Unsafe Products

January 27, 2013

Important Oregon Product Safety Information

An important Oregon consumer safety announcement from the federal government has been passed along by The Oregonian. The newspaper reports that the Food and Drug Administration has ordered the recall of seven different varieties of Annie’s frozen pizza because some of the meals may be “studded with metal fragments.”

The newspaper reports that a statement issued by the manufacturer, Annie’s Inc of Berkeley, California, “said a mesh screen at a flour mill broke causing tiny metal pieces to tumble into the flour and contaminate pizza dough.” According to The Oregonian the recalled frozen pizzas have been distributed nationwide, so it is only prudent to assume that some may have made their way here to Oregon.

A separate statement released by the FDA noted that the recall is precautionary in nature. Until now, no metal fragments have been discovered in the affected products. The FDA news release (see link below) offers a complete list of the products being recalled, along with their UPC numbers, and also provides contact information for the hotline set up by the company to deal with consumer questions and concerns.

December 21, 2012

The Case for a More Transparent CPSC

by Matthew D. Kaplan

An article published this week in the online magazine Slate makes a compelling case that the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an organization many of us think of as an important guardian of Americans’ safety and rights, could do a lot more to make its own workings transparent.

The article begins with a simple example: “Sometime before October 2011, an unknown child was injured by an unknown product that was produced by an unknown manufacturer. The Consumer Product Safety Commission published a report of the injury in its online database of safety complaints.” It also notes that the unnamed company has so far been able to contest what it views as inaccurate charges that its product is unsafe by filing a secret lawsuit against the CPSC, all the while keeping its name, its product and the allegations against it from being identified in the CPSC database.

Perhaps even more shocking is the revelation that when a federal court in Maryland allowed the secret suit to go forward, accepting the company’s argument that letting people know it was being sued might be bad for business, the government opted not to appeal that decision. According to Slate three consumer-advocate groups have since then been “granted permission to intervene by the court in October (and) are pressing on” with the appeal that the federal government refused to lodge.

November 30, 2012

Pay Attention to Dangerous Toys This Holiday Season

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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, Trouble in Toyland. It is a reminder that parents need to take care during the coming weeks to ensure that unsafe products do not threaten their families.

The issue here is not so much the common dangers that any responsible parent is always aware of – choking hazards, for example (though, to be clear, these remain very real). Rather it is with manufacturing problems that parents may not immediately be able to see, but which pose a risk of death or serious injury to unsuspecting children.

Trouble in Toyland notes that “toys with high levels of toxic substances are still on store shelves, as well as toys with lead content above the 100 parts per million limit.” It also expresses particular concern about toys containing “small powerful magnets that pose a dangerous threat to children if swallowed.”

November 27, 2012

Bed Rail Product Safety Questioned in Newspaper Article

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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 “known for more than a decade about deaths from bed rails but had done little to crack down on the companies that make them.”

Even the fact that two government agencies had so much evidence raising questions about these dangerous products came to light only after a woman whose mother died in a bed rail accident launched a persistent letter-writing campaign. The woman became concerned about safety issues after her 81-year old mother died when she was “apparently strangled after getting her neck caught in side rails used to prevent her from rolling out of bed” at the nursing home where she lived.

The newspaper reports that data compiled by the CPSC documented 150 adult deaths, mainly among senior citizens, as a result of bed rails between 2003 and mid-2012. “Over the same time period, 36,000 mostly older adults – about 4,000 a year – were treated in emergency rooms with bed rail injuries,” the Times adds.

November 21, 2012

Government Raises Safety Questions Concerning ‘5-Hour Energy’

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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 York Times, however, information compiled by the federal government raises important questions about the safety of 5-Hour Energy and similar products. “Since 2009, 5-Hour Energy has been mentioned in some 90 filings with the FDA, including more than 30 that involved serious or life-threatening injuries like heart attacks, convulsions and, in one case, a spontaneous abortion” the newspaper reports.

