Santa Claus may be coming to town soon, but careful parents will be making sure that he’s not carrying any of these toys in his bag. Every year, World Against Toys Causing Harm (W.A.T.C.H.), a child toy safety group, puts out a list of ten of the “worst” toys to buy if you care about your child’s ultimate safety.  Being labeled the “worst” doesn’t necessarily mean that your child can fashion the toy into a metallic shiv or that they can produce fulminated mercury with its contents, it simply means that the toy fails to properly warn parents of potential dangers with the product, or omits important safety information that parents should implement.

The list includes:

Slimeball Slinger – A projectile-shooting toy that can supposedly launch “slimeballs” over 30 feet. The toy safety group says it carries a risk of eye injuries.

The Good Dinosaur Galloping Butch – Based on the Pixar box office smasher, this toy has a spiny tail that the safety group alleges could cause harm to a child’s face.

Nerf Rival Apollo Xv-700 Blaster – As with all Nerf guns, and any kind of dart gun or projectile-shooting toy, this product carries a potential for eye injury. On the box, children are seen playing with a protective mask, but the toy safety group says that masks are not sold with the product.

Banzai Bump N’ Bounce Body Bumpers – The product manufacturer instructs in tiny print that children should wear protective gear such as helmets when crashing into one another wearing these inflatable toys, however the children on the box are not wearing any protective gear.

Peppa Pig’s Muddy Puddles Family – The toy allegedly doesn’t warn about choking hazards for two-year-olds, despite marketing the product for children aged 2 years and older. Some packages say ages 3 and older, which the toy safety group lists as an inconsistency.

Kids Time Baby Children’s Elephant Pillow – The image on the advertisements allegedly show an infant snuggling with this pachyderm pillow, however marketing pillows for children under the age of one is supposedly banned by a federal safety act. There are no warnings listed on the product.

Peppy Pups – The toy has a pull-string which can reportedly reach a maximum of 31 inches, despite safety regulations requiring children’s playpens to be a maximum of 12 inches. W.A.T.C.H. warns this toy has a serious risk of strangulation.

Flying Heroes Superman Launcher – W.A.T.C.H. asserts that the spinning, spectacular, supersonic super hero could harm children if it hits them in the eyes.

Baby Magic Feed and Play Baby – The toy contains a spoon small enough that could block a child’s airway if inhaled.

Warcraft Doomhammer – Simply enough, W.A.T.C.H. warns that kids could injure themselves or others by using this rigid, plastic battle hammer as it is seemingly intended to be used – as a war hammer. Continue reading

A vacation on a cruise ship can be one of the most relaxing experiences of your life. Unfortunately, with thousands of other people potentially on board, huge decks with plenty of room for accidents, and the persistent dangers of the open sea, a cruise ship vacation can also lead to one of the worst experiences of your life.  Whether you contract a communicable disease from other passengers or crewmembers, get sick from the food, are tossed violently during stormy seas or slip and fall on a pool deck that wasn’t properly dried, there is no shortage of ways for you to fall victim to a cruise ship company’s negligence.

The most recently publicized lawsuit against a cruise ship company just happened on Nov. 3rd, after a woman slipped and fell on a slippery pool deck while aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The plaintiff maintains that the cruise ship company did not properly warn passengers of the hazardous conditions of the deck and failed to keep the area clear of obstacles and foreign items that may lead to injury.

The plaintiff reportedly suffered severe injuries to her knee and hand, and is now taking Royal Caribbean to court seeking damages, as well as payment of her legal fees plus interest.

Other cruise ship lawsuits

Another case that gained significant press was when another Royal Caribbean cruise liner ventured out into a storm that they knew was happening. The plaintiff in this case sued because he was allegedly tossed around in the storm inside his cabin and sustained serious injuries. All Royal Caribbean offered the passengers in response was an apology and a refund of their fares. There were 6,000 passengers and 1,500 crewmembers aboard the ship as it headed into potentially-dangerous seas.

The last recent lawsuit happened in October, and the plaintiff alleges that Royal Caribbean was directly responsible for him contracting Legionnaires’ Disease – a pneumonia-like illness with an up to 30% fatality rate. It can be contracted through water that is aerosolized, such as the water spray that is created in hot tubs on cruise ships.

