Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

In the eyes of 90% of my office, Starbucks can do no wrong. I need to forward this post to all of the Starbucks lovers.

Starbucks has expanded its previous recall of boxed sandwich products. Why the recall? Well, for one thing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requested it. That's a good reason. It would probably be best if Starbucks could figure out when to recall their food without the feds telling them to do so.

More specifically, on July 19, 2011, Starbucks learned that one of its suppliers was recalling approximately 200 pounds of ingredients for ready-to-eat chicken wraps and plates delivered to Starbucks retail stores in Georgia and Alabama due to a fear of Listeria contamination. Listeria is a type of food poisoning that can cause, among less severe symptoms, headaches, but it can also cause meningitis, convulsions, and death.

This initial recall was for Starbucks Chipotle Chicken Wraps Bistro Box and the Starbucks Chicken & Hummus Bistro Box. Now, the recall includes the Starbucks Salami and Cheese Bistro Box and the Starbucks Chicken Lettuce Wraps Bistro Box. The affected products were only sold in Alabama and Georgia.

Honeywell issued a recall of 77,000 thermostats. Honeywell has received 16 reports of thermostats melting. There have been no reports of injuries.

These Singapore made thermostats are white, rectangular, programmable thermostats used to control electric baseboard and fan heaters. "Honeywell" or "Cadet" is printed on the front of the thermostats that come in various sizes. The model number and four-digit date code are printed on a label inside the front cover of the recalled thermostat. Thermostat models with date codes beginning with 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 or 06 are in the recall.

You can find the model numbers and more information here.

Last December, Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals agreed to stop selling Darvocet in the U.S. after the evidence of cardiac injuries from Darvocet reached critical mass. Darvocet lawsuits are now being filed in massive numbers. Yesterday, in San Francisco, Plaintiffs' Darvocet lawyers argued that all of the federal Darvocet cases should be centralized in an MDL which is sort of, but not really, a class action lawsuit.

These are the main points made in Darvocet lawsuits:

• Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals concealed their knowledge of Darvocet's risks from plaintiffs, the medical community, the FDA, and the American people.
• Xanodyne had a duty to warn patients about this failure to test and that they knew Darvocet had these side effects.
• Xanodyne did know of these risks after having the product on the market for ages? Ah, okay. Then Xanodyne negligently and improperly failed to perform sufficient tests, if any, concerning Darvocet's association with heart arrhythmias,myocardial infarction, and other (maybe still unknown) risks that put Darvocet's patients at risk for cardiac injury and death. Why didn't Xanodyne fully test Darvocet? Plaintiffs' Darvocet lawsuits allege Xanodyne knew, from the clinical trials and years of experience, exactly what they were going to find.

You can find a more complete overview of Darvocet lawsuits here.

Fischer-Price will recall 208,000 children's toy wagons. The plastic handle on the back of these toy wagon may pose a laceration hazard if a child were to fall on it. Fischer-Price says it is aware of seven incidents in which children been cut, five of which called for stitches or surgical glue.

Is this a good product liability lawsuit? Ultimately, Fischer-Price gets a pass on these types of things. There are too few cases for plaintiffs' lawyers to flush out and the injuries are serious but not substantial enough to warrant a product liability lawsuit (in my humble opinion).

Heinen’s has issued recall for Heinen’s Own Crab Dip. Bizarrely, a metal fragment has been found in a package of this crab dip. How? No one has ventured a guess.

There was a sell date of 7/29/2011 listed on the package. The batch in the this recall contained 451.50 pounds of which sold 204 pounds were sold. (Imagine that much crab dip.)

Customers who have purchased this product are asked to please return it to any of the 17 Heinen’s stores.

Intercharm is issuing a recall of Slimforte Slimming Capsules, Slimforte Slimming Coffee, and Botanical Slimming Soft Gel. FDA laboratory analyses found the products to contain Sibutramine an appetite suppressant. Great, a little Q and A. Thank you FDA.

Why is this a problem? Sibutramine is a controlled substance that was withdrawn from the market in October 2010 for safety reasons. I have no idea how this stuff gets into these products. Here are two other examples of the same problem:

• Slim Xtreme has Sibutramine
• Fruta Planta contains Sibutramine

There is another recall of fresh cut fruit products containing papaya because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. People usually equate Salmonella (with a capital "S" for whatever reason) with mean. Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, can infiltrate any food. Particularly at risk: young children, old folks, and people with weakened immune systems.

