July 8th, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
Name of Product: Powertec Drill Presses
Units: About 500
Manufacturer: Southern Technologies of Mundelein, Ill.
Hazard: Wires in the motor housing can be pinched, posing a risk of electrical shock to the consumer.
Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received one report of a consumer experiencing a minor electrical shock.
Description: The recall involves the Powertec 8” Drill Press with AC powered laser. The model number is DP800 and can be found on the product specification label located above the handle on the right side of the machine.
Sold exclusively at: Blain’s Farm and Fleet stores nationwide from November 2009 through February 2010 for about $80.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled product and return the item to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Southern Technologies at (877) 393-7121 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s website at www.southerntechllc.co
CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.
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June 23rd, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
By Problem Partner Kristin Samuelson | The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Suntech Enterprises, Inc. on Tuesday announced a voluntary recall of approximately 8,400 baby walkers because the walkers can fit through standard doorways and “fail to have sufficient stair-fall protection to prevent falls down stairs,” according to a June 22 CPSC press release. No injuries have been reported.
Come Dec. 21, 2010, all baby walkers will be required by law to be either too wide to fit through standard doorways or “have features, such as a gripping mechanism, to stop the walker at the edge of a step,” according to a mandatory rule the CPSC issued in May 2010.
“The baby walkers have a plastic frame supported by four wheels and eight brake pads,” according to the CPSC. “The walkers were sold in blue, pink, and green with a white activity tray and patterned, vinyl seat. Item number WK110 or WK112 is printed on the side of the packaging.” See a photo below, courtesy of the CPSC.
The recalled walkers were manufactured in China and were sold at children’s product stores in California, Illinois, New York and Texas from Jan. 2007 through Dec. 2009 for between $25 and $30. Suntech and the CPSC are advising consumers to immediately stop using the recalled walkers and bring them to the store where purchased for a full refund.
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June 23rd, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
SANTA CRUZ – A jury has awarded $15 million to the parents who filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Enterprise Rent-A-Car of San Francisco after their daughters, Raechel and Jacqueline Houck of Santa Cruz, died in a fiery crash in 2004.
Enterprise, the nation’s largest rental car company, and its corporate parent contested the lawsuit for five years, then admitted in May they were negligent and that “their negligence was the sole proximate cause of the fatal injuries,” according to a document signed by their attorneys.
The jury awarded damages June 9; the defendants have 30 days to decide whether to appeal.
Company attorneys at Yukevich Calfo & Cavanaugh in Los Angeles were not available to comment. Enterprise spokeswoman Laura Bryant, in St. Louis, said the company would have a statement today.
“This is a consumer issue of vital importance,” said Carol “Cally” Houck, mother of the two young women, citing a deposition from a company official indicating Enterprise had no plans to change policies regarding recalled cars in their fleets.
Raechel Houck, 24, who worked at The Catalyst, had rented a 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser on Oct. 7, 2004, at Enterprise’s Capitola location for herself and her sister, 20, who worked at Little Tampico in Soquel.
The previous month, Daimler Chrysler sent out safety recall notices for 435,000 PT Cruisers from 2002 through 2005. The notice said the power steering hose could leak, resulting in a fire.
Enterprise records showed the PT Cruiser in which the Houck sisters died had not been repaired, it had been rented four times since the recall and the Houcks were the fourth.
In a sworn declaration, Mark Matias, manager of Enterprise’s Northern California area including Capitola from 1994 to 2004, said that before the accident, he was not aware the PT Cruiser was a recalled vehicle.
Furthermore, he said the Enterprise corporate philosophy was “you’ve got to keep booking, because you don’t know when you are going to get a car back. But then of course, you run short on vehicles, and if all you have are recalled vehicles on the lot, you rent them out. It was a given. The whole company did it.”
His statement explained his understanding of the policy: If a priority recall appears on the computer screen in the rental office, the employee is required to write the word “recall” on a Post-it note and place it on the key in an area designated for non-rentals, but nothing prevents an employee from renting that vehicle.
The Houck sisters were on Highway 101 near Bradley, returning from their mother’s home in Ventura when the PT Cruiser, headed northbound, crossed the grass median and hit a southbound big rig, bursting into flames.
“Within a month following the crash, we learned that the vehicle rented to my daughters from Capitola Enterprise was recalled,” their mother said. “After digging further, their dad Chuck discovered that the recall had not been resolved and the repairs were never made.”
They filed the case in Alameda County because Enterprise Rent-A-Car of San Francisco has its corporate headquarters there.
Experts hired by the parents’ law firm concluded Raechel Houck lost steering ability because of a power-steering fluid leak.
