Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyers | Feldman Shepherd

Blog

Resources

Search Resources

Another Reason Why Water Bead Toys Are Dangerous — Toxic Chemical Hazard

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning parents about two brands of water bead toys that contain high levels of a toxic chemical. The two new warnings add to mounting concerns over water beads, which look fun and harmless, but are sending thousands of children to hospital emergency departments with serious and life-threatening injuries caused by ingestion. On March 19, …

Can healthcare fraud serve as a basis for whistleblower lawsuits brought under the False Claims Act?

In fiscal year 2023, more than $1.8 billion of the $2.68 billion recovered under the False Claim Act came from defendants in the healthcare industry. This figure made healthcare fraud the leading basis for False Claims Act settlements and judgments. Healthcare fraud recoveries protect some of the most important programs funded by the federal fisc, including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and the …

Historical High for False Claims Act Settlements and Judgments in Fiscal Year 2023

In fiscal year 2023, the Department of Justice and whistleblowers secured more than $2.68 billion in settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act. This massive haul came as the result of an historic 543 settlements and judgments. There has not been another year with more settlements and judgments in the history of the False Claims Act. This year’s total …

Consumer Reports Calls for Recall of ‘Ingenuity Dream’ and ‘Halo BassiNest’ Bassinets Amid Reports of Dangerous Tilt

Consumer Reports is calling for federal regulators to recall two bedside bassinets amid mounting complaints by parents that they have a tilted sleep surface which is causing their babies to roll into unsafe sleep positions. Both the Ingenuity Dream & Grow Bedside Bassinet, made by Kids2, and the Halo BassiNest Flex Portable Bassinet have a cantilever design, meaning that they are …

Speed Cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard Are Here to Stay

Traffic safety advocates — including an advocate with a special connection to Feldman Shepherd — scored a major victory in their fight to reduce a crisis of fatal accidents on Roosevelt Boulevard. On December 14, 2023, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a new law that makes speed cameras along Roosevelt Boulevard permanent. The cameras — formally called automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras …

All Onewheel e-Skateboards Recalled after Four Deaths and Serious Injuries Reported

After refusing to cooperate with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) almost a year ago, electronic skateboard manufacturer Future Motion is now recalling 300,000 of its Onewheel skateboards amid reports of four deaths and multiple serious injuries. Onewheel e-skateboards are self-balancing boards with a single wheel in the middle of the board and front and rear footpads where the rider stands …

Water Beads Are Seriously Injuring Kids, and Little Is Being Done to Stop It

News Update 9/14/2023 – The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that Buffalo Games has recalled Chuckle and Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits citing serious ingestion, choking and obstruction hazards. Feldman Shepherd is representing the family of a toddler who died after ingesting a Chuckle and Roar water bead. They look completely harmless. Tiny, colorful beads that expand when they absorb …

U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis Continues to Worsen, With Black Moms at Highest Risk

Maternal deaths in the United States have surged to their highest level in nearly 60 years, with rates that are far more dire for Black mothers compared with other racial groups, according to new federal data. In 2021, 1,205 women died of maternal causes, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics released by the Centers for Disease …

false claims act

WHAT IS THE FALSE CLAIMS ACT?

March 10th, 2022

In 1863, the United States federal government passed the False Claims Act to recover monies lost to procurement fraud committed on the Union Army during the Civil War. The Government sought to recoup federal funds from contractors who defrauded the government by, for example, selling …

Whistleblower Rewards

Does My Client Have a Whistleblower Rewards Claim?

March 7th, 2022

Whistleblowers are finally being recognized for the tremendous value they add, and courage they exude, in exposing fraud involving federal funds, securities, commodities and taxes. Read Zachary Arbitman’s article from the March 2, 2022 issue of The Legal Intelligencer to learn more about whistleblower rewards …

false claims act

False Claims Act Recoveries Exceed $5.6B for Fiscal Year 2021

February 18th, 2022

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it obtained more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from False Claims Act cases during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021. Of the $5.6 billion, more than $1.6 billion arose from lawsuits brought …

Infant Lounger

CPSC Sues Leachco After Manufacturer Refuses to Recall ‘Podster’ Infant Loungers Following Two Infant Deaths

February 10th, 2022

UPDATE: On February 9, 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission sued Leachco, the manufacturer of the Podster, Podster Plush, Bummzie and Podster Playtime infant loungers, after the company refused to voluntarily recall these products following two reported infant deaths. The suit asks that Leachco be ordered …

Crib Mattress

CPSC Approves New Safety Rule to Make Infant Mattresses in Play Yards and Cribs Safer

February 3rd, 2022

A seven-year fight by a New Jersey mom whose infant suffocated to death in a soft-sided play yard has ended with a new federal safety rule that will help ensure that mattresses used by babies in play yards and cribs are safe. The Consumer Product Safety …

The Hidden Dangers of Infant Sleep Products: Tips to Win Your Case and Save Lives

January 21st, 2022

From inclined sleepers to infant loungers, unsafe baby products have been linked to an inordinate number of infant deaths. The article below outlines strategies for screening, preparing and successfully resolving a product liability case that involves these infant products. Danger-Infant-Sleep-Products

Defective Products

Help Your Client and Change the World

January 21st, 2022

Some cases provide an opportunity for personal injury and product defect attorneys to not only obtain a just recovery for their client(s) but also to make an impact that can save lives. This article, written by Alan Feldman, appeared in the January issue of Trial …

bunk bed injuries

Longwood Forest Recalls 40,000 Bunk Beds Due to Risk of Entrapment and Strangulation to Children

January 11th, 2022

In the shadow of multiple recalls involving infant sleepers that put babies at serious risk for death by asphyxiation, a recent recall of children’s bunk beds signifies that unsafe sleep products can be a problem even for older children. On December 22, 2021, importer Longwood Forest …

Philadelphia Rowhouse Fire

Deadly Philadelphia Rowhouse Fire Raises Question of “Did This Have to Happen?”

January 7th, 2022

As Philadelphians mourn the deaths of 12 people, including nine children, who died in the early morning house fire on January 5, all eyes will turn to whether this horrific tragedy could have been prevented. What’s known at this time from news reports is that the …

birth injury

Florida’s NICA Program: A Tragic Lesson on How Tort Reform Harms Birth-Injured Children

October 29th, 2021

A series of reports by investigative journalists at ProPublica and the Miami Herald shines a spotlight on what can go horribly wrong when parents are stripped of their right to sue when their child is catastrophically injured at birth due to medical negligence. “Birth Rights: Investigating …

crib bumpers

Those Adorable, Padded Crib Bumpers May Suffocate Your Baby

October 6th, 2021

As all eyes are focused on The Boppy Company’s recall of 3.3 million pillow-like infant loungers that have been tied to the deaths of eight babies, another pillow-like infant product that poses a suffocation hazard has slipped quietly under the radar: padded crib bumpers. Studies have …

Boppy Death

3.3 Million Boppy Baby Loungers Recalled After 8 Babies Die

September 27th, 2021

Following a spate of heartbreaking infant fatalities over a five-year period, The Boppy Company has finally recalled one of its most popular baby products that unbeknownst to many new parents was putting their infants at serious risk for asphyxiation. On September 23, 2021, The Boppy Company …