For years, conservative estimates of losses from food borne illnesses in the US have placed the figure as low as $6.9 billion, and as high as $35 billion every year.  As a new report into food safety in the country shows, those figures are barely the tip of the iceberg. The report by the Produce Safety Project says that the actual cost of food borne illnesses annually amounts to a staggering $157 billion every year.

Injury lawyers in Atlanta have a close connection with the food safety issue. After all, it was the appalling hygiene and safety conditions at a peanut processing plant in our own Georgia that caused nuts to be contaminated with the Salmonella bacteria, and led to a nationwide epidemic that killed several people, and injured hundreds of Americans. The peanut butter salmonella epidemic was just one among several that have come out since then, and which continue to crop up at nauseating intervals.

Every year, according to research conducted by the Produce Safety Project, more than 76 million Americans suffer from a food borne illness. The researchers calculated the costs of these illnesses by adding not just the medical and hospital costs that the patient incurred, but also the lost quality of life as a result of the illness. They arrived at the total figure of $157 billion every year from these illnesses.

Earlier estimates only considered documented food borne illnesses, but a large majority of food poisoning cases in the country go unreported. Besides, federal agencies consider only a few select organisms like the E. coli or Salmonella organisms in their estimates, but ignore the large number of outbreaks traced to other kinds of microorganisms.

Food safety in the country continues to be a hot button issue, with too many glaring loopholes currently in the system. Food safety is not the responsibility of any single federal agency, and therein lies part of the problem. The responsibilities are divided among the Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture and other agencies. There are far too many cracks in the system through which contaminated ingredients and products can slip through. When an epidemic does break out, it is difficult to trace the source, considering the complexities of the food supply chain in which different ingredients sourced from farms all over the country, make it to a single product.

We hope these new figures push our lawmakers into passing long pending food safety legislation.

Auto Defect Blamed in Fayette County Child’s Death

It’s too soon to tell for sure, but investigators seem to believe that a mechanical defect was to blame for the tragic death of a 6-year-old child in Fayette County last week. The accident occurred when the Chrysler Sebring 1999 which was apparently in park mode, began rolling down the driveway, and struck the boy. He died instantly. The Fayette County sheriff’s office is blaming a defective ignition park interlock device for the accident.

Auto defects have been heavily in the news over the past couple of months. A  conspiracy of silence is currently unraveling at Toyota. Auto defects are being blamed for uncontrolled acceleration in several Toyota vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has already confirmed 34 reports of deaths or severe injuries as a result of accidents caused by the acceleration. 

Also this year, Honda Motor Corporation recalled a series of vehicles for air bag defects. This defect has contributed to at least one death in Oklahoma, and has resulted in a lawsuit against Honda. The defect causes the motorist to be injured from shrapnel during airbag deployment.

There is any number of factors that can contribute to an accident. Auto defects are just one of them, but these also happen to be some of the most difficult factors to prove. Toyota’s acceleration problem was evident as far back as 2002, and personal injury lawyers in Atlanta and elsewhere had been coming across cases where fatalities and injuries occurred after a car begin to speed up on its own, and then crashed. For automakers, admitting defects can set off a headache that can ultimately cost them billions of dollars, and an eroded reputation that can prove even costlier. Not surprisingly, the modus operandi at most automakers is to blame just about everything else for the crash, except the car itself.  By the time an automaker is forced to respond to the issue, several people may be injured, or even die.

The Wall Street Journal has published an opinion piece by a trial lawyer making the case for product liability trial attorneys who help keep manufacturers of defective products on their toes.

In the wake of the Toyota scandal, this much is clear. American consumers can expect little protection from agencies charged with the responsibility of keeping them safe. These agencies including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food And Drug Administration are supposed to monitor defective products, and pressure companies to pull them off the market as soon as manufacturers become aware of such defects.

All that is in theory. In reality, these agencies battle a wide range of problems that include funding shortages, staffing crunches, agency infighting and disagreement, allegations of corruption, conflict of interest and other symptoms of malaise that limit their abilities to protect the American consumer.

