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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 …

July 13th, 2015

Last summer we published a post about growing numbers of injuries sustained by patients during surgeries with the da Vinci surgical robot system, e.g. “tears and burns, to blood vessels, intestines, uterus and vaginal cuff dehiscence.” Complaints have also been leveled against the electrical arms …

July 8th, 2015

The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has not been in the news a great deal over the last four or so years, but that does not mean all of the problems it created have been solved. As a part of …

June 24th, 2015

This blog has long advocated that the class action suit is a core component of the civil justice system, one that provides a class of plaintiffs redress from corporate wrongdoing. Class actions are not limited to consumer protection, but also help to discourage discriminatory and …

June 17th, 2015

A revelatory article in a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal sheds light on one of the most important factors influencing prescription drug pricing: their brand labels. The authors of the story, which ran with the headline, “Pharmaceutical Companies Buy Rivals’ Drugs, Then Jack …

June 10th, 2015

WNYC’s Freakonomics Radio–named after a book series by journalist Stephen Dubner and economist Steven Levitt–recently ran a two-part series about the American health care system. The first hour (about randomized controlled medical trials) was interesting enough, but its sequel proved highly relevant to subjects this …

May 27th, 2015

In 2013, more than four thousand former NFL players settled a class action suit against their former employer for $765 million, alleging that the league knew about the long-term risks associated with sub-concussive and concussive injuries. Many of these men–battling problems like chronic depression, dementia, …

May 20th, 2015

Joanne Doroshow, founder and executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy at New York Law School, is also a columnist for The Huffington Post. In the past, she has covered discrimination in the tort reform movement, advocated for protecting the seventh amendment, (the …

May 13th, 2015

When we first covered the alleged link between testosterone drug therapy and cardiovascular problems–particularly in older men–last June, there were about 50 such cases pending across the country. Now there are at least 1,500, and that number is growing every week. Reports do not vary …

May 6th, 2015

Since at least 2009, researchers have been aware that MiraLax, an over-the-counter laxative manufactured by Bayer Corp., is not safe for patients who suffer from kidney disease. But this did not stop the company and is affiliates from allowing the drug to be taken by …