Defective & Dangerous Products

• Children's Flashlights Recalled

  Bob Carroll | March 21, 2006 5:38 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Children's flashlights sold at Target are the subject of a nationwide recall because of a lead paint hazard. The Little Tikes Co. Recalls Animal-Shaped Flashlights Containing Lead Paint Sold at TargetThe U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the Little Tikes Co., of Hudson, Ohio, has announced a voluntary recall of Glowin' Dino and Glowin' Doggy Animal Flashlights. ...

• Are Breast Implants Harming Breast Cancer Patients?

  Bob Carroll | February 12, 2006 6:25 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Breast implants are back in the news again. This time breast cancer patients are not getting the attention from the FDA they deserve.Report Discusses Role Of FDA In Determining Safety Of Reconstructive Breast Implants"Decisions in the Dark: The FDA, Breast Cancer Survivors and Silicone Implants," National Research Center for Women and Families: The report looks at the lack of short- and...

• FDA To Monitor Medical Device Use More Closely

  Bob Carroll | February 10, 2006 6:09 AM | 1 CommentTampa Bay, FL

  The Daily Health Policy Report from the Kaiser Network focuses on the need for increased vigilance of the performance of medical devices, such as the Guidant cardiovascular defibrillators, after they are introduced into the market. When the market includes my body I say bring on the vigilance. FDA officials on Thursday held a "rare media briefing" to detail "problems they face in monitoring"...

• Errant Golf Club Head Injures Golfer

  Bob Carroll | February 02, 2006 11:05 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Golf balls are supposed to come off the head of a golf club at a high velocity. The golf club head, on the other hand, is supposed to remain on the end of the shaft. In Colorado the head of a Wilson pitching wedge left the shaft and struck the head of another golfer, causing very significant injuries. This week a jury tallied up the score.The Colorado story appeared in the Rocky Mountain...

• Tissue Transplants May Be From Dubious Sources

  Bob Carroll | January 31, 2006 6:29 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  We lawyers are familiar with defective products that can cause injury or death. We would tend to think of a manufactured product, such as, an automobile or a chain saw. But, there may be some really spooky defective products that are of concern in the medical field. It is not an artificial hip. In fact, there is nothing artificial about these products at all. Read parts of the story...

• Intravenous Catheter Valve Found To Be Source Of Hospital Infections

  Bob Carroll | January 21, 2006 6:17 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Put this down as one step forward and two steps back. A defective medical device, intended to improve patient safety, has turned out to be the source of serious hospital infections. Rigorous attention to patient safety and monitoring for unexpected spikes in bloodstream infection rates at The Johns Hopkins Hospital led a team of Hopkins specialists to uncover an unintended, surprising safety...

• Ford Tries To Speak Swedish And English Simultaneously

  Bob Carroll | January 16, 2006 9:05 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Ford both owns and disowns Volvo. Depending on what suits its purposes Ford Motor Company embraces the safety record of Volvo in marketing but fights to keep it out of product liability trials. A USA Today article tells the tale of the bilingual company:Ford Motor is trying to more closely align itself in advertising with Volvo, which it acquired in 1999. But in product-liability trials, Ford...

• Don't Recline That Passenger Seat Too Far

  Bob Carroll | January 13, 2006 5:40 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Do you think it's safe to recline in your passenger seat as long as you have your seat belt on? Think again. From CBS News the story of one reclining passenger:Tami Martin has spent the last six years in a wheelchair after her spine was damaged in a car crash. As CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, the problem was not the seat belt - she was wearing one - but how she was sitting,...

• Pickups and SUVs Fail Whiplash Test

  Bob Carroll | January 11, 2006 6:44 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  The main purpose of head restraints is supposedly to protect the neck in rear-end collisions. Well, those of us in pickups or SUV's may get a whiplash instead of protection. A CNN report has the details:WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seat and head restraints in most new sport utilities and all pickups evaluated fell short of providing good protection against whiplash in rear-end collisions, an...

• Bone Graft Not Screened For Infections

  Bob Carroll | January 05, 2006 7:07 AM | 1 CommentTampa Bay, FL

  A woman has just discovered she has syphilis a month after her hospital told her that tissue used in her bone graft may not have been screened for infectious disease. The full story is reported by Newsday. This New York story may well reach into Florida.In October, the FDA notified hospitals across the country, including North Shore LIJ, about allegations that Biomedical Tissue Services of...