Take how the NHTSA has responded to the problem of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The agency has had numerous opportunities to recall models that were being linked to complaints of sudden acceleration. Complaints involving sudden acceleration have not surfaced over the past year. They have been steadily streaming in over the past five years at least. It was only after the death of four people in a Lexus accident in California last year that the agency finally seemed to wake from its slumber.

Similar lax attitudes have permeated the Food and Drug Administration, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Unsafe pharmaceutical drugs and defective medical devices have injured thousands of people over the past few years. Dangerous lead-tainted toys manufactured overseas have been allowed to reach the hands of children, causing several injuries and fatalities.

These agencies need plenty of funding and resources to help them discharge their duties properly. It’s fair to say those resources will not be arriving soon, as the federal administration grapples with a recession and a budget deficit. In a situation like this, it becomes the responsibility of trial lawyers in Atlanta and around the country to champion the cause of consumer justice, and protect consumers from dangerous products. That is an argument that even the tort reform lobby will not be able to refute.

The NHTSA has said that it will begin examining documents to see when the Toyota first found about the safety problem that has seriously eroded its credibility, damaged its reputation and has had product liability lawyers in Atlanta and around the country, criticizing the manner in which the automaker has handled the issue. If the new NHTSA probe does indeed reveal that Toyota was aware of auto defects contributing to unintended acceleration in its vehicles much before it announced a recall, then the company will be in more trouble than previously thought.

The agency will also look at how quickly Toyota acted to begin a recall after it found out about the problem. If the NHTSA finds that the company delayed informing federal regulators or failed to initiate an immediate recall, it could be fined penalties of up to $16.4 million. The NHTSA requires that any automaker that finds defects in its vehicles reports these to federal regulators within 5 days of finding a defect. The company must also act quickly to initiate a recall. 

Toyota already had its credibility tarnished last year when one of its former lawyers alleged that the company concealed important documents during several of its product liability lawsuit proceedings. While those revelations had shocked Atlanta car accident lawyers then, they have taken on a new meaning in the light of the new unintended acceleration episodes that have emerged.   If the NHTSA probe shows that the company delayed a recall, it will boost the credibility of the lawsuits that are beginning to stack up. It will also stress what trial lawyers in Atlanta have maintained all long – that in the face of the failure of the NHTSA, it falls on us to hold Toyota responsible for its failings.

Georgia Product Liability Lawyers Show You How to Shop for Safe Toys

The year’s biggest shopping season has begun, and millions of parents will be making the all-important decision - what to give the special little someone in your life. While choices are endless, there is always the question of safety.

For the last couple of years, there has been huge media and legislative attention on lead content in toys. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act set strict limits for lead paint on toys, and therefore, risks from lead contamination are now lower than they used to be. However, children continue to be at risk from toys with detachable parts, or sharp pointed parts that can pose penetration and choking hazards.

This month, the chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission assured Americans that toys in 2009 are much safer to buy than in 2007, when millions of children’s toys had to be recalled because of high lead content. Inez Tenenbaum is however, cautioning parents that they must also take care to buy age-appropriate toys.

WATCH, a child safety advocacy group has also released its annual list of Top 10 Worst Toys for 2009. The list includes toys that can cause blunt force and penetration injuries, as well as choking accidents. The list includes:

1.      Disney-Pixar Wall-E Foam Rocket Launcher

2.      Moon Board Pogo Board

3.      Curious Baby Curious George Counting – My First Book of Numbers

4.      Dark Knight Batman Figure

5.      X-Men Origins Slashin’ Action Wolverine

6.      Lots to Love Babies “mini nursery”

7.      Just Kidz Junior musical instruments

8.      CAT “rugged mini”

9.      Pucci Pups Maltese

10.Spy Gear Viper Blaster

The CPSC website also lists defective toys that have been recalled for safety reasons. We would encourage parents to check out the website, to make informed and safe choices.

The Georgia product liability attorneys at the Katz Law Firm represent victims injured through the use of defective products, including toys, pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, automobiles and other consumer products.   

Ford Inflatable Seatbelt Systems Promise to Reduce Risk of Injuries

As Georgia car accident lawyers, we are constantly monitoring new auto safety technologies that promise to keep drivers and passengers safe in an accident. Ford Motor Company has now announced the development of new inflatable seatbelt systems that we believe could be the next big thing in auto safety.