Enterprise argued the crash was due to Raechel’s driving.
The parents’ attorney, Lawrence Grassini of Grassini and Wrinkle in Woodland Hills, said Enterprise offered the parents $3 million if they would keep the matter confidential.
They refused.
“We didn’t want Enterprise to silence us,” Cally Houck said. “When you cause harm, you have to suffer the consequences of your actions.”
She noted a 2009 Kansas City Star investigation found Enterprise arranged with General Motors to exclude air-bags from thousands of Chevrolet Impalas purchased for its fleet, then sold hundreds of them while advertising the cars online as having side air bags when they did not.
She also cited a lawsuit filed in Tulare County by Teng Chu, 16, left paralyzed after a Ford Expedition rented at Enterprise crashed, killing three passengers. The lawsuit, which alleged the vehicle lacked Ford’s factory-installed anti-rollover system, concluded in a confidential settlement, according to a court staffer.
Although the Houck jury did not hear testimony about the company’s policies on renting recalled vehicles, “all that material is part of the public record,” Grassini said.
When any funds are divided up, Houck said the RageJax Foundation, which she started to further her daughters’ dreams of helping others, would receive a part of the proceeds.
“Any recall is a safety-related recall,” said Sean Kane of Safety Research & Strategies in Rehoboth, Mass., which examines vehicle safety issues. “It needs to be handled before the customer gets a car. It shouldn’t be the consumer’s responsibility. It should be the company’s responsibility. That’s what missing in this equation.”
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June 8th, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
A faulty tire caused a fatal crash involving nine Ed White High School students last year, a lawyer for four of their families said Monday before suing on behalf of a Jacksonville teen injured in the wreck.
“It’s a horrible tragedy that could have and should have been avoided,” attorney Eric Block said about the Interstate 295 crash that killed four students and injured four more on the last day of school.
According to an investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol, the Ford Explorer the teens were riding in rolled after the tread on its left rear tire, a Cooper Cobra, separated.
Among the injured was Shannon Broome, 16, one of Block’s clients. He filed a negligence lawsuit on her behalf Monday against Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. and three other defendants.
Block cited Cooper’s “outrageously high number of tread separations” and blamed the company’s manufacturing process. He cited numerous lawsuits filed against the company and said despite the litigation, Cooper hasn’t cleaned up its act.
“People have been dying all over the United States for a number of years because of Cooper Tires,” Block said.
A Cooper executive responded that the crash had nothing to do with the tire’s design or safety.
“The tire line involved has an excellent record of performance and we look forward to defending our product,” said Curtis Schneekloth, Cooper’s director of investor relations.
Schneekloth pointed out in a written statement that the Explorer, designed to seat five, was carrying nine people, only one of whom was wearing a seat belt. That was the unlicensed driver, Brandon Hodges, who, Schneekloth noted, has been charged in the accident.
Hodges, 16, is awaiting trial in juvenile court on a charge of driving without a license causing death, but Block said his investigation showed the accident would have happened even if an experienced driver had been behind the wheel. Block has supported Hodges since the teen’s arrest and said most of his clients’ families believe his prosecution is absurd.
Block said he expects the issue of whether Cooper can use Hodges’ age as a defense to be contested before trial.
As for the contention that the Explorer was overloaded, Block said that wasn’t unforeseeable and he’s happy to let a jury decide that question.
Killed in the crash north of Pritchard Road were Erin Hurst, John Kiely and Kimber Krebs, all 15, and Dennis Stout, 17. Injured were Broome, Timothy Adam and Jimmy Gracia, all 15, and Rebecca Pilkington, 16.
Other lawyers said they are working with Block on the tire litigation. Attorney Steve Pajcic, who represents Kiely’s family, said his firm hasn’t completed its investigation and evaluation of the case.
Block noted that Highway Patrol investigators found no indication the tires weren’t properly inflated and no nails or other objects that might have damaged it. He said the Explorer’s owners, Pilkington’s parents, had taken it for service and replaced two tires two weeks earlier at Big Chief’s Tire Co., a Cooper distributor.
If the Cobra needed replacing, Big Chief’s clearly would have suggested it, Block said.
“That’s their job, to sell new tires,” Block said. He said he has turned the tire over to Cooper for examination.
The lawsuit also names Big Chief’s, Ford Motor Co. and Imagine Cars of Orlando, where the Explorer was purchased.
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June 3rd, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
(Reuters) – Whirlpool Corp is recalling 1.7 million dishwashers sold at its U.S. stores from February 2006 through April 2010 due to a potential fire hazard.
U.S.
