Because I work with brain injury accidents in Springfield, Joplin, Columbia and Cape Girardeau/ Poplar Bluffs, Missouri, and am active with the Brain Injury Association of Missouri and sponsor the Safety Helmet Program to help prevent Missouri Brain Injury Accidents, I tend to track traumatic brain injury (TBI) news and developments in Missouri, throughout the country and throughout the world.

Missouri citizens who know me know that I’m a pretty conservative guy, and that I’m not into “far out” stuff. But because brain injuries are often catastrophic injuries that are traumatic for patients and their families, and can have such long term and devastating effects, I don’t want to dismiss any glimmer of hope from any quarter. That’s why a rather interesting – or at least provocative — article from Dr. Joseph Mercola on www.Mercola.com that discusses the possible benefits of using progesterone in brain injury cases caught my eye.

A quote from the article states, “Neuroscientist Dr. Donald G. Stein and his colleagues . . . have discovered something remarkable — that the hormone progesterone confers profound neuroprotective effects that improve outcomes and reduce mortality following brain injuries.”

In the next paragraph of the article, Dr. Mercola goes on to say, “Dr. Stein and his colleagues have found that in addition to protecting the fetal brain, progesterone also pr

Springfield, MO December 21, 2009 — For the coming two weeks, Aaron Sachs & Associates will saturate the Southwest Missouri television market with TV spots to combat the anticipated seasonal surge in drunk driving. The campaign starts Monday 21st, and will run until the first days of January. Areas served by stations KOLR-10 Ozarks First and Ozarks FOX Channel 27 in Springfield, and KSNF-TV and KODE-12 in Joplin, will feature together over 500 cause-and-effect public service announcements. The FOX station in Cape Girardeau will also feature primetime spots of a similar nature. Sachs’ firm already has banner advertising with the theme “buzzed driving is drunk driving” running on the Ozarks First home page at http://ozarksfirst.com.
The spots will emphasize the consequences of drinking and driving, rather than just a “don’t do it” message. “Many otherwise sensible people,” says Aaron Sachs, “see the consequences of getting in the car after drinking as risking being stopped by the police, getting a ticket and having to go to court. That’s actually the best of possible outcomes for an impaired driver. As personal injury attorneys, we all too often have to deal with worst-case scenarios.”
Two of the spots feature examples of real tragedies. One recounts the case of John Elliott, an Ensign at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. On July 22, 2000, John and his girlfriend were on their way from Annapolis to his home. He had just graduated from the Academy and the couple were on their way to celebrate John’s mother’s birthday. An SUV crossed the median into Elliott’s lane and struck his car head-on, killing the driver and Elliott, and seriously injuring his girlfriend. It was afterwards established that the driver had been stopped on a DWI just hours before. He had been charged and released, only to get behind the wheel again.
The other is the case of Jeff Pickler, a high-schooler, who was killed in a similarly tragic and avoidable accident, by a drunk driver. “This is the ugly side of holiday celebrations,” Sachs states. “As attorneys, we have to deal with the deadly results of drinking and driving.”
The campaign comes at a time when both law enforcement and civic organizations are concentrating on the problem. Earlier this year, representatives of MADD assisted police at sobriety checkpoints in Missouri, and as recently as December 10 of this year, local TV news stations including those above featured Governor Nixon’s desire to reform and intensify Missouri’s DUI laws, a move Aaron Sachs applauds. “Enforcement and attention to the problem produce results,” is Sachs’ opinion. “Twenty years ago, in 1989, out of 890 fatalities in Missouri traffic accidents, alcohol was a factor in 54% of them. By 2000, fatalities had increased, but alcohol-involvement dropped to 45%. Last year, fatalities were back below 1,000 again, and the figure for alcohol-involvement was down to 38%. Since a combination of enforcement and awareness is shown to work, we need to maintain and increase our efforts on behalf of the community.”
Aaron Sachs and Associates’ personal injury law offices are located in Springfield, Joplin, Columbia and, most recently, Cape Girardeau. Their community-service outreach program is covered in much greater detail on their website: www.autoinjury.com under the “community service” header.
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Texting for drivers 21 years of age and under was banned in Missouri this summer. Now Jefferson City, MO lawmakers want to ban texting for all Missouri drivers.
Because sending text messages from a cell phone or other hand-held device is one of the most dangerous things a driver can do on the road, and because this particular form of distracted driving has proven to be responsible for Missouri car accidents and catastrophic accident injuries, our firm is very much in favor of the proposed ban.
We don’t yet have Missouri car accident statistics from MoDOT on texting and driving, but we know that the national estimate is 6000 motor vehicle accidents deaths tied to distracted driving. A study we reported on in a previous blog showed that the collision risk for truck accidents was more than 20 times greater if the driver was sending or receiving text messages.
MoDOT has already banned texting for its employees and in favor of a texting ban for all ages. Obviously, texting has doubled since last year and over one billion text messages were sent last year alone world wide.
The proposed bill that bans texting for all drivers will be presented and voted on in the 2010 Missouri Legislative session. Please let your legislators know that you support an all-ages ban on texting to reduce Missouri car accidents for all drivers, not just young drivers.