According to Ford, it will equip new Ford Explorers that are due to go into production next year, with the inflatable seatbelts in the rear seats. During a crash, the belt inflates and fills up with cold compressed gas. The gas is released after several seconds through tiny pores in the belt.

Ford’s new seatbelts offer the protection of both seatbelts and airbags, and promise to prevent injuries and fatalities in both front and side impact crashes.

Passengers in the rear seat tend to have a false sense of security that they will escape injuries in the event of an accident. For this reason, seatbelt usage among back seat passengers is very low with rates hovering around 62 percent, compared to about 80 percent for front seat occupants. According to Ford, studies have shown that the inflatable seatbelts are much more comfortable than traditional seatbelts, and this could encourage use of these seatbelts among backseat passengers.

Auto safety experts and Atlanta personal injury attorneys have welcomed Ford’s announcement. The automaker has had more than its share of safety scandals, including the Explorer rollover cases in the 1990s that ended in several people dead and hundreds more injured. With this new development, the automaker could salvage its reputation.

Over the past few years, Americans have shown a marked preference for cars with advanced safety technologies.  While many of these new features like Electronic Stability Control Systems are not available in all vehicles, the NHTSA is slowly encouraging manufacturers to make many of these features standard across all models. If the new inflatable seatbelts turn out to be as popular with customers as we hope, these could soon become a standard feature in all Ford vehicles in the future.

The Georgia car accident lawyers at the Katz Law Firm represent injured victims of auto accidents in Atlanta and across the state of Georgia.

A new report presented by a pediatric orthopedist at a pediatric conference in Washington is warning that newer models of child safety car seats, that double as baby carriers, may place children at a high risk of injuries. The risk comes from using the car safety seats outside the car. When these seats are placed on tables, counter tops, and soft surfaces like beds, the seats are likely to tip over injuring babies, and possibly suffocating them.

The report found that more than 8,700 babies suffer serious injuries every year when these car seats are used outside the car. Most injuries recorded in the study included head injuries, arm and leg fractures. The study looked at injuries that occurred between 2003 and 2007, and found that an estimated 680 babies a year suffered car seat injuries serious enough to require hospitalization. The researchers are calling for educating parents about the dangers posed when they use their car seats as baby carriers and baby beds, outside the car.

The use of car safety seats is estimated to have saved close to 9,000 lives over the past 30 years.  However, the amount of time a baby spends in a car seat has also increased. Placing a baby in a car seat for long periods of time can also lead to the development of a condition called container syndrome, marked by weak muscles and a flat shape to the head.

Defective Car Seats can Increase Risk of Injuries

None of this must be taken to mean that child safety seats are dangerous. If used properly and according to manufacturers’ specifications, car safety seats can mean the difference between life and death for babies involved in an accident. Make sure however, that you choose a good quality car safety seat made by a reputed manufacturer. Defective car seats can actually increase the risk of an accident for the baby. Also make sure that you refer to the CPSC list of recalled car safety seats before you make a purchase.   

The Atlanta product liability lawyers at the Katz Law Firm represent victims injured from defective car seats, faulty medical devices, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and other unsafe products 

Nestle SA has announced a recall of its Toll House cookie dough because of fears of E. coli contamination linked to dozens of cases of food poisoning nationwide. About 47 varieties of the cookie dough have been included in the recall.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers not to eat Toll House refrigerated and prepackaged cookie dough because of the risk of E coli contamination. The agency has asked consumers who may have any of the pre packaged cookie dough to throw these away. Consumers have been advised that they could face the risk of food poisoning even if they cook the dough, because the bacteria might be transmitted to their hands and cooking surfaces. According to the FDA notice, the contamination was exposed in a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as state and local health departments.

So far, there have been 66 reports of illnesses from 29 states since March this year. 25 persons have been hospitalized and seven of these had suffered a complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome [HUS] which can end in kidney damage and even death.  

E coli bacteria are transmitted through feces, and can spread through contaminated food and water. Symptoms include cramping, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Most case of E coli infection can be treated in about a week. However in other cases, complications can develop. Around 5 to 10 percent of patients may develop a complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome [HUS]. Symptoms include decreased frequency of urination, fatigue and paleness. Kidney damage may occur, and there may be other life threatening complications.

