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

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 hours later Matthew was found dead in his office by his fiancée. The bottles of …

CPSC Warns Against Multiple Infant Loungers After Five Deaths

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 Mamibaby, Yoocaa, DHZJM, Cosy Nation and Hyhuudth. The CPSC believes that all five loungers were …

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

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 retain hundreds of times their weight in water. The beads — which are widely marketed …

June 6th, 2012

The sex abuse scandal that has publicly rocked the Catholic Church for more than a decade has actually been around much longer than that. Rachel Zoll of The Associated Press writes that one priest, who happens to have founded an entire religious order dedicated to rehabilitating …

May 30th, 2012

Priapism is a prolonged, unwanted and often painful erection which requires prompt medical treatment to avoid the risk of permanent sexual dysfunction and impotence. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic of priapism, sufferers may be hesitant to report it, but delay by the …

May 23rd, 2012

The disease of shingles is a reactivation of the varicella zoster (chicken pox) virus. It is in the herpes family. The herpes diseases like chicken pox remain latent or hidden in certain nerve roots in the spinal cord. With shingles, there is a reactivation of …

May 9th, 2012

On the topic of social media, this blog has already covered the judicial precedents being set in the state of Pennsylvania with regard to insurance companies probing plaintiffs’ Facebook profiles. As judges become more familiar with the sensitive nature of an individual’s social media profile …

May 2nd, 2012

The number of users on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ is growing, and as it does, its prominence in law suits increases exponentially. In February 2012, this blog covered the precedents being set in the state of Pennsylvania about whether insurance …

April 25th, 2012

Though not a new phenomenon, school bus accidents have been increasingly prevalent in the news in recent months, locally, nationally, and even internationally. We have heard of injuries to children, bus drivers, other motorists and even several deaths. But what are the facts about school …

April 18th, 2012

Have you ever wondered how well pharmacies are able to detect and protect against drug interactions between the various prescriptions you may be taking? Many pharmacies use computer software designed to search for possible drug interactions between the medications prescribed for you by your various …

April 11th, 2012

Depakote (a pharmaceutical name for valproate semisodium) has been prescribed as a mood stabilizer since the late 1970s, particularly for sufferers of epilepsy. Today, the medication is mostly used to treat bipolar disorder (manic depression) and migraine headaches. It has proven to be incredibly effective …

March 28th, 2012

The question is whether or not medical malpractice tort reform has enacted any positive change in the United States. The answer you get depends almost completely upon whom you ask. Advocates for tort reform legislation argue that doctors who fear lawsuits for medical negligence practice “defensive …

March 14th, 2012

Kernicterus is a rare but serious disease that affects babies soon after they are born. It is especially tragic because it is so easily prevented. The first indication of the disease is the yellowing of a baby’s skin, called jaundice, which is caused by an excess …

March 7th, 2012

Spina bifida is a very serious developmental disorder in which a child’s neural tube (the spinal cord and its surrounding tissue) does not close completely. For this reason, it is often known as an NTD, or neural tube disorder. Other disorders that fall under this …

February 21st, 2012

As we have written about before on this blog, rising medical costs are often attributed to increases in doctors’ malpractice insurance premiums due to so-called “frivolous” litigation. This is certainly what many in the media and in politics will have you believe because it squarely places …