GHSW is the company that is recalling the papaya. You can get all of the details from the FDA here.

Small problem with 8,000 no slip bath mats: they slip. There is a recall of these non-slip bathtub mats imported by Prime-Line Products because the mats don't stick to the tub.

Prime-Line has received one report of a pad not sticking to a bathtub. One report is not a recall make so I suspect there is more going on.

Bath tub slips are extremely dangerous for reasons that seem obvious but I can't quite articulate. The bigger problem with bath tub mats is not that they are slippery but that they are worn down. That same bath mat that worked well 10 years ago does not create the same friction anymore. We had a bath tub slip and fall in a hotel settle for over $500,000 recently.

Anyway, these recalled bath mats are whale-shaped, white, vinyl, non-slip bathtub pads with textured surfaces and adhesive backings and are used to help prevent children from slipping and falling in bathtubs. The pads come in sets of 12 and 15. Each set contains pads that range in size from 2 to 4 inches tall. The model number is S-4630 and the SKU number is 049793846303. Both are printed on the back of the packaging.

About Lawsuits reports that Yaz lawsuits are moving forward quickly. The federal judge, David R. Herndon, who is overseeing the 6,000 plus Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits pending in federal court has expanded the scope of case specific discovery - facts on interest only in individual cases - in over 100 Yaz/Yasmin lawsuits.

The court hinted that this might help facilitate a global Yaz settlement. Judge Herndon wrote that expanding discovery will "provide the parties with vital information, restore confidence in the discovery process, and may ultimately serve as a catalyst for the just and efficient resolution of this litigation.” About Lawsuits' spin was that this order might "facilitate an eventual Yaz settlement agreement...."

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed an $850,000 award to the parents of a baseball player who tragically died after being struck by a ball hit with an aluminum baseball bat.

If your kids are playing baseball - particularly if they are pitching - you have thought about these facts. An 18 year-old boy is pitching in an American Legion baseball game and gets hit in the head. Just an awful case that makes you question whether or not your kids should be playing any sport. There is no completely safe game.

Continue reading " Aluminum Bat Wrongful Death Verdict Affirmed " »

Justia, the same folks that host this blog for me, are taking a bigger leap, offering a new on line Publication called "Verdict", offering original and highly informed analysis of breaking news and developments in the law and politics. (Wait, I thought that is what I did?)

Verdicts has ten columnists lead by John Dean... lead by John Dean!! Watergate John Dean who was formerly at Justia archival FindLaw. More big hitters: Vikram Amar, Neil H. Buchanan, Sherry F. Colb, Michael C. Dorf, Joanna Grossman, Marci A. Hamilton, Julie Hilden, Joanne Mariner and Anita Ramasastry. You can check out their bio's here.

Another Winklevoss lawsuit involving Facebook has been tossed. A federal district court judge in Massachusetts dismissed a lawsuit filed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss against Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. The latest? The now famous Winklevoss twins wanted to investigate whether Facebook had "withheld discovery during settlement negotiations" in their original suit against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

I saw the Social Network. There is zero chance I would not watch a reality series starring the Winklevoss twins. Zero.

Honda will recall 200,000 cars worldwide. The problem? Water pump pulleys that can come loose. The Hondas in the recall are Japanese-built cars manufactured between July 2008 and July 2010. Honda has received 63 customer reports in Japan of engine malfunctions as a result of the defect, but said none has led to accidents which, if true, is a real blessing.

How do you know if your car has a problem with the water pump pulley? You may hear noises if the bolts get loose or if the water pump has become dislodged. Hopefully, if the water pump pulley does go astray, warning lights will appear on the dashboard and power assistance to the steering may be lost - although that would be the least of your concerns once the engine started overheating.

Taking Actos increases the risk of cancer, according to the European Medicines Agency. Still, with a new warning, the drug will remain on the market in much of Europe.

The theory for not ordering a recall or a withdrawal of Actos: Actos' benefits outweigh the bladder cancer risk of the drug because, the thinking goes, type 2 diabetes is a serious condition and some risk needs to be taken to fight the disease.

