THE INJURY LAWYER DIRECTORY BLOG

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Fisher-Price has initiated a recall of more than 10 million toys due to safety issues. Several of these defective products have already led to injuries.

The recall covers approximately 7 million Fisher-Price Trikes and Tough Trikes toddler tricycles, which contain plastic ignition keys that stick out from the seat, potentially leading to injuries such as genital bleeding if a child strikes or falls on the key. The CPSC has already received ten reports of injuries associated with these products, six of which required medical treatment.

The toy company has also recalled over 1 million Healthy Care, Easy Clean, and Close to Me High Chairs. The CPSC has received 14 reports of safety issues associated with these products. Seven children needed stitches after falling on the pegs which store the high chair tray.

Fisher-Price also recalled 2.8 million units of the following products:

• Baby Playzone Crawl & Cruise Playground toys
• Baby Playzone Crawl & Slide Arcade toys
• Baby Gymnastics Play Wall toys
• Ocean Wonders Kick & Crawl Aquarium toys
• 1-2-3 Tetherball toys
• Bat & Score Goal toys

On each of these products, the valve of the inflatable ball can come off, placing young children at risk of choking injuries. The CPSC has received reports of more than 50 valves detaching from the balls.

There were also 100,000 Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway toys recalled due a risk of the wheels falling off.

You should visit the Fisher-Price website for additional information on recall protocol as well as model numbers for the recalled items.

If your child has suffered an injury from using one of these defective Fisher-Price products, you might be able to receive compensation for your child’s damages. An experienced defective product attorney can help make sure that your child’s rights are protected.

If you have a defective product claim in West Virginia, please contact the law offices of Jan Dils & Jim Leach today to schedule your free initial consultation.

A 75-year-old man came to the aid of a young girl during a dog bite attack in Dearborn Heights, Michigan last weekend. The 10-year-old girl lay on the ground screaming as the pit bull bit into her. The man rushed to the scene to pull the attacking dog off of her.

The dog quickly shifted the focus of his attack to the man. In self defense, he kicked the dog in the chest; however, the dog continued to advance on him. Both the man and the young girl were scratched and bitten during the attack. The man received more than a dozen stitches in his right leg. Had he not intervened, it is likely that the girl’s dog bite injuries would have been much worse.

According to the dog’s owner, this is the first time her pit bull has ever attacked a human. The victim was a family friend playing in front of the dog owner’s house with some other children. Animal Control officials plan to euthanize the dog. Police are currently investigating the incident and may bring charges on the dog’s owner for her negligent actions.

Dog owners have an obligation to make sure their dog does not place the lives of innocent bystanders in danger. When a dog owner fails to take the proper precautions to control the animal, she may be liable for damages in a dog bite claim. An experienced dog bite attorney can assist you with the filing of your claim.

If you have a dog bite claim in the Flint, Michigan area, please contact the attorneys at Jay Trucks & Associates today to schedule your free initial consultation.

With each passing year, the data confirming the dangers of driver fatigue continue to grow. Yet for some inexplicable reason, transportation officials have been noticeably remiss in addressing this serious problem. Pilots, train operators, bus drivers, truck drivers, and car drivers often operate motor vehicles in a state of sleep deprivation, jeopardizing the safety of millions of individuals. Considering the nationwide crackdown on driving under the influence and distracted driving, the lack of action to address driver fatigue is that much more shocking.

The evidence is irrefutable. Driver fatigue dramatically increases the risk of a motor vehicle accident, whether involving a car, bus, truck, plane, or train. During the past four decades, pilot fatigue has led to more than 320 airplane accidents. Approximately 750 people have died in these accidents. While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has made 138 fatigue-related airline safety recommendations, the U.S. Department of Transportation has been slow to put them into practice. To date, only 68 of these recommendations have been adopted.

Data related to truck driver fatigue has produced similar evidence. A 1993 NTSB study showed that driver fatigue caused more truck accidents than driving under the influence. There were 3,311 truck accidents examined in this study, and approximately 30-40% of them were related to truck driver fatigue. Furthermore, about half of all single-driver truck accidents occurred between 2 am and 6 am; 75% of these accidents were attributed to driver fatigue.

In order to address these dangers, the NTSB made 34 recommendations to address driver fatigue among operators of trucks, buses, and automobiles. Only 17 of these recommendations have been adopted.

Sleep deprivation studies performed in various countries around the world have demonstrated that driver fatigue leads to similar impairment as driving under the influence. A driver who has been awake for approximately 24 hours exhibits impaired functioning similar to a driver with a blood alcohol level of 0.10.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have evaluated the functioning of sleep deprived pilots. Their evidence indicates that sleep deprived pilots:

• Have a slower response time
• Lose focus more easily
• Are unable to juggle multiple tasks at once
• Exhibit poor judgment, particularly in regard to risk assessment
• Have a narrowed field of focus

In light of all of the evidence supporting the dangers presented by driver fatigue, it is imperative that the Department of Transportation address this issue in a timely matter. The safety of drivers and passengers across the country depend on it.

