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Injuries on Disney Rides and Attractions: Second Quarter 2009

Ed Normand — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:05:00 GMT

Recent filings by Disney to the Florida Bureau of Fair Ride Inspection show 11 reported injuries on attractions or rides at Disney World theme parks in Florida during the second quarter of 2009. This time period includes the busy Easter and March Break holidays, where theme parks in Central Florida typically see a surge of visitors. In exchange for reporting any significant injuries (defined as needing a hospital stay for longer than 24 hours), theme parks such as Disney are exempted from state ride-safety regulations.

Disney World is comprised of four different parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom, as well as two water parks: Blizzard Beach, and Typhoon Lagoon.

The injuries are as follows:

A 7 year-old boy was injured when he fell and broke his arm while attempting to exit one of the ride vehicles at Tomorrowland Indy Speedway at Magic Kingdom. The ride is described as allowing guests to "steer and control the speed of your own racecar as you ‘lap’ up the excitement of this thrilling speedway."

A 77 year-old man became disoriented and sick and needed medical attention after riding Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, described as a "high-altitude, high-speed, roller coaster train ride . . . to the ‘Roof of the World,’ . . ."

Two people were injured at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios: the first was a 48 year-old woman who felt weak on her left side after the ride and had trouble standing, the second was a 55 year-old man who experienced chest pain after going on the ride. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is described as a "high-speed roller coaster for big kids, teens and adults,. . . amplified by the driving beat of a soundtrack recorded by the rock group Aerosmith specifically for [the] attraction."

A 57 year-old woman lost consciousness after going on Mission: SPACE at Epcot. Mission: SPACE is advertised as "realistically mimic[ing] what an astronaut might experience during a space flight to Mars." As part of the experience, riders experience forces of up to 2.4 Gs.

A 69 year-old woman experienced pain in her side after riding Soarin’ at Epcot, which "simulates a peaceful hang-gliding flight over the Golden State of California" as you are "lifted 40 feet into the air."

A 57 year-old man became dizzy after going on Ellen’s Energy Adventure at Epcot, a "multimedia attraction starring comedian Ellen DeGeneres", which invites guests on "a whimsical trip through time to examine the forces that fuel our lives and the universe . . ."

A 39 year-old man had a seizure while on Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom, which allows riders to experience "twists, turns and 3 dips that lead to the grand drop down 5 stories of rushing water [that] will either get you damp or drenched."

A 64 year-old woman became disoriented and lightheaded after going on Teamboat Springs, a 1,200 feet long raft ride at Blizzard Beach Water Park that "is one of the longest family raft rides in the country, giving you a nice long, invigorating journey down the river."

A 43 year-old woman experienced stomach and chest pain after going head-first down Toboggan Racers, also at Blizzard Beach Water Park, described as "an 8-lane waterslide race on toboggan-style mats", claimed to be "an avalanche of fun!"

Finally, a 52 year-old woman became disoriented and sick after going down the Rudder Buster Storm Slide at Typhoon Lagoon, one of three "twisting, winding waterslides [that] whisk Guests down 3 stories at surprising speed."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ed Normand

An Alternative to the Defective and Deadly Taser

saunders saunders — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 21:46:41 GMT

Arizona Sheriff Announces Test of Alternative to Taser Stun Gun
Date Published: November 21, 2005
By Steven DiJoseph

Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, has announced that his deputies will begin testing 30 new stun guns as an alternative to Tasers. The new electric stun guns are being donated by Stinger Systems Inc., and will be evaluated for safety, price, and risk factors.

According to Arpaio: "Stinger tells me their weapons have better target attainment, they cost less and are cheaper to operate. If those claims are true, I may very well move away from Taser weapons."

Taser International, which is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is the largest manufacturer of stun guns currently arming over 8,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies with some 171,000 units. Notwithstanding the widespread use of Tasers, serious safety issues including numerous deaths have plagued the company for some time now driving its stock price down nearly 80% this year.

The stun gun produced by Florida-based Stinger Systems is designed to shut off automatically after only four seconds. Taser has been criticized by experts because numerous situations have occurred where officers armed with Tasers have shocked suspects for excessively long periods of time by holding down the trigger for 30 seconds or longer.

Taser has recently announced that it plans to introduce a 'TaserCam' that will begin recording video and audio whenever the stun gun is activated. The system will turn off when the Taser itself is turned off.