Actos lawsuits being filed throughout the United States disagree. These lawsuits don't contend that there are no patients in the world that Actos does help. These suits also don't allege that Actos might not be the best drug for some patients. But type 2 diabetes is still a relative term. If you have a milder form of type 2 diabetes or could have been treated with another type of drug that does not carry the risk of bladder cancer, you might have wanted to know about that. And maybe no one was told of the bladder cancer risk from Actos because that was not the best thing for sales for what is an extremely profitable drug ($5 billion in sales last year). Put that into context: all of this publicity over the NFL lockout is about dividing up $9 billion a year with 32 owners and 1,900 people. Actos is $5 billion for one little drug most people have never heard of in their lives. There is some money at stake here.

Many doctors in the US are telling patients to stop taking Actos, which is going to cut into that $5 billion pretty quickly.

• Actos recall/withdrawal speculation by us
• More on Actos problems
• Overview of potential Actos lawsuits

The majority of the cases our lawyers handle involve auto accidents and truck accidents in the area. We handle only extremely serious injury and wrongful death accident claims.

Although not all, the vast majority of our cases are in Maryland. We will handle truck accident and car injury cases outside of Maryland but only in the event of catastrophic injury or death.

You are trying to choose a lawyer? Take a second and take a breath. Your choice matters. Do some research. Talk to a lot of lawyers. Find out who is really trying cases and getting verdicts for their clients and who is running a marketing firm to get and settle - regardless of the value - cases as fast as they can. And... one other thing I think is critical: ask every accident lawyer you talk to who they would refer a case to if they could not handle a serious car accident case on behalf of a loved one. If the answer keeps coming up one firm, you have a great candidate.

Our car accident lawyers have already recovered millions of dollars in compensation for car accident victims by settlement or trial in 2011. If you or a loved one has serious injuries and you need a lawyer, call 800-553-8082. You can also make a free on-line inquiry here. Ultimately, you should not be talking only to us. You should be interviewing a lot of accident lawyers to figure out the big question you need to answer: who is the best lawyer for you?

There is a recall for Acacia chairs sold at Ross Stores between March 2011 and May 2011. A chair recall? It seems odd. My first thought was excessive lead in the chairs. But the chair can collapse when weight is placed on them. Reportedly, five have collasped.

Arguably, we should be able to expect a little more from our chairs.

This article in the Washington Post suggest call Ross at 877-455-7677, or visiting their website. Of course, I couldn't find any information on this recall there. If it is their, it is buried.

Canadian health officials are taking a closer look at Reglan's risk of causing movement disorders that have been noted as a result of its use.

Reglan has been in the scopes of plaintiffs' lawyers for years. Now Health Canada is taking a closer look at the facts because the evidence of the extent of Reglan's association with tardive dyskinesia is reaching a critical mass.

Tardive dyskinesia is an awful condition. It is associated with involuntary movement, which is often repetitive and persistent. The affliction seems to target lower extremities including the lower parts of the face (jaw and tongue) and the lower portions of the limbs.

Reglan’s warning concurs with this assessment, by the way. It now says that tardive dyskinesia is a risk with Reglan, especially in elderly women. The severity or probability of affliction seems to increase with prolonged use and a major concern is that the dyskinesia seems to be irreversible after long-term use (defined as 12 or more weeks). The affliction can be noted in a temporary capacity and in such cases can lessen or disappear over time.

Reglan treats short-term gastrointestinal aliments such as gastroesphagela reflex, more commonly knew as GERD and gastroparesis, which is a condition that reduces the stomach’s ability to free its contents despite lack of blockage. Sure, this can be serious. The question is: are other drugs able to provide similar relief without the risk of tardive dyskinesia?

Where are we here in the U.S. on Reglan lawsuits? Good question. There is a problem. The Supreme Court recently took a crack at plaintiffs' lawyers central claim: failure to warn. The Supreme Court strikes down a federal law on the power of bankruptcy judges and a state law on the government’s power to regulate marketing using prescription records, finding that federal law preempts state negligence claims against generic pharmaceutical companies for failure to warn of a drug's risks.

Continue reading " Canada Looks at Reglan " »

Ford is loading up on recalls this week, now issuing a recall of 20,450 trucks that have a defect that may cause the vehicles' tail lights to malfunction. This comes on the heels of a fuel tank recall earlier this week. Ford says the electrical switches that control the lights may deform over time, keeping various tail lights from working properly. This recall covers 2011 model-year Ranger compact pickup trucks, 2002-2005 Excursions, F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 trucks.

