Now that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas, Hanukkah and the New Year are fast approaching it is a good time to remember that holiday joy should also be tempered with a measure of caution. Earlier this month the US Public Interest Research Group released its annual survey of dangerous toys,…
An article published yesterday in the New York Times raises serious questions about product safety issues concerning bed rails, and is worth our notice here in Oregon. The paper’s reporting is built around the shocking revelation that the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have both…
We’ve all seen the tiny red and yellow bottles in the supermarket. Most of us have seen the TV commercials too: 5-Hour Energy bills itself as an afternoon pick-me-up for flagging office workers, and as time-efficient replacement for a late commuter’s morning coffee. According to an investigation by the New…
Following up a story I originally wrote about last month, there are new developments in the death of an 11-year-old Portland girl in a September accident involving a party bus. According to The Oregonian the girl died when her skull was crushed as she “tumbled out of an emergency window…
Last week the US Chamber of Commerce held its annual Legal Reform Summit – an event designed to scare Americans into believing that our courts are out of control. The American Association of Justice took this opportunity to set the record straight, posting an online slide show designed to educate…
A recent announcement by the Consumer Product Safety Commission that Burlington Coat Factory has agreed to a civil penalty totaling $1.5 million is a victory for everyone concerned about injuries to Oregon children. According to a CPSC news release: “The settlement resolves CPSC staff allegations that from 2003 to 2010,…
The death of a six month old baby eight years ago, and another closely-averted tragedy two years later, set in motion a chain of events leading to the recall this month of hundreds of thousands of potentially dangerous strollers, according to a report by the Associated Press. The strollers were…
Earlier this month news broke of a head-spinningly large fraud settlement involving the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. According to ABC News the company “agreed to an unprecedented $3 billion settlement with the US government over allegations that the company advertised drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.”…
The crash of a small aircraft near Vancouver this week is a reminder that Oregon and Washington product safety concerns can apply to large items, like an airplane. According to The Oregonian a passenger on the small plane died and the pilot was critically injured in the Washington small aircraft…
Last month’s death of a toddler in Boring, Oregon, in Clackamas County, highlights in the most tragic way possible the importance of both safety awareness when adults are operating potentially dangerous equipment around children, and the need for manufacturers to consider safety in the design of their products. According to…