According to the Arizona Republic, Taser claims that the addition to its product would "help better examine how Tasers are used...illuminate why Tasers are needed - and add another layer of accountability for any officer who would abuse the weapon."

The cameras will cost about $400 in addition to the $800-$1,000 cost of the stun gun itself. Taser hopes to have the camera ready for sale by March 2006.

Stringer Systems already markets a $200 video-audio recorder for use on its $600 stun gun.

Taser believes the recording equipment would explain the circumstances surrounding controversial cases such as when Miami, Florida, police used a Taser to shock a 6-year-old special needs student last year in an elementary school office.

The boy had cut himself twice with a shard of glass and was threatening again to slash himself or any approaching police officer when the decision was made to employ the stun gun. The police defended its use; the public was outraged. The Taser-Cam would have permitted the episode to be reviewed.

Taser International's position has never changed with respect to the safety of its stun gun. According to the company's latest statement, their product is "a more humane and safer alternative" than firearms, batons, or chemical sprays. "Or do citizens want to go back to the cave man days of using batons as clubs?" Taser maintains that it is up to individual police agencies to train officers to use the device properly.

In October, the American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) chapters of Nevada and Northern California mounted a two-front assault on Taser International. In Nevada, the ALCU filed a $10 million federal wrongful death and civil rights action arising out of the death of 47-year-old Keith Tucker who died after being shocked multiple times with a Taser during a struggle with the Las Vegas police.

"What happened to Keith Tucker was unfortunately not an isolated incident," ACLU of Nevada executive Gary Peck said. "We hope this lawsuit and others like it will be a catalyst for change."

Tucker was one of three people who died in custody after being shocked with a Taser since Las Vegas police began using the devices in April 2003.

In a report released by the ALCU ( Northern California), the safety of the Taser stun gun has been questioned on several levels.

"While the Taser stun gun has the potential to save lives ... it poses a serious health risk as long as it remains largely unregulated," the report released in San Francisco states.

The ACLU surveyed 79 California law enforcement agencies. Of the 56 that use Tasers, 54 provided the ACLU with copies of their training materials and policies regarding stun gun use.

Among the ALCU's major concerns was that only four departments actually regulate the number of times an officer may shoot a person with a Taser gun. A common factor in several of the death cases is that the victim was shocked more than once.

The ALCU report also included findings that:

Only four departments created their own training guides for the Tasers. The rest relied exclusively on materials produced by Taser International.
Some training manuals provided by Taser were misleading and outdated.
There has been a lack of independent studies on safety issues.

While the ALCU is not advocating a ban on the device, it is recommending that policies be adopted that are specifically aimed at minimizing the possibility that a suspect might die. For example, a 21-year-old man died after Vallejo police shot him with a Taser 17 times in only three minutes.
Indeed, Taser International and its supporters continue to be used by many law enforcement agencies under the premise they are safe, non-lethal weapons that save lives. That position is becoming more and more difficult to maintain, however, given the mounting number of cases in which people have died or suffered serious or life-threatening injuries after being shocked.

In early September a Chicago teenager was caused to go into ventricular fibrillation as a result of being shocked with a Taser. That was significant because Taser International has always maintained that its stun guns cannot cause this usually fatal heart disturbance in which the heart loses the ability to pump blood.

Apparently, the only reason the teenager survived was that he received immediate medical attention. Dr. Wayne H. Franklin, a pediatric electrophysiologist at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago (and a second doctor), claimed that an electrocardiogram confirmed that the boy did, in fact, suffer fibrillation.

Dr. Franklin stated that this case demonstrated the danger posed by Tasers and why portable defibrillators should be available whenever the stun guns may be used.

Taser International immediately countered the medical opinion of the two doctors with an email from a doctor of their own who stated the conclusion was purely speculative and not backed by scientific evidence.

Regardless of the circumstances, Taser has challenged any suggestion, opinion, or finding in every case where the stun gun has been implicated in a death or serious injury.

Although there had been a surge in Taser use in 2003 and 2004, safety concerns and mounting circumstantial evidence of potentially deadly risks associated with the device have caused sales to plunge in 2005.

Recently, Canadian Police Research Institute stated that Tasers and other "conducted energy devices" are acceptable because the advantages they provide outweigh the risks they pose.

In reaching this conclusion in its report to Canadian police chiefs, however, the Institute was apparently not overly troubled by the enormous number of deaths that have occurred in cases where a Taser has been used.

