Mattel Toy from China Unsafe

Filed under:Civil Law, Liability, Ethics, News — posted by Tom on August 17, 2007 @ 7:41 pm

Modern toy chest’s seem to contain more fear of lead poisoning than the old lead based painted toys ever did previously.

Mattel announced earlier this week that their “Sarge line of die cast cars, that were brought in from China may contain lead levels too high for consumption in the states, and parents should consult with the Mattel site for more details.

Food From China Not being Inspected

Filed under:Controversial, Opinions, Liability, Blogroll, News — posted by Tom on August 9, 2007 @ 11:47 pm

“Frozen Shrimp, Catfish, and Eel From Foreign Source  Not Inspected”

More than one million pounds of  shrimp, catfish, and eel brought ind from China passed through U.S.  shipping ports since the autumn of 2006 sans the needed inspection for banned chemicals and drugs or other harmful things. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration  had placed the Chinese food businesses that generated these items on an “import alert” roster, indicating that the FDA was ordered to  prevent every load of the items until they had passed our testing. However, an  investigation found that most such deliveries were not stopped or tested.
FDA Can Not Perform Its Duties

The FDA usually inspects only just 1% of the imports it is issued with watchingg. In the instance of import notices such as that given for pond-raised food from China, 100 percent of the imports  are mandated to be searched and tested. The current news about the chinese shipments advises once again that the FDA is helpless to perform its duties to shield American consumers.

The FDA has about 450 employees to inspect  about 20 million shipments of imported food products, medical apparatus, and miscellaneous  items annually. FDA staff of late said before Congress that they don’t feel they have the manpower to do this screening efficiently.

Another Botulism Scare?!

Filed under:Liability, Blogroll, News — posted by Tom on August 3, 2007 @ 11:11 pm

Are we getting panicky? Its been less than 2 weeks? Are these genuine concerns or are we over reacting?

The Food and Drug Administration has recalled green beans due to belief they are contaminated with a botulism toxin. This, now, just 2 weeks after the fact leads to either concern or apathy depending on your views. The product of recall is the 14.5 ounce variety of can containing green beans of the french cut. They were manufactured in Wisconsin in the town of manitowoc. As of August first no reports of botulism were linked to the green beans, but they have been removed from store shelves.

The consumers who have he product in their home are urged to dispose of it. Botulism is a life threatening illness.

Botulism Scare

Filed under:Civil Law, Liability, Blogroll, News — posted by Tom on July 21, 2007 @ 10:44 pm

A company has recalled  their canned chili, stews and meats because there is a possibility it may contain  Botulism.

Castleberry Foods has called for a  product recall after quite a few individuals got sick after consuming their hot dog chili.

In the interest of safety  they opened the recall up to other products, just in case. those products include  chili, beef stew and other canned meat products, and further includes 4 pet food products.

The pet food products are sold under the Natural Balance label. The company has shut  down their US plant, no word on its reopening has been said.

Botulism is one of the most powerful toxins in the known world and works by blocking nerves, you would become paralyzed, and eventually your lungs will cease to function

California Jury Awards 6 Million

Filed under:Lawsuits, Civil Law, Settlements, Injuries, Ethics, Liability, Blogroll — posted by Tom on @ 11:54 am

5.7 million was awarded to a  very sick man who wasnt diagnosed as having skin cancer  by his doctor. The trial was 4 weeks long and the victim required hospitilzation even during the trial. Poor guy .

The doctor failed to remove the cysts on the plaintiffs right shoulder, which over time metasized into cancer. the cancer is life  threatening for the plaintiff.

The plaintiff’s counsel felt pleased by the juries award, as it was sizable enough that she felt it may offset the distress caused by the misdiagnosis.

The plaintiff, Mr, Reilly, went through numerous surgeries to removes the tissue causing the cancer. His wife was by his side through the strenuous ordeal, and solely cares for him when hes at home.

