How can you lose money after a car accident? Sometimes we make a mistake in trusting other people to treat us fairly, rather than getting help when we need it. Insurance companies start building a case against you from day 1! Adjusters are taught to believe that everyone involved in a car accident is dishonest ,or at a minimum,is exaggerating the extent their injuries.Yet injury victims assume that they are going to get everything they deserve if they can showthe adjuster that they are a nice person. Adjusters wont tell you that your mistakes will cost you money and keep you from being fairly compensated.After an accident, be sure to contact the police so that a report can be done.Make sure that you get treatment,or atleast get evaluated, when you feel that you may be injured.Do not give a recorded statement right after the accident because you may not realize the extent of your injuries.Also, make sure that you choose a doctor who understands that you have a right to be fairly compensated for your injuries and who will be cooperative in documenting your injuries.Finally, do not discuss settlement of your claim until you are finished with your treatment.   CONTACT JEFF SWANEY AT  314-481-7778  FOR A FREE CONSULTATION

As a personal injury attorney, I would welcome comments from bikers.   JEFF SWANEY FREE CONSULTATION 314-481-7778 

Missouri could change motorcycle helmet law

The bill would allow those 21 and older to ride without helmets on all Missouri roads except interstate highways.

The House gave the bill final approval Wednesday on a vote of 93-65. It cleared the Senate earlier.

Proposals to repeal the mandatory helmet law have been controversial in the past. But this year’s measure, to simply modify the law, received little debate in either chamber.

Supporters of Missouri’s existing helmet law say the protective headgear keeps motorcyclists safer during a potentially dangerous activity.

But some motorcycle enthusiasts contend it’s more fun to ride without a helmet. They’ve argued that the state should micromanage their lives.

Font SizeA A A Spinal fusion (arthrodesis)
Spinal fusion (arthrodesis) is a surgical procedure that joins, or fuses, two or more vertebrae. Spinal fusion is major surgery, usually lasting several hours. There are different methods of spinal fusion.

Bone is taken from the pelvic bone or obtained from a bone bank. The bone is used to make a bridge between adjacent vertebrae. This bone graft stimulates the growth of new bone.
Metal implants are secured to the vertebrae to hold them together until new bone grows between them.
What To Expect After Surgery
You will need to be watched in the hospital for a few days after spinal fusion surgery.

Bed rest is not usually necessary during your recovery period at home.

Your doctor may recommend that you wear a back brace during recovery.

Rehabilitation can be a prolonged process and includes walking, riding a stationary bike, swimming, and similar activities.

Why It Is Done
Spinal fusion may be done by itself or in combination with decompression to treat painful symptoms caused by misalignment or instability of the vertebrae, such as spondylolisthesis.

Spinal fusion may also be done as a follow-up to decompression and debridement procedures done to treat spinal stenosis, herniated discs, spinal injuries, infection, tumors, and deformities.

How Well It Works
This surgery was originally developed as a way to stabilize the spine and treat deformity or fractures of the spine. Its use has now spread to treatment of degenerative bone or disc changes and spinal stenosis. 1

Spinal fusion is often necessary to stabilize the spine after a traumatic injury, infection, or tumor. There is no solid body of research supporting the effectiveness of spinal fusion for various other spinal conditions. One study showed no clear difference between spinal fusion surgery and intensive rehabilitation for treating chronic low back pain. 2 In addition, the surgery is expensive and has significant risks. Therefore, although this type of surgery is common, it is controversial, and there is no guarantee of treatment success.

Risks
The risks associated with this procedure vary depending upon your age and overall health, diagnosis, and the type of procedure that is done.

Spinal fusion procedures frequently cause other problems. Risks include:

Pain at the bone graft site.
Failure of the fusion process and/or breakage of metal implants.
Deep venous blood clots that may also lead to pulmonary embolism.
Nerve injury.
Graft rejection.
Superficial infection.
Deep infection.
What To Think About
Because there are so many things to consider when spinal fusion is recommended, seek a second opinion before making a decision.