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by a fatigued driver, please contact the Washington, D.C. accident attorneys at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. today to schedule your free initial consultation.

A wage and hour claim has been filed against the sports bar restaurant chain Greene Turtle, alleging the chain failed to pay overtime and minimum wages according to federally mandated regulations. Recently, a U.S. District Court in Baltimore judge agreed to allow the claim to move forward as a class action suit, paving the way for many more employees to recover damages.

Two former servers at Greene Turtle’s Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport location filed the lawsuit which seeks to recover damages for up to 1,000 current and former employees working for the franchise over the past three years. The claim estimates that over a six month period, employees working 40 hours a week would be owed roughly $7,500 to cover unpaid overtime and minimum wages, including damages assessed for labor law violations.

According to the lawsuit, Greene Turtle paid rates below minimum wage by applying a “tip credit” which subtracts an employee’s tips from the minimum wage rate. While this practice is legal under the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the law requires a restaurant to inform its employees it is engaging in this practice. The claim against Greene Turtle alleges the chain failed to properly notify its employees of this fact. Furthermore, it charges Greene Turtle with miscalculating the overtime rate for servers and bartenders. As a result, hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime wages were not rightfully paid to employees.

Greene Turtle has denied all charges and plans to vehemently defend themselves in court, claiming they do not owe their employees any back pay. The corporation has 25 locations across Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

If you have a wage and hour claim in the Houston, Texas area, please contact the attorneys at Kennedy Hodges today to schedule your free initial consultation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated a review of the diabetes drug Actos after initial studies generated data suggesting that the drug may be linked to an increased risk of bladder cancer in patients.

Actos is one of two medications on the market approved for controlling blood sugar in diabetes patients. The data prompting the FDA to conduct their review was generated from a ten-year study conducted by the drug’s manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals. While initial results from the study did not find an overall link between the use of Actos and the development of bladder cancer, they did show a potential increased risk in patients that take the drug for extended periods of time or in high dosages.

This news is particularly disconcerting for diabetes patients since serious pharmaceutical injuries have already been linked to Avandia, the only other alternative for controlling blood sugar. Over the past five years, the FDA has received numerous reports suggesting that Avandia may lead to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

This past July, the FDA established an advisory committee to determine whether Avandia should be removed from the market. In a split decision, the panel recommended that the drug remain on the market. However, there was a narrow margin for the vote in favor of Avandia: 20 out of 33 members voted to keep the drug on the market with enhanced restrictions and warnings, while 12 members voted for the drug to be removed from the market.

The FDA is currently reviewing data on Actos to determine if any action should be taken. Currently, officials have advised patients to consult their physician before stopping use of the drug.

If you have an Actos or Avandia claim in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area, please contact the defective drug attorneys at Stipe Injury Law today to schedule your free initial consultation.

Earlier this week, the Archives of Internal Medicine reported findings from a group of researchers indicating that approximately 50% of surgeons earning more than $1 million from orthopedic device manufacturers did not disclose this information to medical journals when they published articles related to the manufacturer’s products.

The researchers, led by David Rothman of the Institute on Medicine as a Profession, evaluated the records from five orthopedic device manufacturers: Biomet; DePuy Orthopedics, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary; Smith & Nephew; Stryker; and Zimmer. Major omissions were found in the reporting of compensation provided to medical journals.

In 2007, the five medical device manufacturers evaluated in this study made 1,654 payments totaling $248 million for consulting, honoraria, and other services. Many of these payments went directly to surgeons. In fact, 41 orthopedic surgeons each received compensation ranging from $1 million to $8.8 million.

The study also found that of the 95 articles published regarding devices produced by these manufacturers, less than half revealed the financial contributions received by the researcher from the manufacturer. Furthermore, of those that did disclose this financial relationship, none discussed the size of the payments.

These findings certainly raise important concerns regarding the potential bias of the conclusions drawn in these articles. Consumers and medical professionals should be made aware of any financial relationship between the author of an article and the company manufacturing the product being discussed in the article. This information is crucial to our ability to accurately assess the validity of these articles, and it may help prevent many injuries caused by defective medical devices.

If you have a defective medical device claim, please contact the nationwide pharmaceutical injury attorneys at Schlichter, Bogard & Denton today to schedule your initial consultation.

Six years ago, the state of Florida initiated important tort reforms in order to reduce both malpractice insurance premiums for doctors as well as the overall number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed statewide. While these measures have certainly helped, Florida doctors still experience some of the highest insurance rates in the country.

