Category Archives: Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection

Medical Device Maker Settles Vaginal Mesh Insert Lawsuit

Coloplast A/S has agreed to pay approximately $16 million in settlements to women who have been allegedly injured by vaginal mesh inserts made by the Danish maker of medical products. In January, the company agreed to resolve about 400 suits with a settlement. Claimants will get an average payment of $40,000. Other vaginal mesh insertContinue Reading

Energy drinks may significantly increase heart contraction rates

On its website, CBS News (12/3, 3.87M) reports that research presented at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting suggests that “energy drinks may cause serious increases in heart contraction rates within an hour of” consuming them. The Huffington Post (12/3, 11.54M) reports that investigators “recruited 18 healthy people – 15 men and three women – with anContinue Reading

Two Courts Extend Liability for Distracted Driving

 This week a pair of courts significantly extended of liability for distracted driving. The most significant case involves potential liability for someone texting a driver that they know will be interacting with them who then causes an accident.  Perhaps these two cases will serve as a wake-up call  for those regularly carried on this hazardousContinue Reading

Study: no link between tort reform, reduced defensive medicine.

  The Insurance Journal (8/7, 18K) reports that a study in the August Health Affairs “found no consistent relationships” between “physicians’ level of malpractice concern with objective state-level indicators of malpractice liability risk.” Instead, “physicians’ perception of their risk…predicts their practice of defensive medicine,” suggesting “that traditional malpractice reforms, such as caps on damages, don’tContinue Reading

Toysmith Recalls 30,000 Children’s Toys

    The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a recall of about 30,000 light-up toy frogs and ducks from Toysmith due to a choking hazard. The agency said the metal conductor pin in the bottom of the toys can fall out unexpectedly, posing a choking risk to young children. There have been no injuriesContinue Reading

Ford pays maximum fine over delayed Escape recall.

  The AP (8/2, Lowy) reports Ford has paid the maximum fine allowed of $17.35 million to settle claims by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it was slow to recall 485,000 Ford Escape SUVs from the 2001 to 2004 model years that “were recalled to fix sticking gas pedals that could cause crashes.”Continue Reading

FDA issues warning on acetaminophen, potentially fatal skin reaction link.

  The Wall Street Journal (8/2, Burton, Subscription Publication, 2.29M) reports that the US Food and Drug Administration issued a safety alert Thursday, to warn healthcare providers and consumers that acetaminophen-based pain relievers and fever reducers, such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) have been linked to several rare but potentially fatal skin reactions, such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome.Continue Reading

Honda Expands Fit Hatchback Recall

    Honda Motors will expand a recall of its Honda Fit hatchback to include another 48,000 vehicles due to an issue with the stability control software. The original recall took place in April after it was discovered the car's software may allow its body to “roll too much before intervening, possibly causing the driverContinue Reading

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