“When you see pictures of the cysts, they are football-sized and deep in the tissue,” Asher said. Reilly went through a series of surgeries to remove the cancerous tissue. His wife, Karen Reilly, served as his nurse during the multiple surgeries and radiation treatments.

Reilly is bound to his home with 24 hour medical care.

Virginia Bird Flu

Filed under:Controversial, Opinions, Liability, Blogroll, News — posted by Tom on July 18, 2007 @ 10:13 pm

Tests performed by labs have confirmed that the turkey’s at the farm in Virginia did have the bird flu, but the evidence showed that the flu is not being passed around, authorities stated.

The turkeys, who caught the virus, did not pose a risk to humans. HOWEVER, as a precautionary measure, all 54,000 turkeys(!!!!!!!!!!) that were living on the farm in Virginia were slaughtered.

naturally, the area surrounding the farm is still being resurveyed over and over to make sure that there is no traced of the virus, but so far all tests have shown nothing.

I think its awful to kill animals, but becuz we consume them, i deal with it. But when 54000 animals are killed becuz a couple were mildly ill… this disturbs me greatly

Catholic Church Settles

Filed under:Lawsuits, Controversial, Settlements, Liability, Ethics, Blogroll — posted by Tom on July 15, 2007 @ 9:47 am

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has chosen to settle for 660 million dollars paying out to 508 victims for the molestation they enduring over decades.

this settlement is the most extreme one since the sex scandal Boston had in 2002. But hey, the LA Catholic church is by no means broke. In real estate alone they posses approximately 4 billion. This is simply some “please be quiet and go away” money.

Whats important out of this settlement is the records kept by the church of the priests will be made public, assuming that the church complies, i think this will end alot of nonsense, or, i hope it will.

All establishments including the Catholic Church are not above the law. They must be accountable, and they are.

OxyContin

Filed under:Federal Rulings, Controversial, Civil Law, Lawsuits, Ethics, Liability, Blogroll — posted by Tom on July 11, 2007 @ 9:29 pm

The makers of OxyContin and the compnay that markets it had their day in court recently. Seems they messed up. They plead guilty to criminal charges against them, admitting they misled people, including the doctors, the government officials, and of course the patients themselves. They lied about how addictive the drug was/is. OxyContin is a potent, painkilling narcotic.

OxyContin was touted as being safer than other painkiller such as Vicodin or Percocet because OxyContin is “time released”. This ploy was to get medical doctors with little knowledge of pain management practices to subscribe the drug to even lesser informed patients.

The plan was effective and bt 1996 the sales hit one billion. Of course, the success meant that may were showing signs of addiction…

19 Million Dollar Settlement

Filed under:Lawsuits, Settlements, Injuries, Liability, Blogroll — posted by Tom on July 8, 2007 @ 11:14 am

18.9 million was awarded to the wife of a late worker in texas. Gordon Rutherford was killed in an explosion at the Texas Industries  Inc. plant. The widow is accusing TXI  of reckless conduct in her husbands death. The Dallas jury  agreed with her after a 4 week trial.

Three other workers died in the resulting fire as well.

The counsel of the deceased  claimed that TXI of ignores basic safety rules by sending the welders into a very dangerous situation sans proper warning or properly maintained equipment.

Hasbro’s Easy Bake Oven

Filed under:Lawsuits, Opinions, Injuries, Liability, Ethics, Blogroll — posted by Tom on July 5, 2007 @ 8:28 pm

Another recall for Hasbro Easy-Bake Oven’s. Little kids can get their hands stuck in the front opening of the oven and it is a burn risk. This recall decision is based on hundreds of reports, including a child getting her finger amputated, and still many have suffered second and third degree burns.

Hasbro issued a callback of the devices earlier this year, but sent out a kit to fix the problem as opposed to a real solution. I will assume this was their choice due to an effort of financial expediency. I question why hasbro didnt do thourough testing initially to determine the safety of a toy that is naturally marketed towards wee ones.

With hundreds of children injured by a product that was irresponsibly tested, i think someone should be held accountable.


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image: detail of installation by Bronwyn Lace