It's hard to miss the yellow box on my home page that outlines the three stages of truth -- ridicule, opposition and acceptance -- all common reactions to the health news my staff and I have shared with you over the years on this Web site.

Those very same stages brilliantly sum up the seven-year journey taken so far by Stephen Gass, the inventor of the SawStop skin-sensing table saw I told you about last month.

As I mentioned then, I became very interested in this technology because one of the contractors working on my office remodeling project injured his fingers on a table saw. Once I learned about the SawStop, I decided to purchase one for him.

The SawStop has a current running through the blade, and as soon as it contacts human flesh, it throws a brake on the saw blade and stops it -- 90 percent faster than it takes to deploy an airbag. Now, that's fast!

You can watch the amazing video on their site to see this in action.

Table saws are responsible for more than 60,000 injuries, 3,000 amputations, and $2 billion in injury-related costs each year. In fact, someone loses a finger every 9 seconds from using a table-top saw.

These injuries would virtually disappear overnight if everyone were using this tool. But most large corporations are unlikely to start incorporating this technology routinely unless they are forced to, either by government regulation or consumer demand. As you have seen time and time again in the drug industry, corporations are concerned about their own profit, not your safety.

If you're still skeptical about the performance of the SawStop table saw, watch the accompanying seven-second video at the link above that shows how quickly and safely the saw blade stops with miniscule damage done to the skin of a hot dog. Just amazing!

If you use, or know of anyone who uses, a table-top saw, I urge you to take a look at it. And I hope this remarkable technology saves hundreds of people from needlessly losing their fingers.