Persons who have recently eaten the dough must watch out for symptoms like abdominal cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. If any symptoms are seen, Georgia product liability lawyers would advise consumers to consult their physician immediately.

The father of a boy who was injured when his Crocs shoes got caught in an escalator at an Atlanta Airport has filed a lawsuit against the company. The father Clark Meyer, is claiming $2 million in damages for injuries suffered by his son, identified only as “AM”.

According to the lawsuit, Meyer’s son was "severely and permanently injured" in the accident on July 15^th last year. On that day, the boy’s foot was snagged on an escalator at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. The boy who was four years old at that time suffered at least three broken toes and cuts. In the lawsuit, Meyer alleges that the company was aware of the dangers to children wearing the popular Crocs shoes in 2005, but that didn’t stop the company from marketing the shoes targeting young children.

It is the second such lawsuit filed in Atlanta in 2005 involving children and escalator injuries linked to the popular shoes. Crocs meanwhile has denied that the shoes cause any injuries.  The company blames faulty escalator design and the parents for the injuries suffered by children who wear their shoes.

In 2006, Crocs came under intense scrutiny by product liability attorneys and consumer safety groups after reports of the shoes being caught in escalators began coming in. The reports mostly involved young children, and the foot injuries have been severe. At the Atlanta airport itself, there have been multiple reports of shoe-related injuries, and almost all of them involved Crocs shoes.

The worries were severe enough for retailer American Girl to post signs in at least three of their stores, asking customers wearing crocs not to use escalators. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were more than 10,000 injuries related to escalator accidents in 2006, but only a few of them involved Crocs shoes. In 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Commission began alerting customers that soft sided shoes that were more pliable and malleable were likely to get stuck in escalators. However, the agency has never specifically mentioned Crocs in these injuries.

Toymaker Mattel has agreed to pay $2.3 million to settle allegations that it imported and distributed toys that contained lead levels in paints that were in excess of federal standards.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the penalties, the highest ever for importation and distribution regulation violations by the agency, on its website. Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher Price, have been charged with importing toy that contained lead levels that were higher than the .06 percent by weight, mandated by federal laws. Mattel was charged with importing 900,000 toys that were non compliant with the standard, while Fisher Price, according to CPSC allegations imported more than 1.1 million toys that did not comply with those safety standards. With the fines, Mattel has put those allegations to rest. 

The lead toy recall crisis of 2007 has had several positive effects – Congress moved to equip the generally-regarded-as toothless CPSC with more powers to prevent such crises. This led to the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which sets standards for lead in children's products including toys, among other standards.

In the same week the penalties were announced, product liability lawyers learned of another serious defective children's product that has already had children being placed in dangerous situations. The CPSC has announced a recall of 5,000 cribs under the following brand names:

• Bonavita Hudson
• Babi Italia "Pinehurst" drop side cribs
• Bonavita "Cabana" drop side cribs

The cribs were manufactured in Vietnam and China, and were imported by New Jersey-based LaJobi Inc.

In the case of the Bonavita Hudson and Babi Italia Pinehurst drop side cribs, a defective pin can pop out causing the drop sides to detach suddenly, creating an entrapment hazard for infants. In the case of the Bonavita Cabana drop side cribs, the wooden slats can break or detach, again posing a strangulation or entrapment hazard to little children. 

The company has received at least 16 reports of slat failures, and at least 33 reports of drop side detachment. Two children apparently became entrapped in these dangerous gaps, and one child fell off the crib.  In all cases, no injuries were reported. Parents have been urged to stop using these three cribs immediately.

After Bausch & Lomb Inc. went private in 2007, the contact lens maker conducted a quiet recall of its ReNu with MoistureLoc solutions, without much fuss and away from the public glare.

As it now turns out, the company also quietly settled nearly 600 product liability lawsuits brought against it by contact lens wearers across the country, who contracted a fungal eye infection called Fusarium Keritatis. These persons claimed that the infection, which left some of them with permanent eye damage, was the result of using the ReNu with MoistureLoc multi purpose solution. Fusarium Keratitis is an extremely rare infection which means that when these cases of infection began to show up in 2005, ophthalmologists were not able to diagnose the infection correctly and treat it properly. As the result, 60 people suffered enough eye damage to require a cornea transplant, and at least 7 people lost an eye.

