Are 1993 – 2004 model years of Jeep Grand Cherokees killing people?

Is Chrysler’s handling of the potential problem with the Jeep Grand Cherokee eerily reminiscent of Ford’s Pinto?

Did Chrysler also consult the “bean counters” to determine what a recall would cost them as that relates to the total cost of deaths from their product?

Was it cheaper to risk lives than institute a recall?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has instituted an investigation to determine whether the design and positioning of the Grand Cherokee’s fuel tank may be causing unnecessary fires and resulting in deaths by drivers of the 1993 – 2004 Jeep Cherokee.

The Grand Cherokee was on the Car and Driver list of the Ten Best models in 1993 and was Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year for 1993. It also was Peterson’s 4×4 in years 1993, 1996, 1999, and 2001.

In October of 2009, though, the Center for Auto Safety filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including a detailed analysis of the design and placement of the gas tank in 1993 – 2004 model Grand Cherokees.

The petition included the following grisly statistics:

• 172 fatal fire crashes involving the Grand Cherokee
• 254 fatalities

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I am asked quite frequently to evaluate supplements cases and thought I would share some information that I have found to be helpful and provide some things to consider.

The following supplements can be very dangerous and I recommend they be avoided. Supplements, which combine these and other ingredients into multi-ingredient supplements, are even worse.

• Aconite
• Bitter Orange
• Chaparral
• Collodial Silver
• Coltsfoot
• Comfrey
• Country Mallow
• Germanium
• Greater Celandine
• Kava
• Lobelia
• Yohmbe

From a litigation perspective, the insurance companies for manufacturers of these compounds are likely to have meticulously excluded cases involving the supplements contained on this list from coverage. Pursuing shell companies without insurance coverage does not, in any way, benefit a client injured by these products.

Being successful in these cases requires very diligent work and insight into these very specialized products is needed. The research is very time consuming when done by even the most knowledgeable people.

The FDA warning to manufacturers relating to misbranding is much like pursuing Al Capone for tax evasion in order to put him in prison for much worse things. A misbranding announcement is the “siren call” for much bigger problems in most cases.

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What do you get when you combine a narrow wheel base, a narrow turning radius, a high center of gravity, and a powerful engine? Add to this combination a vehicle that was marketed to be operated on rough, uneven terrain.

You get vehicle rollovers and severe injuries. Not too terribly difficult to predict, right?

A Yamaha Rhino.

System Engineering and Laboratories tested the Rhino on a “completely flat area” at approximately 13 mph, with devastating results:

The “back story” on vehicles such as the Yamaha Rhino starts with their designation: “UTV” or utility terrain vehicle, as opposed to an “all” terrain vehicle. At the time the Consumer Products Safety Commission had no regulations for this new “utility terrain vehicle”. These vehicles were the first vehicles with side-by-side seating for occupants and designed for off road use. The Rhino design included a high center of gravity and an engine, which propelled occupants at up to 40 mph.

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Consumer Reports recently reported that some supplements we take on a regular basis may actually be more harm than good. Consumers may not realize that manufacturers of supplements do not have to demonstrate that they are safe and effective before they sell their products to consumers.

Experts at the Institute of Medicine said this year that, “The FDA needs to use the same strict standards to regulate supplements as it uses for drugs, and should ask Congress for more power to regulate supplements.”

The FDA has repeatedly found hazardous ingredients, including synthetic prescription drugs, in supplements, and some natural ingredients can also be hazardous. There have also been claims that supplement sellers tell consumers that they can cure their sickness or replace their costly prescription medications with their supplements.

According to Nutrition Business Journal, in 2009, Americans spent more than $26.7 billion on supplements and the trend only seems to be growing. You can find a supplement pretty much anywhere that claims to cure any aliment or symptom; from a cold, to weight loss, an edge in sports, or just to stay healthy.

Consumer Reports states that, “We have identified a dozen supplement ingredients that we think consumers should avoid because of health risks, including cardiovascular, liver, and kidney problems. We also found products with these ingredients readily available in stores and online.” The report found that a group of ingredients were linked to serious adverse events by clinical research and case reports. The report also factored in whether the ingredients were effective for their claimed uses and how readily available they were to consumers.

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Utility vehicles are used in many rural and suburban areas for transportation and recreation, with families trusting manufacturers to keep their loved ones safe while riding on these devices. However, there are currently several hundred individual lawsuits pending against manufacturer Yamaha for their Rhino ATV product that is the “poster child” for instability and rollovers under normal usage; resulting in serious crush injuries.

These several hundred cases filed against Yamaha, relating to injuries suffered as a result of the Rhino’s instability. These cases are currently pending in federal court in Kentucky, as well as in state courts in California and Georgia. Cases filed in federal court have now been transferred to a multidistrict litigation (MDL) system which is designed to deal with large numbers of individual lawsuits regarding a specific defective product or disaster.

