Consumer Protection
Massachusetts Consumers Should Take Care If Using Certain Antibiotics–FDA Warns of Tendon Trouble
A commonly prescribed class of antibiotics have been issued the strongest available warning by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to the risk of potentially debilitating personal injury. Levaquin (levofloxicin) and Cipro (ciprofloxacin) are in the class of antibiotics, called fluoroquinolones, and are used to treat illnesses like sinus infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, kidney infections and several types of skin infections. People using Levaquin and other fluoroquinolones are at increased risk for tendonitis and tendon ruptures, especially those over 50 years of age, those taking steroids, or people that have had a lung, kidney or heart transplant. Tendonitis and tendon ruptures have also been reported in people without elevated risk factors, and can even occur months after discontinuing the drug.
The most commonly reported tendon injuries have occured in the Achilles tendon, but ruptures have also occurred in the rotator cuff, hand, and tendons in other parts of the body. Tendon injuries can be extremely painful, are potentially debilitating, and may require surgery to correct. People using fluoroquinolones should seek medical attention if they have bruising in the tendon area after a possible injury, hear or feel a pop or snap, are unable to put weight on an injured area, or have other reason to believe that a tendon is not functioning properly.
Flouroquinolones have also been linked to other serious side effects and personal injuries, such as renal failure, and users have reported side effects that feel like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Some people experience an alleviation of side effects shortly after stopping use of the antibiotic. Others experience long-term or even permanent side effects. While sometimes the use of fluoroquinolones cannot be avoided, patients should inquire into alternative medications.
To report an adverse effect resulting from the use of Levaquin or another fluoroquinolone antibiotic, call the FDA MedWatch program at 1-800-FDA-1088 or visit the MedWatch website.
Baby Stroller Recall Affects Massachusetts Consumers
Graco Children’s Products of Atlanta, Georgia, has recalled approximately 1.5 million baby strollers which may cause finger amputations in small children. The company is offering a free repair kit to eliminate the hazard caused by the defective product.
The defective strollers were sold throughout Massachusetts at stores such as Burlington Coat Factory, Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us, K-Mart, Sears, Target, Wal-mart. The defective products affected include the following stroller lines: Graco’s Passage, Alano and Spree Strollers and Travel Systems.
The defective strollers are known to have caused at least five fingertip amputations and other personal injuries in children who got their fingers caught in the stroller’s canopy hinge mechanisms.
Our attorneys have experience with fingertip amputations caused by defective strollers. While the industry has long been aware of these risks, defective strollers continue to be manufactured.
Fingertip amputations often lead to permanent and disfiguring injuries. Often, attempts to reattach the affected fingertips are unsuccessful, and in most cases children are left with scarring and a loss of function. Many children suffer lasting psychological injuries, not just from the injuries themselves, but also from the taunting they often must endure in school as they grow up.
If you need legal assistance with a personal injury caused by a defective stroller or other product liability claim, please contact us for a free consultation. Our lawyers would be pleased to help you recover any damages sustained by your child as a result of the negligence of a manufacturer. Please call us toll free at 800 379 1244.
Defective Cribs Recalled Due to Risk of Infant Suffocation and Entrapment–Massachusetts Consumers Urged to Immediately Stop Using Affected Cribs
In late November, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Stork Craft Manufacturing was voluntarily recalling approximately 1.2 million cribs distributed in the United States and 968,000 distributed in Canada. This recall comes in the wake of reports of several infant wrongful deaths. Due to flaws in the cribs’ drop-side plastic hardware, the drop-side can detach creating a space between the crib mattress and the drop-side. As a result of this product defect, infants can become trapped in the space and suffocate. Where the drop-side detaches completely, infants run the risk of falling.
CPSC, Stork Craft, and Health Canada are aware of 110 incidents of drop-side detachment; 67 incidents occurred in the United States and 43 in Canada. The incidents include 15 entrapments, with four entrapments resulting in suffocation. Included in these incidents are 20 falls from cribs with personal injuries ranging from concussion to bumps and bruises.