The specific finding by the Coroner of Cook County, Illinois, that a Taser was, in fact, the cause of death of a man arrested in Chicago also appears to have been ignored in the report as the type of definitive evidence it was seeking to support the claim that the devices can cause death.

That report came at the same time police officers in five states were filing lawsuits against Taser International claiming they suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes.

One officer, a Missouri police chief, alleged that he suffered heart damage and two strokes after he volunteered to be shocked with a Taser in April 2004, while hooked up to a cardiac monitor that was supposed to show the Taser was safe. The officer also claimed he suffered hearing and vision loss as well as neurological damage.

Other injuries claimed by the officers involved include spinal fractures, burns, a dislocated shoulder, and soft-tissue damage. A previous lawsuit file in February 2004 alleged a sheriff's deputy suffered a fractured back in 2002.

The lawsuits challenge Taser International's central marketing claim that its device is safe and charge the manufacturer of misleading its customers concerning the potential risks posed by the stun guns. Taser is also accused of minimizing and misrepresenting the 2002 fractured back case even after its own doctor found a one-second shock from a Taser caused the injury.

The lawsuits also allege Taser International withheld reports of injuries to at least 12 other police officers and that the company has ignored credible research suggesting the device can be extremely dangerous, if not fatal.

As with all previous allegations against it, Taser International has stated that it intends to vigorously defend the claims. The company has denied any of the 159 deaths which have occurred following the use of a Taser was caused by its product.

Clearly, both sides cannot be right in this matter. As we reported on August 7, Taser International has now issued a training bulletin warning that repeated blasts of the Taser can "impair breathing and respiration."

According to a posting on Taser's website, for subjects in a state known as excited delirium, repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal health risks."

The three-page bulletin appears to counter instructions in a training manual Taser International issued only last year. It also departs from Taser's previous dismissals of safety concerns raised by groups such as Amnesty International, which has documented well over 100 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers.

The Houston Police Department (HPD), Taser's biggest U.S. customer, has formed a review committee of police officials and community leaders, including representatives from the NAACP and League of United Latin American Citizens, to study the use of Tasers in the city of Houston.

The committee started by reviewing the HPD use-of-force policy, training sessions that officers receive, and the first 200 incidents in which Tasers were used in Houston.

Houston will also be involved in a study of Taser use conducted by a national police-research organization according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

The viability of a non-lethal weapon must be questioned when it is implicated in a number of questionable deaths and charges of abuse. Many critics of the Taser believe that time has already come.

For example, using a number of sources, The Arizona Republic has now compiled a list of 153 cases in the United States and Canada since 1999 where a death followed the use of a Taser stun gun. ( http://www.azcentral.com/specials/taser/#).

" The Arizona Republic , using computer searches, autopsy reports, police reports, media reports and Taser's own records, has identified 153 cases in the United States and Canada of death following a police Taser strike since September 1999. In 21 cases, medical examiners said Tasers were a cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out in someone's death. In 31 cases, coroners and other officials reported the stun gun was not a factor. Below is a synopsis of each case. The Republic requested autopsy reports for all of the cases and so far has received 49. "

From the very beginning, many experts questioned the safety of the 50,000 volt "non-lethal" weapon.

A lack of adequate testing and independent medical evidence supporting the company's bold marketing claims have been cited by such diverse critics as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a consulting electrical engineer as reasons for removing the stun guns from the market until more extensive testing is done especially with respect to how the device affects pregnant women, people on drugs, or those with heart conditions.

Even the International Association of Chiefs of Police has suggested that further testing is needed. The organization advocates using the device only to subdue violent suspects; not to use it on handcuffed persons unless they are "overly assaultive;" to use it the least number of times; and to seek medical attention for anyone who has been shocked.

In addition, all types of Taser-related lawsuits abound. Personal injury and death claims have been commenced in a number of states. In March of this year, Mesa, Arizona, settled a claim by a 43-year-old man who fell out of a tree after being shocked twice with a Taser by a city police officer. The City paid $2.2 million to the man who became a quadriplegic and another $200,000 to the hospital where he was treated.

A class-action lawsuit was brought in U.S. District Court in Chicago by the city of Dolton, Illinois, on behalf of police departments across the country for being misled about the safety of the Taser and for leaving the police with weapons that are too dangerous to use on the street.

The law firm representing the city of Dolton claimed to have already been retained by other police departments in four states. Paul Geller, an attorney from that firm, states that the law suit would be dropped if Taser would agree to take back the stun guns.

