Defective Products

December 2, 2014

NHTSA Probes Graco Car Seat Recall

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether Graco Children’s Products Inc. waited too long to recall 6.1 million child safety seats. If the manufacturer did delay the recall of its car seats, it could be subject to a fine of up to $35 million, although now reportedly the White House is trying to get Congress to raise the maximum for that type of violation to $300 million for each incident.

Graco succumbed to government pressure last July, recalling around 1.9 million infant car seats made between 7/10 and 5/13. The safety issue involved buckles that could prove hard to open. This can be dangerous if a child needs to be removed from the child safety device immediately, especially in an emergency situation. That announcement expanded the company’s callback to over 6.1 million car seats.

Earlier in the year, Graco had recalled 3.7 million booster seats and toddler seats that were constructed between ’09- ’13 in the wake of NHTSA pressure. The agency had wanted Graco to recall 5.6 million child safety seats. A month later, Graco recalled another 400,000 car seats. Those were manufactured prior to 2009.

November 26, 2014

$18.5M Transvaginal Mesh Verdict Awarded to Four Women

by Altman & Altman

Boston Scientific has lost another transvaginal mesh injury lawsuit, this one over the Obtryx mesh sling. The defective medical device verdict awards $18.5 million, includes punitive damages, to four women. The jurors found that the company acted with “gross negligence.”

This is the medical device maker’s second pelvic mesh injury lawsuit loss in weeks. Earlier this month, another civil jury awarded four other women $26.7 million over injuries they sustained related to Boston Scientific’s Pinnacle mesh device.

In this Obtrxy mesh sling lawsuit, the plaintiffs said that the device, used to treat stress urinary incontinence, caused them to sustain serious infections and nerve damage, as well s experience serious pain during intercourse. They also said that the mesh implant device caused tissue erosion, organ damage, and severe pain. They had to undergo multiple surgeries because of the faulty implant.

November 21, 2014

Massachusetts is Still Behind in Elevator Inspections

by Altman & Altman

According to a report by Massachusetts auditor Suzanne Bump, the state’s Department of Public Safety is running behind on elevator inspections, which are supposed to be conducted on registered elevators every year. As of October 2012, over 14,200 of the approximately 39,000 registered elevators are running despite an expired inspection certificate. Over 1,700 have certificates that expired more than four years ago. Bump says elevators that go uninspected are a safety risk. This is especially true when there is an elevator defect or malfunction that goes unchecked and is not repaired.

Also according to the report, most elevator owners applied to have their elevators inspected on time but got stuck in the backlog. A Public Safety Department spokesperson noted that since the audit, the agency has been taking “significant’ steps to catch up with inspections and compliance is now beyond 80%. The report, however, claims that the department’s database isn’t accurate, which makes it hard to get a sense of how much progress has really been made in getting caught up on inspections.

The report comes more than ten years after another state audit reported similar issues with elevators undergoing timely inspections. Back then, elevator owners were identified as part of the problem for the delays because of their failure to apply for inspections.

November 17, 2014

GM Crisis: Victim Compensation Numbers Expected To Rise

by Altman & Altman

Contrary to the 13 deaths reported by General Motors caused by a faulty ignition switch, the automaker’s attorney has identified more 32 deaths-and expects this toll to rise in the weeks ahead.

The company’s victim-compensation team, led by Kenneth R. Feinberg, will post its weekly update of the number of death and injury claims it has found to be eligible for payment by GM. While the automaker is giving Feinberg sole discretion to determine who the victims are and how much money they should receive, the company could ultimately end up paying more money to more people than the courts would have allowed.

The program, according to reports by The Boston Globe, stipulates that the company cannot overrule Feinberg’s decision but it is entitled to be heard. Interviews show that during the review stages over the last three months, GM has participated in conference calls with Feinberg’s team, submitted documents, and presented findings by its own engineers in certain cases. Despite GM’s participation and weight in the case, the company has done little to change Feinberg’s mind. Ultimately it is the attorney who decides which victims are eligible. Feinberg has gone on record saying that the automaker has not yet questioned the amount of money presented to victims, rather the company is more concerned with the eligibility of victims.
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November 14, 2014

Boston Scientific Must Pay $26.7M Transvaginal Mesh Verdict to Four Women

by Altman & Altman

Manufacturer Boston Scientific must pay a $26.7 million vaginal mesh verdict to four women who claim the medical devices caused them to sustain personal injuries. Jurors deliberated just four hours before finding that company officials defectively designed its Pinnacle pelvic organ implants and neglected to properly warn doctors and patients about the risks involved in using the devices.

