Articles Posted in Product Liability
A Tribute to Harold Schwab 1932-2019 By: Steven B. Prystowsky
This eloquent tribute to Mr. Schwab by Steven B. Prystowsky well sums up the life of this giant of the Bar. It is taken from the Eulogy Steven gave at his funeral. Mr. Schwab was the preeminent trial lawyer of his time in the defense of product liability cases. He died on February 4, 2019. We thank Steven for permitting us to post it.
TRIBUTE TO HAROLD SCHWAB
There is an old Talmudic saying:
Methylene Chloride, a toxic paint stripper, continues to kill and injure workers and consumers
Methylene Chloride is a dangerous product that has previously caused the death of many people. Short term exposure to methylene chloryde can cause mental confusion, nausea, vomiting , headache and death in the worst cases. In the long term, workers exposed to it can develop cancer, nervous system problems, toxicity in their kidney, liver and reproductive system.Major retailers such as Lowes and Home Depot have removed it from their shelves even before the EPA finalized a ban proposal that was published one day before President Obama left office. In Europe the deadly chemical was pulled from general use in 2011.
Last May, Scott Pruit confirmed that the EPA was committed to finalize the proposed methylene chloride ban however last month the EPA drafted two new final rules that would ban the use of methylene chloryde to regular consumers but not to commercial operators. Two new final rules drafted by the EPA allow the usage of the dangerous product for commercial use as long as the workers using it have been trained. These rules that have not been made public yet but that have been sent by the EPA to the Office of Management and Budget have sparked the furor of public health advocates and and of congressional Democrats. This is a major step back compared to the proposed rule announced by the EPA during the Obama era.
Workers specialized in refinishing bathtubs are the most at risk of dying from Methylene Chloride exposure
NY Worker dies after falling into a mixing machine
A worker died after falling in a mixing machine in Orangeburg in Rockland County NY. Edwin Nunez, a 41 year old worker at the Icco cheese factory was found dead inside a mixing machine on January 15th around 10:30 am. According to the Daily Voice, Nunez was familiar with the machine. It was his regular assigned workstation. The accident is being investigated by OSHA.
Industrial mixing machines can be dangerous and injuries and deaths related to mixing machine accidents are sadly not uncommon. In their investigation, OSHA inspectors will have to determine if the machine was installed in compliance with OSHA safety measures and if the worker was sufficiently protected from potential exposure to the machine hazards. The following factors are usually taken into consideration when evaluating employee exposure to industrial mixers:
- Point of operation: was the employee performing his task from a safe location?
New regulatory robot helps small businesses understand regulations related to product liability
Any company involved in the manufacturing of a product can be the subject to a product liability lawsuit if the product is defective and caused harm to a consumer. To protect consumers, companies that are involved in product manufacturing have to make sure that they comply with the federal product safety requirements related to their product. While big corporate have their own legal department dealing with all these requirements, small business most of the time don’t. In order to help them, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) just relaunched an improved version of a Regulatory Robot tool which can be found online or downloaded as smart phone app. After answering a few questions small businesses are provided a customized report of product safety information related to their product.
The new Regulatory Robot is much more efficient than its previous version according to the CPSC. While in the past small businesses had to answer 15 to 20 questions to get information, now most of them only need to answer 3 questions.
The Robot also speaks Chinese as well as some Spanish, Vietnamese and Indonesian.
Best Law Firm in New York for personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability and more
Congratulations to all our attorneys and staff for making our firm one of the Best Personal Injury Law Firms in New York. For the ninth consecutive year, Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf has been recognized by U.S. News Media Group, the publishers of U.S. News & World Report, and Best
Lawyers® as a top tier firm in the New York City Metropolitan Area for
- Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
Potential defective body camera recalled by the New York Police Department
A potentially defective lithium-Ion battery in Vievu-brand LE-5 body camera led the NYPD to pull almost 3,000 body cameras from use.
The decision was made after one of the cameras worn by a Staten Island police officer exploded into flames. The officer who was assigned to a midnight shift in the 121st Precinct on the northwestern shore of Staten Island suddenly noticed smoke coming out of his body camera. Thankfully he wasn’t injured in the accident. He just had the time to remove the camera and to drop it on the ground in the precinct before it exploded and caught fire. After the incident, all officers wearing the same model of camera were instructed to immediately remove them and bring them back to their commands. The NYPD had around 15,000 cameras in use and only the Vievu LE-5 is being recalled. The previous version Vievu LE-4 which is also used by some of the police officers is not recalled. Officers who were wearing the LE-5 model will temporally work without body cameras.
CONTROVERSIAL DECISION
The EPA considers allowing asbestos in certain products
Asbestos is a dangerous product that was used in construction materials decades ago. After it was found that exposure to asbestos could lead to lung cancer, mesothelioma and other respiratory diseases, its usage became strictly regulated in the US.
Now the Environmental Protection Agency is looking at options to use asbestos again in new uses such as “adhesives, sealants, roof and non-roof coatings; extruded sealant tape and other tape; high-grade electrical paper; millboard; pipeline wrap; reinforced plastics; roofing felt; asbestos floor tile and any other building material other than cement” according to a significant New Use Rule (SNUR) proposed by the agency.
Anyone who wishes to comment on this rule proposal can do it until August 10th.
Chicken, the country’s most dangerous food
Among all food products offered to American consumers, chicken products are the most dangerous. They have the highest risk to be contaminated with salmonella or other pathogens and to cause illnesses to consumers according to a recently released study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Researchers at the CDC analyzed 5,760 reports of foodborne disease outbreaks that occurred between 2009 and 2015. These outbreaks resulted in 100,939 illnesses, 5,699 hospitalizations, and 145 deaths.
While fish recorded the highest number of contamination followed by dairy products and chicken, chicken was responsible for the most illnesses related to contamination. During the period under review, 3,144 consumers got ill after eating chicken, 2,670 after eating pork and 2,572 after eating seeded vegetables.
Salmonella fear prompts recall of potentially dangerous Goldfish Crackers
3.3 million units of four varieties of Goldfish Crackers have been recalled over fears that the products might be contaminated with salmonella. Peperidge Farm, the manufacturing company, indicated the potential contamination was caused by whey powder used in the fabrication of the crackers. The varieties of Goldfish Crackers being recalled are:
- Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar
- Flavor Blasted Sour Cream & Onion