Defective & Dangerous Products

• The Right To Know The Truth About Medical Products

  Bob Carroll | February 13, 2007 6:02 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  I am the owner of two drug-eluding coronary stents. I keep them in one of my major blood vessels where they were placed in the fall of 2006. Two days after their installation the ongoing debate over their safety surfaced in the medical literature. The debate continues today according to this article:Drug-eluting Coronary Stents-A Wealth of Data and Little AgreementThe use of the stents in my...

• Toyotas With Potential Steering Problems Recalled

  Bob Carroll | January 20, 2007 7:14 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  A defect in a motor vehicle that could make it impossible to steer makes you sit up and take notice.Toyota Recalls 533,000 Trucks for Failed Ball Joints By Joe Benton, ConsumerAffairs.ComToyota Motor Co. is recalling 533,000 trucks and SUVs because of possible steering and suspension problems caused by faulty ball joints.The recall marks a sudden shift in policy for the Japanese automaker after...

• More Puffs And More Nicotine - Big Tobacco "Improves" Its Delivery System

  Bob Carroll | January 19, 2007 6:56 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  According to this International Herald Tribune story Big Tobacco is making each cigarette a bigger hit of Nicotine. One more reason for every Florida resident who believes cigarette smoking has caused a serious disease or condition to accept the invitation of the Florida Supreme Court to file an individual claim for damages. The deadline for filing a claim is fast approaching. Cigarettes...

• Loose Nuts A Problem On Some ATV's

  Bob Carroll | January 11, 2007 6:27 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  ATV's manufactured by Kawasaki are the subject of a recall. Kawasaki Recalls 2007 ATVsKawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. is recalling its 2007 model year KFX50 and KFX90 all-terrain vehicles. On some of these units, the handlebar holder, tie-rod adjustment, and tie-rod end nuts may not have been tightened to the proper torque.Operation of the vehicle can cause the nuts to loosen, resulting in a loss...

• Medtronic Soon To Need A Defibrillator

  Bob Carroll | January 11, 2007 5:52 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  It will get pretty expensive for Medtronic real soon. The recall of 87,000 defibrillators meant 87,000 replacement surgeries (give or take a few). Each surgery cost $25,000 (give or take a few bucks). You can do the math.Medtronic may be sued for device replacementMedtronic may have to repay health insurers for the cost of replacing 25,000 recalled defibrillators following a federal court...

• Infant Car Seats Not Protecting Infants

  Bob Carroll | January 05, 2007 3:51 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  There is something particularly disturbing about an expensive, heavily marketed infant safety device which fails in its sole mission to protect an infant in the event of a crash. 9 of 12 infant car seats fail group's testsNine out of 12 infant car seats, all designed to meet a federal standard for protecting the smallest passengers in autos, vans and SUVs, "failed disastrously" when subjected...

• Tobacco's Famous Applesauce Defense

  Bob Carroll | December 26, 2006 4:27 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  In a short sequence posted on YouTube from the famous 1976 Death in the West, Helmut Wakeham (VP research and Development of Philip Morris) compares smoking to eating apple sauce.Philip Morris compares smoking to eating applesauce It is public relations efforts like this that give PR a bad name. And, it is part of the reason Florida residents have been given the opportunity to bring individual...

• Feeding Spoon Tip Becomes A Choking Hazard

  Bob Carroll | December 25, 2006 3:54 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  What was wrong with the spoons our mothers used to feed us when we were toddlers? Apparently, they lacked a soft, flexible plastic tip with dramatic colors. Now that the world has such a special spoon it is being recalled because the tip can loosen and break off creating a choking hazard. BabySwede LLC Recalls BABYBJÖRN® Feeding Spoons Due to Choking HazardThe U.S. Consumer Product Safety...

• Individual Florida Smokers' Claims Upheld Again

  Bob Carroll | December 22, 2006 7:36 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Florida's Supreme Court gave ailing smokers a boost to file individual lawsuits against the tobacco industry, though it upheld an earlier decision to throw out a $145 billion award. That is the gist of yesterday's Supreme Court opinion.State court aids ill smokersThe Florida Supreme Court Thursday snuffed out the tobacco industry's strategy to slow down thousands of ailing state smokers in...

• Why Sealed Court Files Are A Serious Mistake

  Bob Carroll | December 20, 2006 9:36 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  If anyone needs evidence that allowing negligent defendants to have court files sealed from public view is wrong, wrong, wrong, they should read this article in the Seattle Times:Woman's coma leads to secrecy, silenceSylvia Lane, a diabetic, lay in her apartment bed in Lynnwood, comatose and alone, her blood and brain in desperate need of sugar.But the medical device she'd just received instead...