The potential for huge personal injury and death claims have left many municipalities rethinking their purchase of Tasers. Some police forces like those in Birmingham and Lucas County ( Ohio) have either stopped issuing the weapons or have pulled them of the street altogether. Other cities like Chicago have backed off making additional purchases.

The mayor of Birmingham ordered police to stop using Tasers after the death of an inmate who had been shocked with a Taser several hours before he died.

The mayor of Dolton, which suspended their use, calls his city's purchase of Tasers "a mistake" because "they need far more testing." He went on to say that losing the money his city paid for the Tasers was far less than the financial risk posed by even one wrongful-death lawsuit.

On January 6, 2005 Taser officials disclosed that federal authorities had launched an inquiry into claims made by the company with respect to its safety studies. The Securities and Exchange Commission was also probing an end-of-year sale which appeared to inflate sales in order to meet annual projections.

In May, The Arizona Republic also reported that "Taser International was deeply involved in a Department of Defense study that company officials touted to police departments and investors as 'independent' proof of the stun gun's safety...This information is surfacing at a time when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general are pursuing inquiries into safety claims that the Scottsdale firm has made."

On July 17, the Associated Press reported a Texas man died after being shocked between three and six times with a Taser by an off-duty police officer who was acting as a security guard. The man's wife said she was suing Taser International because her husband "didn't deserve the death penalty." It appears the men had done little more than trespass on private property and confront the officer who had chased him.

The report went on to state: "In the past nine months, at least six people in Texas - including three in Fort Worth - have died after authorities shocked them with a Taser gun."

On July 27, a prisoner being held in a Queens, New York, police station died after being shocked with a Taser.

Finally, on July 30, for the first time, the Cook County ( Chicago, Illinois) Medical Examiner ruled the February 10 death of an agitated 54-year-old man was caused by being shocked excessively with a Taser.

The finding indicated that the 57-second shock was sufficient, in and of itself, to have killed the man. Why such a long shock (ten times the usual amount) was administered was not immediately explained.

Although the Chicago police force will continue to use the Tasers they already have, an order for additional units was suspended. The report involving the Chicago teenager who suffered ventricular fibrillation following his encounter with a Taser may alter that city's position regardless of Taser International's denial of blame.

Taser has vigorously defended its stun guns in every situation where it has been linked to an injury or death. The company continues to maintain that Tasers are non-lethal and that all of the reports regarding deaths and injuries associated with the device are baseless and can be explained away on the basis of other causes.

A recent training bulletin issued by Taser, however, advised police that "repeated, prolonged, and/or continuous exposures to the Taser may cause strong muscle contractions that may impair breathing and respiration, particularly when the probes are placed across the chest or diaphragm."

The advent of the Taser-Cam, healthy competition from Stringer Systems, better training practices, and more judicious use of the stun guns will have the effect of making the devices less controversial and more likely to be regarded as the non-lethal alternative they were originally designed to be.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by saunders saunders

What Is The Dollar Value Of Human Life? (Oh Yes It Is Calculated)

Ed Normand — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:01:00 GMT

Most of us proclaim that we would never be able to put a value on a human life. That calculation, however, is done all the time with many different results. Now, you may be thinking I am discussing jury verdicts. Indeed, juries are asked to calculate the amount of pain and suffering to be awarded survivors in a wrongful death action. Actually, however, it is our government and corporations that have detailed calculations of the value of a life.

Take, the EPA for example, it now values a human life at 6.9 million dollars. Why does the government do this? It is part of an economic analysis measuring the costs of proposed regulations against the value of the lives it could save. Likewise, corporations will evaluate the cost of safety measures or the increased cost to produce safer products against the potential liability associated with a jury award in a product liability lawsuit. The EPA's value of a human life is actually greater than the awards that most jurors provide for the death of victim in a wrongful death case. So next time you read about a million dollar award in a wrongful death suit remember there is a real economic basis underlying these claims.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ed Normand

Curling Iron Made in China Electrocutes Hairdresser

Patricia Doherty — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 10:42:43 GMT