Out of the $26.7 million products liability verdict, which was all compensatory damages, over $6.7 million was awarded to Amal Eghnayem, Mania Nunez, and Margarita Dotres, respectively. Juana Betancourt was awarded more than $6.5 million.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys contended that the defendant’s officials disregarded internal calls for additional testing of the device and sent the Pinnacle products into the market too soon. They offered evidence demonstrating that the mesh in the Pinnacle insert was never approved for use in the human body.

November 10, 2014

Thousands of U.S. Children Sickened by Laundry Detergent Pods, Says Study

by Altman & Altman

According to a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics, of the 17,230 kids under the age of 6 that were exposed to laundry-detergent pods in the United States in 2012 and 2013, 769 of them were hospitalized. The researchers, from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, say that the number of laundry pod exposures increased over sevenfold in April of last year from the year previous. Thirty of the kids fell into comas, twelve went into seizures, and one child died.

Some 80% of the laundry pod market is comprised of products made by Tide. While the small packets are convenient for adults doing the laundry- just take one detergent pod and drop it into the wash, no measuring necessary-these colorful, squishy, small packets that can be mistaken for candy by young children are a poison hazard. Last year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning to keep liquid laundry packets away from kids.

Swallowing and inhalation appear to be two main ways that kids are getting hurt. Resulting health issues have included vomiting, throat swelling, unconsciousness, breathing problems, temporary vision loss, and drowsiness. However, even adults are not immune from the risks. Handling the packet with wet hands can cause a laundry pod packet to dissolve fast, releasing the toxic contents quickly.

October 30, 2014

Mechanical Failure May Have Caused Deadly Halloween Hayride Crash

by Altman & Altman

According to officials, a mechanical issue may have caused the Jeep serving as the Gauntlet Haunted Night hayride vehicle at Harvest Hill Farms to go down a hill at rapid speed, strike a tree, and overturn earlier this month in Maine. 17-year-old Cassidy Charette sustained fatal injuries in the crash. 22 others were injured.

Charette was with seven other students from her high school for their annual hayride when the tragic vehicle crash happened. Among the injured were two with critical injuries, including 16-year-old Connor Garland and David Brown, 54, who was driving the Jeep. Garland was transported to Boston Children’s Hospital. According to Fox News, Brown was hauling a flatbed trailer as part of the ride.

Following the hayride accident, State Police impounded the 1979 Jeep CJ5a. A safety probe was conducted.

October 27, 2014

GranuFlo Plaintiffs Want Massachusetts Law Applied to Their Dialysis Lawsuits

by Altman & Altman

127 plaintiffs want the courts to apply Massachusetts law, not Mississippi law, to their GranuFlo injury claims against Fresenius Medical Care North America. Even though the dialysis patients are from Massachusetts state, they filed their complaints in Massachusetts.

The manufacturer is seeking to have the claims dismissed, noting that they exceed the three-year statue of limitations in Mississippi. The plaintiffs contend that there is a discovery exception to the statute that mandates a case-by-case assessment.

The dialysis patients claim that using Fresenius’ GranuFlo Dry Acid Concentrate and NaturaLyte during dialysis can lead to cardiopulmonary arrest and even death. The two products are dialysate components that are designed to maintain the correct base-acid balance in the blood during hemodialysis. Unfortunately, say the plaintiffs, the powders can also cause unsafe modifications in the blood.

October 21, 2014

Massachusetts Suspends ET-Plus Guardrail Use Because of Traffic Injury Risks

by Altman & Altman

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has decided to stop the use of a guardrail-end terminal over concerns that there may be safety issues. The rail-end guardrail pieces, known as the ET-Plus, are made by Trinity Industries of Texas. The manufacturer has already have been the subject of products liability lawsuits by motorists claiming they lost their legs in traffic crashes.

This week, a federal jury ruled that Trinity should pay $175 million in a whistleblower lawsuit that exposed the hazards involved with using the guardrail end caps. It was guardrail installer Josh Harman who accused Trinity of making the ET-Plus unsafe when the company redesigned it.

He sued Trinity under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions. As the whistleblower, Harman is entitled to a percentage of what is recovered. Because of statutory mandate, the $175 million figure is expected to triple.

October 18, 2014

$15.6M Auto Defects Case Against Toyota Dealership is Upheld

by Altman & Altman

A three-judge panel has upheld a jury’s verdict awarding $15.6 million to a driver and passengers of a Toyota minivan. They sustained injuries when the auto malfunctioned and went into a ravine.

The defendant of this auto defects case is Center City Toyota in Pennsylvania, which had serviced the auto. Early on during the civil trial, it tried to settle with the plaintiffs for $1.7 million.

The plaintiffs also had sued Toyota Motor Corp., several Toyota affiliates, and PhillyCarShare, which had rented the vehicle to the plaintiffs, for auto products liability. These defendants were later dismissed from the lawsuit.