Ford stock is struggling this year after an unbelievably good run. Is the spate of recalls in 2011 a part of the problem? I don't know but it is not hard to put 2 and 2 together.

Target will recall 13,000 children’s lamps because they may overheat, causing the adhesive inside the lamp socket to melt and roam into the bulb socket. The cooled glue may adhere to the light bulb base which makes it hard to remove the light bulb base. Two risks: (1) the bulb exploding in your hand (dangerous but no real risk to your child), and (2) melted glue could bleed to the electrical components of the lamp causing a fire.

The lamps were sold between January and April of this year. There have been six reports of glue on the lamp socket melting and migrating into the bulb area of the socket. But, thankfully, no injuries have been reported.

You can get more information on the specifics of the recall here.

Ford will recall approximately 3,000 Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego vehicles due to a defect in the fuel tank. Ford says that fuel from the tank could leak out in the event of a crash due to bad welds. The recall affects cars from the 2007 model year.

Plaintiffs' recently lost a popcorn bronchiolitis obliterans case on summary judgment.

Bronchiolitis obliterans (also called, annoyingly to me, "BO") is a relatively uncommon, severe lung disease characterized by two awful effects: (1) obstruction to airflow; and (2) air trapping/hyperinflation.

The lawsuit against ConAgra Foods claimed that a man developed bronchiolitis obliterans, severe and progressive damage to the respiratory system, extreme shortness of breath and reduced life expectancy as a result of exposure to diacetyl in the artificial butter flavoring of popcorn. Plaintiff claimed a stunning popcorn addiction: five to seven bags of microwave popcorn daily for approximately 11 years.

Continue reading " Popcorn Bronchiolitis Obliterans Lawsuit: Lost on Summary Judgment in Washington " »

Insurance companies have a lot of car accident cases in suit. How do they juggle them all on a limited litigation budget? This Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog post explains tactics when it comes to designation expert witnesses.

A medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of a Florida veteran will begin this week against the Miami Veterans’ Administration hospital. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff claims he contracted hepatitis C from an unclean medical device used in a 2007 colonoscopy. This may be the bellwether trial on this issue: there are a dozen similar lawsuits that have been filed in Florida and more have been filed in Tennessee. (Certainly, Tennessee - even with their new malpractice restrictions - is a more hospitable place than Florida for medical malpractice lawsuits.)

Our lawyers are reviewing potential lawsuits regarding Crestor and its possible side effects. Crestor is an anti-cholesterol drug called a statin. Crestor is made by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, a company that has been under fire in a number of product liability lawsuits in recent years.

Crestor is a statin that treats dyslipidemia. Crestor is supposed to - and I think does - reduce “bad” cholesterol while raising “good” cholesterol. But Crestor lawsuits claim it has also been linked to serious and potentially life-threatening cardiovascular side effects.

Rhabdomyolysis is another serious concern. Rhabdomyolysis occurs when a large number of skeletal muscle cells die, leading to a flood of muscle protein in the blood. A massive amount of muscle protein is released into the bloodstream when the muscle cells die. This muscle protein overwhelms the blood stream and can get trapped in the patient's kidneys. The complications from this ultimately result in kidney failure.

If you think you have a potential Crestor lawsuit you would like to discuss with a lawyer to see if your claim may lead to compensation, call 800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation.

The Accident Injury Lawyer Blog has dropped a bit on Avvo's list of top legal blogs. This blog was 38th; now it is a lowly 102nd. Depressed, I went directly to Alexa's rankings to see what the problem is. Well, our traffic went up 100% last month. Go figure.

How do I explain this? I can't really. But take a look at the list, there are very few personal injury lawyer generated blogs ahead of us. Maybe there are more legal blogs coming on the scene that are not related to personal injury. Honestly, there are hundreds of new personal injury lawyer blogs being birthed every month. But I have not added a new blog to my Google reader in years. (If you think I'm wrong, send me the blog.)

Anyway, if you are reading this blog regularly, I appreciate it. Believe me, I'm keeping score.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) which - as I said yesterday - is the European FDA, is broadening its review of Multaq, the atrial fibrillation treatment, after a study found potential cardiovascular risks in some patients. This is serious, I think it is fair to say. If you are taking Multaq, you don't exactly need a heart problem.