Another product manufactured in China has caused severe personal injury. We have heard about toys manufactured in China that are dangerous and now a curling iron made in China has permanently injured a hairdresser. The hairstylist filed a lawsuit against a Chinese curling iron company alleging she was electrocuted when the cord on her Helen of Troy commercial quality curling iron dislodged sending an electric shock through her. As a result of the electric shock, she was brain damaged. She also lost the ability to walk so is wheelchair bound, and lost feeling her one of her arms. The lawsuit filed on the hairdresser's behalf states the curling iron manufacturer was negligent in failing to have certain safety features, including an adequate handle. The hairstylist hopes that in addition to receiving justice for her lost income and debilitating injuries, that the faulty curling irons will be recalled. It is reported that Revlon, Conair and Wahl Clipper Corp have issued national recalls of some curling irons because of the risk and dangers of electrical shock.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Patricia Doherty

Teen Decapitated by Coaster at Six Flags Georgia

Mike Damaso — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:37:10 GMT

A 17-year-old from South Carolina was decapitated at Six Flags in Georgia on Saturday when a roller coaster traveling at full speed struck him in the head after he entered a restricted area. It is uncertain why the teen jumped two 6-foot fences and passed by warning signs stating the area was restricted, off-limits, and dangerous. Witness reports indicate the teen may have been in the area to retrieve a hat he lost while in the ride.

The ride was shut down for the remainder of the day out of respect for the teen's family. Another teen had entered the area as well but was not injured. No one on the ride was injured. The teen victim was at the park with his parents with a church group from Springfield, South Carolina.

In 2002, a groundskeeper was killed when he entered the restricted area and was struck by the hanging leg of a ride passenger. The ride was closed, OSHA inspected the ride, and the federal organization deemed the ride safe for passengers.

In 2007, a teen's legs were severed when a cable snapped on the Superman Tower of Power at Six Flags Kentucky. This injury resulted in several surgeries to re-attach the girls right foot and amputate part of her left leg. The girl's family is seeking civil justice.

Full Article

Theme Park and Amusement Park injuries occur every year at parks across the country. If you or someone you know suffer an amusement park related injury, it is critical that legal advice is obtained from an attorney with experience in handling such cases. It is imperative that you are made aware of your rights. Theme park injury cases often have a variety of legal issues. The parks owe a duty of care to the visitors of the park and if the conduct of the park, or park employees, falls below that duty, the park could be held responsible for injuries caused by their acts or failures. Additionally, many ride cases involve considering whether the designer or manufacturer of the ride has any liabity for the injury caused by the ride. Many times, this is a separate entity from the park itself. They may be other people or companies that are responsible for inspecting and maintaining the ride. Because there is only a limited period of time to bring a case for a theme park related injury, and it may take some time to determine what people and companies are involved and responsible, it is critical that a lawyer is consulted immediately.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Damaso

Are Manufacturers Liable If I am Injured by Their Product?

Sandy Grinnell — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:23:18 GMT

Injured by a piece of equipment or product you were recently using? Then you might be eligible to bring a product liability suit against the manufacturer, supplier, or retailer depending on where you got the product. Product liability is the area of law that holds these businesses liable for the injuries that their products cause to the public. Most product liability cases are based of negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, and consumer protection claims. These laws vary from state to state and from claim to claim. There are three major types of product liability claims: a manufacturing defect, a design defect, and a failure to warn or a marketing defect.

Strict Liability focuses on the product itself. Under this theory the manufacturer is liable if the product causes injury regardless of whether the product itself was defective. The courts look for facts in individual strict liability cases which characterize warranty from the manufacturer to the consumer, be it an expressed or implied warranty. Expressed warranties are those which are noted on the product during purchase whereas implied warranties are those which are common to all products in that category. Strict liability, unlike negligence, does not require the manufacturer itself to be negligent in production. In negligence the plaintiff must prove that the manufacturer or distributor fell below a standard of care. However strict liability focuses only on the product itself.

States are also enacting consumer protection statutes for specific remedies in regards to product defects. Statutory remedies are enacted for products that do not necessarily cause injury but simply are defective or unusable but still cause an economic loss. This only allows the consumer to recover for the economic loss of the product but no damages to their person.