This recall involves Stork Craft drop-side cribs distributed and manufactured between 1993 and 2009, and Stork Craft drop-side cribs with the Fisher-Price logo sold after 1998. The recall does not involve cribs without a drop-side or with a non-plastic drop-side. Major Massachusetts retailers sold these recalled cribs in stores, including BJ’s Wholesale Club, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Sears, and Wal-Mart stores, and online at Amazon.com, Babiesrus.com, Costco.com, Target.com, and Walmart.com.
Massachusetts consumers should immediately stop using the recalled cribs, and contact Stork Craft for a free repair kit that converts the drop-side to a fixed-side. Consumers should not attempt to fix the cribs without the repair kit and should find alternative and safe sleeping arrangements for infants until the crib is repaired. For additional information, contact Stork Craft toll-free at (877) 274-0277 anytime to order the free repair kit, or log on to www.storkcraft.com.
CPSC also provides several tips for general crib safety Parents should not use any crib with missing, broken, or loose parts. Hardware should be tightened from time to time to keep the crib sturdy. When using a drop-side crib, parents should check to make sure the drop-side or any other moving part operates smoothly, and should always check all sides and corners of the crib for disengagement. Any disengagement can create a gap and entrap a child. In addition, do not try to repair any side of the crib, especially with tape, wire or rope. Complete information is available at the CPSC website.
Strangulations Trigger Massive Recall of Blinds and Shades–Massachusetts Consumers Urged to Eliminate Hazards
This week, the U.S. Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) announced the recall of millions of Roman shades and roll-up blinds due to the risk of strangulation to young children from the defective products. Massachusetts consumers are urged to take immediate measures to eliminate the risks to young children.
Since 2006, the CPSC has received reports of 5 wrongful deaths and 16 near strangulations involving Roman shades and 3 wrongful deaths since 2001 in roll-up blinds. In the case of Roman shades, children may place their necks between the exposed cord and the fabric on the back of the shade, or they may pull the cord out and wrap it around the neck. With the roll-up blinds, children may become entangled in the lifting loop on the side of the blind.
These defective products have been sold at a wide variety of retailers in Massachusetts, from Wal-Mart to Pottery Barn to ACE Hardware, to name but a few. If you have either type in your home, please contact the WCSC at its website or at (800) 506-4636 to receive a free repair kit.
The CPSC and the WCSC has also provided safety tips that apply to all window coverings, not just those involved in the recall. These include inspection of all shades and blinds in the home to make sure there are no loose or accessible cords (in fact, cordless window coverings are recommended where children live or visit), keeping cribs, beds, and furniture away from windows, and installing tension devices on looped chains or cords to keep them taut. Complete information is available at the CPSC website.
Maclaren Recalls One Million Strollers–Defective Product May Cause Amputation Injuries
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a recall of over one million stroller manufactured by Maclaren. The concern: The defective product may cause personal injury to the child riding in the stroller. At least 15 serious injuries have been reported, and 12 of these have been fingertip amputations.
The recall affects all Maclaren strollers manufactured since 1999, including all single and double strollers. They popular baby strollers have been sold at Target, Babies “R” Us and other mass merchandisers.
Parents should immediately stop using the strollers and obtain a free repair kit from the manufacturer.
For additional information, contact Maclaren USA toll-free at (877) 688-2326 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at www.maclaren.us/.
Here is a link to the recall notice. You can also search for information on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) website.
David White, a product liability attorney at the Boston firm Breakstone, White & Gluck, PC, said, “Unfortunately, we are familiar with this type of product defect. Obviously a manufacturer of baby products must anticipate injuries that can come from pinch points from hinges and other moving parts. They must be extraordinarily careful to prevent injuries from their products.”
As reported in Time Magazine: “This is a very serious hazard,” says Scott Wilson, spokesperson for the CPSC. “We know child behavior, we know kids like to explore and sometimes put their fingers in places where they shouldn’t be. But finger amputations that result from using a product that parents expect to be safe is unacceptable.” Read More
Beef Products Recalled Due to Possible E. coli Contamination–Brockton, Massachusetts Meat Packer Blamed
A Brockton, Massachusetts meat packaging company has voluntarily recalled over a thousand pounds of ground beef patties and steaks due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. People exposed to the contaminated meat have suffered personal injuries.