Sanofi Aventis announced the discontinuation of a Multaq study on the advice of its safety board. The discontinuation of the tests was claimed to be due to “events” suffered by patients within the study after being prescribed Multaq. The same events were not noticed among those patients who were administered a placebo.

There were over three thousand patients participating in the study, each of whom was over sixty-five years of age. Each was instructed to discontinue their Multaq regiment for purposes of a permanent atrial fibrillation. The drug has been previously okayed for temporary usage for the same condition. The EMA will be looking at the results of this study. Give Sanofi some credit: when they saw the iceberg, they did not hit the gas pedal and keep the study going hoping the data would get better.

Continue reading " Europe Looks Closely at Multaq " »

Chrysler will recall 250,000 Ram trucks due to problems in the steering system. Federal officials said a part near the left front wheel can fracture and potentially cause car accidents. The recall covers Rams model years 2008 to 2011. Most of the fractures are occurring while turning at low rates of speed.

There is no date for the start of the recall which always , but Chrysler dealers will inspect the affected vehicles and replace the left tie rod as needed for free. Owners can call Chrysler/Dodge at 800-853-1403 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at 800-327-4236.

Every state has different statute of limitations. While the exceptions to the statute of limitations would require you to burn down a few forests, these are the general default statute of limitations that apply in the vast majority - did I make clear not all? Not all! - of personal injury accident cases in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. I have tried to find a hyperlink pinpoint site for each state's statute of limitations statute.

The FDA yesterday expressed even graver concern that the placement of surgical mesh through the vagina to repair pelvic organ prolapse may expose patients to greater risks than other surgical options. Our lawyers are continuing to investigate potential vaginal mesh lawsuits that have resulted in mesh erosion, infections, chronic pain, and may have caused the need for additional surgeries. Many vaginal mesh lawsuits have already reached a settlement. If you have suffered due to the use of a vaginal mesh product, call us today at 800-553-8082 or get a free on-line consultation here.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) occurs when the internal structures that support the pelvic organs become weak and/or stretch to the point that the organs come into contact with the vagina. In massive numbers, women have turned to vaginal surgical mesh products to surgically reinforce the repair and correct the anatomy.

The FDA now says:

There are clear risks associated with the transvaginal placement of mesh to treat POP. The FDA is asking surgeons to carefully consider all other treatment options and to make sure that their patients are fully informed of potential complications from surgical mesh. Mesh is a permanent implant -- complete removal may not be possible and may not result in complete resolution of complications.

The FDA made noise three years ago about concerns with adverse events associated with the transvaginal placement of mesh - which has been the subject of most vaginal mesh lawsuits. Since sounding the alarm, the concern has grown. Significantly. In the past three years (excluding this year) the FDA has received 1503 adverse event reports associated with mesh used for POP repair. These are just the women that have reported something that is rather painful to talk about. The real numbers are probably staggering.

The most frequently reported problems after surgical mesh surgery used to repair POP include mesh becoming exposed or protruding out of the vaginal tissue (erosion), pain, infection, bleeding, pain during sexual intercourse, organ perforation from surgical tools used in the mesh placement procedure, and urinary problems. Some patients reported the need for additional surgeries or hospitalization to treat complications or to remove the vaginal mesh products.

Continue reading " Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit: Do You Have One? " »

• Some Dodge Rams are being recalled because of faulty steering.
• Remember those exploding fire pots? The lawsuits are starting.
• In California, a judge has refused to set aside a $14 million jury verdict against a marine terminal company in a suit brought by a truck driver who was nearly crushed to death.
• Yamaha wants a new trial after a Florida jury awarded $35 million in damages in the case of a WaveRunner crash that killed a teenaged girl.
• This is not strictly accident or injury-related, but rest assured you will not see anyone from our law firm appearing in an ad like this. Ever.

Medicare noticed that blacks are more likely than whites to develop bed sores in nursing homes. So they asked why. The answer appears to be that there are meaningful differences in care between homes with predominantly black patients as opposed to predominantly white patients.

Of course, the study's author provided the "Look most nursing homes - black or white - suck anyway" caveat (perhaps not those exact words) and the "this does not mean that individual nursing homes are providing better care to whites than blacks." Still, this is not particularly good news.

