Personal Injury

Published on: October 21, 2013

Personal Injury: The New York Times, Retro Report and the Daily Beast revisit the McDonald Hot Coffee Lawsuit

The personal injury case verdict in which Stella Liebeck was awarded $2.9 million after being severely burned by a McDonald cup of coffee that she spilled on her lap became an immediate media sensation. Corporations used it to push tort reform and the case gave rise to the attacks on “frivolous lawsuits”. The award was reduced on appeal to less than $500,000.

More than 20 years later, Retro Report revisits the story, providing us with the real facts and the New York Times reflects on how the lawsuit has changed the way we drink coffee in the US. James Poulos provides a political follow up on the story at the Daily Beast.

Published on: October 20, 2013

Product Liability – Defective Medical Device: FDA initiates Class 1 recall of some Bard LifeStent Solo Vascular Stents because they may fail to deploy

By GGCRBHS&M

defective%20stent.jpg The defective stents may cause serious personal injury such as complications of bleeding, loss of limb, heart attack (myocardial infarction), stroke, vascular surgery, and/or death if they fail to deploy properly.

The LifeStent Solo Vascular Stent manufactured by Bard Peripheral Vascular is an implantable self-expanding stent and delivery system used to improve the inner open space of a blood vessel in patients who have lesions caused by abnormal narrowing of the affected blood vessel.

Defective products were manufactured and distributed from November 2011 to June 13, 2012 , the defective implants code information can be found on the FDA website

Published on: October 17, 2013

Product Liability – Possible contamination of Listeria Monocytogenes, one of the most virulent food-borne pathogens with 20 to 30 percent of clinical infections resulting in death, prompts Garden Fresh Foods to recall more products

By GGCRBHS&M

Listeria Monocytogenes can cause serious personal injury and is the leading cause of death among foodborne bacterial pathogens, with fatality rates exceeding even Salmonella and Clostridium botulinum.

A possible Listeria Monocytogenes contamination of their ready to eat chicken and ham products prompted the Winsconsin company Garden Fresh Food to recall close to 20,000 pounds of its product on September 25. Today the company just announced that more products may have been contaminated with the dangerous bacteria and an additional 6700 pounds of products are being recalled.

Garden Fresh Foods Products are distributed to retail and food service establishments nationwide. A list of all recalled products can be found on the USDA website.

Published on: October 11, 2013

New York Personal Injury Attorney Ben Rubinowitz to chair the New York State Bar Association’s BASICS OF CIVIL TRIAL program

By GGCRBHS&M

Gair Gair Steigman Mackauf Bloom and Rubinowitz is proud to announce that Partner Ben Rubinowitz is Chairing the New York State Bar Association’s BASICS OF CIVIL TRIAL program on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 New York City at the Hotel Pennsylvania, 401 Seventh Avenue (at 33rd St.), New York, NY 10001 | (212) 736-5000.

This program will cover all aspects of a trial from jury selection through summation. The faculty includes some of the most successful attorneys in their field as well as a seasoned trial Judge who has presided over one of the busiest trial parts in the Country. ” I expect this program to be one of the finest CLE courses ever” said Rubinowitz who explained ” Not only will the program provide useful tips to help you win your case but it will give you the opportunity to see actual Trial Demonstrations conducted by superb Trial lawyers.” This one day program will focus on basic through advanced trial techniques including methods for dealing with Expert Witnesses and advanced techniques in cross examination.

The Faculty includes:

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Published on: October 10, 2013

Product Liability: Dietary Supplement OxyElite Pro pulled from shelves nationwide after a mother of seven died and two people required liver transplants in Hawaii

By GGCRBHS&M

1 person died and 11 suffered serious personal injury and were hospitalized with two having to receive liver transplants following multiple non viral Acute Hepatitis cases in Hawaii. Out of a total of 29 cases, 24 were linked to a dietary supplement product labeled as OxyElite Pro.

The CDC is looking at other cases of liver injury nationwide that may be related.

The dietary product OxyElite Pro was pulled out from shelves nationwide and USPlabs LLC of Dallas stopped its distribution.Consumers who have bought this product should stop to use it immediately. Consumers who believe they have been armed by using this product or any other dietary supplement should contact their doctor immediately.

