Pensacola Personal Injury Lawyer - Defective Products

Bassetbaby Recalls Drop-Side Cribs

Jenny Albano — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:21:28 GMT

Bassetbaby, in conjunction with the CPSC, is recalling 18 Wendy Bellissimo Hidden Hills Collection Drop-Side Cribs.

The spindles on the drop-side of the crib are able to loosen, which creates a gap that may pose an entrapment and strangulation hazard. So far the company has received three reports of the spindles coming loose but there have not been any injuries reported.

This recall involves a full-size, drop-side crib from the Wendy Bellissimo Hidden Hills collection, model number 5446-0504. The model number is located on the bottom rail of the headboard. The crib was sold in a Navajo Pine finish. No other models are included in this recall.

The cribs were available at Babies "R" Us stores across the United States from November 2007 to January 2008 and was manufactured in China.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

Florida Tobacco Cases Filed

Robert Blanchard — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:06:01 GMT

The deadline for former smokers in Florida to file their injury lawsuits against big tobacco has come and gone and estimates of the number filed are still under 10,000 total suits. That is a far cry from the 700,000 class members originally designated as entitled to damage awards. The Florida Supreme Court took away that award but did let stand the jury findings that the companies were negligent and their product was defective. It is still unclear how those findings will benefit those who have now filed individual cases, but it is certain that trial courts will not make a nullity of what the Supreme court intended to do: make it easier for individual claimants by not requiring every one of them to re-prove the obvious. Tobacco companies used to be able to tie up proceedings for years arguing against the obvious.
As for the small numbers who filed, I suppose tobacco stocks will get a bump and tobacco spokesman are already suggesting that potential claimants are "too embarassed" to make claim. That is clever jury tampering for sure. The real reason for the limited numbers was well stated by Reuters news service :

Many of the plaintiffs were elderly. A large number died and had no survivors to carry on the fight. Others were disqualified by legal deadlines that require such lawsuits be filed within a certain amount of time. Others simply didn't contact attorneys until it was too late.

See the interview of Levin Papantonio attorney Matt Schultz at CBS News.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Robert Blanchard

Sierra Syringes Recalled(2)

Robert Blanchard — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:42:59 GMT

The first news of some problem with the Sierra prefilled Heparin syringes appears to have come out on December 17, 2007. Today a voluntary recall was announced. This is a little late for those already hospitalized with serious infections. While is hope that these infections will be treatable with antibiotics, the risks of nerve damage and other complications are still looming. Medical products don't get tainted by bacterial agents unless there is some negligence on the part of the manufacturer or supplier. Also, strict liability law will apply in most states for injuries from a tainted product.
If you or someone you know has suffered an injury from these recalled syringes, please send me an email. We are speaking later today with one person who is still in the hospital and the more we learn, the more we can do to help.

Contaminated Syringes Linked to Blood Infections
U.S. health authorities are investigating a suspected link between bacteria-contaminated syringes and blood infections in 40 people in Illinois and Texas, including 20 outpatients from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, the Associated Press reported. There have been no deaths.
Earlier this month, Rush doctors traced the infections to heparin-filled syringes used during home treatment for cancer and other health problems. Heparin is a blood thinner. The heparin-filled syringes were from a single batch produced by Sierra Pre-Filled of Angier, N.C., the AP said.
Syringes from that same batch were also sent to Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania, but no infections have been reported in those states, said Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the AP reported.
The infections, caused by bacteria called Serratia marcescens, can cause fever and chills. While such infections can be serious, they generally respond well to antibiotics.
Sierra Pre-Filled has recalled the affected batch of syringes and is cooperating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the investigation, the AP reported. Doctors are being alerted about the contaminated syringes and asked to watch for cases of infection.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Robert Blanchard

Sierra Syringes Recalled(3)

Robert Blanchard — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:42:59 GMT