Several of these injured users have had their lives impacted dramatically by the infection. One race car driver in Colorado had to give up his passion for racing after he suffered severe eye damage. A Broadway actress who suffered scarring in her eye was also one of those who filed a product liability lawsuit against the company.

There is very little information on how the infection developed. The company has come under severe criticism from ophthalmologists and product liability lawyers, who believe Bausch & Lomb has effectively silenced the truth. The settlements were cloaked in a shroud of secrecy, and clinical findings have not been made public. However, there may still be hope. There are still several more product liability lawsuits pending against the company, and we, at the Katz law firm, hope that more information about the infections comes out then.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has been jolted enough by the eye infection crisis to announce that it will be reexamining its testing standards for contact lens solutions.

Automaker Chrysler's bankruptcy proceedings are leaving more than dealers and workers worried. There's another class of people who have much to lose if the automaker goes under, and little attention has been paid to their plight.

We are talking about the people who have pending product liability lawsuits against the company. These people will find that their dreams of justice are shattered when the spoils are distributed. Plaintiffs who have filed product liability lawsuits against the company fall in the unsecured creditors' group. While secured creditors include people who have collateral, unsecured creditors include plaintiffs and other corporations. These creditors are low on the pecking order when it comes to payouts. The secured creditors will get first preference, leaving the remainder of the funds to be distributed among the unsecured creditors. Corporations that are included in the unsecured creditors' group are likely to demand priority for their funds; leaving plaintiffs with peanuts after all other debts are paid.

According to the New York Times, it's still not clear how these pending lawsuits will be dealt with. They could be sent back to the original courts for a decision, after which the plaintiff who have won or settled may be able to go to the bankruptcy court for their money.

For these people who have suffered injures because of Chrysler vehicles, the situation seems week. However, the number of such people could rise if General Motors, which has far more numbers of product liability lawsuits, files for bankruptcy too.

Chrysler insists that it will do everything it can to "maintain goodwill with our customers." The company could have done more than just pay lip service to people who have been injured because of their defective vehicles. According to experts, Chrysler could have intervened, asking the court to give pending lawsuits priority among the unsecured creditors. The company could have cited the need to maintain good customer relations for such a priority request. 

It seems to be a familiar scenario - consumer rights are trashed, and they can expect few people, except product liability lawyers to stand up for their rights.

General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have announced a set of three recalls for the new Chevrolet Camaro as well as several other models of pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles, because of auto defects.

The recalls involve a total of 43,824 vehicles. The Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Avalanche, Suburban, Tahoe, Colorado, the GMC canyon and Yukon are included in the first recall of about 27,118 cars. These vehicles have a faulty seal in the fuel control system that allows water to leak through, leading to short circuits, possible engine failures or stalling of the engine. The second recall involves 15,393 Traverse SUV’s for brake system compliance failure. The third recall involves 1,243 units of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.  The problem relates to a positive battery cable that can wear away, causing the vehicle to stall at the least, or cause an engine fire.

All three recalls have to do with serious safety problems in these vehicles. The Camaro in particular, is a highly anticipated model that seems to have already run into safety problems. There have already been at least four reports of problems with the worn out cable in these V-8 powered cars, although none of these incidents have resulted in injuries.

Auto manufacturers are required to inform the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration when there is a possible defect. In some cases, the agency may be forced to order for a recall. In any case, these defects may either be because of a safety issue, or because of a compliance failure with an existing federal guideline for safety. For a manufacturer, it actually makes more sense to recall the vehicles at the earliest signs of trouble, rather than wait till the problem has ballooned into a national safety crisis.

Unfortunately, as Georgia product liability lawyers know only too well, many auto companies even now, seem to think only in terms of the short term damage to their reputation and poor publicity that a recall will cause. The longer they wait to recall their defective vehicles, the higher the risks that people could be injured in accidents arising out of these defects. Driver negligence is still a factor in a majority of the car accidents that take place on our roads and highways every year, but a defective component in a vehicle can also play a part in causing serious injuries.

