Category Archives: Product Liability or Medical Devices

FTC Proposes New Rules on Food Advertising Aimed at Children

Written On May 11, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The New York Times reported the Federal Government “proposed sweeping new guidelines on Thursday that could push the food industry to overhaul how it advertises cereal, soda pop, snacks, restaurant meals and other foods to children.” Citing an “epidemic of childhood obesity, regulators are taking aim at a range of tactics used to market foods [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Featured Link — FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts

Written On May 4, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Food and Drug Administration has made it easier to keep up with information about foods that could make your family sick. The agency is now providing search results about food recalls in a more consumer-friendly format thanks to the Food Safety Modernization Act that President Obama signed in January. You can find the information at [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Rental Car Industry Urges Two-Tier System for Vehicle Recalls

Written On May 3, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The rental car companies are always looking for ways to cut costs, even if the measures may put their customers at greater risk. This seems to be the case in the companies’ resistance to cease renting recalled vehicles to unsuspecting drivers. This situation was detailed in a recent article at the Wheels blog of the [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Concern Grows Over Window Blind Safety

Written On April 26, 2011 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written on this topic many times, as it is a real concern to me. Too many infants die needlessly each year because they get strangled by the cords on window shades or blinds. The New York Times ran a lengthy article recently about this danger. Here are the opening paragraphs. You can read more [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Office of National Drug Control Policy Says Congress Should Mandate Painkiller Safety Training

Written On April 25, 2011 By Bob Kraft

USA Today reports, “To halt prescription drug abuse, the nation’s fast-growing drug problem, Congress must require special training for doctors and other health care workers before they are allowed to prescribe powerful drugs such as OxyContin,” ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske said Tuesday.
The Wall Street Journal reports the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Prescription Drug Claims, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Ford Expands Recall of F-150 Trucks Because of Faulty Airbags

Written On April 21, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The AP reported under regulatory pressure, Ford expanded its recall of the F-150 pickup truck over an “electrical short” than can cause air bags to deploy without a crash. The recall includes 1.2 million trucks largely from model years 2004 and 2005, and some from 2006. Former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator Joan Claybrook [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Fewer U.S. Highway Deaths in 2010 Than Any Year Since 1949

Written On April 6, 2011 By Bob Kraft

I started practicing personal injury law in 1971, and have represented many thousands of people who were injured in car wrecks. Progress in auto accident safety in these past 40 years has been slow but steady, and from my perspective the difference in degree of injuries in a typical automobile collision today is dramatically different [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

J&J Recalls More Tylenol Bottles Due to Musty Odor

Written On April 4, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Johnson & Johnson has been forced to recall another batch of Tylenol due to a musty odor. This same problem has already caused five other recalls of Tylenol by the company.
This recall includes almost 35,000 bottles of Tylenol 8 Hour Extended Release. The lot number, ADM074 appears on the bottom of each bottle.
Johnson & Johnson has recalled [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Lasko Recalls Box Fans Due To Fire Hazard

Written On March 28, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the Lasko Products, Inc., has announced a voluntary recall of almost five million box fans. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
There is a fire hazard posed by an electrical [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Featured Link – SaferProducts.gov

Written On March 23, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The federal government has launched a terrific Web site to help consumers research products for safety, and to report unsafe products. The site is SaferProducts.gov. There really is a lot of information here, and you should check it out. Here is the description from the site:
SaferProducts.gov is the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link, Product Liability or Medical Devices

NHTSA Issues New Safety Guidelines for Children’s Car Seats

Written On March 22, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Maybe it’s because I have three small grandchildren, but these days I find myself paying much more attention to articles about children’s car seats. In recent news, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has revised its child restraint guidelines so that they categorize by age rather than by type of child seat. The result is [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Inadequacy of Crash Test Dummies Leaves Many Child Safety Seats With No Federal Standards

Written On March 16, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Here’s one more thing for parents of small children to worry about — many children’s car seats may not meet federal safety guidelines. The reason is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn’t yet developed a lifelike child crash test dummy.
According to an article in the Washington Post, “Seats for children who weigh more [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Johnson & Johnson’s Animas Unit Recalls Leaking Insulin Cartridges

Written On March 15, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Bloomberg News reported, “Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)’s Animas unit recalled leaking insulin cartridges, saying they may cause pumps to deliver too little medicine to patients.” In a letter dated Feb. 24, the company notified patients, “saying the recall affects 2-milliliter cartridges shipped between Nov. 30 and Jan. 4.”
MedPage Today reported, “Leaks would prevent patients from [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices

National Consumer Protection Week

Written On March 9, 2011 By Bob Kraft

We are in the middle of Consumer Protection week, and there is a government Web site dedicated to the education of consumers during this one week of each year. Here is a description from the National Consumer Protection Week site:
National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) is a coordinated campaign that encourages consumers nationwide to take full [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices

FDA Knew of Problems at Plant That Made Tainted Alcohol Wipes

Written On March 3, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Documents show sterilization issues as early as 2009; dozens may have been sickened
The death of a 2-year-old Houston boy from a rare infection blamed on contaminated alcohol wipes may be only the first casualty tied to allegedly shoddy sterilization practices by a Wisconsin medical products firm.
Since MSNBC.com reported Feb. 15 about the death of Harrison Kothari , who was infected with [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices

FDA Issues Recall for Medtronic Implantable Infusion Pumps

Written On March 2, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Medscape reported, “The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Class I recall for certain lots of implantable infusion pumps manufactured by Medtronic, which are used in patients undergoing therapy that requires the constant delivery of drugs or fluids.” Initiated on Jan. 14, “the recall was issued for Medtronic SynchroMed II (model number [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices

More Information on Toyota Recall to Address Pedal and Floor Mat Defects

Written On March 1, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The AP reported the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed its investigation of Toyota Motor Corp. after the company recalled over two million US vehicles on Thursday “to address accelerator pedals that could become entrapped in floor mats or jammed in driver’s side carpeting.” NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said the agency asked Toyota to recall [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Toyota Recalls Two Million More Cars for Accelerator Pedal Problems

Written On February 25, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Here’s more trouble for Toyota. The company has recalled more than two million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to correct problems that can cause gas pedals to become stuck in floor mats.
You can see a list of vehicles included in the recall at Toyota’s recall site.

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

AlloDerm May Cause Hernia Surgery Failures

Written On February 22, 2011 By Bob Kraft

AlloDerm is a type of skin graft material made from decellularized human cadaveric dermis (meaning it’s made from donated skin that’s been processed to remove the cells). AlloDerm was first introduced into the market in 1994 for use treating burn victims by skin-grafting over the burn. AlloDerm is made by LifeCell Corporation. Since that time AlloDerm has been used [...]

Posted in Product Liability or Medical Devices

Almost 10,000 Infants Injured in Crib Accidents Annually

Written On February 21, 2011 By Bob Kraft

USA Today reports, “More than 9,500 babies and toddlers” go to the emergency department (ED) each year because of injuries related to “cribs, playpens and bassinets,” according to a “19-year” study in the journal Pediatrics. The researchers found that an average of “113 children die each year from these accidents.” Lead author Dr. Gary Smith, [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices