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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 …

January 29th, 2014

The seemingly never-ending products liability case in Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court Lance v. Wyeth has finally drawn to a close after more than three years of arguments and appeals. This case involves Catherine Ruth Lance, whose family argues that Wyeth (a pharmaceutical company) was negligent in …

January 22nd, 2014

In the past few months, this blog has addressed issues concerning the safety of generic drugs. In July we published an article about the Supreme Court protecting manufacturers of generics in cases in which victims were harmed due to inadequate warning labels. Fortunately, the FDA …

January 15th, 2014

On December 26, 2013, President Obama and the House Budget Committee leadership reached a deal that set a new federal budget. The deal, according to Reuters, “reduces the risk of another government shutdown.” A less publicized section of the Bipartisan Budget Act, one that few …

January 8th, 2014

About one year ago, a fungal meningitis outbreak in New England affected nearly eight hundred individuals in twenty states, claiming over sixty lives in the process. The source of these infections was the New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Massachusetts, which was an active distributor …

December 11th, 2013

Over a year ago, this blog published an article about the dangers of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a serious condition that causes a dark red rash to appear on the skin. Health Canada, Canada’s counterpart to the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recently sent an …

December 4th, 2013

Birth asphyxia, also known as birth hypoxia, or intrauterine hypoxia, occurs when a newborn is deprived of oxygen. This complication can lead to permanent brain damage and even death of the infant. In cases of brain damage, we typically see children diagnosed with cerebral palsy …

November 27th, 2013

It might surprise one to learn that 80 percent of pharmaceuticals currently prescribed in the United States are generic. But would it be surprising to know that brand-name drug manufacturers and those that make generic drugs were not always subject to the same rules? Earlier …

November 20th, 2013

The consumer activist and pro-civil justice blog ThePopTort.com informs us, somewhat in jest, that last week was the unofficial “House Tort Reform Week,” in which congressional leadership placed two so-called “tort reform” bills on the House floor and heard details in a subcommittee about a …

November 13th, 2013

“Tort Reform” was back in the news last month thanks to an article in Forbes by Steve Cohen provocatively titled “Can Obamacare Improve Patient Safety? Tort Reform Hasn’t?” In it, Cohen argues what this blog has been asserting for years, that tort reform has not …