Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Product Liability

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boy using cell phoneBig Wireless companies were told 20 years ago by scientists that cell phone usage could lead to cancer. The wireless industry didn’t listen to them and used the same tactics as the Tobacco and Oil industry to hide dangers from consumers. The Nation just released the results of an investigation that found that the top wireless companies have spent millions convincing people that their products were safe.

At the begining of the nineties, when only a minority of people owned a cell phone, some consumers and industry workers complained that they may have developed cancer caused by their cell phone. At the time Tom Wheeler president of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) was the wireless industry’s point man in Washington. To shut down the complaints and calm down consumer concerns Wheeler hired George Carlo, a pro-industry scientist to run a comprehensive research on cell phones. George Carlo had previously conducted controversial studies helping the breast implant industry and the chemical industry. He seemed to be the perfect man to support the cell phone industry’s claims that their products were safe for consumers.

George Carlo was allocated $28.5 million for his investigation which is the highest funded cell phone study to date. Critics of the study complained that such a big amount of money could easily guarantee silent obedience of the scientific community. George Carlo denied these allegations.

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one of the vehicles recalledIn April 2016, Polaris recalled a potentially defective recreational off-highway vehicle so it could be repaired. The model recalled was the Polaris RZR. The company recalled it after they received more than 160 complaints that some of the RZR models caught fire as consumers were driving. A 15 year old passenger died and 19 people reported injuries such as first, second and third degree burns.

Last December Polaris and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that after the repair consumers continued to report fires. These fires have caused death, serious injury and property damage. Additionally new models launched by the company in 2017 have also experienced fires.

If you, a friend or a family member owns a Polaris RZR, please stop using it and contact Polaris at 800-POLARIS or 800-765-2747 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. CT Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday or online at www.polaris.com 

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Defective Panasonic TVA potentially defective tabletop swivel stand sold with a 55-inch flat screen TV  was recently recalled by Panasonic. The Panasonic 55-inch, LED/LCD flat screen televisions with a tabletop swivel stand is a model that was sold to schools, government buildings and hotels from July 2012 through March 2014 .  The mounting screws that connect the stand to the TV can become loose and the TV can unexpectedly fall off the stand. This pose a risk of severe injury or even deaths to children.

If you see one these TVs on a swivel stand at your child’s school, at work or in a hotel please inquire if it was recalled and repaired. If it wasn’t please make sure that the  TV is detached from the stand and placed in a safe location before calling Panasonic for a free repair kit.

Panasonic indicates that so far nobody was injured.  755 models have been sold in the US and 130 in Canada. The TV is black with Panasonic printed in the front and the swivel stand is in a glossy black color and is 50 inches long. The model number for the television is TH055LRU50. It can be found on a tag on the back of the television.

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Defective Hoverboard Lazy BoardDespite the many fire accidents and injuries caused by defective lithium-ion battery packs in hoverboards, the toy remains among the most popular holiday gifts. If you or your kids own a self balancing scooter or if you are planning to buy one as a gift you should visit the Consumer  Product Safety Commission website and check on the recent Self Balancing Scooter recalls. Here are some of the most recently recalled models:

  • The Layz Board hoverboard was recently the subject of a second warning by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. According to the agency this hoverboard caused a fire on October 23, 2017, in Manchester Township, Pennsylvania, which destroyed one town home and damaged four others. The hoverboard was the object of a previous warning in May 2017 after two young girls died in a house fire caused by the Layz Board hoverboard on March 10, 2017, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  • Salvage World just recalled 700 Smart Balance Wheel self-balancing Scooters/Hoverboards. The battery can overheat and pose a risk of smoking, exploding or catching fire
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Best Personal Injury Law Firm 2018The New York Personal Injury Lawyers at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, are proud to announce that for the eighth consecutive year the firm has been listed in the newly released 2018 ranking of the Best Law Firms by U.S. News and Best Lawyers®.

For New York City the firm obtained the following rankings:

  • Tier 1 in Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
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JohnsonAn ovarian cancer patient who had been using Johnson & Johnson talc for genital hygiene since she was 11 year old was awarded a $417 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson by a Los Angeles California Jury. This verdict is the highest of five previous product liability cases against Johnson & Johnson that were all tried in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also the third-largest jury award in the U.S. so far in 2017.