Our law firm handles bed sore nursing home lawsuits. If you have a potential nursing home lawsuit, call 800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation here.

• Nursing home lawsuits: an overview
• More on nursing home claims
• Sample expert report in a claim against Manor Care
• The language of a nursing home lawsuit
• Reporting nursing home abuse to the authorities

European Medicines Agency (EMA) - which is basically Europe's FDA - will decide this month whether the diabetes drug Actos should remain on the market or not due to a possible link to bladder cancer.

Last month, France and Germany jumped ahead of the rest of the continent and suspended the use of Actos after a study indicated Actos users may have a higher risk of bladder cancer.

Here, the FDA says it will add information about the potential risk of bladder cancer after long-term use to the drug's label, while keeping the product on the market at least for the time being.

• Overview of potential Actos lawsuits
• What Canada is doing about Actos?

Macy's agreed to a $750,000 fine for selling children's clothing with drawstrings at the neck. If the allegations are true, and Macy's has copped to it by paying this fine, Macy's violated federal law by selling kids' clothes with drawstrings at the neck because they are strangulation hazards.

Macy's has denied knowingly violating the law. That's good. I guess. But I'm still confused. You sell clothes. You just didn't know the law? Given the obvious choking hazard, drawstrings at the neck were banned in 2008. No one at Macy's got the memo? It just didn't make the rounds at Macy's? It is inexplicable.

Continue reading " Macy's Admits Selling Banned Clothes and Agrees to Fine " »

AstraZeneca manufactures and sells Nexium throughout the world. Nexium is one of a class of drugs called proton-pump inhibitors ("PPIs"). PPIs are primarily used in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease ("GERD" or "acid reflux disease"). The manifestation of acid reflux in patients is usually either heartburn or erosive esophagitis ("EE"), which is damage to the lining of the esophagus.

Nexium is a big winner for AstraZeneca who also has Prilosec (omeprazole) - the pioneer PPI - in its arsenal as well. Suffice it to say, AstraZeneca has a lot of money riding on the success of its PPIs.

In the past, AstraZeneca has come under attack from critics who complained that Nexium advertising was misleading because it wrongfully claimed that Nexium was a big improvement over Prilosec because in clinical trials there was a 2-to-1 ratio in the dosage of Nexium to Prilosec. In hindsight - and maybe even at the time - who cares?

Continue reading " Priolsec and Nexium Lawsuits " »

Texas Governor Rick Perry is probably going to throw his hat in the ring to be the Republican who takes on President Obama next fall. Good for him. He's got a good head start with George Will's "Gee, I think you are hotter than Derek Jeter and I love the way you eat a big hamburger" article a few weeks back.

But while deciding to run, Perry has to make sure he nails his Republican bona fides by trying to run to the right of Michele Bachmann. That's hard to do right now. But Perry wants to try.

The Texas Legislature passed a law virtually every state is passing: you can't text and drive. Not a big controversial issue, some studies are suggesting that texting is more dangerous than drunk driving. Probably a dangerous exaggeration in its own right but, still, you get the point: texting = more accidents and deaths in car accidents.

Continue reading " Perry's Texting While Driving Veto Will Cost Lives " »

Woman can't find her husband. She's scared. She panics. She frantically calls the motel where she thinks he is staying on a business trip. "Can you please check on my husband?" The motel's response: "nah." She calls multiple times. Same answer. Next morning, the hotel housekeeper finds him dead.

Woman files a lawsuit and gets the medical testimony you would have thought had been impossible to get: the man would have lived if he received medical treatment when the motel was asked to check on the man.

The Supreme Court of Georgia, in a 4-3 decision, found that a hotel manager has no legal duty to investigate the health and safety of a guest by request. If the motel had knowledge that its invitee was in "imminent danger because of observation of the physical peril; no manner of investigation or inquiry was at issue."

The dissenting opinion - and "Judge Me" agrees - was that Georgia would be better served joining the majority of states that have adopted the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 314A and finding that the innkeeper is obligated to act if he "knows or has reason to know" that his guest is ill or injured.

You can find the opinion here. Ken Shigley also summarizes the opinion here.

Old Home Foods has issued a recall of all their cottage cheese products with an expiration date of Aug. 1, 2011. If you have this batch of cottage cheese, it very well may spoil before prior its expiration. Customers are encouraged to return product back to retailers for a full refund but, really, now many people are going to do that? This is a very cheap recall.