The reforms placed caps on the pain and suffering damages which can be awarded in medical malpractice claims. Doctors can be held liable for $500,000 and hospitals $750,000 for pain and suffering. In the event of a catastrophic or fatal injury, these limits are raised to $1 million and $1.5 million respectively. There were no caps placed on past and future medical expenses associated with the injury.

These limitations have certainly improved the situation in Florida. Prior to 2004, Florida experienced 35 medical malpractice lawsuits per year. Since the reforms have been initiated, this number has reduced to 18 a year on average. However, doctors throughout the state still regularly employ defensive medicine practices such as ordering unnecessary tests to shield themselves from potential liability. This tactic raises healthcare costs for patients considerably; yet due to the volatile malpractice climate in Florida, physicians still feel the practice is necessary.

Furthermore, while malpractice insurance premiums have reduced somewhat, they still remain some of the highest in the nation. For example, doctors practicing internal medicine in Florida pay as much as $57,859 a year in Florida compared with Minnesota physicians, who often pay as little as $3,375 annually. In fields with higher premiums such as gynecology, the disparity is far greater: up to $201,808 a year in Florida compared with as little as $20,626 annually in Minnesota.

This trend has forced many physicians to relocate their practices to other states which have more affordable medical malpractice premiums. It has also impacted insurance companies – Florida has seen a steady decline in the number of insurance carriers willing to offer doctors malpractice insurance.

As the federal government debates health care reforms, it is clear that tort reform must be addressed on the national level as well in order to stem the rising costs of health care. It is estimated that defensive health care practices result in an increased cost totaling $60-200 billion a year for patients. Tort reform would likely reduce this figure dramatically.

It is important to understand that tort reform does not have to rob victims of their right to receive fair compensation for their injuries. In cases of medical negligence, the victims deserve to be fairly compensated for their damages. This compensation should always include all medical expenses, lost wages, and rehabilitation costs incurred as a result of the negligence. And while it is important to address pain and suffering, it is reasonable to cap this figure in order to ensure that patients can still receive the high quality health care they deserve at an affordable rate.

If you have a medical malpractice claim in the West Palm Beach, Florida area, please contact the law offices of Craig Goldenfarb today to schedule your free initial consultation.

Yesterday, the Cincinnati City Council voted 8-1 to ban texting while driving throughout the city. The ordinance prohibits the sending, reading, and writing of text messages while driving. Violators will face a $100 fine for the misdemeanor offense.

The law, which will take effect in 30 days, does not ban drivers from talking on their cell phone. Entering information into a GPS device is also allowed as long as the driver has stopped the vehicle and removed it from the traffic flow.

Several other Ohio cities, including Toledo, Columbus, and Cleveland, have already passed similar ordinances. Currently, the state legislature is debating a statewide ban of texting while driving. If it passes, Ohio would join 30 other states and the District of Columbia in banning texting while driving.

In the past few years, there has been a serious effort across the nation to crack down on texting while driving. Several studies have conclusively indicated that this action poses a significant distraction to drivers and greatly increases the risk of a car accident.

If you have been injured in a car accident caused by a distracted driver, you may be entitled to receive compensation for your damages. An experienced car accident attorney can advise you on the best way to proceed with your case.

If you have an auto accident claim in the Northern Kentucky area, please contact the law offices of Greta Hoffman today to schedule your initial consultation.

Johnson & Johnson has just announced a recall of several of their hip implants. The defective medical devices were manufactured by one of the company’s subsidiaries, DePuy Orthopaedics. The recall was initiated due to complaints that the hip implants were prone to failure.

Two types of hip implants were included in the recall:

• The ASR XL Acetabular System – a hip socket used in performing traditional hip replacement surgeries
• The ASR Hip Resurfacing System – a partial hip replacement which positions a metal cap on the ball of the femur to preserve more of the bone

It is estimated that roughly 93,000 of these implants have been used in hip replacement surgeries across the globe. In the past few years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received over 400 complaints about these defective medical devices which claim that they failed early, resulting in expensive and painful hip replacement operations to correct the problem.

A spokesperson from DePuy has stated that the majority of hip replacements involving the recalled devices have not resulted in any problems; however, patients using these implants should consult their surgeon for an evaluation. DePuy has agreed to cover medical costs incurred as a result of damage caused by the defective implants, including new hip replacement surgery.

The recalled implants are part of a category of implants called metal-on-metal bearings. Many of the metal-on-metal bearings devices have been criticized for their ability to produce debris as a result of wear. This debris has led to inflammation and tissue damage in many patients.

It is important to consult with an experienced defective product lawyer at once if you have suffered an injury from one of the recalled Johnson & Johnson hip implants. You may be entitled to receive compensation for your damages.

If you have a defective product claim in the Atlanta, Georgia area, please contact the attorneys at Robbins & Associates today to schedule your free initial consultation.