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Med Mal Lawsuits and Aortic Dissection – The Deadly Condition Often Missed in the Emergency Department

If left untreated, aortic dissection carries a mortality rate nearing 50% within 48 hours of symptom onset. Alarmingly, fewer than half of all cases are correctly diagnosed in the emergency department at first presentation. This article, written by Bethany R. Nikitenko and published in The Legal Intelligencer, provides a brief overview of the condition, the standard of care for …

Mandatory Safety Standard for Nursing Pillows Is Now in Effect

A new federal safety standard that aims to reduce the risks of suffocation, entrapment and falls associated with nursing pillows is now in effect. Nursing pillows are horseshoe-shaped pillows that are designed to fit around an adult’s torso and lift a baby to a more “ergonomic” position for breast or bottle feeding. They are not an infant sleep product, but their …

Mandatory Safety Standard for Infant Loungers and ‘Support Cushions’ Is Now in Effect

A new federal safety standard that aims to reduce the risks of suffocation, entrapment and falls associated with infant loungers and similar pillow-like products is now in effect. Starting on May 5, 2025, manufacturers of infant loungers and other “infant support cushions” must adhere to a mandatory safety standard which was unanimously approved by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) …

U.S. Leads High-Income Countries in Traffic Deaths

The United States leads 27 other high-income countries in its number of pedestrian deaths and overall road traffic deaths, according to a report recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report regards preventable pedestrian accident traffic deaths in the U.S. as a “major public health problem.” Between 2013 and 2022, U.S. pedestrian death rates increased 50 percent …

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 …

February 26th, 2014

We have commented in previous blogs about the inadequacy of the self-regulation of physicians by the medical community. Apparently, only in the most egregious cases will medical boards step in to breach to revoke a physician’s medical license. Earlier this month, an anesthesiologist in Pompton …

February 19th, 2014

This blog has covered the United States Chamber of Commerce before, calling it in 2011 a“misleadingly named collection of businesses considered the largest pro-corporation lobbying group in the U.S.” We also pointed out that among its Board of Directors are executives from some of the …

February 12th, 2014

This past January, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court took up a question that had been addressed by lower courts in the state over the past few years: Does witnessing a family member’s death fall under an insurance policy’s coverage of “bodily injury to a person and …

February 5th, 2014

A new pamphlet published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) called “How Safe Is Your Hospital for Workers?” includes some startling facts about the dangers that hospitals present not only to patients, but to their employees as well. For example, in terms of …

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 …