Did you realize that people eat a billion pounds of cottage cheese a year in this country? That is inexplicable to me.

Edushape will recall 18,000 Mini Stars building sets for children. The notice of the recall reports that the small plastic knobs in the center of the stars can break off, posing choking risks for small children. There have been two reports of the knobs breaking off. No injuries but everyone is scared -as they should be - of asphyxiation risks.

The CPSC wants to hear from you if you have any information to provide about defects in this product - including the knobs falling off.

Here is a list of my posts dealing with my sometimes rocky experiences GEICO claims adjusters along with some other GEICO links of interest:

• GEICO Settlements: One GEICO claims' adjuster's view of what is fair in a wrongful death case
• Really, just making up Maryland law
• GEICO's business model
• Comparing GEICO and Allstate
• Hold Harmless: GEICO wants me to sign a ridiculous hold harmless agreement (here it is)
• A Georgia lawyer's view
• Sample GEICO PIP application
• Sample GEICO release (settlement document)
• Sample interrogatories from GEICO
• Sample demand letter

There is a recall for 131,000 Mizuno baseball gloves after the gloves were found to lead to 25% more errors for shortstops and second basemen.

Okay, I made that up. Actually, the Mizuno gloves are being recalled for what may be a serious reason: mold was found in the gloves. How much? I don't know. But mold can cause infections in individuals with chronic health problems. I doubt there will be any injuries but, certainly, mold is a bad thing.

An Ohio man was awarded $1 million after suffering a mild traumatic brain injury in a 2006 car collision with a police cruiser. According to Plaintiff's lawsuit, the car accident occurred when a Strongville police officer made an illegal left turn while responding to a "non-emergency" call. The plaintiff claims a traumatic brain injury.

Our lawyers handle a lot of TBI cases. Plaintiff's TBI from the car crash presented as many of these injuries often do: pretty much no big deal. Obviously, in this case and countless other TBI car accident cases, the injury evolves from nothing to something extremely problematic.

We have made some incredible steps forward in fighting heart disease in recent years that have done wonderful - life changing - things for cardiac patients. But to the man with a hammer, sometimes everything is a nail. Are some cardiac surgeons a hammer and stents are the nail?

Researchers looked at stents over the last few years - more than 500,000 throughout the country in thousands of hospitals. The study found emergency stents were almost invariably appropriate - 98% survived retrospective analysis. Of those classified as non-emergency - maybe "elective" is a fair word - only 50% were deemed “appropriate,” 38% “uncertain” and 12% “inappropriate,” according to the study. Most of the inappropriate procedures were done on patients with low-risk heart conditions, a la the St. Joe's Hospital debacle in Maryland.

What does this mean? It means that too many doctors are using stents as the first line of defense when there are safer and less invasive treatments available. You can't help but point out the obvious: a lot of money is being made putting in stents. The minority of doctors that are motivated by this are now on notice that people are paying attention to this issue.

State Farm regularly takes hits in jury trials. But State Farm took a verdict in Indiana this week that was far more "personal": $14.5 million jury verdict for insurance fraud and RICO claims against Radcliff and CPM.

The case arose out of work done by Plaintiff and his company following a big hailstorm in Indiana five years ago. The lawsuit alleged that State Farm made unfounded claims of fraud against the Plaintiff. The jury agreed, finding that State Farm's claims were baseless and that State Farm also defamed the Plaintiff.

Is there a link between antidepressants like Zoloft and autism spectrum disorder? A new study in the The Archives of General Psychiatry raises this concern.

This retrospective study reviewed the medical records of more than 1,800 children, including 298 who have autism. The study found that the risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder was about twice (an interesting multiplier from a Daubert standpoint for plaintiffs' lawyers) as high among women who took SSRI antidepressants in the year before giving birth. The researchers thought that the risk appeared to be the greatest for moms who were taking an SSRI in the first trimester.

All right, so the obvious question: are there going to be lawsuits involving Zoloft and the other SSRIs and their link to autism. SSRIs have long been associated with an increased risk of homicidal and suicidal behaviors and, now, there is a lot of concern over whether Zoloft causes certain birth defects. But with respect to autism and Zoloft and its pharmacological SSRI cousins, I think plaintiffs' lawyers will keep their eyes open but I don't think Zoloft autism lawsuits are imminent.

