by Spencer Aronfeld | Dec 20, 2018 | Child Injuries, Defective Products
Although there have been improvements in product safety regulations, there are still dangerous toys on store shelves that consumers need to be aware of. There is no better time to stress this than during the holiday season. There are toy related hazards, that as parents, we must be aware of and protect our children from. In 2017, there were an estimated 251,700 toy-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is responsible for enforcing toy safety standards and has announced more than 40 recalls of toys and children’s products over the past year. Manufacturers are not required to inform the public how many toys were returned or repaired, so it is impossible to know how many of these still might be in people’s homes, according to the Public Interest Research Groups. One of the most hazardous products are button batteries. These are about the size of a dime and come in pretty much everything we use, including our car keys and many children’s toys. If swallowed, they can get stuck in the esophagus and could burn through the throat. Parents and guardians are encouraged to carefully review the 33rd annual Trouble in Toyland report, which provides safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for small children, along with toys that are currently on store shelves that pose potential safety hazards. Below is a list of toy dangers to watch out for this holiday season, and year around. 1.) Balloon hazards. Keep deflated balloons away from children younger than eight years old. Discard these immediately as these can choke or suffocate a small child. 2.)...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Sep 21, 2018 | Defective Products
Food poisoning is never a pleasant experience, but a serious case of it can land a person in the hospital- or worse, if they have contracted viruses such as E. coli, listeria or salmonella from contaminated food. Who can forget the tragic incident that occurred to a seventeen-year-old girl who died from Salmonellosis, while aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Explorer of the Seas, after ingesting bacteria-ridden food. Chipotle Mexican Grill grabbed some unwanted attention back in 2015 after separate E. coli and norovirus incidents were linked to a number of their restaurants. The food poisoning affected hundreds of patrons in several states. In total, 43 restaurants were shut down. The number of food poisoning and food-related illnesses is staggering. The CDC estimates 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases each year in the United States. Severe cases of food poisoning can cost a person thousands of dollars in hospital bills and lost wages if they end up having to miss work due to illness. In these such cases, filing a lawsuit is an appropriate course of action to take against the cruise line, restaurant, grocery story, or other business establishment. The attorneys at Aronfeld Trial Lawyers regularly represent individuals who have fallen ill due to unsafe and careless food practices by cruise lines, restaurants and business establishments. What Is Food Poisoning? Food poisoning involves someone consuming food that has some type of bacteria or virus on it that causes the person who ate the food to become ill. Food poisoning can occur in a variety of different ways. If the food was prepared by...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Nov 1, 2017 | Child Injuries, Defective Products
Child lawnmower injury accidents are more common than one would think. It may be hard to believe, but every single day of the year, at least 13 children are seriously injured in lawnmower related accidents- that is nearly 5,000 kids a year seen at emergency rooms across the country; according to a recent study from the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital published by the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. As a father and as a personal injury lawyer who focuses on children’s injuries from motor vehicle accidents and slips and falls on businesses and on cruise ships, I find this data alarming. Especially since most of the children injured; were not actually operating the lawn mowers, but were simply bystanders or passengers. The most common accident occurs when they are struck by the lawnmower or a projectile. According to the study, the most common lawn mower injuries are cuts (39%) and burns (15%) to the hands and fingers. Most children hurt by lawn mowers, who are seen in emergency departments are treated and released- nearly 10% require a hospital admission. The good news is that there are safety measures specifically designed to prevent lawn mower accidents such as shields that protect hands and feets and no-mow-in-reverse devices that will prevent backover injuries when the blade is engaged. Unfortunately, current industry standards do not require all lawnmowers be equipped with all safety measures. Our children’s injury and accident lawyers in Miami recommend the following safety tips to prevent lawn mower-related accidents: 1. Always provide adult supervision when children are using lawnmowers. 2. No child under...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Jan 6, 2017 | Defective Products, Personal Injury News and Safety Resources