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Published on: October 10, 2013

Product Liability: FDA warns of a dangerous rising trend of Hidden Drug Ingredients in dietary supplements

By GGCRBHS&M

Products%20with%20hidden%20drug%20ingredients%20Dr%20Mao.jpg Hidden Drugs or Chemicals in dietary supplements or conventional food can cause severe personal injury and sometimes lead to death. According to the FDA, some products promoting sexual enhancement, weight loss, or bodybuilding and advertised as “all natural” may contain dangerous drugs or chemicals that have been previously removed from the market for safety reason.

For example, The FDA announced recently that Sibutramine was found in several weight loss products. These products go by the name of “Dr. Mao Slimming Capsules”, “Be Inspired”, “Perfect Body Solutions” and “Burn 7”, “Bella Vi Insane Amp’d” and “Bella Vi Amp’d Up”

Sibutramine is a controlled substance that was removed from the market in 2010 because it can increase blood pressure and/or pulse rate in some patients. Sibutramine can present a significant risk for patients with a history of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, or stroke. Sibutramine can also interact in life-threatening ways with other medications.

Published on: October 10, 2013

Medical Malpractice – Failure to Diagnose a condition: Institute of Medicine (IOM) to undertake a report on Diagnostic Error as part of the “Quality Chasm” Series

By GGCRBHS&M

Diagnostic errors are among the leading causes for Medical Malpractice Claims in the US. They cause personal injury to patients and waste resources.

Recently the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) announced that the Institute Of Medicine (IOM) had accepted the SIDM’s proposal to undertake a report on diagnostic error as the next volume in the Crossing the Quality Chasm series. The “Quality Chasm Series” started in 2000 with the report “To Err is Human”. The publication of this report is often associated with the beginning of the patient safety movement.

Other IOM’s Quality Chasm series includes Health IT and Patient Safety (2012), Preventing Medication Errors (2006), and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001).

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Published on: October 2, 2013

Product Liability: to prevent Wrongful Death and Personal Injury to Children, the Consumer Product Safety Commission approves New Safety Standards for Bassinets and Cradles

By GGCRBHS&M

426 personal injury incidents including 132 wrongful deaths related to bassinets and cradles have been reported to the CPSC between November 2007 and March 2013. Therefore the CPSC has approved a new federal mandatory standard to improve the safety of bassinets and cradles.

To create the new mandatory standard, the CSPC incorporated 5 modifications to the actual voluntary standard (ASTM F2194-13) Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Bassinets and Cradles. These modification are:

1. a clarification of the scope of the bassinet/cradle standard

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Published on: September 27, 2013

Product Liability: FDA approves new boxed warning and new recommendations to decrease risk of hepatitis B reactivation with the immune-suppressing and anti-cancer drugs Arzerra (ofatumumab) and Rituxan (rituximab)

By GGCRBHS&M

Cases of hepatitis B reactivation leading to serious personal injury and death after cancer patients have been prescribed Arzerra (ofatumumab) and Rituxan (rituximab) are still occurring even though the risk of HBV reactivation is already described in the Warnings and Precautions section of the labels for both drugs. For this reason the FDA has recently approved changes to the prescribing information of these two drugs.The revised labels also will include additional recommendations for screening, monitoring, and managing patients on these drugs to decrease this risk.
Go to the FDA website to learn more and listen to a podcast on this subject.

Published on: September 21, 2013

Bronx family brings lawsuit against landlord for deadly fire

By GGCRBHS&M

Haile%20Burns.jpg Our partner, New York Personal Injury Lawyer Howard Hershenhorn, represents the Bronx family of a four-year old girl who has been severely burned (see picture of Haile Martinez) and her seven year old sister who died from smoke inhalation and burns covering 80 percent of her body after a kitchen fire was sparked by an improperly installed stove.

Two weeks before the deadly accident, the super installed a new stove in the apartment. According to Hershenhorn, “The super positioned the appliance so close to the wall, it crushed the electrical cord, damaging it to the point where it ignited”. This was confirmed by the FDNY Bureau of Fire Investigation incident report that listed “Appliance Cord” as the cause of the fire.

The family’s lawsuit additionally faults the landlord for not installing the required kitchen smoke alarm, and for “spoilating the evidence” by dismantling the charred kitchen the day after the fire.

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