Currently, work is being done to prepare a number of cases for trials later this year.  These cases are known as “bellwether cases” and the trials will be conducted by the MDL judge in Kentucky as a way of resolving issues common to all cases currently filed, as well as streamlining the work that will need to be done by other federal judges to whom individual lawsuits will be referred for trial settings once the MDL’s work is complete. Judge Jennifer B. Coffman is in charge of the MDL and has scheduled a number of trials this year and next, so it is doubtful that the other cases pending in the MDL will be ripe for remands to local federal courts for quite some time.

Yamaha and its retailers are currently defending themselves in these cases with the argument that the vehicles have been misused and that drivers and passengers have ignored warnings and failed to exercise common sense while driving. We have previously written about the Rhino and why the claims of the manufacturer that consumers “misused” the vehicle are simply “smoke and mirrors” and a typical way for product manufacturers to try and delay resolving righteous claims.

A verdict was recently rendered by a jury in Gwinnett County, Georgia in the amount of $317,000 in favor of a plaintiff who suffered a serious leg injury after his Yamaha Rhino flipped over.  A previous case in another state court was lost by the injured plaintiff.  Additional cases are scheduled to be tried later this year in various state courts where the parties were able to obtain jurisdiction over the manufacturer.

The FDA announced yesterday, July 15, 2010, that a class of drugs known as ARBs (Angiotensin-receptor blockers) is being reviewed after a recent study found an increased risk of cancer associated with their use.

ARBs (Angiotensin-receptor blockers) are regularly prescribed for the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage due to Diabetes) and congestive heart failure. Some of the more common brand names of ARBs include Diovan (valsartan), Cozaar (losartan), Avapro (irbesartan), Benicar (olmesartan) and Micardis (telmisartan).

The study cited by the FDA was conducted by a team of researchers, led by Dr. Ilke Sipahi, from the University Hospitals Case Western Medical Center in Cleveland. The team synthesized newly available data from other large scale clinical trials to look for a correlation between cancer development and the use of these drugs. The study concluded that “patients randomly assigned to receive ARBs had a significantly increased risk of new cancer occurrence compared with patients in control groups… Among specific solid organ cancers examined, only new lung-cancer occurrence was significantly higher…”[1] showing the possible cancer risk that could follow the use of this class of drugs.

The FDA plans to continue their review of these studies to determine additional information about any increased risks associated with the use of these medications.  They will release any additional information to the public as it becomes available.  At this time, they recommend that healthcare professionals and their patients continue to use these medications as their respective labels advise, but caution the community to stay alert to the possibility of the associated risks.  It is important that anyone using these medications continue with their use unless otherwise advised by their physician.

Healthcare professionals or patients taking these medications are encouraged to any report adverse events or side effects related to their use to the FDA’s MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.

Patients undergoing what should be routine shoulder and knee surgeries are being debilitated for life. In most cases it is occurring to relatively young, active people. The genesis of these severe injuries lies in surgeons’ use of intra-articular pain pumps. The real cause, though, lies in manufacturers’ practice of putting profits before safety in their marketing practices.

Patients undergoing arthroscopy typically experience 3 to 5 days of post operative pain. Staring in the year 2000, a number of manufacturers of medical devices began marketing infusion devices designed to introduce pain medication directly into the joints of patients; permitting significant pain relief during the post operative period of most severe pain.

Most manufacturers did not seek FDA approval for this new use of infusion pumps; those who did circumvented the FDA through their marketing programs. These manufacturers told doctors that placing a catheter inside the joint space and delivering pain medication directly to the surgical field would provide patients with optimal pain relief. Manufacturers also told physicians the application was safe for patients.

• Pain pump manufacturers did not tell physicians that no clinical trials had been conducted of the effects of infusion directly to the joint space.
• Pain pump manufacturers did not tell physicians that no laboratory evaluation of the effects of the pain medication on human cartilage had been conducted.
• Pain pump manufacturers did not tell physicians their medical devices had not been approved by the FDA.
• Pain pump manufacturers did not tell physicians that little or no literature concerning the effects of intra-articular infusion of pain medication existed and the literature that did exist was not favorable for the very application being sold by the manufacturers.

In an effort to maximize profits, pain pump manufacturers sold their devices to unsuspecting physicians who in turn used them on their unknowing patients. Young patients have suffered a condition called chondrolysis in which the joint cartilage is completely destroyed. This requires joint replacement and, in most cases, these young patients may have to go through additional joint replacements in the future.

The manufacturers now defend lawsuits filed against them by claiming that chondrolysis is being caused by other factors and not their pain pumps. They claim that no good science exists to prove their devices are the root cause of chondrolysis. The fact is a lack of science is due largely to these manufacturers conducting no investigation or evaluation that would have been required by the FDA.

