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DOJ Launches Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program

In 2024, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division launched the Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to combat corporate crime. The Corporate Whistleblower Pilot Program will run through 2027, before being re-evaluated, and is modeled on other successful whistleblower programs like those administered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Pilot Program is designed …

Tabletop Fire Pits Can Explode, Cause Serious Burn Injuries and Death

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers to immediately stop using alcohol-burning or other liquid fuel tabletop fire pits following two deaths and at least 60 injuries in the past five years. Tabletop fire pits — also called fire pots, miniature fireplaces and personal fireplaces — are small, portable fireplaces that can be placed on a tabletop or …

NHTSA Issues Final Rule for Auto Whistleblower Program

On December 12, 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published the final rule formalizing its whistleblower program, as required by the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act. The final rule deviates little from the rule proposed by NHTSA in April 2023, which addressed definitions of key program terms, tip-filing requirements, award applications, how decisions are made on award applications, …

SEC Obtains Orders for a Record $8.2 Billion in Financial Remedies in Fiscal Year 2024

In fiscal year 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed 583 enforcement actions and obtained orders for $8.2 billion in financial remedies—the most ever obtained by the SEC in a single fiscal year. The $8.2 billion consisted of $6.1 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and $2.1 billion in civil penalties. The SEC also obtained orders barring 124 individuals from serving …

When Fun Toys Kill: The Products Liability Case Against Water Beads

Water beads are sold for children as toys, educational materials, art materials, sensory tools, and as projectiles for “gel blaster” guns. Adults use them as decorative, crafting and gardening supplies. When these small, colorful beads are swallowed by children, they do not simply get digested and pass through a child’s body. Instead, they absorb fluids and expand to many times …

The Products Liability Case Against Tianeptine: The Deadly “Dietary Supplement” Found at Your Local Store

You see them displayed by the cash register. Neptune’s Fix and other tianeptine-based products promise to help brain function, treat anxiety and depression, and even manage opioid addiction. Unbeknownst to many consumers, these products have been associated with severe adverse medical events, including seizures and even deaths. This article, written by John M. Dodig and Jason A. Daria and published in …

Fisher-Price Recalls Snuga Swings After Five Infant Deaths

In a recall that one federal safety regulator has characterized as “doomed to fail,” Fisher-Price is offering its customers $25 to remove components from its Snuga Swings — which have been linked to five infant deaths — instead of offering a meaningful remedy that would get this unsafe product out of people’s homes. On October 10, 2024, Fisher-Price announced the recall …

Lawmakers Seek to Address Supersized Vehicles That Kill Pedestrians

Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at reducing the number of pedestrians who are killed and seriously injured in crashes with supersized passenger vehicles. Recent government data show that there are more than 40,000 fatal car crashes per year in the United States. Between 2013 and 2022, pedestrian fatalities increased 57 percent from 4,779 to 7,522, according to the National Highway …

CPSC Warns Against Two Cradle Swings That Pose Suffocation and Fall Hazards

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning parents and caregivers to stop using DNYSYSJ and OUKANING cradle swings due to the risk of suffocation and falls. According to the CPSC, the cradle swings violate federal safety regulations for bassinets and cradles. The warning, issued on August 15, 2024, states that the “folds” of the cradle swing’s segmented sleeping pad …

Neptune's Fix

Neptune’s Fix Recalled: FDA Warns That Tianeptine-Containing Products Are Associated with Seizures, Loss of Consciousness and Death

September 5th, 2024

When 32-year-old graphic designer Matthew Cornier decided to work late at his Point Pleasant, New Jersey, office, he went to a convenience store and purchased several shot-size bottles of Neptune’s Fix, a purported dietary supplement sold with a claim that it will improve mental focus. Several …

Infant Lounger

CPSC Warns Against Multiple Infant Loungers After Five Deaths

September 3rd, 2024

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers to stop using five brands of baby loungers that violate federal safety regulations and are linked to the deaths of five infants. The loungers were sold online on Amazon and Walmart under the brand names …

water beads

Study: Water Bead-Related ER Visits by Kids Increased Over 130% in One Year

September 3rd, 2024

Water bead-related emergency room visits by children increased by over 130 percent — from 55 visits in 2021 to 127 in 2022 — according to a new study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Water beads are made of super-absorbent polymer crystals which can …

bed rails

1.5 Million Medline Adult Bed Rails Recalled After Two Entrapment Deaths

August 15th, 2024

Medical supply company Medline Industries is recalling 1.5 million adult portable bed rails that have been linked to the entrapment deaths of two senior citizens. The recall comes less than two months after another medical supply company, Essential Medical Supply, re-announced its recall of 272,000 …

infant carrier

Joybuy Infant Sling Carriers Recalled Due to Suffocation, Fall Hazards

July 25th, 2024

A decade after Feldman Shepherd product liability attorneys Alan M. Feldman, Daniel J. Mann and Edward S. Goldis successfully litigated two cases that led to the recall of one million infant sling carriers that suffocated babies, similar baby carriers have re-entered the marketplace and have …

Cybersecurity

SEC Fines Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $10 Million for Delays in Notifying Agency about Data Breach

May 31st, 2024

On May 22, 2024, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission instituted cease-and-desist proceedings against Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) and its subsidiaries, including the New York Stock Exchange, for failing to promptly notify the SEC about a cyber intrusion that occurred in April 2021. Upon …

water beads

Federal Lawmakers Introduce ‘Esther’s Law’ to Ban Deadly Water Beads and Protect Kids

May 13th, 2024

Feldman Shepherd Represents Family of 10-month-old Esther Jo Bethard, for Whom the Bill Was Named. Esther Died After Swallowing a Single Water Bead. Philadelphia personal injury law firm Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP is pleased to announce that U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Tammy …

Med Mal Cases Arising From Suicide: Dispensing the Myths and Removing the Stigma

May 9th, 2024

Medical treatment can affect the outcome of mental health issues, the same as with any other medical condition, and the law is finally catching up for cases where negligent mental health treatment results in suicide. This article, authored by Mark W. Tanner and Bethany R. …

bed rails

Adult Bed Rails: A ‘Safety Device’ with a Record of Entrapment, Asphyxiation Deaths

May 1st, 2024

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has re-announced the recall of four models of Endurance Hand Bed Rails in the wake of two deaths linked to the rails since they were first recalled in December 2021. While the recall is limited to these …