The recall, made by the company and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, covers Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Admiral, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag and Crosley branded dishwashers.
An electrical failure in the dishwasher’s heating element could pose a serious fire hazard, the top appliance maker said in a statement on Thursday.
The company received 12 reports of dishwasher heating element failures that resulted in fires. No injuries have been reported.
The affected units were sold at various U.S. stores for between $250 and $900.
(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
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May 21st, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
The AP (5/20) reported, “Target Corp. and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday said about 350,000 woven storage trunks are being recalled after an 18-month-old girl suffered brain damaged when the lid fell on her neck. The recall involves 14 models of trunks made of woven rattan, abaca or banana leaf with standard hinges. They were sold at Target stores nationwide and on the chain’s Web site from February 2009 through last month, for between $50 and $130.”
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May 18th, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
“Cold therapy” devices, often used by patients following surgical procedures and joint injuries, have been linked to serious skin damage, nerve damage, and extreme, permanent pain in some users.
What Are Cold Therapy Devices?
Cold therapy (sometimes referred to as “cryo therapy”) devices are used to minimize swelling resulting from surgery by cooling the inflamed or swollen area of the body. After filling the device (which resembles a cooler) with ice water, the cooling pad is placed on the affected body part. A circulating pump inside the cold therapy device continually circulates ice water to the cooling pad through connecting tubes. This helps keep the pad ice-cold for extended periods of time.
Why Are Cold Therapy Devices Causing Skin and Nerve Damage?
Doctors usually prescribe cold therapy devices to patients following surgery or serious injury, but the devices come with very little instruction (or none at all) about recommended temperatures or length of treatment and lack a shut-off or alarm mechanism that would prevent the device running too long or too cold.
Many people are told something along the lines of, “The colder the pad and the longer you can keep it on your skin, the better.” Because of existing nerve damage or desensitization from the surgery or injury, patients may not feel how cold the pad is on their skin. Nerve and skin damage then occurs. However, damage also can occur in people who use the product as recommended.
What Kinds of Injuries Are Associated with Cold Therapy Devices?
Cold therapy patients have suffered severe injuries to the ankles, feet, wrists, hands, shoulders, and knees as a result.
Injury types: Injuries typically fall into two different categories:
Nerve damage. Objective tests, such as the electroencephalogram (EEG) test, can be performed to confirm damage in absence of visible injury.
Nerve and skin damage. Skin damage will have visible injuries, such as frostbite.
Cold therapy nerve and skin damage injuries can result at above freezing temperatures. Some victims have reported damage after using cold therapy devices in the 45-55 degree range.
We Want to Help
Roberts & Roberts wants to help if you or a family member have suffered nerve or serious skin damage after using a cold or cryo therapy device.
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April 22nd, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
Attorney: Unclear If Life Capsule Contains Rig Survivors
An attorney representing the family of one of the oil rig workers missing since an explosion Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico told reporters that a life capsule has been recovered. A lawsuit filed by the family of Shane Roshto claims that Transocean and BP were negligent in the explosion. It remains unclear whether Roshto or any other workers were aboard the recovered vessel. At least 17 other workers were hospitalized following the explosion. Paul Rioux, New Orleans Times-Picayune 04/22/2010
Read Article: New Orleans Times-Picayune
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April 21st, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
Health Insurer Based in North Richland Hills Facing Many Customer Complaints
There have been more than 150 complaints filed with the Texas Department of Insurance by consumers, doctors and healthcare facilities in the past two years against Mega and other subsidiaries of North Richland Hills-based HealthMarkets Inc. The companies underwrite and sell health insurance and other insurance products for the self-employed and middle-income individuals. Texas isn’t the only state where there have been complaints about HealthMarkets. In the past two years the company reached more than $37 million in settlements amid regulatory investigations in Massachusetts and more than 30 other states over complaints of fraudulent marketing, failure to pay claims and failure to cover ailments required by state laws. DIANNA HUNT, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 04/19/2010
Read Article: Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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April 21st, 2010 Roberts & Roberts
The company that owns 22 for-profit nursing homes in California has been named in a class-action lawsuit that accuses them of “skimping on staff” to raise profits at the expense of patient care. The lawsuit was filed in 2006, and the plaintiffs rested their case earlier this month. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs accuse Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. of violating the California law that requires nursing homes provide at least 3.2 nursing hours per resident per day. The lack of adequate staff at the homes, the lawsuit contends, has a direct affect on the quality of care for the residents. The suit is seeking punitive and statutory damages for each day the nursing homes are found out of compliance. Barbara Anderson, The Fresno Bee 04/17/2010
Read Article: The Fresno Bee
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