Complete the surgery information form (PDF) (What is a PDF document?) to help you prepare for this surgery.

Citations
Deyo RA, et al. (2004). Spinal-fusion surgery-The case for restraint. New England Journal of Medicine, 350(7): 722–726.

Fairbank J, et al. (2005). Randomised controlled trial to compare surgical stabilisation of the lumbar spine with an intensive rehabilitation programme for patients with chronic low back pain: The MRC spine stabilisation trial. BMJ, 330(7502): 1233–1239.

Author Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH
Editor Kathleen M. Ariss, MS
Associate Editor Pat Truman, MATC
Primary Medical Reviewer William M. Green, MD – Emergency Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer Robert B. Keller, MD – Orthopedics
Last Updated February 6, 2008
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
Last Updated: February 06, 2008
This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.

Back Pain Health Center

Font Size  Below is a great article about making the decision whether or not to have surgery.  JEFF SWANEY FREE CONSULTATION 314-481-7778

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Interactive Tool: Should I Consider Surgery for My Low Back Problem? – What does this tool measure?

Click here to find out whether surgery may help reduce the symptoms of a back problem.

This interactive tool will not diagnose a back problem, but it will tell you whether surgery might help reduce or get rid of symptoms related to your low back problem. There are always risks with any surgery, so most people don’t want to have surgery unless there is a very good chance it will help them. Although research shows that surgery is very likely to be effective for some problems, it rarely helps with others.

This tool will help you find out whether your own low back problem might be helped by surgery. After you use this tool, you can show the results to your doctor when you talk to him or her about surgery and your other options.

This tool is not meant for people in emergency situations. Talk to your doctor immediately if you have any of the following problems:

• Bladder and/or bowel problems, including not being able to go to the bathroom as you normally do or not being able to control bowel movements or urination
• Loss of feeling or rapidly decreasing feeling over your feet and heels or in your “saddle area,” which includes any part of your body that might touch a saddle if you were on a horse, including your buttocks, your inner thighs, and the backs of your legs
• Increasing pain, weakness, numbness, or problems with coordination in one or both legs
• A fever for 2 or more days
• A serious injury, an accident, or a big fall in the last 2 weeks
• A history of spinal stenosis
• A history of cancer

As an attorney handling Car Accident Injury cases, “Work Comp” cases and Social Security Disability claims, I find it challenging to balance the demands which are made on my time.  First, it is important to accomplish results.  As an attorney, you may be a nice guy, but you were hired to accomplish the best possible result for your clients.  This requires meticulous attention to detail.  Every day pages and pages of medical records run across my desk for review.  In addition, time needs to be made to think through a game plan for determining how each case needs to be approached.  You must be more prepared than your opponent, and not paying attention to detail can cause heartache to an attorney, or perhaps, even worse, a heart attack!  Also, a lot of time must be spent when legal research needs to be done.  Secondly, time has to be spent reading and keeping up with developments in your field because the law is constantly changing and being reinterpreted by the courts.  When you meet with someone, they aren’t interested in what the state of the law was six months ago, they want to know how good their case is now.   Thirdly, it takes time to manage your own personnel,  to make sure that you are complying with all of the requirements of running a law office, and to evaluate the directions and trends in your field.  After all, you must manage people, pay their salaries and benefits, pay your taxes and make sure that you are in compliance with numerous requirements of running a law office.  Fourthly, you must allow time for evaluating new cases and meeting with new people.  Unfortunately, what is often missing is giving personal attention to clients.  There is no easy way to put the “personal“ back in personal injury claims.  It requires a consistent effort to take time out of every busy day in order to report back to the people who are placing their trust in you.  Any true personal injury attorney will only get this done working long days, including weekends.  In short, the only way to put the personal in personal injury  is through dedication and hard work.  Come to think of it, this is no great secret and it is the common ingredient in all successful businesses.  So the question is “Is your attorney too busy to call you back?” Submitted by Jeff Swaney FREE CONSULTATION 314-481-7778

