Posts tagged "products liability"

From seat belts to toys - warning labels are everywhere. Especially when it comes to small children, laws are in place to ensure that the prodcuts in our homes, cars and elsewhere carry warnings.

Still, small children are choking on more than Legos. Where are these product liability standards in regards to dangerous foods?

Up until this point, food manufacturers have not been required to carry warning labels on their products - this in spite of the fact that foods like hot dogs pose a very serious choking risk to young children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is trying to change this, and, recently, the group released a policy statement calling for a food labeling system. Warnings on foods such as hot dogs, grapes and peanuts would alert parents to the choking risks posed by these foods.

Regulators are warning parents in California, and across the country, to get rid of any "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer"-themed charm bracelets following test results that showed the pieces contained upwards of 90 percent cadmium - a toxic metal.

These are the latest pieces of children's jewelry to be singled out by the feds in a crackdown on Chinese imports. Concerns were raised earlier this year after an investigation by the Associated Press found multiple pieces of imported children's jewelry to have cadmium content at more than 10 percent of total product weight.

Because of its low cost and the ease with which it can be manipulated, cadmium remains a favorite of Chinese manufacturers. While regulated in painted toys, cadmium is not currently regulated in regards to children's jewelry, even though it has been shown to cause cancer.

On Tuesday, an Orange County jury found that Allergan Inc. was not liable in the death of a 7-year-old girl who was being treated with Botox for severe cerebral palsy. In actuality, the court never got to the question of whether or not Botox had caused the girl's death, as they found the warning labels to be satisfactory. 

However, the drugmaker is not out of the woods yet - Allergan faces yet another civil trial next month.

The California wrongful death case garnered a fair bit of attention, as it was the first time Botox has been implicated in the death of an individual being treated with the drug.

You didn't really think the Toyota mess was over, did you?  Just when Toyota thought it had taken sufficient action to deal with their potential products liability problem, a new car started having brake issues. This time, it's the fuel efficient and nouveau-Hollywood chic Prius.

The Prius somehow escaped the recall last week.

The eco-friendly compact hybrid has been generating consumer complaints in Japan, including one case of a car accident last July, where a Prius crashed head-on into another car at an intersection. 

Another major auto maker has announced a product recall, in a move to protect consumers from personal injury and to shield the auto maker from potential personal injury law suits.

Honda Motor Co. (HMC) announced on Friday that it, too, would be recalling a total of 646,000 automobiles worldwide.

Honda's recall, however, has to do with the window switches that might overheat if exposed to liquid, which in turn could cause smoke or even catch fire. The fire hazard came to light after a fatal accident in South Africa last year, where a child was killed after the car caught on fire.

Earlier this week, Toyota announced a recall of 2.3 million vehicles, its second major recall in months. Toyota's earlier recall was prompted by a San Diego fatal accident last year.

Let the lawsuits begin in the sticky-pedal cases against Toyota. 

A southern California personal injury attorney has filed a class action suit against the automaker, in addition to the pending lawsuit he already had against Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc.  There is also a pending suit against Toyota filed by a Milwaukee law firm.   

In the California complaint, the personal injury lawyer alleges violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Acts, as well as Unfair Competition Law, both under California law.  The suit also alleges breach of implied warranty, negligence and false advertising.

The sticky-pedal situation is not new to San Diego residents nor to San Diego personal injury attorneys.  There have been several reported cases of accelerator pedals sticking, including one fatal accident near San Diego.  Last week, there was a major recall due to this very problem, the second major recall by the auto-maker within the span of a few months.

One huge problem for Toyota is that the lawsuits allege a defect in design, specifically in the vehicles sold after 2001, where Toyota began installing electronic throttle systems.  These systems allegedly lack a fail-safe measure that triggers when the brake is applied, which in turn prevents the driver from overriding the throttle to slow the car, or to stop it. 

Toyota is taking the potential of product liability very seriously. 

So seriously, in fact, that the auto manufacturer has halted the sales on eight of its vehicle models in the United States to fix the sticky accelerator pedals. This suspension comes in the wake of two major vehicle recalls, which were prompted by a fatal car accident in the San Diego area last year.

According to Toyota, production is being suspended on the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.

The move is an aggressive one for the auto-maker, but in light of the potential of grave injuries, fatal accidents and serious legal issues, it may be a wise move on the part of the car company.  Last year, Toyota recalled 4.2 million automobiles due to problems involving the gas pedals, which were becoming stuck under oversized floor mats.  This problem was reported in San Diego, where it was the cause of an accident and had been reported by several other customers at a San Diego area dealership.  Last week, Toyota recalled 2.3 million more vehicles, after issues were reported with accelerator pedals sticking, regardless of the floor mats.  

In its second major recall within a span of months, Toyota announced on Thursday that it planned to recall 2.3 million vehicles in the United States due to a defect in the product, namely, faulty accelerator pedals. This recall comes a few months after Toyota recalled 4.2 million vehicles, due to gas pedals sticking under floor mats. The sticky gas pedals problem allegedly led to a fatal accident last year. There had also allegedly been several complaints made to a San Diego area car dealership regarding the floor-mats problem.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is a federal body charged with governing vehicle safety standards and when a motor-vehicle product has a safety issue or fails to meet safety guidelines, that product must be recalled.

Product recalls of such proportion are also a blanket solution for large companies to minimize the risk of products liability law suits for personal injury.  In the case of auto manufacturers such as Toyota, the likely cause of any such suit would stem from a car accident and in the case of fatal accidents, could include potential wrongful death actions.