The existence of joint chondrolysis before the year 2000 and the incidence increased rapidly after the use of intra-articular pain pumps began to be promoted. In addition, many of the effected patients presented with very good cartilage condition, until pain medication was injected into the patient’s joint space. Pain pump manufacturers were required to submit their device for FDA approval of the use they ultimately marketed – they never obtained approval.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued another recall today involving more baby cribs.  The cribs, linked to dozens of reports from parents and caregivers, have been recalled after suffocation and strangulation concerns were raised.  This current recall follows several others over the last few months, involving multiple manufacturers, and is focused on cribs made by Simplicity and Graco.

The Graco recall involves drop-side cribs made for them by LaJobi.  The CPSC warned consumers to immediately stop using these cribs and to contact LaJobi ((888) 842-2215 or at their website) for a free hardware retrofit kid which will immobilize the drop side.  The CPSC and LaJobi have received nearly 100 reports from consumers, including two where the children became entrapped in the gap created by the side of the crib which raises and lowers; in both incidents the children were freed. Another six reports involving children falling from the crib after the drop-side failed, including one child who suffered a mild concussion.

The Simplicity recall encompasses ALL full-size cribs with tubular metal mattress-support frames. (although many may have been subject to earlier recalls).  At least one death, of a one-year old boy from Massachusetts, has been reported as part of the recall.  The recall is a result of the failure of the crib’s tubular metal mattress-support frame.  The frame may bend or come apart, causing part of the mattress to collapse, creating a space into which an infant or toddler can become trapped or causing both the child and the mattress to fall out of the crib.  In addition to the death in Massachusetts, the CPSC has received 13 additional reports, including one child entrapment that did not result in injury, and one child who suffered minor cuts to his head when his mattress collapsed and he fell out of the crib.

“CPSC urges all parents and caregivers to not attempt to resell any Simplicity crib to a thrift store, at a yard sale or online,” said agency spokesman Scott Wolfson.  “These recalled cribs have killed far too many babies and need to be kept out of homes and daycare centers.

Simplicity has been the subject of almost a dozen recalls since 2005 and its cribs have been linked to 13 deaths.  Unfortunately, Simplicity is no longer in business, leaving customers and the CPSC without a source for information.

It seems clear that it is not clear… or is it the things we know do not include the unknowns…or is it the things we don’t know are known unknowns?

In any event, based on comments I have seen in blogs, one thing is clear: the public does not understand the lawsuits that are occurring against Big Tobacco here in Florida.

The lawsuits in Florida, known as the Engle cases, largely involve people who became addicted to cigarettes and nicotine back in the 1920’s, 1930’s, 1940’s, and the 1950’s. The cases involve evidence of tobacco companies paying big bucks to:

• convince the public that cigarettes were good for you
• convince the public that nicotine was not addictive
• convince the public that smoking was a positive social choice
• convince the public that smoking did not cause cancer, emphysema, or other diseases

When Big Tobacco was required to place warning labels on cigarette packs, they spent huge sums of money backing articles and other efforts designed to convince the public about the safety of cigarettes; that stated no reliable link between smoking and cancer, much less other diseases, could be established; and that a grand conspiracy existed against cigarette smokers and the tobacco companies.

Bottom line? The Big Tobacco lawyers now want to reinvent history. They want to convince everyone that tobacco companies did not spend massive sums on advertising to convince the public that smoking was good for you, actually healthy for you.

They want to paint smokers who got hooked before the public was really aware of the dangers of smoking as making bad decisions. What they want the public to remember is only history that existed after warnings were given to the public and after all the smoke they could generate to hide the truth had dissipated.

Just check out this Camel ad from 1949:

Or this one from the 1950’s:

Multidistrict litigation proceedings against Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., the manufacturer of the over-the-counter cold product Zicam, are heating up.

This is a process known as multi-district litigation (or an MDL) and is often utilized in mass torts cases where a number of claimants have been injured in a similar fashion by a drug, medical device, other product, airline crash, etc. MDL cases often include class action claims, but are generally aimed at managing a large number of individual lawsuits filed by Plaintiffs who have all suffered harm due to the same general conduct of the Defendants.

Currently, there are more than 300 MDL cases pending in federal court jurisdictions all over the country involving a number of different products, corporate fraud and other wrongdoing, and accidents, such as:

• Chantix (MDL No. 2092 in Birmingham);
• Prempro (MDL No. 1507 in Little Rock);
• Air Crash in Madrid on August 20, 2008 (MDL No. 2135 pending in California);
• Chinese-Manufactured Drywall Products (MDL No. 2047 in New Orleans);
• Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents (MDL No. 1909 in Cleveland);
• Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2002 (MDL No. 1570 in New York City);
• Yasmin and Yaz (MDL No. 2100 in East St. Louis);
• General Motors Vehicle Plan (MDL No. 1392 in Illinois).

In November of 2009, the Judicial Panel for Multi-District Litigation assigned all of the Zicam cases to Judge Frederick Martone in Phoenix, who will oversee pre-trial proceedings, discovery and the bellwether trial process for all of the lawsuits pending in the federal court system.

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