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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 …

April 10th, 2013

About a year ago, we posted a blog titled “Depakote Linked to Neural Tube Defects,” which detailed a possible link between expectant mothers taking this medication and defects like spina bifida, cleft palate, atrial septal defect (a hole in the heart), anencephaly and encephaloceles in …

April 3rd, 2013

Of the three branches of government, the judicial branch receives by far the least attention. With the exception of high-profile cases like the Affordable Care Act and Proposition 8 (dealing with same-sex marriage in California), the judiciary lacks the glamor of the presidency and the …

March 27th, 2013

Last week, we reported on the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ) and their recent series about harmful laws affecting patients in some health care facilities. The first of these two reports, collectively called “A Frail System,” details the inability of families to hold potentially negligent …

March 20th, 2013

This past February, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ) published a two-document series called “A Frail System” about a measure billed as tort reform which has seriously affected people in nursing homes in that state. This legislation touches on two of the most prominent …

March 6th, 2013

In June of 2012, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Philadelphia court officials predicted a drop in asbestos and pharmaceutical claims from 2,690 in 2011 to 1,068 in 2012. The numbers have now come in, and the actual drop was more than they anticipated: last year, …

February 27th, 2013

Last April, we shared a blog about the alarming prevalence of school bus accidents in this area as if it were a tragic anomaly. We wrote about stories occurring “in recent months, locally, nationally and even internationally.” These crashes happened at least a year ago, …

February 13th, 2013

On January 16 of this year, this blog published a post about an outbreak of fungal meningitis that has killed 39 people and infected 650 more. Inspectors have traced this event, which has hit the states of Michigan and Tennessee particularly hard, to a pharmaceutical …

February 6th, 2013

2012 saw the 40th anniversary of Title IX, a portion of the Education Amendments of 1972 signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Many regard Title IX as a landmark piece of legislation that helped ensure that women have the same ability as men to …

January 30th, 2013

Recent mass shootings at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, a movie theater in Colorado, a shopping mall in Oregon and an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. have garnered a lot of media attention, but it is worth pointing out that since the shooting in Newtown …