Adler & Manson currently represents Kansas and Missouri clients who suffered strokes caused by a chiropractic spine manipulation.

If you or a loved one has suffered a stroke or other injury following a chiropractic adjustment to the neck or cervical region, we can help. Call us today at 816-216-6214 for a free evaluation.

Before you head out, be sure your vehicle is ready for the cold. Under the hood, you should have fresh antifreeze, a reliable battery and oil designed for cold weather.

Externally, keep an eye on tires, which can deflate in extreme temperatures. Be sure you have plenty of windshield wiper fluid and windshield wipers that are in good working order so you can maintain a clear view of the road.

Be sure you are equipped to handle a problem should it occur. From a flashlight, blankets and a small shovel to bottled water and snacks, taking a few minutes to prepare for being stranded can help protect your family. And of course, keep your mobile phone charged and your gas tank at least half full!

The Missouri Department of Transportation is an excellent source for winter driving tips.

You’ve worked for big insurance companies and for injury lawyers. Why did you decide to return to the plaintiff side?
The plaintiff’s side is a much better fit for my personality. I’m an encourager by nature and I like to feel that I am “helping people” instead of “helping big insurance companies build bigger buildings!”

Why did you decide to join Adler & Manson?
Jim and Bill seemed like very genuine and caring people. The books in the reception area told me a lot about their values; and I loved being able to meet with other members of the staff when I interviewed.

What do you do in your free time?
I have six grandchildren who keep me busy attending their sporting activities and dance lessons/recitals. They love to come to grandma’s house and cook all kinds of fun things with me, especially to bake and decorate sugar cookies for different holidays. I volunteer with special needs kids/baby nursery/preschool kids at my church. I love to garden and grow vegetables and flowers, and my husband and I lead a life group in our home on Thursday evenings.

Tell us more about your family.
My husband Rick is a chef and gets to “play” with food all day at “Chefs Creations” at Hy-Vee. I have three daughters and two stepsons. My oldest daughter Mandee is a family law attorney locally and has two sons and one daughter (9, 6, & 5 months). My middle daughter Holly is a physical therapist at The Health Care Resort in Overland Park and heads up the stroke rehabilitation team and has three daughters (13, 3 & 4 months). My youngest daughter Kelly returned to school at the beginning of this year to become a physical therapy assistant and will complete her coursework in December 2018. My oldest stepson Chris is an F-18 pilot in the Navy and is currently stationed on Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington State where he instructs new pilots in electronic warfare. My younger stepson Brian is a brew master and assistant manager at a microbrewery on Whidbey Island.

What’s your favorite meal?
Probably Japanese Tempura shrimp and vegetables– and almost anything that is chocolate!

What’s your favorite vacation spot?
Anywhere with a beach and sunshine! My daughter and son-in- law have a lake house in Gravois Mills (Lake of the Ozarks) and I love spending time there in the summer.

Where did you grow up?
Laguna Beach, California.

Anything about you we would be surprised to know?
I was shot in the chest, point blank, on Valentine’s Day when I was 19 years old. The shooter wanted my purse and I wouldn’t give it to him so he shot me. I guess God wasn’t ready for me yet because I survived and am still here!

This is a great day to start a habit that could save your life. When you get into a vehicle, buckle your safety belt. If you are driving, put the cellphone down and leave it there.

Only 9 states rank lower than Missouri in seat belt usage. MoDOT records show that, of the 683 vehicle drivers and passengers who died in crashes on Missouri roads in 2016, 63% were not wearing a seat belt.

Reported crashes involving cell phones in Missouri rose 17 percent in 2015. When a driver is texting and driving they are 23 times more likely to be in a critical incident. (source: VA Tech)

For more information about the challenge, visit the MoDOT site.

A 34 year-old model suffered a pinched nerve during a photo shoot and went to her chiropractor for relief. The neck adjustment allegedly tore her vertebral artery, causing a stroke. Days later, she was dead.

While chiropractic care has many benefits, medical research has confirmed the risk of vascular arterial dissection and strokes from chiropractic manipulations. Chiropractic manipulations that involve rapid turning or snapping of the neck to one side may over-stretch an artery that runs along the spine. This can tear the artery, blocking blood flow to the brain and resulting in a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or stroke.

According to a 2011 study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH), “Chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine can produce dissections involving the cervical and cranial segments of the vertebral and carotid arteries. These injuries can be severe, requiring endovascular stenting and cranial surgery.”

The American Heart Association warns of these stroke symptoms:

• Numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech
• Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Severe headache with no known cause

Adler & Manson currently represents Kansas and Missouri clients who suffered strokes caused by a chiropractic spine manipulation.

If you or a loved one has suffered a stroke or other injury following a chiropractic adjustment to the neck or cervical region, we can help. Call us today at 816-216-6214 for a free evaluation.

The Star reports that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) levied its second-largest fine this year against the young man’s employer. Trench-shoring has been among OSHA’s top areas of emphasis for 30 years, yet companies continue to put their workers in unsafe trenches.

If you are injured on the job or lose a loved one to an on-the-job accident, let Adler & Manson put our experience to work for you. We’ll work diligently to help you obtain the medical care and benefits you deserve. When applicable, we’ll go beyond workers’ compensation claims and file third-party claims which have broader recovery parameters and can result in greater compensation for you.

When an insurer refuses to defend their insured or indicates that their policy will not cover damages, the law allows the defendant to drop their insurance-provided lawyer. In that case, a plaintiff may set a bench trial (in front of a judge but not a jury), with no lawyer representing the defense. The plaintiff must present their case as they would in any other trial, and the judge renders a decision. Obviously with no one there to represent the defendant, the amount awarded to the injured party can be quite large.