The plaintiff asserts that he was only notified that the Royal Caribbean cruise ship had, in past cruises, confirmed the presence of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ after he had already boarded and the ship had set sail; via a note slid under his cabin door. Despite the cruise ship company’s assessment that they had “properly treated” the contaminated spas and Whirpool machines with chlorine, two people were later found out to have contracted the disease. Continue reading

If a disability has left you unable to work, you may be collecting social security disability (SSDI) payments. If negligence played a role in your injuries and you are considering filing a personal injury claim, will a settlement impact your ability to receive SSDI payments?  SSDI is a federally-funded program that provides disabled workers with a source of income if they cannot continue working. The general rule of thumb with SSDI is that you must report any wages you receive – even if those wages are extremely low. For example, if your disability prevents you from working your full-time job, but you take a five-hour-per-week shift at the local library, you must report those wages.

A personal injury lawsuit may result in a large settlement or court award. Does this payout need reported to SSDI? Although this compensation may be substantially greater than wages earned from a part-time job, there is one significant difference – settlements are not wages.

Exceptions to the Rule

A 73-year-old man from Central Illinois has been awarded $4.6 million after suing the company that he worked for when he was a teenager following his diagnosis with cancer.  Charles McKinney claimed that he developed cancer as a direct result of his work with the Portable Elevator Manufacturing Company when he was 19, stemming from an exposure to asbestos. The jury found that the company was negligent and liable since they were aware of the hazards of asbestos and did not properly warn McKinney about the risks of the job.

The multi-million dollar award shows how companies are not safe from asbestos lawsuits just because the affected worker ceased their employment with the company even 50 years ago. Unfortunately, stories like McKinney’s are not uncommon, and many affected asbestos victims certainly don’t win so much in damages.

Asbestos kills slowly

Scientific studies have shown that asbestos, a naturally-occurring, fibrous mineral used for decades to fireproof and insulate homes and businesses, doesn’t pose a risk to humans quickly. Rather, exposure to asbestos – most commonly through inhaling its airborne particles during construction or other physical disturbances to areas where asbestos was used – poses a danger years after exposure.  Asbestos can cause cancer to develop in the membranes that surround your lungs and abdomen, which is known as mesothelioma. In recent years, mesothelioma cases have spiked and lawsuits have increased as well, as an entire generation of industrial and commercial workers are just now being physically affected by their exposure to dangerous asbestos from work done decades earlier.

Mesothelioma is most likely to result from prolonged, consistent exposure to asbestos, however it has also scarily enough been proven to be possible from one isolated exposure event. Even if you worked in an industry where exposure to asbestos was possible for just a short time, you may still be at risk for mesothelioma or a slew of respiratory problems that can occur as a result.  Asbestos was so widely used that many states are still, today, making concerted efforts to rid municipal buildings, schools, businesses and residences of asbestos insulation, floor and ceiling tiling.

File a claim today if you have been affected

Because complications from asbestos don’t surface until well after the exposure happens, the statute of limitations for asbestos cases are handled differently. Depending on the state, individuals who have been adversely affected by asbestos have many years to file a claim from the date they learn that they have been diagnosed with any complications.  However, if you or a loved one has been affected by complications stemming from exposure to asbestos, do not wait. With health complications naturally comes costly medical expenses, prescription medication, time missed from work and other financial hardships. Continue reading

It has been well-established since at least the 1970’s that asbestos – a naturally-occurring, fibrous mineral most commonly used for decades to fireproof and insulate homes and businesses – is a potentially dangerous material. Medical science is now conclusive that inhaling asbestos particles routinely over a long span of time, or even in isolated incidents, is detrimental to your health.  In the worst of cases, asbestos inhalation can cause a cancer to form in the membranes that surround your lungs and abdomen. This cancer is known as mesothelioma, and there is no early detection procedures, reliable treatment or any cure for the disease. 70 to 80 percent of people with mesothelioma got the disease because of exposure to asbestos.

Since asbestos is most commonly found in the insulation of older buildings, construction workers and demolition technicians that worked back when asbestos was the standard material used are at high risk of developing mild to severe mesothelioma.  Asbestos wasn’t just used domestically either. It was used in all assortments of military and industrial applications, so a large portion of our older workforce is also at risk. In all, there are about 3,000 cases of mesothelioma reported annually in the United States, but the numbers are reported to be increasing each year as the exposed population gets older. Most people diagnosed with mesothelioma are aged 55 or older.  Mesothelioma may not present in patients for 20-50 years after the damaging exposure, so there is no guarantee that a person exposed to asbestos will not eventually develop the disease. Even scarier, medical experts report that one single exposure incident to asbestos can eventually lead to developing mesothelioma.

Symptoms of mesothelioma