After a four-week trial, the jury awarded 62 year old Eva Echeverria $70 million in compensatory damages and $347 million in punitive damages against Johnson and Johnson for failing to warn consumers that genital use of talc powders could raise the risk of ovarian cancer. Echeverria was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007. According to the lawsuit she used Johnson and Johnson talc for her personal hygiene many thousands of time over 40 years. She stopped using the talc in 2016 after watching a TV report that linked talc powder to ovarian cancer. Unfortunately it was too late for Echeverria who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer a year later.  The cancer has now spread to different parts of her body despite 100 rounds of chemotherapy and several experimental treatments with painful side effects. Echeverria has a daughter and a grandson.

Despite having lost most talc powder cases, Johnson and Johnson is still denying their talc powder is unsafe. After the verdict, Carol Goodrich, Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman said “Ovarian cancer is a devastating diagnosis and we deeply sympathize with the women and families impacted by this disease. We will appeal today’s verdict because we are guided by the science, which supports the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder”.

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Best Lawyers Award BadgeNew york Product Liability Attorney Anthony GairOur NYC product liability attorney Anthony H. Gair was recently recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” for Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs in the New York City area.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer review assessments.

Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.

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AirbagTakata just recalled an additional 2.7 million vehicles that may have a defective airbag. The recalls affect Ford Mazda and Nissan models from 2005 to 2012 that have a PSDI-5 PSAN airbag inflator. These types of airbags are only installed on the driver side. The PSDI-5 PSAN airbag inflators are a different type of airbag than the type of airbags recalled in the past by Takata.

The PSDI-5 PSAN airbag inflator is a desiccated inflator. Desiccated inflators contain calcium sulfate the purpose of which is to prevent the ammonium nitrate inside the airbag to deteriorate in case of humidity or high temperature. The ammonium nitrate is the most important component of the airbag. It inflates the airbag in case of  an accident. If the ammonium nitrate deteriorates, the airbag may not inflate proprely and may explode causing potential injury or death to the car driver and the passengers.

In its report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Takata indicates that the PSDI-5 PSAN airbag inflator posed a potential risk to the car occupants. When testing the inflator, Takata found that the amonium nitrate used to inflate the airbag was showing signs of deterioration and could lead to a breakage over time. However Takata  also indicates that so far in all the testing conducted none of the inflators tested broke off.

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Colgate Total potentially dangerousTriclosan and triclocarban are two potentially dangerous antimicrobial ingredients that can be found in many consumer products. These two ingredients as well as 17 other antimicrobial ingredients were banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last September in “antiseptic wash products that are intended for use with water and are rinsed off after use, including hand washes and body washes”. However the scope of  the FDA final rule was too narrow and many consumer products such as Colgate’s Total toothpaste still contain these dangerous ingredients.

According to “The Florence Statement on Triclosan and Triclocarban”, a recent scientific statement published by the journal “Environmental Health Perspectives”, the usage of these two chemicals  is still widespread. Because they are mostly used in wash products, they end up in the sink with the water and have negative repercussions on the environment.  They have been detected in aquatic plants and animals as well as in human blood and breast milk. It is present in the urine of most humans. Previous studies have  linked Triclosan and Triclocvarban to developmental problems in animals. They may potentially affect pregnant womenand harm human fetuses and newborns.

In the “The Florence Statement on Triclosan and Triclocarban” the scientific community, health professionals from all around the world and various US  universities and medical institutions are urging manufacturers around the world to limit or to stop using these ingredients in their products. They also ask that regulatory authorities such as the FDA re-evaluate the safety of these chemicals and to make sure that products that still contain them are banned or at least clearly labelled.

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defective harness tagSome of the Graco My Ride 65 convertible car seats may be defective and may not restrain a child in a car crash. Improper restraint of a child significantly increases the risk of severe injury or death of a child in a car accident.  Improper restraint is one of the most common causes of pediatric fatality in motor vehicle accidents in the US (see more info in our other blog published  Today).

In previous tests of the Graco My Ride 65 car seat, the National Highway traffic Safety Administration found that in some cases the harness webbing restraining the child wasn’t resistant enough ant that it could break in the case of a serious car crash.  After internal investigation, the manufacturer Graco concluded that the defective harness webbing were associated with a single batch of sewn webbing and that an estimated 10% of the recalled seats were defective.

The recall affects model numbers 1871689, 1908152, 1813074, 1872691, 1853478, 1877535, 1813015, and 1794334. Only units manufactured on 7/22/2014 and that have a webbing code 2014/06 on a tag on the harness webbing are affected.

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