Originally thought to be a problem with defective floor mats, the Toyota acceleration problem turns out to be an issue with the cars’ electronic throttle system.
This problem resulted in a massive recall because of car accidents, accident injuries and wrongful deaths.
The recall involves just under 4 million vehicles and affects these makes and models:
• Toyota Camry – 2007-10 models
• Toyota Avalon – 2005-10 models
• Toyota Prius – 2004-09 models
• Toyota Tacoma – 2005-10 models
• Toyota Tundra – 2007-10 models
• Lexus ES 350 – 2007-10 models
• Lexus IS 250 – 2006-10
• Lexus IS 350 – 2006-10

Millions of drivers are currently at risk for catastrophic injuries, disability or death as acceleration accidents — such as those that prompted the recall — are often very serious. So I want to encourage all Missouri Toyota drivers to immediately check to see if their vehicle is involved! Do not delay!

Unlike the Ford motor company who waited to recall their Ford Explorers when the Explorer/Firestone Tire problem presented itself, Toyota seems to have issued the recall when the problem became apparent. This doesn’t mean that Toyota doesn’t have liability, just that we’re encouraging you to respond to the recall as soon as possible to prevent Missouri injury accidents from the Toyota defect. For information about liability and compensation issues if you’ve been involved in a Toyota accident in Missouri, please feel free to give me a call.

