Product Liability Lawyer Blog

May 21, 2017

Bounce Houses Put Kids at Serious Risk of Harm

If your child is invited to birthday parties this summer, he or she may encounter a bounce house. Portable bounce houses have become really common, as they can be delivered and set up quickly to provide a fun activity children enjoy. Unfortunately, portable bounce houses can also be really dangerous for kids, especially if they are not set up correctly or if there is a defect in the product which causes the bounce house to be less safe than it should be when it is inflated.

Parents need to understand the risks both of having portable bounce houses at children’s parties they are hosting, as well as the risks of allowing their children to play in bounce houses at parties or events which are thrown by other friends or relatives or community groups.

While your child may be clamoring to play, you want to evaluate whether or not you think it is safe for you to allow your child to use the bounce house. If your child does get hurt, it is also important to know what your rights are for taking legal action. Boston product liability lawyers can help parents to determine who can be held accountable and what legal arguments to make when pursuing a claim for compensation based on a child sustaining injury in a bounce house.

May 18, 2017

Dangerous BBQ Grills Could Cause Serious Injury in Summer Months

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Summer is a time for cookouts on the grill. Unfortunately, a fun outdoor barbecue could quickly turn into a devastating disaster if something goes wrong with a grill. Grills could be dangerous not only while in use, but also while simply being stored near your home. Explosions and serious burns can occur if a grill malfunctions, and sometimes injuries from malfunctioning grills are fatal.

If you or a loved one suffers an injury due to any type of problem with a grill that is being used, the manufacturer, distributors and others involved with the production or sale of the grill can be held legally liable for damages. A Boston product liability lawyer can assist victims of grilling injuries in pursuing a claim for compensation by proving they were hurt as a direct result of a problem with a grill they were utilizing.

Malfunctioning Grills Present a Big Risk at BBQ

May 15, 2017

$110 Million Awarded in Talcum Powder Case

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from ABA Journal, a jury has just awarded a plaintiff $110 million in a talcum powder lawsuit alleging product liability. The claim was that defendant (Johnson & Johnson) manufactured talcum powder that caused her to develop ovarian cancer. Not only did the jury find this to be true by a clear preponderance of the evidence, they awarded her the largest verdict ever in a talcum powder products liability case.

While this is the largest talcum powder verdict by a long shot, it is not the only large verdict. There have been verdicts of $55 million, $70 million and $72 million in other recent cases. Continue reading

May 12, 2017

A Look at New Hip Replacement Tech

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Total knee replacement operations are the most popular elective surgical procedure in the U.S. There are over 600,000 performed each year. While this is an incredible number, the next most popular elective surgical procedure is the total hip replacement. These involve more than 300,000 operations annually. That figure is expected to grow in the years to come at a high rate.

One of the reasons we are seeing more operations is because younger patients are more willing to have a total joint replacement because they are tired of chronic pain and the surgery. More importantly, the recovery time is much better and easier to deal with than it was in years past.

A major reason for that is because of advances in technology. Continue reading

May 10, 2017

Stem Cell Treatment May Do Away With Need for Knee Replacement Surgery

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

For the past several years, we have been hearing more about stem cell research. In some cases, we are talking about cloning entire animals or even people. In other cases, there have been reports regarding stem cell cures for diseases we never thought possible. There has also been a lot of debate about the ethics and morality involved in things like stem cell research involving cloning and how to deal with cells from certain types of tissue.

These conversations will likely continue long in the future, and many of the applications are more in the science fiction stage than anywhere close to real world use. However, there is work being done today on a more modest scale that may bring actual relief to patients sooner rather than later.

Such treatments should be approached with skepticism, given reports of unscrupulous stem cell treatment and research centers that have left patients seriously and permanently injured. Continue reading

May 7, 2017

Pain and Suffering for Transvaginal Mesh Victims in Boston Deserves Attention

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Transvaginal mesh, or “TVM” as it is often called, was not originally developed to be used to treat medical conditions affecting the female reproductive system. Surgical mesh has been around for many years, and, as that name implies, it is a woven medical grade textile that is used to reinforce a part of the body, such an organ that has experienced erosion.

Vaginal mesh was adapted from the already existing forms of surgical mesh and was marketed as basically a cure-all for women’s health issues. If you were suffering from pelvic organ prolapse (POP) for example, a surgeon could implant the mesh in a simple outpatient procedure, and you would be back to normal. This would also allow you to fix issues like stress urinary insentience. Continue reading

May 4, 2017

Xarelto Helps Increase Bayer Profits

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Drug companies are big multinational corporations for the most part, and as such report their profits and losses to Wall Street each quarter. That means these firms are very concerned about making money for their shareholders and their executives. There is no question many medicines they make save a lot of lives. However, when the desire to rake in a profit overshadows the desire to keep people safe and healthy, problems arise.

One of the drugs that makes a lot of money for Bayer AG is known as Xarelto. Xarelto is part of a relatively new class of drugs called new oral anticoagulants (NOACs). Xarelto is one NOAC manufactured by the German pharmaceutical giant and marketed by its partner in the U.S., Johnson & Johnson, but there other competitors. Those include Savaysa, Elliquis, and Pradaxa. These drugs are not only competing with each other, but they are also competing with Warfarin (Coumadin).

A recent news article from Yahoo shows that Xarelto was helping drive company sales this past fiscal quarter.

May 1, 2017

Frito-Lay Recalls Chips Due to Salmonella Contamination

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

There are certain things every person can do to avoid getting a foodborne illness. This includes washing your hands when preparing food, making sure all utensils are clean and keeping food at the proper temperature. As we all know, there any many foods that, when left out long enough, will develop harmful bacteria that can result in extreme discomfort in the best of cases and serious illness or death in worst cases.

Salmonella is a type of bacteria typically found in meats like uncooked chicken. However, if you cook the food to the proper temperature, you should have no trouble. When you eat prepackaged foods, or go out to restaurant, you do not have the same control and are essentially at the mercy of others to help you avoid getting a serious case of food poisoning. One of the last sources of foodborne illness one might expect would be pre-packaged foods, like potato chips. It is important to understand that if a company is negligent with its food production methods, any type of food can become contaminated.

April 29, 2017

Salad Recalled Following Discovery of Dead Bat in Packaging

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from Syracuse.com, two customers from Wal-Mart had purchased a package of Marketside Organic Spring Mix brand salad and discovered what the authorities first called “extraneous animal matter.” As it turns out, that is a nice way of saying was part of a decomposing bat that had found its way into bags of prepackaged salad mix sold primarily in southern U.S. Wal-Mart stores.

The two alleged victims of this defective product reported having eaten some of the salad before finding the bat parts, and, for this reason, there was a threat of rabies and other pathogens. The bat material was sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for testing to determine if the bat had rabies or any other serious pathogens that could affect a human, but the bat was too deteriorated to perform any of the tests. Continue reading

April 26, 2017

Medtronic StrataMR Adjustable Valves and Shunts Recalled

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from NASDAQ, Medtronic has begun to voluntarily recall all unused units of their StrataMR product lines. StrataMR is a line of adjustable valves and shunts that patients and doctors have been complaining about lately. These complaints range from minor issues to potentially deadly adverse events. One person has died, but the company has yet to determine the exact cause of the death.

The medical devices are used to treat a medical condition known as hydrocephalus, which involves the buildup of fluid on a patient’s brain. If this fluid is allowed to build up, it presses against the inner layer of skull known as the dura, and this creates a tremendous amount of pressure. If untreated, this can result in permanent brain injury or even death. Continue reading