Articles Posted in Product Defect

There has been a world-wide recall of a toy called Aqua Dots. It is always frightening to find a toy recalled because of defects or a choking hazard, anything that may bring harm and injury to our children immediately send parents racing around the house, removing the invading toy threat. The recall of Aqua Dots is especially terrifying as researchers have found that the coating on the colorful toy beads, when ingested, metabolize into gamma hydroxy butyrate, better known as the date rape drug.

So far, at least two children in the United States and four in Australia have been hospitalized after swallowing the toy beads. One 20 month old boy, from Arkansas, starting stumbling around, throwing up and eventually passed out, after swallowing Aqua Dots. After several hours in the hospital he was released. The date rape chemical components are dangerous even to adults. According to an article by Find Law, the date rape drug “can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death”.

According to reports, Aqua Dots were planned to be produced using a non-toxic chemical that can be found in glue, but would up being made with a toxic chemical called 1,4-butanediol. This chemical was declared a Class I health hazard in 1999 by the Food and Drug Administration, indicating it can cause life-threatening harm.

Walking into one of our Sacramento grocery stores nowadays, I find myself wondering if I am going to be purchasing another product that will show to have some sort of bacteria attached to it, and after consumption, find that it has been recalled. Food poisoning is not the most pleasant of experiences. To add to this badgering thought, today I came across yet another article in the paper, talking about a recalled food product. This time we are presented with salmonella-tainted pot pies, yum yummy.

The maker of these pies, ConAgra Foods, have recalled the product after the pies were linked to a nationwide outbreak of the infection. Reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are showing that more than 200 cases of salmonella infection have been reported this year, covering 34 states. This salmonella infection shows to be all from the same strain.

A federal lawsuit is being carried out against ConAgra Foods, representing two classes. One class is a consumer class, representing people who bought and/or ate the infected pies. The second class is called an injury class, which will represent all those who after eating such infected pies, became ill.

A food allergy can be a difficult and tiresome battle to deal with. Parents with children of food allergies, especially more-encompassing allergies such as gluten, know the caution needed to be taken each time their child is given something new to eat. Frank and Beth Miller are parents of not one, but two children with food allergies. Their oldest son, Mekenzie (7-years old), has celiac disease, making him allergic to gluten and wheat. Their 4-year old, Macauley, is autistic. Milk, gluten, and wheat worsen his behavior problems.

The Millers went to McDonald’s one day and after thoroughly inspecting the ingredients, allowed their sons to have French fries. Later that day, the boys experienced emotional distress and physical illness. It turned out that the French fries included both casein and wheat, even though they were not listed on the ingredients section. There is now a Personal Injury suit being brought against McDonald’s for the two boys. Along with this case, there are 16 Personal Injury cases in Florida and one federal class action suit against McDonald’s.

Any company or organization dealing with the sale or production of food products have the responsibility to provide food that will not cause illness or death. When they fail in this area, they are putting themselves in the position to pay for any injured person’s damages. If you or a loved one have ever been injured by negligence or intentional misconduct by a food manufacturer or company, please give me a call at the Law Office of Moseley Collins. I will be able to discuss your available options and next steps.

West of Sacramento, in the San Mateo Superior Court, a verdict for $1.8 million was affirmed in a case where a man was seriously injured after a forklift fell on top of him. The plaintiff of the case, a forklift operator, alleged that the forklift had a defect in its design, placing “excessive stress on the tires”. The stress eventually caused a tire of the forklift to split, sending the forklift crashing down on top of the man, crushing his leg.

You can imagine how dramatic it all must have been. The injured man eventually lost his leg in the accident. The resulting $1.8 million verdict was for lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. It is unknown if the expenses also cover for prosthetics, but likely to be so. Nothing, however, covers for the loss of the leg, in the real sense of it, or for the pain associated with it.

A design defect occurs when there should have been an alternative solution used in the making of a product and because of the product’s current design, the product is now unreasonably dangerous. Many companies have faced charges because their products failed to comply with the standard safety regulations and ended up affecting people’s lives in dramatic ways.

I read in the news today an activist group called Stop Hurting Our Children (SHOK) has arisen from a lawsuit that took place just west of Sacramento in Marin County, California. The lawsuit was brought on by the families of eight children after the children were injured from quick-release bicycles sold by Wal-Mart. The quick-release bicycles have been said to spontaneously pop off, causing injury to anyone riding the bike. In the Marin County case alone, three of the eight children suffered from traumatic brain injury.

Bicycles that have a quick-release option were designed to allow the rider to take off the wheels of their bike without using tools. Many bike riders want the ability to remove the wheel(s) of their bikes for fixing flat tires, preventing theft, and putting bikes into cars. A website called Bicycling Life states the reason quick-release wheels come off is because the are often not put back on properly. There is a page on the website that describes the correct and incorrect way to put on a quick-release wheel. I suggest that if you do purchase or have purchased a bicycle with a quick-release wheel, you read the article. Information that can help save your children.

If you have ever been injured in an accident caused by a product defect, please call the Law Offices of Moseley Collins for advice. We know the law and we know how to act.

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