Aaron Sachs is pleased to join with KODE and sponsor a seasonal helmet giveaway for Joplin, Mo. and surrounding communities.The Holidays are, of course, a time of giving. And for many young people, the gift is a bicycle, a skateboard, or scooter. A safety helmet is an essential gift to be given along with a those Christmas presents.
“Helmets save lives,” says attorney Aaron Sachs, whose law firm sponsors safety programs to prevent accidents regularly during the year. It has become a local Joplin tradition for the Sachs personal injury law firm to join with KODE to fit and give free of charge bicycle helmets to children at Christmas. On a national average, only 5 % of children regularly wear properly fitted helmets. In other words, 95% of children do not wear helmets. Too often children are unsupervised, and on the streets and in driveways without head-protection.
According to Sachs, there is a U.S. brain-injury accident every 15 seconds. In 75% of the 800 cases of kids who are killed by colliding with cars in the U.S. each year, brain injury is the primary cause of death. ” The importance of helmet safety is that most of those injuries and deaths could have been prevented by wearing a helmet. ” Sachs said. “In fact, 85% of those fatal and life-altering brain injuries could be avoided simply by putting on a helmet before going out for a ride. It’s simple common sense.”
Aaron Sachs and Associates’ helmet program is in its tenth year, and the firm has handed out over 18,000 safety helmets to children. To find out how you can receive a free helmet watch ”Legally Speaking” on KODE during the Sunday night news on December 6th and 13th, or come by Aaron Sachs’ Joplin law office located at 3101 McClelland Boulevard, Joplin, Mo. Supplies are limited, so helmets are available on a first come, first serve basis.
Aaron Sachs and Associates personal injury law offices are located in Joplin, Springfield, Columbia and Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Their community-service outreach program is covered in much greater detail on their website: http://www.autoinjury.com/areas-of-practice/joplin-office under the “community service” header.
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As a Missouri injury accident attorney with offices in Springfield, Joplin, Columbia/Jefferson City, and Cape Girardeau/Poplar Bluff MO, I spend a fair amount of time in the car driving from one office to another. Last week I heard a very interesting story on the radio reporting that once drivers are over 75, they’re “more likely to be involved in fatal accidents than any other age group –except teenagers.”
Teen drivers remain the biggest threat on the road, but we also need to pay attention to the threat of older drivers both as citizens of Missouri and as family members.
Taking a driver’s license away from an aging parent is a very difficult thing to do. It robs them of their independence and is often met with terrible resistance and even accusations of betrayal. But if we have an elderly family member who we know is a threat on the road, I believe we need to be willing to risk anger and disapproval in order to save lives – the lives of other drivers and the life of our elderly relative. It’s a tough move, for sure, but safety should be the higher priority.
I personally can relate. I remember leaving the Department of Revenue office. My father had just renewed his license. In fact, he aced it. He got a 100% on the renewal test. Due to his heart condition, he was under doctors instructions not to drive. He was in his eighties. When I refused to let him drive home, he was upset with me. “The state of Missouri gave me their seal of approval, so I have a right to drive”, my dad insisted. I had to explain that according to his doctors, he is not allowed to drive. I refused to turn over the keys.
As Missouri citizens, we also need to think about appropriate traffic and license laws for aging drivers. Just as teens have special restrictions in terms of cell phone use, texting, and who is allowed in the car with them, perhaps it is time to restrict the licenses of those over a certain age. Maybe we need to consider something like yearly driving tests for the elderly. Perhaps the skills that are most affected by age – such as response time and eyesight – need to also be more frequently tested.
Once we’ve got good protection in place for teen drivers and those on the road with them, it might be appropriate to turn our attention to the risks that elderly drivers pose and explore some good alternatives for managing the problem
As a society, we need to do our best to prevent Missouri car accidents and fatalities however we can, even if it means curtailing the freedom of some population demographics such as teen drivers and elderly drivers.
Older drivers are a growing concern, especially since predictions indicate that within 15 years more than 25% of U.S. drivers will be older than 65 as the Baby Boom generation ages.

Springfield, MO December 2, 2009 — Aaron Sachs’ personal injury law firm is featured in the December issue of 417 Magazine. The theme of this month’s issue focuses on “People of the Year”. On page 105, Aaron Sachs & Associates, PC, is featured as attorneys you may need to know. The firm’s practice is limited to personal injury, Social Security Disability, and Missouri workers’ compensation. Originating in Springfield in 1991, the firm has grown to include branch offices in Joplin, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau.
While all of the firm’s attorneys share Aaron Sachs’ passion for personal injury victims, each attorney also has a particular background enhancing the firm’s practice. Lynne Lamy works with Social Security Disability clients and has been with the firm for over 11 years. Jack Cope and Joel Block bring corporate and defense experience to the firm’s litigation team. Jim Randall, also a litigation team member, assists workers’ compensation clients. Aaron Sachs is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and Million Dollar Advocates Forum. The personal injury law firm of Aaron Sachs & Associates has over 50 years of combined legal experience.
At Aaron Sachs & Associates, the practice of law is about giving back to the community. Their community-service outreach program is detailed on their website: www.autoinjury.com under the “community service” header. ###