Product Liability

Published on: February 25, 2014

Product Liability: After being pressured General Motor expands its recall to all models with ignition switch problem and admits 13 deaths in car accidents during which the airbag failed to deploy

Last week the plaintiff’s lawyer in a now settled product liability lawsuit against GM that showed that the car maker knew about the defective ignition switch before the cars were sold, sent a letter to the NHTSA asking them to require GM to explain why it only had recalled half of the cars affected by an ignition switch issue that previously led to the death of his former client (Melton v. General Motors et. al.,).

In a previous blog we also questioned this recall.

Today General Motors announced that it was doubling the size of last weeks recall to include all models with a defective ignition switch. In addition to the 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalts and Pontiac G5 recalled on Feb. 13, GM said it will recall another 748,000 cars in the U.S., including 2003-2007 Saturn Ions, 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHRs and 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky models.

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Published on: February 24, 2014

Product Liability: Nissan recalls some Frontier pick up trucks

By GGCRBHS&M

A defective circuit breaker in some Nissan Frontier pickup trucks may cause a fire therefore Nissan is recalling 16,838 model years 2012 through 2014 in North America. No accidents or injury have been reported so far.

Does General Motor voluntarily put consumers at risk of a car accident by not recalling all cars with Ignition Switch Problems?

By GGCRBHS&M

A defective ignition switch can turn off the engine and disable the airbag on six different models of General Motors cars but last week the company decided to only recall two models even though management is perfectly aware that 4 other models have the same defect.

Read here the investigation of Christopher Jensen from the New York Times.

Published on: February 19, 2014

To prevent defective drug importation a better collaboration between Indian and US regulators is necessary

By GGCRBHS&M

Imported sub-standard quality and defective drugs were the central theme of FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg’s visit to India. The visit was organized after the FDA recently banned the import of drugs and drug ingredients from several large Indian manufacturers for quality reasons. The commissioner met with health officials, regulators and drug makers executives including those of the banned companies.

Both countries agreed that their regulators would work more closely to better coordinate regulatory oversight as well as organize seminars, webinars, meetings and training sessions.

India is the second largest drug importer in the US after Canada and supplies 40% of the generic and over the counter drugs used in the US. Recently the FDA has been concerned by the increase of defective or low quality drugs imported from India. Weak domestic regulatory oversight and a lax approach to quality control by some manufacturers are the main reasons why a significant quantity of low quality or defective drugs reach the American market undetected.

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Published on: February 19, 2014

In order to allocate more resources to prevent the import of high risk defective drugs the FDA is testing a Secure Supply Chain Pilot Program that allows 13 pharmaceutical companies to have expedited entry for up to 5 drug products

By GGCRBHS&M

Imported high risk defective drugs are a rising concern for the FDA. The agency wants to spend more resources to fight the “bad guys” and provide incentives to drug manufacturers who are adopting best practices for supply chain integrity by giving them expedited access for the importation of up to five of their drug products. The pilot will last two years and if effective, will be open to additional companies.

Companies that have qualified for the pilot are

• AbbVie Inc.

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Published on: February 18, 2014

Only 10% of defective children’s products that have been subject to a recall are being returned or repaired

By GGCRBHS&M

90% of dangerous and defective children products are not being returned or repaired according to a new report by the Children Safety Advocate Group Kids in Danger. Because it takes an average 14 reports of design complaints and two reports of personal injury related to the product for the manufacturer to initiate a recall, some of the products may have been discarded or may not be used anymore by the parents at the date of the recall. However such a high percentage indicates that many dangerous products that have already injured or killed children are still being used by parents that are unaware of the recall. According to the report, in 2012, 584 incidents and 39 personal injuries were reported after a juvenile product was recalled.

These numbers demonstrate that manufacturers and the Consumer Product Safety Commission have to find a way to better communicate recalls to consumers. The report also shows that social media is a very effective way to communicate recalls but is not used enough by manufacturers.

Parents also have to be responsible and fill out the product registration card for all juveniles products so that the manufacturer can automatically reach out to them in case of a product recall or any other safety issue. Unfortunately only 30% of parents fill out the registration card for juvenile products.

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Published on: February 17, 2014

Graco recalls defective harness buckles used on most toddler convertible car seats and harnessed booster seats manufactured from 2009 to July 2013

By GGCRBHS&M

Two pending product liability lawsuits including one wrongful death lawsuit, 6100 consumer complaints and a recent recall letter from the NHTSA following an Engineering Analysis of the Office of Defects Investigation have convinced Graco Children’s Product to conduct a recall of the seat harness buckles on most of its children car seats models manufactured since 2009. The defective harness buckles are becoming more difficult to open over time or become stuck in the latched position especially if it gets clogged up with food or dirt. Stuck or sticking buckles may prevent or impede the removal of the child from the car seat in a case of an emergency. According to the NHTSA Graco has been named defendant in two product liability lawsuit related to defective harness buckles. The first one is a consumer class action complaint alleging that the buckles is unreasonably difficult to unlatch or simply doesn’t unlatch. The second lawsuit is related to the death of a young child who died in car fire. Plaintiff alleged that parts in Graco car seat design made it extremely difficult to remove a child that was secured in the seat during an emergency. The recalls 3.7 millions units. Parents who own a defective car seat model and have previously registered it with Graco will automatically receive a Consumer Notification Letter with instructions on how to order a buckle repair kit. Parents who didn’t register their products can order the blucke repair kit online.

Click here for complete list of defective models and contact details.

Read the product recall request letter from the NHTSA

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Published on: February 11, 2014

The diabetes drug saxagliptin marketed as Onglyza and Kombiglyze XR) may be a defective drug that increases the risk of hospitalization for heart failure

By GGCRBHS&M

diabetes%20drug.jpg Drug manufacturers are liable for the safety of their products. Mostly for profit reason some trial results may be overlooked and drugs may be launched on the market with dangerous side effects. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that patients with diabetes using the drug saxagliptin had an increased risk to be hospitalized for heart failure.
For this reason The FDA just published a safety announcement that it requested clinical trial data from the manufacturer of saxagliptin to investigate a possible association between use of the type 2 diabetes drug and heart failure.

Read the Safety Announcement from the FDA

Published on: January 22, 2014

Product Liability: Kenmore Oscillating Fan Heaters sold by Kmart and Sears pose a fire and burn hazrad and have been recalled

By GGCRBHS&M

Defective heaters can cause serious personal injury to consumers and should not be used. If you are using a portable heater please make sure that it has been tested under the latest safety standards and that it is not the subject of a recall. Recently Walmart and Sears recalled the the Kenmore Oscillating Fan Heater because it was posing a risk of fire and burns to consumers. A broken motor mount can cause the units to overheat, catch fire and ignite nearby items.

Product Liability: after one child died and another one suffered serious personal injury, Ikea recalls Children’s Wall-Mounted lamp due to strangulation hazard

By GGCRBHS&M

Ikea%20Defective%20Lamp.jpg A 16 month-old child wrongfully died and a 15 month-old child was severely injured after they became entangled in a very popular Ikea’s children’s wall-mounted lamp.

There were 2.9 million lamps sold in the US, 1.1 million in Canada and 23 million worldwide.

Consumers should stop using the defective lamp and contact Ikea at 888 966 4532 for a free repair kit. The repair kit has self-adhesive fasteners for attaching the lamp’s cord to the wall as well as safety instructions.

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