Contaminated Syringes Linked to Blood Infections
U.S. health authorities are investigating a suspected link between bacteria-contaminated syringes and blood infections in 40 people in Illinois and Texas, including 20 outpatients from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, the Associated Press reported. There have been no deaths.
Earlier this month, Rush doctors traced the infections to heparin-filled syringes used during home treatment for cancer and other health problems. Heparin is a blood thinner. The heparin-filled syringes were from a single batch produced by Sierra Pre-Filled of Angier, N.C., the AP said.
Syringes from that same batch were also sent to Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania, but no infections have been reported in those states, said Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the AP reported.
The infections, caused by bacteria called Serratia marcescens, can cause fever and chills. While such infections can be serious, they generally respond well to antibiotics.
Sierra Pre-Filled has recalled the affected batch of syringes and is cooperating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the investigation, the AP reported. Doctors are being alerted about the contaminated syringes and asked to watch for cases of infection.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Robert Blanchard

Korean Seat Belt Maker

Robert Blanchard — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:29:16 GMT

A Korean Seat belt maker has failed in its attempt to get cases moved to a Federal Court about its defective seat belts in a . Alabama's highest Court denied the motion to dismiss based upon a lack of state jurisdiction of the case. The case centers around a 2004 car accident in which a woman was killed while driving a 1999 KIA automobile. The case will now go back to Mobile, Alabama for resolution in the claims. The company which manufactures the seat belt is named Duck Boo International. Their attempt to get into Federal Court was an obvious attempt to take advantage of all the corporate appointments to the Federal bench, where the corporations know they will always get a free ride if they are sued by someone injured.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Robert Blanchard

Tobacco Ruling Hurts Companies

Robert Blanchard — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:27:33 GMT

The Tobacco Companies are back in the Appellate Court after a Federal Judge ruled that they violated anti-racketeering laws by promoting lite cigarettes as safe. Judge Kessler wrote a 1600 page decision to support her finding that the tobacco companies acted the same as an organized crime syndicate when they promoted their lite cigarettes. And she also banned the cigarette companies from labeling their cigarettes as lite or low tar. The U.S. prosecutors on the case supported the Judge's ruling and have said that the opinion reveals a decade's long coordinated campaign to deceive American consumers about the toxicity and addictiveness of cigarettes.

Cigarette companies did get a break from the Judge's ruling, in that it did not require them to return their profits from their activities. The companies found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud were Phillip Morris, Altrea Group Incorporated, Reynolds American, Lorrilard Tobacco and British American Tobacco. The ruling came down after seven years of litigation. You might soon start to see the newspaper ads that Judge Kessler ordered the tobacco companies to place across the United States in which the companies are to make corrective statements regarding the health risks of smoking. Next we will need to see whether the actions of these companies amounted to misleading their own investors. There has got to be someway that Wall-Street can make money out of this deal.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Robert Blanchard

Burn Injuries at Halloween

Robert Blanchard — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:42:45 GMT

With the abundance of candles lit in Jack-O-Lanterns and long draping costumes, burn injuries at Halloween continue to be a concern. Most store-bought childrens constumes will be flame retardent, but home-made costumes may not be. Unfortunately, if you rely on product recalls for protection, safety may come too late. The U.S. Product Safety Commission has issued helpful guidelines for keeping your kids safe this Haloween. See Their site.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Robert Blanchard

Beware the eBAY Toys

Robert Blanchard — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:49:22 GMT

While some Chinese toys are being pulled from store shelves, it appears that previously recalled toys are reappearing as auction items on eBay. Injury Prevention Journal looked into children's items recalled between the years of 1992-2004 and 190 of them were still available on eBay. The dangerous toys included a collapsing playyard, a car that has a battery that can overheat and burn children; and toys with lead paint.

eBay rules forbid any item recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and there is a link for parents on its site. However, eBay can't keep up with the 400 product recalls a year, and only 20 percent of recalled toys are ever returned.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Robert Blanchard