In a month in which at least 34 weight loss products of a New York-based company were recalled by the FDA, the agency has issued another warning, this time to consumers who use popular weight loss supplement Hydroxycut, to stop using these immediately. The warning comes because of reported liver injuries in persons who took these products, including at least one death.

Hydroxycut has a lion's share of the weight loss supplement market with close to 9 million bottles reportedly sold last year alone. The supplement is popular with people on a diet because of its appetite suppressing properties. Besides, it is used widely by bodybuilders to define muscle tone. According to the FDA, some of the Hydroxycut products also have a serious side effect - they cause liver injuries. At least one person’s death has been linked to the weight loss supplement. A 19-year-old man reportedly died in 2007 from liver injuries. Also one person has had to undergo a liver transplant procedure after he suffered liver damage from using the product. According to the FDA, it has received at least 23 reports of liver injuries caused by the supplement.

The company that makes Hydroxycut, Canada based-Iovate Health Sciences has agreed to recall all Hydroxycut products, even though the FDA has linked only about 14 Hydroxycut products to liver injuries. The company however denies that the sole death was linked to its product in any way.

While drug makers are required to prove the safety and efficacy of their drugs before releasing them in the market, makers of nutritional supplements are not required to get FDA approval before releasing their products. The agency has little oversight over these products, and all it can do to protect the public from injuries is to monitor these supplements after they are released, and act when there are hazards reported.

This lack of oversight has in many cases, proved disastrous to users of these products. Product liability lawyers and consumer safety advocates have not forgotten the side effects of the Ephedra dietary supplement and the deaths resulting from its use.

It’s clear that the FDA must step in to increase it’s oversight over the nutrition and herbal supplement industry. Working after a supplement has been linked to injuries and deaths exposes potentially hundreds of thousands of people to serious health risks. Already there are concerns that there may be other products in the market that contain hydroxycitric acid, the ingredient in Hydroxycut that probably causes the injuries.  

A Ford Explorer trial involving a young woman, who suffered spine injuries in an accident involving a Ford Explorer, began in DeKalb County last week. Jessica Mundy, who was 22 years old when the accident took place, is claiming damages from Ford, alleging that a transmission design defect in her Explorer caused the SUV to suddenly shift from park to reverse. The accident left Mundy a quadriplegic.

Mundy claims she put her car in park, and got out to mail a package. The car ran over her, leaving her with a fractured spine. In January 2005, Ford had issued a repair service bulletin involving a transmission problem, and the alert covered a number of vehicles, including Mundy’s SUV. Her lawyer insists that the transmission repair which was conducted on her Explorer, could have contributed to the problem. The bulletin at the time warned owners, that transmission fluid could lead to their vehicles experiencing “delayed/harsh reverse engagements,” and asked owners to get a transmission fluid additive installed to correct the problem at their dealer. Another letter sent on April 2005 again reminded vehicle owners that if the vehicles were left to operate with the original factory-installed fluid, the danger of transmission shifting would actually increase.

More than 200 Ford owners have complained to the National Highway Transport Safety Administration about the transmission defect in the Explorer. In most of the complaints, there is a delay when the Explorer is shifted from park to reverse or from another gear to reverse. Other complaints have involved the vehicle slipping from park to gear, although Ford continues to deny that the complaints say any such thing.

The complaints filed with the NHTSA also report potentially serious accidents that have occurred because of the transmission defect. One complaint involves a child trapped under the vehicle when the Explorer started rolling in neutral. Other complaints call the Explorer a “public hazard” and insist that Ford was “doing absolutely nothing about it”.

This does concern Georgia personal injury lawyers. The Explorer in particular, has been linked to several safety risks. The SUV has been linked to a higher incidence of rollovers caused due to Firestone tire failures. In 2001, the company settled a lawsuit with a Texas woman who was paralyzed after an Explorer accident caused by a tire blowout, but the vehicles were never recalled.  

States Moving to Crack Down on Sale of Defective Old Tires That can Cause Accidents

An ABC News investigation last year revealed that thousands of motorists may be at risk for automobile accidents because their vehicles are fitted with aged tires that are older than the recommended age limit for tires. The investigation by “20/20” caught some of the biggest retailers in the country selling outdated and aged tires.  Now, states across the country are taking steps to ensure that retailers and dealers don’t fob old and weak tires on an unsuspecting motoring public.