Piper airplanes have been involved in a number of fatal crashes resulting in wrongful death lawsuits across the country. For example, a man died in Washington State after his plane crashed near Felts Field in May 2015. His wife sued Piper, alleging that the airplane (a Piper PA-46 350P) was negligently designed and flawed. Last week on New Year’s Eve, four people from Iowa were killed when another single-engine Piper aircraft crashed in Illinois. The family of four was on its way to Nashville to celebrate the new year. Airplane crashes like these are investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA has issued a number of Airworthiness Directives warning Piper Aircraft, Inc. of dangers associated with various unsafe defects on their airplanes. FAA Airworthiness Directives (ADs) are legally enforceable regulations issued to correct unsafe conditions on airplanes. In October, 2015, the FAA warned Piper that cracks found in the right wing posed a hazard and required immediate inspection and repair. There have been dozens more ADs, not just for Piper but also for other manufacturers ranging from Airbus to Boeing. Suing an airplane manufacturer like Piper in a defective products or wrongful death case is a complex process, and often the battle begins with determining not just in what state but even in what county within the state the lawsuit should be filed, and where the trial should be conducted. It seems as though lawyers can and often do argue about everything. At some level, many lawyers must consider arguing to be their raison d’être. Part of my practice requires me daily to read new cases...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Nov 9, 2015 | Defective Drugs, Defective Products, Low Testosterone
The multi-district litigation brought by men from around the country who have been injured taking low T drugs is now in front of Judge Matthew Kennely, who is a Clinton appointee. He has been on the Federal Bench in the Northern District of Illinois since 1999. This will be Judge Kennely’s first major pharmaceutical case, and he has already ordered limits on the number of depositions that can be taken. On March 1, 2016, the judge will pick six trials. The bellwether cases are set to start sometime next year, selected randomly from 100 cases. Each sider will be able to pick 16 cases and can object to each other’s selection. The first trial will start October 31, 2016 for a thrombotic-event case and then another in February 2017 for cardiovascular-event cases. The primary defendant in this matter is low testosterone drug maker AbbVie. The drug is made in both France and Thailand. Depositions have already started, with AbbVie’s Director of Trade Pablo Hernandez, and many more are scheduled for the next couple of months. The other defendants include Auxilium and Lilly, Actavis, Endo, Testopel, and Pfizer. ANDA representatives have filed motions claiming that their generic low testosterone drugs are preempted by Federal law. The latest developments in the low testosterone cases against the drug makers of low T therapies across the country rely on a number of medical studies, including the Vigen 2013 JAMA study and Finkle study (PLOS One), that showed an increased risk from the use of gels, injections, and patches, doubling the risks of heart attacks in all men over the age of 65, and in...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Oct 28, 2015 | Defective Drugs, Defective Products
The widely prescribed medications Benicar, Benicar HCT, Azor, and Tribenzor have been linked to serious gastrointestinal symptoms. All four drugs are used to treat high blood pressure and are actually made by the same company, Daiichi Sankyo, co-promoted by Forest Pharmaceuticals. Some of the common symptoms we have found reported include severe chronic diarrhea, dehydration, malnutrition, and weight loss. Once people stop taking the drug, they get better. When the drug first came on the market in 2002, it contained no warning of these side effects. This is not the first time Daiichi Sankyo has been in serious legal hot water. In January 2015, Daiichi Sankyo had to pay a $39 million dollar settlement to the Department of Justice in a Qui Tam/ Whistleblower case, as well as nearly $6 million dollars to the individual whistleblower. Daiichi Sankyo was accused of illegally bribing doctors to prescribe these same drugs–as well as over-promoting their drugs for uses that were not specifically approved by the FDA, and for violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. The Anti-Kickback Statute was enacted to encourage doctors to make prescription decisions and referrals based solely upon the best medical interests of the patient, rather than for receiving improper payments and gifts from drug makers. The Anti-Kickback Statute strictly prohibits anyone from paying to induce another to provide referrals for items or services covered by federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Following the announcement of the DOJ settlement in April 2015, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of thousands of people from around the country who had been injured by taking Benicar. The cases were consolidated...
