consumer protection

Published on: February 7, 2012

FDA’s Poor Oversight of Disposable Wipes Makers Poses Safety Risk to Consumers

The Food and Drug Administration has failed in its responsibility to maintain oversight over companies that manufacture disposable wipes.As a result, sanitation and hygiene standards at these facilities have dropped, and the result has been several fatalities and infections across the country caused by contaminated wipes.An investigation by the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel found poor hygiene standards at a facility operated by yet another Wisconsin-based company that manufactures wipes.

Product liability claims are likely from any serious infection or wrongful death which arises due these wipes. A personal injury arising out of a serious infection often results in long-term hospitalization and continuing issues for the individual. Product liability claims which arise out of the improper manufacturing of a product can be very difficult to prove. However, personal injury lawyers have developed a variety of techniques of attacking these types of cases. The work of government agencies is often an important component in establishing civil liability in these matters.

That company, Rockline Industries manufactures baby wipes and other wipes that are used in hospitals and homes.According to the investigation, at least 5 years ago, employees of the company acting as whistleblowers wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration warning that thousands of contaminated wipes were being manufactured at the company’s Arkansas facility.The whistleblowers alleged that the company was aware of the contamination of these wipes, but failed to take action, and continued to ship these wipes across the country.

Published on: February 6, 2012

Company Recalls Dining Tables Due to Personal Injury Risks

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A California-based company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are announcing a recall of dining tables, because of the risk that the tables could collapse, injuring consumers. As any personal injury attorney who has handled a collapsing table or chair case can attest, the injuries from this type of incident are more significant than they may first appear. For instance, consider the possibility of a small child sitting at a table that collapses. The weight of the table could easily seriously injure or kill the child.

For adults, the risk of a collapsing table relates more to a leg or knee injury. If the heavy wooden table were to collapse on an individual’s knee, then there is a significant potential for a knee replacement surgery. It is good that the company has taken the issue seriously and is recalling the tables. They will very likely avoid a number of product liability claims.

The table, the Dover Dining Table is manufactured in China and imported by West Elm, a division of Williams-Sonoma of San Francisco, California.According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, West Elm is recalling approximately 830 dining tables in the United States.In Canada, 10 tables are being recalled.The recall is linked to a potential defect that could cause the wooden base of the table to collapse.This can cause the glass top to fall, posing serious injury hazards to consumers seated at the table.

Published on: October 31, 2011

CPSC Product Safety Database Hit with First Lawsuit – Effort to limit likelihood of Product Liability Claims

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

This was something that Atlanta personal injury lawyers had been expecting.Ever since the Consumer Product Safety Commission database that allows consumers to upload complaints about products went online, the attorneys at our law firm have been expecting manufacturers to challenge the manner in which the database allows consumers to publicly post complaints about products.That is exactly what has now happened.An unidentified company has filed a lawsuit to block the Consumer Product Safety Commission from posting what it describes as “baseless allegations” about one of its products.

The database in question here is located on the website saferproducts.gov.The website is operated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the establishment of the website was one of the provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.That law had been passed after a tumultuous couple of years for product safety in the country.Millions of children’s products and toys had been recalled for high lead content levels, and a number of other deficiencies.The database serves as an early identifier of products which contain defects which may result in severe personal injury or wrongful death.

The database which was launched in March this year, allows consumers to upload complaints about products.These complaints are posted online, and are publicly accessible.Other consumers can view these complaints, and make informed decisions about the products they want to buy.Consumers can post complaints about thousands of products.Manufacturers are given the opportunity to review these complaints, and post their responses.

Published on: July 1, 2010

Airline Passengers at Risk for Food Poisoning

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Airline Passengers at Higher Risk of Food Poisoning

All those jokes about bad airline food don’t seem so funny when you read a new report by USA Today. According to the report, Food and Drug Administration inspections have found poor sanitary conditions at some of the biggest airline catering companies in the industry. The conditions are so poor, that inspectors are warning of a higher risk of food poisoning in passengers who eat these meals.

The inspections were conducted at Gate Gourmet, LSG Sky Chefs, and Flying Food Group. Inspectors found a number of unsanitary and unsafe conditions at these facilities.

Published on: April 20, 2010

Consumer Product Safety Database Available Next Year

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

New CPSC Database Will Let Consumers Know of Product Injuries Before a Recall

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investing more than $20 million in establishing a searchable database that will make information about product injuries available to consumers before any recall is announced. It’s a development that was long overdue, and promises to offer American consumers the kind of information and knowledge they need to make safe choices for their families.

The final details of the database have not been established yet. It is likely to be available on saferproducts.gov, and is expected to be online by this time next year. Once up, the database will contain information about literally thousands of consumer products, from gifts, cribs, and strollers to power tools and electronic appliances.

Published on: March 15, 2010

Baby Slings Pose Suffocation Risk

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Baby slings, those soft and snuggly baby carriers that are all the rage, have now come under the microscope at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The agency is expected to make an announcement later this week, warning about the special risks of suffocation to babies, especially newborns, who are placed in these slings.

CPSC chairperson Inez Tenenbaum is expected to make the announcement, warning parents about the high risk of suffocation in certain kinds of sling designs. The risk, according to child safety experts, comes from the fact that many of the designs allow babies to settle into a comfortable fetal position, that can have their chin touching their chest. In a position like this, there is a high risk of a respiratory blockage, and consequent suffocation. Some brands like the “Sling Rider” from Infantino have been named as posing a special risk because of the design. Besides, babies may be at risk in these slings when they turn towards the person carrying them, and become smothered in their clothes.

The risks from baby slings are not entirely new to injury lawyers in Atlanta. There have been at least seven confirmed reports of deaths of infants who have suffocated in these slings.In 2008, there were dozens of instances of babies falling out of the fabric slings, and injuring themselves.

Published on: March 9, 2010

Food Poisoning Costs US Economy $157 Billion Per Year

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

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.

Published on: March 3, 2010

Trial Lawyers Keep Consumers Safe

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

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.

Published on: November 30, 2009

How to Shop for Safe Toys During the Holidays

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

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.

Published on: July 7, 2009

Georgia Home Depot Customer Awarded $1.5 Million in Premises Liability Lawsuit

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A Home Depot customer, who sustained serious injuries in a Marietta store from a piece of wood falling off a folk lift, has been awarded $1.5 million in premises liability damages.

In 2005, Larry Reece was at a Home Depot in Marietta when a pallet of plywood fell about 24 feet on him. Reece suffered serious neck and spinal injuries that left him debilitated, and unable to continue his work as a residential contractor. According to his attorney, he settled with Home Depot over punitive damages, but the case had to go to jury trial over personal injury damages. He has now been awarded $1.5 million in damages, while his wife has been awarded $30,000 for loss of consortium as part of the damages.

Besides the debilitating injuries and the severe pain that he suffered, Reece also had to deal with the high expenses of hospitalization and other medical costs. Since the accident, Reece has racked up about $120,000 in medical expenses.He was required to have permanent hardware in his neck to resume his normal activities. Most traumatic of all, Reece who has been a construction worker all his life, was unable to return to his job. He lost his livelihood, along with the trauma and loss of income that that accompanies.