Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Amputation injuries cause some of the most catastrophic and life-long damage any dedicated Missouri personal injury attorney helps victims cope with during a career. Even the loss of a single finger or toe causes severe pain, requires extensive medical care, and changes the way you live your life.

Recent research has begun to offer hope for future survivors of amputation injuries. At Cornell University, scientists have combined living cell tissue and 3-D printing technology to grow replacement human ears made of living tissue. One day, these ears may be grown using cells from the bodies of those who lost an ear in an accident – allowing these people to regain the body part that they’ve lost.

The ears grown in the study were based on cells taken from cow cartilage, which is easier to obtain than human cartilage, say scientists. However, it’s not inconceivable that a patient’s cartilage, taken from another part of the body, might be used to grow that person a new ear in the future.

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As many as 500,000 Pontiac G6 cars may have a brake light defect that increases the chances of a serious accident, according to an article in The New York Daily News. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recently begun investigating the problem to see if a recall is necessary.

The NHTSA has received 212 complaints about brake light malfunctions in G6s belonging to model years 2005 through 2009. The complaints are similar to those made about earlier model years, which led to a recall in the past. The NHTSA is now looking at the model years in question to determine whether the brake light issue is a consistent one that requires a recall of all the vehicles in order to provide a proper fix.

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In recent years, research on treating complete paralysis due to spinal cord injuries has been significant, but research on treating incomplete paralysis in patients with less-severe injuries or conditions like multiple sclerosis has fallen by the wayside. Now, however, an electrical stimulation system for the nervous system is helping patients with partial paralysis walk and even run, giving them improved health and a new lease on life.

The neurostimulation systems are designed to treat foot drop, a condition that occurs in patients with partially-paralyzed legs, hips, or feet. Foot drop happens when the brain signals the leg to lift up to take a step, but it can only respond partially due to the paralysis. Patients with foot drop often have difficulty walking because the leg and foot don’t lift or move far enough forward for the patient to stay balanced. Falls are common in foot drop patients, which can increase their risk of injury.

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Heated vehicle seats can be a wonderful source of comfort in frigid temperatures or when one is suffering from acute or chronic pain. However, when seat heating elements don’t work correctly, they can cause serious burns, as some Missouri defective vehicle attorneys have seen.

That’s why the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) are looking into seat heating elements more closely, according to a recent report. The NHTSA and the SAE plan to look at how heating elements are designed and what their maximum temperature cutoffs should be - and, if necessary, to create regulations that keep these elements at a safe temperature.

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