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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 …

June 26th, 2013

One of our past articles on the da Vinci surgical device cited the Chicago Tribune, which quoted Johns Hopkins surgeon and professor Dr. Marty Makary as saying, “The robot is the symbol of the current American health care marketplace–rapid widespread adoption with little to no …

June 19th, 2013

Since January of 2013 we have written two posts about automobile recalls: one, “Toyota Settles Class Action Lawsuit for More Than $1 Billion,” detailed the company’s recall of up to 3.2 million vehicles and its subsequent settlement of a class action lawsuit with customers whose cars …

June 12th, 2013

The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, on June 4, published a news article and the title says it all: “Medical Malpractice Case Statistics Show Nearly 45 Percent Decline in Number of Case Filings Statewide.” The author of the article also mentions that this has been …

June 5th, 2013

Since October 2012, we have periodically published articles about the fungal meningitis outbreak that began at the New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Massachusetts (see our posts titled, “Fungal Meningitis Linked to Tainted Steroid Injections” and “More Compounding Pharmacies Shut Down in Fungal Meningitis Scare” …

May 29th, 2013

On April 24, 2013, Subaru of America, a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., announced a recall of all 2014 model year Subaru Forester automobiles (those built between January and March 2013). This came on the heels of a discovery in Vancouver, Washington in which …

May 22nd, 2013

On May 1, Johns Hopkins Medicine published a study with a provocative title: “Catastrophic Medical Malpractice Payouts in the United States.” The word “catastrophic,” for the purposes of this article are those medical malpractice lawsuit payouts totaling $1 million or greater. The study’s abstract explains that …

May 15th, 2013

As we get closer and closer to summer weather, parents and their children will flock to amusement parks, carnivals and boardwalks to eagerly ride the rides. While we sometimes hear anecdotally of amusement park accidents, they seem very rare. A new study published in this …

April 24th, 2013

Bisphenol A (also known as BPA) is a chemical often used in plastic bottles, most often the durable, reusable Nalgene-style water bottles (though the Nalgene company assures consumers it does not use BPA in any of its products). BPA is used in keeping plastic tough …

April 17th, 2013

An outbreak of fungal meningitis, which began last year and has been traced back to a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts, has killed more than 50 people in 20 states and affected nearly 700 others (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). This company, …