insurance companies are now hiring nurses to follow the care of injured employees.  In theory, this does not sound like a bad thing, and it should be much better than an adjuster who has never received medical training being the one solely responsible for reviewing the employee's treatment.  However, what I am often beginning to see now is that the hired nurse case manager is nothing more than an assassin hired by the insurance company.  They often sabotage the workers' at the doctor's office, and even try to take inappropriate statements from injured workers.  Increasingly, they are speaking with the doctors directly.  I believe that this in complete violation of every patient's HIPPA privacy rights.  Yet, not only are they often speaking with the doctors, they are also controlling care by telling the doctors what they are and are not allowed to do.  I have even had doctors tell my clients that, regardless of their condition, they would not be allowed to treat them past a certain date because the nurse case manager has said so. 

Generally, when I am approached with a new Workers' Compensation case, I will send a letter to the adjuster telling them that no case manger is allowed to contact my client or their medical providers.  Sometimes this does the trick and sometimes it does not.  I would love to see a crack down on the insurance companies and their case managers, but until we have a legislature that cares about the rights of injured individuals, I do not see much hope in sight. 

If you have been hurt at work and feel that you are being abused by the insurance company or their case managers, and would like to speak with a St. Louis Workers' Compensation attorney, contact Josh Myers.  There is never any hourly fee and all case consultations are free. 

A new study which will soon be released in the popular medical journal Science focuses on the link between brain injuries and the development of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.  It has been commonly accepted throughout the medical community for some time that severe brain injury will lead to an increased risk of dementia or Alzheimer's as one gets older.  Researchers from the Washington University Medical School of St. Louis as well as the University of Milan performed a study on 18 different individuals who have all suffered a brain injury in the past.  One of the things the researchers focused on was an increase in the protein amyloid beta.  It is known that this protein causes a plaque buildup in the brain which could possibly lead to Alzheimer's. 

As a St. Louis injury lawyer commonly representing victims of brain injury, we are often required to work with the doctors to show not only the effects of the injuries that they are currently suffering, but also of those things that are likely to come in the future.  Traumatic brain injuries are often some of the most difficult cases to prove to juries because you cannot see the injury.  Thus, when our client is sitting there, they do not appear injured to the jury.  However, we have developed very good trial tactics to overcome this jury bias. 

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury due to the negligence of another, feel free to contact St. Louis injury attorney Josh Myers to further discuss your case.  Case consultations are always free and we never bill by the hour.