Crocetti’s Oakdale Packing Company, also known as South Shore Meats, was investigated by Massachusetts and Rhode Island health officials after approximately twenty students at a Plymouth camp became ill following a meal using ground meat traced to the company. The USDA has declared a class I recall, due to the potential for serious illness and death from the O157:H7 strain of E. coli.
This type of bacterial infection usually manifests as diarrhea, which is often bloody, and several days of abdominal cramping. More severe cases may progress to hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which causes breakdown of blood cells, kidney failure, and sometimes death. Children under five and the elderly are at the highest risk for the severe forms of illness.
Contaminated meats are the most common cause of E. coli O157:H7 infection, but the bacteria may come from other sources, as seen in the recall of prepackaged cookie dough this past June.
Click here for a list of contaminated products.
Safety Tips: Proper preparation and storage of meat can help to prevent illness. Ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Newly purchased meat and poultry should be refrigerated promptly, as should leftover cooked meat. Proper washing of hands and utensils that touch raw meat is also important, in order to avoid contaminating other food or surfaces with bacteria.
Click here for more information from the USDA.
Massachusetts Consumers Urged to Act to Protect Rights
We are posting an urgent Action Alert We Received from People Over Profits — Please act today!
“You can help make a difference in the health care reform debate – and we need your help. Now is the time to weigh in! Your rights are at stake.
“As Congress and the President prepare to make a significant overhaul of our health care system, there are those who believe that in order to achieve universal coverage, victims of medical negligence must surrender their legal rights and remedies. In the hope of achieving “bi-partisanship,” the Obama Administration has made several comments, indicating their willingness to enact medical malpractice reform in exchange for “bi-partisan” support of Obama’s top domestic priority, health care reform. In fact, this coming Monday, President Obama will deliver a speech to the American Medical Association (“AMA”), a group that supports as one of their top priorities limiting the legal rights of injured patients.
“Despite the rigid stance of many congressional Republicans, President Obama continues to “negotiate” in good faith, hoping that Republicans in Congress, the insurance industry, and the AMA will support his efforts. The fact of the matter is that allowing the discussion on health care reform to focus on medical malpractice is a distraction from the real issue of quality care, preventable medical errors which are the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, and the fraud, waste, and abuse of programs like Medicare.
“Please call the White House today, and express your view that under NO circumstance, does medical malpractice tort reform belong in a health care reform bill. The tort system has always been a remedy that shines the light on past negligence, thereby reducing medical errors and improving patient safety. We cannot allow special interest groups to put patient safety and protection at risk. We cannot compromise access to justice.
White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111
(Because the President’s speech to the AMA is fast approaching, we are asking people to call in rather than email at this time.)
“We must not sit by and allow the opponents of health reform to mislead the American people. We cannot allow the protections afforded to every American under the 7th amendment to be sacrificed based on misperceptions propagated by those with a vested interest. We need you, and your alliance of patient advocates to let the White House know that we will not allow special interest groups to hold hostage, the legal rights and remedies of medical malpractice victims. During the 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama affirmed that access to healthcare was a right! The notion that one must relinquish a right embodied in the Bill of Rights in exchange for another right represents bad public policy.
“Thank you for your efforts on behalf of civil justice!”
Defective Refrigerator Recall Affects Massachusetts Consumers; Threat of Fire and Serious Injury or Death
On March 10, 2009, 1.6 million Maytag refrigerator units (also sold under other brand names) were voluntarily recalled due to several reported fire hazard incidents. Due to an electrical failure in the relay, the component that turns on the refrigerator’s compressor, units can become 
overheated and pose a serious fire and injury hazard.
Before initiating the recall, Maytag had reports of 41 related relay malfunctions. Sixteen of those reports included information about property damage, ranging from smoke to serious kitchen fires. Though there have been no reports of personal injury or wrongful death, the serious repercussions of this defect place many Massachusetts consumers in harm’s way.
The refrigerators in this recall were sold between January 2001 and January 2004; some were sold in Massachusetts. A number of refrigerator brands are included in this recall: Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Admiral, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag, and Crosley.
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