Anyone who watches television has seen a comedy show where someone fakes a “whiplash” injury and tries to collect money that they don’t deserve. Jack Lemon did a movie called “The Fortune Cookie” where he hires an attorney nicknamed “whiplash Willie” because he knows all sorts of tricks to help fake an injury. “Whiplash injuries” may actually be diagnosed as back or neck “sprains” or “strains.” When an accident victim is thrown forward in a violent manner during a motor vehicle accident, the result is oftentimes “soft-tisue” damage. “Soft- tissue ” damage  generally  consists of “muscle injury” and” ligament injury” which cannot be observed on X-rays or other diagnostic tests. A doctor will often note “muscle spasms” where there is a tightening of muscles in the injured area. It is difficult to quantify or measure “soft tissue injuries” which result from “whiplash.” “Whiplash” injuries are usually treated with physical therapy , or a chiropractor may treat these injuries with “chiropractic manipulations.” People suffering from “whiplash” find them to be far from funny. From a legal standpoint, it is important to get treatment for these injuries as soon as possible since diagnostic testing doesn’t always make your case. Unfortunately for “whiplash victims the media has created an image of “whiplash” victims as schemers ,fakers and opportunists. As a “spine injury attorney “it is my job to overcome the predjudice which has been caused by movies and television shows. As I said – “Whiplash is no laughing matter.” Submitted by Jeff Swaney FREE CONSULTATION 314-481-7778

Since l984, my firm has worked with countless numbers of “auto accident injury” clients.  Most people who have become clients of mine have initially been bewildered because of the complexity involved.  My hope is to clear up some of the terms in order to make this area more understandable to the average person.

First of all, when someone is injured they potentially become a “plaintiff”.  A plaintiff is someone who has sustained “damages” as a result of the “negligence” of another individual.   The person who caused the damages is called the “defendant”.  Negligence in its simplist terms is a concept by which someone’s careless actions harm someone else.  Most of the concepts in negligence look at an individual’s actions from the standpoint of a “reasonable person”.   Someone’s actions have to be “foreseeable” to be considered negligent.  A defendant has to be able to appreciate that their conduct could cause harm to someone else.  In an “automobile accident injury claim”, the defendant can be careless or “negligent” in a number of ways.  Our court system provides “jury instructions” which describe various types of “negligent”actions.  For example, it is normally considered negligent for someone to strike the rear of another driver’s vehicle.  If a case goes to trial, a jury will be instructed on the law and the instructions will explain this to the jury.  On the other hand, a defendant can argue that the other driver came to a “sudden unexpected stop”.  This can also be considered  negligence.  Where both drivers share in the fault, this is called “comparative negligence”or “comparative fault”.  If a driver,for example, is found to be 50% at fault, then he will only have to compensate the other driver for 50% of the driver’s damages. 

Each driver is required to carry “liability insurance”.   When a defendant is careless and injures another person, then damages will be paid to the other person from the defendant’s “liability policy”.  If the person causing the damage is not insured, then a plaintiff can recover their personal injury damages out of their own “uninsured motorist policy”.   On the other hand, if the other driver has insurance, but it is inadequate, then a plaintiff may look to their own policy for something that is called “underinsured motorist coverage”.  This provides for additional damages which can be recovered over and above the amount of the “policy limits” of other driver’s policy.  The uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverages do not cover damages to the plaintiff’s car.  This would be covered by the plaintiff’s “collision coverage”.  When someone buys collision coverage, they choose the amount of their “deductible”, which is the amount which has to be paid out of the plaintiff’s pocket when a car is damaged. 

 In some circumstances, the defendant may be disputing the case.  Oftentimes, a plaintiff will  have their car repaired by going through their own collision policy.  Under these circumstances, the plaintiff’s insurance company will attempt to go through “insurance arbitration” and will try to collect and return the deductible to the plaintiff.

