Defective & Dangerous Products

• Bone Graft Not Screened For Infections

  Bob Carroll | January 05, 2006 7:07 AM | 1 CommentTampa Bay, FL

  A woman has just discovered she has syphilis a month after her hospital told her that tissue used in her bone graft may not have been screened for infectious disease. The full story is reported by Newsday. This New York story may well reach into Florida.In October, the FDA notified hospitals across the country, including North Shore LIJ, about allegations that Biomedical Tissue Services of...

• Legislatures Need to Monitor Taser Use

  Joe Saunders | January 03, 2006 11:07 AM | 0 CommentsOrlando, FL

  It seems that each day we hear stories of more people dying after being tasered by police. Across the United States and in several other countries, the use of Taser weaponry has come under scrutiny. Questions have been raised about whether Taser shock, up to 50,000 volts of electricity, represents particularly high risks for those on some medications, people with heart problems, and the...

• Kidney Failures Reported After Drinking Colonoscopy Prep

  Bob Carroll | January 03, 2006 7:08 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  We have a warning from KidneyNotes.com. Danger to Kidneys May Lurk in Some Sodium Phosphate Preparations for Colonoscopy. Quoting from The New York Times: No one disputes that colonoscopies save lives. But recent research has prompted concern that in rare instances certain popular bowel-cleansing preparations that patients gulp down the day before a procedure can severely damage the kidneys. ...

• Deputy Claims Taser Training Ends His Career

  Bob Carroll | December 26, 2005 7:54 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  There must be a better training protocol then to have a deputy sheriff take a jolt from a Taser that ends his career. On the other hand, there must be a better way to disable a subject than to expose him to the same risk. Unfortunately, Deputry Sam Powers was unable to convice a jury that Taser International should be liable for his disability. From Court TV we get more of the details.After...

• Recalled Defective Toys Still on Florida Shelves

  Staff Writer | December 23, 2005 3:29 PM | 0 CommentsOrlando, FL

  A recent inspection by the Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Department found that many recalled defective products remain on stores' shelves despite the fact that business owners could face fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Inspectors visited nearly 100 stores in 31 cities looking for several products which had been recalled and where supposed to be removed from stores. About...

• Clothes Dryer Explodes - Severe Burns Result

  Bob Carroll | December 20, 2005 4:14 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Moving a clothes dryer slightly should not cause an explosion. It is simply outrageous that a woman has been severely burned in a gas explosion and fire when she turned her dryer on. Over years of use and maintenance every clothes dryer is going to be moved slightly on many occasions. Proper design or installation of the dryer would have prevented this horrible injury. Corrugated stainless...

• Plastic Whistles Are Choking Hazard

  Bob Carroll | December 19, 2005 6:10 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Your pizza may have come with something more dangerous than pepperoni. CEC Entertainment, franchisor of the Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant chain, is recalling 144,000 plastic whistles. The recall was prompted by an investigation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission after reports of children starting to choke on the whistle's internal pieces. The made-in-China toy whistles were...

• $31 Million Mesothelioma Verdict

  Bob Carroll | December 18, 2005 5:53 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  A Florida jury has awarded $31 Million to a mechanic who contracted mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos from friction brakes, sources have told Mealey Publications (Joseph Mallia & Gale Mallia v. Bennett Auto Supply, et al., No. 04-16237 CA 42, Fla. Cir., Miami-Dade Co).

• Grandma Tasered

  saunders saunders | December 08, 2005 1:23 PM | 0 CommentsOrlando, FL

  A 68-year old Ohio grandmother was hit with a Taser gun by police while she was in a police department waiting room. The police fired and hit her 5 times with the Taser. The entire incident was caught on police department surveilance tape. According to police, Beverly Kidwell, 68, came into the police station to be arrested after hitting her granddaughter. Kidwell said she waited a long time...

• Will Tort Reform Kill Playground Improvements?

  Bob Carroll | December 08, 2005 10:50 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  An unintended consequence of Tort Reform may be less safe or imaginative playgrounds. This is one of the conclusions in an article by Benjamin Barton in the Florida Law Review entitled Tort Reform, Innovation, and Playground Design. When confronted by potential product liability it seems that entrepreneurial companies do not simply patch failed products. In many instances they fully rethink...