If the judge grants the plaintiff an award, the plaintiff must then start new litigation in order to collect the judgment—this time against the defendant’s insurance company. The injured party must prove the defendant’s insurance company is contractually bound to cover the judgment rendered against its insured.

In the past, once an insurer declined to represent its client, it lost its say in a case. The rationale was that, if the insurer gives up the chance to defend their insured and abandons them, it can’t complain about the outcome.

House Bill 339 gives insurers the right to intervene in a case in which they previously declined to represent their insured, as long as they give 30 days’ notice.

What it means to give insurers “the right to intervene” is still being debated, but this change clearly reduces the downside risk to the insurance company of denying coverage.

Adler & Manson is keeping up with these sweeping changes and we will be prepared to represent clients who are potentially impacted by them. Find out how your Missouri legislators voted on this bill here.

The ruling changes what is called the collateral source rule and allows claimants/plaintiffs to claim only the amount actually paid for medical care, rather than the full amount billed. This skews the calculation in favor of the responsible party.

Health insurance companies typically negotiate lower rates with healthcare providers. For injured Missourians with health insurance, the amount paid for their care is typically lower than the market rate, and will vary based on their health insurance provider.

Allowing injured Missourians to claim only the amount actually paid for their medical bills gives the defendant—the person or company that caused an accident—the benefit of the health insurance the injured party paid for. In essence, it treats those with insurance worse than those without it. Not only is this intrinsically unfair, it ignores a longstanding common law principle under which a defendant cannot reduce their liability by claiming that another entity has already paid for part or all of the injuries (“collateral source” rule).

The main problem is the defendant gets the benefit of the injured person’s foresight to obtain health insurance and, more to the point, the defendant receives the benefit of the injured person’s willingness to work, since people typically have health insurance through work as part of their pay package. Contrast that with the person who has no health insurance and gets charged retail. They get to use that entire charge for their case. If they choose not to work or otherwise choose not to have health insurance, they actually have an advantage with their claim. They are treated better than the person who has health insurance.

The next question is, why does one class of person (people with health insurance, which as a society we are trying to encourage) get treated differently (to their disadvantage) than the person who has no health insurance (which we as a society are trying to discourage)? This calls for a Constitutional Equal Protection argument challenging the constitutionality of the statute, as the government is taking something away from a certain class of injured people (those with insurance) and treating them differently than another class of injured people (people without insurance). Unfortunately, the Courts have traditionally upheld this type of legislation.

The new law may violate the Missouri Constitution in another way as well, as it allows Missouri to sidestep the collateral source rule and dictate the value of certain elements of an injured person’s damages instead of allowing a jury to decide that, thus interfering with the complete right to trial.

The State will argue they have a rational basis for doing this in order to the reduce plaintiff’s awards. But that seems to only line insurance company pockets at the expense of injured Missourians. When is the last time your insurance company reduced premiums?

This ruling has already been approved by the Missouri legislature and signed by Gov. Greitens. It will apply to injuries that occur on or after the effective date of Aug. 28, 2017, so our current clients are not impacted.

At this point, the only recourse Missourians have is to hire a law firm that understands and is prepared to attempt to either avoid or minimize the impact this law has upon your rights. And of course, remember this at the voting booth. See how your state representative and senator voted on Senate Bill 31 here.

According to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 4,000 people were killed and 116,000 injured in crashes involving large trucks in 2015. This represents a 10% increase in the number of people injured in large truck crashes in a 10-year period.

The report found that, in 2015 alone, 106 Missouri residents lost their lives due to large truck accidents. In Kansas, large trucks were involved in 13.7% of all traffic deaths that year.

While NHTSA considers additional regulations, such as automatic emergency braking system (AEB) mandates, to help curb large truck accidents, the chances of Missouri residents being injured or killed in accidents caused by semi-trucks continues to rise.

At Adler & Manson, we’ve seen the impact of this growing trend first-hand, representing clients who have suffered serious injuries in trucking accidents. Whether caused by distracted driving, fatigue, roadway conditions, truck defects, weather conditions or even drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the outcome can devastate families.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a large truck accident, call us at 816-216- 6214 for a free consultation.

Our Kansas City lawyers know how to get results. Contact us today for your free case evaluation.

A Known Danger

Vioxx, one of the most commercially successful painkillers in the late 1990’s, received FDA approval in May of 1999. Just four months earlier, however, Merck had launched a study called the “Vioxx Gastrointestinal Outcomes Research” study, or VIGOR. Half the subjects received Vioxx, while the remaining half took naproxen, the active ingredient in brands like Aleve and Midol.

The study did exactly what Merck intended, showing a lower risk of gastrointestinal issues with Vioxx than naproxen. By November of 1999, however, it was becoming clear that Vioxx patients were nearly twice as likely to suffer severe heart problems, confirmed in a follow-up meeting in December.

Misleading Data

In May of 2000, Merck submitted the VIGOR results to the New England Journal of Medicine, but only includes information on 17 of the 20 heart attacks suffered by Vioxx patients in the study. Despite sending two sets of corrections to the NEJM, Merck didn’t tell anyone about the 3 additional heart attacks until October of 2000, nearly a year after VIGOR first revealed the danger of heart attacks. The drug was not pulled from the market until September of 2004.

WE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

While huge, the $830 million settlement pales in comparison with the $4.85 billion settlement agreed to by Merck in the product liability lawsuits. This case serves as a reminder that major drug companies and other corporations sometimes put profits before the health and safety of others, but should also remind victims that it is very possible to hold these negligent parties accountable.

When you retain Adler & Manson, our Kansas City attorneys will work aggressively to get you the money you need and deserve. Our firm has represented the rights of injury victims and their families since 1995, earning numerous accolades which attest to our quality of counsel.

Hold negligent drug companies responsible for the injuries they cause. Call (816) 333-0400 learn how we can help.