The paper notes that the mention of a product in an FDA filing does not necessarily mean that the product is connected with a particular incident – only that a connection is possible or suspected. Still, the Times reports that 13 fatality reports mention 5-Hour Energy and that the government, as a result, is concerned. The Times adds that the regulatory world concerning energy drinks is often confusing because some are treated as beverages while others (including 5-Hour Energy) are classified as dietary supplements. Each category has different rules regarding both labeling and whether and how adverse events need to be reported to the government. The article quotes an FDA official saying that the reports are prompting a closer examination by the Agency.

October 29, 2012

Standing Up to the Chamber – Standing Up for Oregonians’ Rights

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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 Oregonians and other Americans about the Chamber’s excesses.

Titled “Top 10 Ways the US chamber Hurts Americans” the presentation highlights both the Chamber’s hypocrisy – its denunciation of “bailouts” even as it sought them for its largest corporate members – and the broader damage it does to the nation at large as one of the leading promoters of climate change denial.

This is an embedded Microsoft Office presentation, powered by Office Web Apps.

July 29, 2012

Child Injury Risk Leads to Massive Stroller Recall

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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 finally recalled a few days ago “because children can become trapped and strangled between trays on them,” the news agency reports. The manufacturer, Peg Perego USA, issued a recall effecting “approximately 223,000 strollers, which include Venezia and Pliko-P3 strollers in various colors, made between January 2004 and September 2007.” The recall affects strollers with “a child tray and one cup holder.” Models with differing designs are not subject to the recall.

The article also notes the announcement of a much smaller recall (5,600 units) of strollers from another manufacturer: Kolcraft Enterprises. These are being pulled off of the market “due to potential falling and choking hazards,” the AP reports. The action stemmed from six reports of broken front caster wheels “and two reports of the basket’s support screws and nuts detaching.”

July 12, 2012

$3 Billion Healthcare Fraud Settlement Spotlights Oversight Importance

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.”

Over the years we have all become a bit numb to horror stories about the health care industry. One of the few things both sides in the debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act appear to agree on is that the US healthcare system is in need of significant reform (exactly what sort of reform is a subject of far more debate).

Cases like this are the sort of thing that not only give an entire industry a bad name, but make reasonable people wonder how much deeper, and broader, corporate fraud is in the health care and pharmaceutical industry. To what extent are other companies putting their own profits ahead of patient and consumer safety?

June 25, 2012

Oregon Child Injury Highlights Importance of Window Safety

by Matthew D. Kaplan

I have written in the past about the importance of window safety. Too many people forget at this time of year that screens are designed to keep bugs out, not to keep children in, and fail to take essential precautions.

This reminder is prompted by a recent report in The Oregonian about a Cedar Mill toddler who “was taken to a local hospital after she punched through a screen and fell from a second-storey window.” Even more frighteningly: “the girl reportedly fell from the window and first landed on a slanted roof. She then rolled off the roof and hit a mix of pavement and bark dust” the paper adds citing local Tualatin Valley first responders.

The child was taken to an area hospital and her injuries are reported not to be life-threatening.

April 23, 2012

Oregon Child Injury is a Reminder of the Importance of Window Safety

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A few weeks ago I posted an item marking National Window Safety Week. This weekend brought a sad reminder of why this issue is so important. As The Oregonian reports, citing Tualatin Valley first responders, “a two-year-old Tigard girl was taken to an area hospital Saturday night after she fell from a second-story window at her home.”

The newspaper reports that the girl was conscious when found by emergency services personnel, but offers no other updates on her condition or the nature and extent of her injuries. The injured Oregon child was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, the paper notes.

In a further reminder of the importance of this issue – and why all adults need to be aware of open windows, or windows with inadequate screens – the newspaper goes on to note that “a 3-year-old Clackamas girl broke her elbow” in a similar recent fall. It adds that experts say 70 percent of all injuries to children from window falls happen between noon and early evening, when warm weather is apt to draw children closer to open windows.