When there is “property damage” to a plaintiff’s car, the car may be repairable, or it may be “totaled”.  A car is “totaled” when it would simply cost more to repair the car than what the car is worth.  When a car is totaled, the insurance company owes what is known as the “market value” of the car.  This is the amount that the car could have been sold for in the open market prior to the collision.  The insurance company will often retain the totaled vehicle which is called “salvage” since they are  purchasing the totaled car.  They will then sell the working parts to a junkyard or parts dealer. If the plaintiff chooses to keep the car, the he will receive the value of the car, minus the” salvage value”

With regard to a plaintiff’s injuries there are several types of damages. The first type of damage would be classified as “financial damages” or “economic damages”.  These are the amount of out-of-pocket expenses sustained by the plaintiff. Lawyers and insurance adjusters sometimes refer to these as “special damages” or “specials” . Financial damages would include payment for medical bills and lost wages.  The second kind of damages would be “pain and suffering damages”.  I like to think of pain and suffering as being divided into three categories.  First, there is past pain and suffering which takes into consideration the pain and discomfort immediately of the plaintiff following the accident.   There is also present pain and suffering which is what a person is living with on a  daily basis.  Finally, sometimes injuries do not heal completely.  The third category, then, would be damages for “future pain and suffering”.  This would include “permanent disability” which would limit someone’s ability to function.  For example, if a plaintiff has injured their right hand and they will permanently have a loss of grip strength, then a jury may consider this in awarding damages.  On the financial side, if a plaintiff is unable to work in their normal full capacity, there may be “future economic damages”.  A jury can take into account that if plaintiff will be losing income in the future because they either can’t work, or they can’t earn as much as they were previously earning. 

In any event, this is my humble attempt to clear up some of the terminology which is used in car accident cases.  Of course, how damages will be computed will ultimately be based upon where a case could end up  going to trial if it cannot be settled.  Some juries are much more generous in awarding damages for and other juries are known for being more stingy. A plaintiff lawyer’s goal in “settlement negotiations” is to get as much or more for his client than what he would than what likey receive from a jury. If the case is to trial then to goal is to receive the highest possible verdict for his client.

                                                            Submitted by Jeff Swaney FREE CONSULTATION 314-481-7778

For More Information, Please Visit the Swaney Law Firm website

Over the years, I have represented countless numbers of Plaintiffs in Personal Injury cases in the St. Louis area.  My experience with my clients and my handling of these cases has led me to a number of conclusions regarding the factors which are important in choosing a St. Louis Plaintiff’s Personal Injury attorney.  For years I have had clients sitting in my office who have told me that they have been represented by other attorneys in the past.  My question has always been “Why didn’t you go back to that attorney?”  It has been my hope to learn from the mistakes of other lawyers and to get the perspective of clients who are dissatisfied with services that they have had in the past.  In addition, I have tried to listen to clients who were very pleased with the services of my firm in order to determine what an attorney needs to do right.  I have also had clients bring me files after firing attorneys and I have seen first-hand what can go wrong when poor service is provided. 

First, I have found that the most common reason that clients fire attorneys, or don’t go back to them for future services, is that many of them don’t return phone calls.  When I say “don’t return phone calls”, I literally mean that they don’t respond in any way when a client calls, writes a letter, or sends an email.  Even if the attorney is in trial, or there are scheduling challenges, a client at least deserves to know that the attorney received the message and will be responding sometime soon.  A failure to return phone calls can often indicate a lack of respect and, from the client’s perspective, it undermines confidence in the attorney’s ability accomplish a result for the client. 

Secondly, some attorneys will handle any kind of case, regardless of their experience.  I recently had a client who fired an attorney who was practicing in the Kansas City area.  The client was in an accident in St. Louis City and this is generally a more favorable venue from the standpoint of being a Plaintiff.  However, the attorney was unaware that St. Louis City and St. Louis County were separate entities.  When he filed a lawsuit on behalf of the client, he described St. Louis City as being a municipality within the boundaries of St. Louis County.  Not only did he file the case in the wrong venue and picked a venue which was unfavorable to his client, but he clearly did not have the familiarity of the local court systems.  It is important to choose an attorney who is familiar with the court system and the jury verdicts in the various counties throughout the St. Louis Metropolitan area.  Mistakes in understanding the various court systems and procedures for courts in the St. Louis Metropolitan area can result in a poor outcome in a Plaintiff’s Personal Injury case.

