Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Product Liability

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If a car, a motorcycle or a small truck is defective, the manufacturer has to initiate a recall campaign to correct the defect by repairing or replacing the vehicle or by offering a refund to the consumer. Despite the manufacturer’s efforts, recall campaigns are not always successful especially when the cars, motorcycles and trucks being recalled are older and are likely to have been resold at least once. Too many vehicles owners are not aware of recalls and continue to drive unrepaired cars, trucks or motorcycles unknowingly exposing themselves, their passengers and other road users to potential accidents, damages or injuries.

Starting next year every owner or potential buyer of a car, a motorcycle or a small truck will be able to check if all recalls related to their vehicle were addressed. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) just announced its plans to require automakers and motorcycle manufacturers to provide consumers with a free online tool that will enable them to search recall information by Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Consumers will be able to instantly check if their vehicle is safe and address any defect related issue if necessary.

This new measure is a step ahead to protect consumers from the harm and property damage that can be caused by a vehicle with a serious safety defect.

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football%20helmet.jpg“No helmet system can protect you from serious brain and/or neck injuries including paralysis or death. To avoid these risks, do not engage in the sport of football” is the type of language that consumers will read on most warning labels when they purchase a football helmet these days.

Football has a very high incidence of catastrophic personal injuries with traumatic brain injury and cervical spinal cord injury being the most common. Recent lawsuits have accused the league and some product manufacturers of hiding evidence or not properly warning about the dangers of repeated head trauma.

In a recent article, Ken Belson, a sport reporter for the New York Times, gives a complete overview of what type of warning helmet manufacturers are using Today to warn the players and to protect themselves from a product liability lawsuit.

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product%20recall.pngMillions of toys that contained dangerous levels of lead paint and other toxins as well as dangerous children products have been recalled since the Consumer Safety Improvement Act was signed into law 5 years ago.

This bipartisan legislation made a real difference in protecting young Americans from personal injury and wrongful death.

Read more in Consumer Reports.

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car_seat_safety.jpgLATCH stands for “Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children”. They became mandatory in vehicles in 2002 to help parents better secure the baby seat in the car and eliminate seat belt incompatibility. Pursuant to the actual law the lower anchors are designed to support a maximum weight of 65 lbs. Most parents are not aware that this weight includes the child and the child seat. When the total weight exceeds 65 lbs the child seat must be secured with the car seatbelt.

In order to make this information clear to parents the new LATCH law effective in February 2014, will require child seat manufacturers to modify their label to make sure parents understand that their child weight determines how long they can use the lower anchors.

This legislation was heavily pushed by automakers in order to protect themselves from product liability lawsuits as baby seats these days are heavier than those manufactured in 2002 and are putting increased strain on the lower anchors.

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Lead poisoning is the primary environmental health threat to young children because they are more likely to put lead contaminated toys in their mouth than older children or adults. Lead poisoning does not cause immediate symptoms but it can permanently damage children’s brains and cause serious developmental problems.

The recent statistics from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on port surveillance show that during the fourth quarter of the 2012 fiscal year, toys containing lead represented 62% of the children products that have been refused at port entries because they were violating US safety rules or were found hazardous. A significant amount of children products with small parts representing a choking hazard and child care articles with excessive phthalate level were also kept away from young american customers. Children’s product represented 87% of all stopped products in the fourth quarter of the 2012 fiscal year.

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Last August Sears recalled Kenmore Dehumidifiers after they received 107 reports related to burns and fire with more than $7 million in property damage and 3 reports of smoke inhalation injuries. However it seems like many consumers were still not aware that their product was defective as after last year recall Sears continued to receive more incident reports including a severe burn to a consumer’s foot and 3 fires resulting in significant property damage. Therefore Sears is once again asking consumers who bought Kenmore 35-, 50- and 70-pint dehumidifiers made by LG and manufactured between 2003 and 2005 to immediately turn off and unplug their dehumidifier and to contact the Recall Fulfillment Center.

Sears%20Kenmore%20Dehumidifier%20Proprety%20damages.jpg

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meningitis.jpg745 people have been infected and 58 have died from an outbreak of fungal meningitis associated with epidural steroid injections between september 2012 and June 2013 according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The contamination was traced to more than 17,000 vials from three contaminated lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) packaged and marketed by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. Doses from these lots were distributed to 75 medical facilities in 23 states, and administered to approximately 14,000 patients after May 21 and before September 24, 2012.

A new report published in the September issue of The American Journal of Pathology, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examines 40 cases including 16 fatalities. The report indicates that all except two fatal cases had a clinical diagnosis of meningitis. Tissue specimens from infected individuals showed inflammation of the leptomeninges and blood vessel walls within the brain. Autopsy examination showed extensive hemorrhage and necrosis around the base of the brain and clots involving the basilar arterial circulation.

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Side car crash test shows that car occupants are better protected than 10 years ago in severe side crash accidents. See below the new video from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

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Nap%20Manny%20Product%20Defect.jpgNap Nanny and Chill recliners create a substantial product hazard. The products have design defects, as a result of which their use presents a risk of personal injury to infants. Further, the instructions and warnings are inadequate according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The recall is part of settlement of an administrative complaint filed in 2012 by CPSC against Baby Matters LLC of Berwyn, Pa., which sought a recall of of the Nap Nanny and Nap Nanny Chill infant recliners affter the death of five infants. CPSC staff and Baby Matters LLC reached a settlement agreement that includes the recall and ends the legal proceeding against the company.

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Raechel and Jacqueline Houck died driving a rental car that had been recalled for a power steering hose defect but had not been repaired. The car caught fire because of the defect while traveling on the highway, causing a loss of steering and a head-on collision with a semi-trailer truck.

To make sure this tragedy is not repeated, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) have introduced a bill that would ban rental car companies from renting cars that have been recalled by manufacturers. The bill is named in memory of the two sisters who tragically died in a rental car that had been recalled by the manufacturer but wasn’t repaired by the rental car company (see picture).
Hearing in the Senate is planned for May 21st.

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