The risk of a tire becoming dried out and prone to blowouts that can cause accidents increases after six years of age. The investigation, however found tires including some sold by Goodyear that were made in 1999 and 2002. Other investigations by ABC news affiliates around the county found outdated tires dating back to 1999 and 2001 sold at Wal-Mart. Old tires were also found at Wal-Mart stores in Florida, as well as Sears in New Jersey. Similar stories came in from across the county. The retailers including Goodyear and Wal-Mart insist that the age of the tire should not be taken as the most important factor in judging its safety.

Since the ABC investigation, several states have moved to enact laws that would prevent these old tires from being sold.

• In California, the death of a 12-year-old boy in a rollover accident after the separation of the tread on an old tire has galvanized lawmakers into action. A bill requiring tire dealers to disclose the age of the tire in writing to a customer before the tire is sold or installed has been introduced. If the bill is passed, it would also require tire dealers to retain their sale documents for a minimum of three years.
• New Jersey is also working on a law that would include an age disclosure clause.
• In Hawaii, senators have introduced a bill banning the sale of tires that are more than 6 years old.
• Suffolk County in New York has already adopted such a law, pending implementation.
• In New York, assembly members have gone one step further, and introduced a bill that would require tire manufacturers to mold the date of manufacture on both sides of the tire, in a clear and non-coded manner. Currently, the date of manufacture comes in a form of cryptic code that’s hard for a majority of consumers to decipher.

Not surprisingly, all these bills are being opposed by the tire industry.  They would like for such rules on manufacture date markings to be the same across the country, and all states. However, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration moving slowly to act on the problem, state lawmakers have no other option, but to pass legislation banning the sale of defective tires, to protect motorists in their own states. Are Georgia's lawmakers listening?  

Georgia accident attorneys and citizens' groups must demand that our legislators make efforts to prevent the sale of these old and defective tires here too. 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced that Mega Brands America Inc. will pay a $1.1 million civil penalty to settle allegations that the company failed to inform the government about the dangers posed by its Magnetix building sets.

The defective toys were the subject of a recall in 2006 after a 22-month-old child died after swallowing tiny magnets that had come loose and fallen out of the toy. The first indication that Kenny Sweet's parents had that Kenny was sick was flu like symptoms. and shallow breathing. When he was taken to the hospital, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and he suffered a cardiac arrest. His left lung collapsed, and Kenny died soon after. His parents asked for an autopsy to find out what had happened to their precious little boy. The report arrived the next day, and the results were shocking. The coroner had found eight small magnets in Kenny's intestine. When Kenny’s horrified parents who suspected that the magnets could only have come from the Magnetix toys, checked the toy, they found several magnets missing.  

In 2005, Mega Brands which was then known as Rose Art Inc reported Kenny’s death to the CPSC. However, the company failed to provide any information about how the tragedy had occurred, and instead, claimed that the magnets probably fell out because of aggressive use of the toy. On February 1^st 2006, the company again submitted a full report which did not mention any complaints it had received of the loose magnets falling out of the toy. In March, the company recalled close to 4 million units of the toy. The CPSC later discovered that when Rose Art had first reported Kenny’s death in December 2005, it has already receive more than 1,100 complains of magnets falling out of several magnetic toy models. These complaints had included at least one report of a child being injured after swallowing the magnet. By the time the company acted to recall the toys, the number of complaints had grown to more than 1,500 across 65 different models.

In April of 2007, the recall was expanded to include all magnetic sets, after more than 25 children had to be rushed to hospital emergency rooms with intestinal injuries from the ingested magnets. Several of these children required surgery to treat the intestinal perforations that had occurred.

Under law, Mega Brands should have reported to the CPSC within 24 hours of receiving information that indicated that there was a defect in the toy that could pose a danger of injury or death. Rose Art failed to do so, and as a consequence, several children suffered intestinal injuries. According to the CPSC, there are possibly millions of the recalled building sets still in existence in homes across the county. Product liability lawyers are encouraging Georgia parents who still have the building sets in their homes to get rid of these.