Third, it is important for the attorney to have experience in the type of matter which is being handled.  For example, an attorney handling St. Louis Car Accident cases should spend a lot of his time practicing in this area.  While practicing in other areas can complement the attorney’s services, a real estate attorney, for example, may not understand how an investigation should be conducted.  This can result in a less than favorable result if witnesses are not contacted and later disappear, or opportunities to take pictures are squandered.  In a car accident case, pictures of damaged vehicles could help resolve a dispute as to how a collision took place.  In a case involving a fall, pictures of the bad steps, pothole, or heavily waxed floor could lay the groundwork for a successful result.  If an inexperienced attorney doesn’t follow up on such items in a timely manner, then stairs may be repaired, potholes can be filled in, and floors may be replaced.

Fourth, some attorneys look for a quick settlement and will either abandon your case, or abandon interest in it, if it doesn’t come together quickly.  In all fairness, there are cases that come in the door and look good at first glance, but sometimes, as the evidence is gathered, it becomes apparent that the case is not going to be successful.  On the other hand, there are cases in which adjusters simply refuse to be reasonable and attorneys will often have reputations for abandoning cases easily.  Such attorneys will often try to settle for a lowball offer in order to avoid the work which comes with taking the case to trial.  It is important to get a sense as to whether the attorney will be willing to do battle on your behalf if the going gets tough. 

My fifth point is a very basic one.  It is important to choose an attorney who speaks with honesty and candor.  You do not want to be misled and it is usually a matter of time before you get a sense that your attorney is being less than fully honest.  Beyond honesty, your attorney should also speak to you with frankness and candor.   As a client, you sometimes need to know the bad news as well as the good news.  An experienced St. Louis Personal Injury attorney will tell you if there are circumstances in which cases like yours are hampered by certain factors.  If there is light damage to the car, or a problem with your treating doctor’s credentials, then you need someone to pull you aside and tell you about things which may affect your case negatively.  In front of certain juries, for example,  they may be conservative and it would help to know if they are going to look negatively at long hair, tattoos, or other items.  While it is uncomfortable for an attorney to talk about certain subjects, you are looking for frankness and candor.  An attorney who politely points out certain prejudices of potential jurors is doing a great service to his client.

Finally, a lot of clients tell me that they didn’t re-hire their former attorney because they couldn’t relate to him.  Some attorneys are pretentious and condescending.  I have found that attorneys who are down to earth and secure in themselves can develop an excellent reputation with their clients.  If you are in the process of looking for an attorney, I would suggest that you consider all of these factors in choosing the best person for you.Submitted by Jeff Swaney FREE CONSULTATION 314-481-7778

For More Information, Please Visit the Swaney Law Firm website

St. Louis Car Accident Attorney- Police Reports

Car Accident:

Situation :

Cindy is on the highway and she is struck from the rear by another driver.  Both drivers pull over and the other driver apologizes for running into Cindy.  She asks her not to contact the police and provides her with insurance information.  Cindy contacts the other driver’s insurance company in order to have her car fix and to report that she is injured.  The other driver’s insurance adjuster tells Cindy the case is being denied because the other driver gave a statement and said that Cindy swerved in front of her and stopped suddenly.

Advise:
Contact the police at the scene of any significant accident, especially when injuries are involved.  A driver is more likely to be truthful at the scene of the accident.  A driver may start to think about an accident and may try to come up with an explanation to suite their purpose. Submitted Jeff Swaney FREE CONSULTATION 314-481-7778

For More Information, Please Visit the Swaney Law Firm website