If you read this blog regularly, you may feel like E. coli is riding high in spite of government and industry efforts to stamp it out. Yet the LA Times is reporting this morning that Congress may eliminate the only national program that regularly screens U.S. fruits and vegetables for the type of E. coli that recently caused numerous fatalities in Germany.

But, hey, we have to cut the budget. So the House has approved a bill that would kill the 10-year-old Microbiological Data Program. This program pulls samples from 15,000 produce products a year that are at risk for E. coli contamination.

Our food makers - already jazzed about higher commodity prices are thrilled about the likely death of this $4.5 million program.

Personally, I'm in no position to judge the efficacy of the Microbiological Data Program. But I'm doing the math: seemingly more E. coli plus a mere $4.5 million. So, on its face, anyway, it looks a little bewildering. I hope the people in charge know what they are doing.

The Shade Store will recall approximately 45,000 Roman shades. The recall stems from concerns that a child could be strangled if they place their neck between the exposed inner cord and fabric on the backside of the blind.

Do you have these blinds? It is hard to say. These are custom-made Roman shades made out of fabric and of woven wood that do not have any permanent markings.

Consumers are being told to call the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) for a free repair kit toll-free at (800) 506-4636. For more information concerning the product recall, consumers can contact The Shade Store toll-free at (800) 754-1455 or by e-mail at help@theshadestore.com. Why can't you go to their website for information? I don't know. And I find that a little creepy.

Dear Shade Manufacturers:

We love what you guys do. We can't have the sun coming in and blinding us. I'm particularly grateful during the summer when the sun is coming in early. You are only slightly less important to me than the fork.

But, it is not 1974 anymore. We are still stupid. But we are not that stupid. Please figure out how to make a safe blind.

Thanks.

Your Fellow Americans

GM is hitting the recall pedal hard these days. GM will recall approximately 6,700 2011 Chevrolet Colorado and 2011 GMC Canyon passenger vehicles after concerns of transmission shift lever sequence failure, starter interlock and transmission braking effect. Sounds like a manufacturing defect: NHTSA said that these vehicles may have been built with an automatic transmission adjustment clip that may not hold the shift cable in the right place.

One result is that the driver cannot restart the vehicle. No big deal in most cases but the vehicles in this recall may roll away as the people in the car are trying to exit the vehicle or have exited. Obviously, this increases the risk of the vehicle striking them or someone around the vehicle or resulting in a crash without prior warning.

Continue reading " GM Hits Recall Pedal " »

Keep an eye on your alfalfa sprouts this 4th of July. Moyie Springs, Idaho-Evergreen Fresh Sprouts has announced a recall of its Alfalfa Sprouts and Spicy Sprouts because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The alfalfa sprouts subject to this recall have been linked to a multistate outbreak of Salmonella infections. As you know, Salmonella puts our very young and very old at particular risk.

You can get more information from the CDC here.

Over 300,000 toasters will be recalled after reports of the toasters causing a fire risk to users. These chrome 2-slice toasters "can remain energized indefinitely when an item is placed in the toaster which may ignite the contents." The recalled toasters' manufacturer, Hamilton Beach, reports that it has received 15 reports of toasters that did not pop back up. So the toast stays down and stays hot which at some point leads to a fire.

You can learn more about the toasters subject to this recall here.

Yesterday, 1,000 wooden animal drums were recalled due to excessive levels of lead-based paint. Imported by Cost Plus, Inc. from China, the paint on the drums was said to exceed the "maximum allowable level." The drums were sold at Cost Plus World Market stores throughout the country.

Vitamins were recalled after it was learned that 12,000 bottles of these iron supplements were not in child-resistant packaging as required. The vitamins are called Live Better One Daily Tablets and Live Better Complex Vitamin B50 Tablets. This is a big deal for children: overdosing on iron can cause serious injury or death.

These iron supplements come from International Vitamin and were sold at A&P liquor and grocery stores, Pathmark, Waldbaum's, The Food Emporium, Super Fresh and Food Basics grocery stores in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia and the District of Columbia between June 2009 and October 2010.

International Vitamin has a wonder website where you can learn all of the latest news on the company. Somehow, and I can't figure out why, this recall is not mentioned.