The Magnetix defective toys were just one among several defective toys and children’s products that have flooded the market since then. From toxic paints in children’s toys that expose children to lead poisoning to ingestible magnets, drawstrings that can choke a child as well as children’s products like defective cribs that can lead to suffocation and high chairs that are prone to seatback collapses, it's gotten to the point where parents simply can't take the safety of the product or toy that their child uses for granted.

If you have questions about your rights after injuries caused by a defective children's product, the lawyers at the Katz Law Firm can answer your queries. Contact a product liability lawyer at the Katz Law Firm for a free consultation.

Food and drug safety advocates and Georgia product liability attorneys have long called for a division of the Food and Drug Administration into separate agencies, each in charge of food and drug safety. These calls have gotten louder since the salmonella poisoning scandal earlier this year that's been linked to contaminated peanut butter. It’s obvious that the agency is over burdened, over stressed, and simply unable to handle the responsibilities of making sure that the food and medical products that Americans consume are completely safe to use.

Hopes for a split of the agency into separate divisions for food and drug safety received impetus last week when President Barack Obama named two health experts to top positions at the FDA. The President has tipped former New York City Health Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to be the agency's new commissioner. Joshua Sharfstein, a pediatrician has been picked by the President to be deputy commissioner. Sharfstein has long been a strong critic of health issues, including the safety of children’s cold medicines. FDA insiders believe that the President's choice of 2 respected health experts points to his being in favor of dividing the agency into two. The President has also appointed an advisory group which will be re-evaluating archaic American food safety laws, many of which are several decades old.

The FDA has traditionally focused on drug safety as its primary responsibility, and critics have complained that the issue of food safety comes up at the agency only when there is a crisis like the recent salmonella epidemic.  It has been apparent even to a casual observer that the FDA has too many responsibilities and too few resources. The drug industry is reportedly in favor of a split agency because it would lead to quicker drug approvals. Besides, having a single drug safety agency will mean better oversight over drug approvals, and more stringent following of approval processes.

There is no doubt that the FDA in its present state is chained by antiquated laws that compromise the state of our citizens' health. As a commentator puts it, it makes little sense that the agency responsible for inspecting peanut butter plants is also entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the quality of super sophisticated medical devices costing thousands of dollars. The splitting up of the FDA into two will result in enhanced food and drug security, making Americans safer. It's an idea whose time has come, and as attorneys who constantly represent victims in food and pharmaceutical drug-related product liability lawsuits, we hope that the new administration will act to implement such a division.   

Democratic lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would overturn a Supreme Court decision in February 2008 barring injured patients from suing a medical device company if the device had already received Food and Drug Administration FDA approval. In effect, the legislation promises to return patients their right to sue medical device makers for injuries sustained after using their products.

In February 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that injured patients or their survivors could not sue companies that manufactured medical devices that had FDA approval. Since the ruling was passed, judges around the country have thrown out several hundreds of lawsuits that were filed by patients and their families against manufacturers of defective medical devices. Now Henry A Waxman, Democrat from California and Frank Pallone Junior Democrat from New Jersey, have plans to introduce legislation that would overturn the Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court ruling was based on the premise that approval by the FDA took preemption or precedence over product liability laws in individual states. Judges around the country have cited the Supreme Court decision as the reason for their dismissal of several medical device product liability lawsuits.

Since the Supreme Court ruling was passed, Atlanta product liability attorneys, pharmaceutical injury experts and patients' advocates have been vocal in their opposition to the law which essentially cuts off individual rights to justice in the event of an injury. It is important to understand how serious some of these injuries are. Defective Medtronic defibrillators have resulted in a massive shock being delivered to patients' heart, and there have been other serious injuries including burning and scarring injuries caused by malfunctioning joints and other devices. These injured victims used devices that were approved by the FDA, but can hope for little justice as long as the Supreme Court decision rules. The FDA has time and again failed in its duty to make sure that medical devices entering the market are free of defects. It has severe critics both within and outside the organization who are concerned about botched approval procedures, and even corruption at the agency. If the new Democrat-sponsored legislation passes, patients can hope for justice again.