No consumer should ever be injured by a product that a manufacturer holds out to be safe for public use. If you or anyone you know has been injured from a recent purchase or product they were using, please don’t hesitate to contact someone for legal representation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sandy Grinnell

Theme Park Injury Caught on Video

Ed Normand — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, billed as "America’s 1st Theme Park" was the site of another ride accident in mid-September, 2009. Riders were struck with debris and two passengers were injured, after a cable on the ride snapped. Luckily, no one else was injured during the accident. Incredibly, the entire ordeal was caught on video! A 12-year-old boy suffered lacerations on his leg, and an adult male complained of back pain afterwards. In the video, you can clearly see the point in the video where the cable breaks, and the ride starts going backwards. The fear and confusion on the eyes of the riders is evident, especially once smoke starts emanating from underneath the ride. The riders begin to panic at the end of the video, as they realize they are strapped into the ride, and unable to get out. The video, posted on Youtube, provides an eye-opening insight as to what happens when a ride malfunctions.

www.youtube.com/watchhttp://www.youtube.com/v/6EGHHjN0bQs&hl=en&fs=1&"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true">http://www.youtube.com/v/6EGHHjN0bQs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344">

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ed Normand

Many Child Booster Seats Failed Insurance Institutes Tests

Sandy Grinnell — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:02:33 GMT

The Insurance Institute on Highway Safety (IIHS) and University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute tested all of the child booster seats on the market today. Of the 41 seats currently available, 13 of them tested so poorly they can't recommend them at all.

Child booster seats are recommended for children when they outgrow a child restraint seat, usually at about the age of 4, depending on the size of the child. Child booster seats are not meant to be restraint mechanisms, they are intended to position a regular, adult seatbelt on the child so that the child is not injured by the belt in the event of a car crash. It is recommended that a child use a booster seat until he or she reaches a height of 4' 9" when the adult seatbelt will protect them properly.

In addition to the 13 that failed the test, 10 models were considered "best bets" and 5 were considered "good bets". It was interesting to see that the high price of a booster seat did not nessesarily equate to a high rating. The $20 backless booster seat from Graco was one of the top rated.

Here is a list of all the booster seats in their rankings:

Booster seat evaluations

Not Recommended

Safety Angel Ride Ryte backless
Cosco/Dorel (Eddie Bauer) Summit
Graco CarGo Zephyr
Evenflo Big Kid Confidence
Cosco/Dorel Traveler
Compass B505
Compass B510
Evenflo Generations
Dorel/Safety 1st (Eddie Bauer) Prospect
Cosco Highback Booster
Cosco/Dorel Alpha Omega
Evenflo Chase Comfort Touch
Safety 1st/Dorel Intera

Best Bets

Graco TurboBooster backless with clip
Fisher-Price Safe Voyage backless with clip
Combi Kobuk backless with clip
Fisher-Price Safe Voyage
Britax Parkway
LaRoche Bros. Teddy Bear
Safeguard Go backless with clip
Volvo booster cushion
Recaro Young Style
Britax Monarch

Good Bets

Graco TurboBooster
Safety Angel Ride Ryte
Recaro Young Sport
Combi Kobuk
Safety 1st/Dorel Apex 65

Note: Unless the booster name indicates that it is a backless seat, all boosters are highbacks

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sandy Grinnell

Another Recall of Duralgesic Patches

Ed Normand — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:48:00 GMT

Duralgesic patches are topical patches that users attach to the skin to treat chronic pain. The medication involved is fentanyl which is an opiate 80 times stronger than morphine. The patches are intended to release the medication over time through a gel that is absorbed by the skin. Problems have been reported to the FDA related to excessive gel being released from the patches. A recent verdict in Seminole County, Florida held that a defect in one such patch caused the death of a Mother.

Now additional recalls of Duralgesic patches have been reported . According to the Cherry Hill New Jersey Injury Board member Mike Ferrara, in a well written product liability blog:

"The patches being recalled are the Duralgesic and Sandoz Inc. 50 mcg/hr fentanyl transdermal system patches. They were manufactured by ALZA Corporation of Mountain View, CA, an affiliate of PriCara (of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson). PriCara’s press release reports that other patch strengths, such as 12.5, 25, 75 and 100 mcg/hr, are not damaged and may be used as directed."

The reported danger and possible mechanism of injury from the product is that a manufacturing defect allows a cut in the surface of the product to cause the gel to leak out of the patch and come into direct contact with the skin of a user or caregiver. Because the fentanyl is so strong it can cause injury or death from ingestion directly through the skin. Users are cautioned to return the reported batches to the manufacturer and to carefully check the surface of any patch for evidence of a gel leak. If a gel leak occurs one should wash it off with water not soap as that could open the pores and cause the product to better enter the system.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ed Normand

WalMart Recalls Mis-Labeled Insulin Syringes

Sandy Grinnell — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

According to an FDA Alert, Tyco Healthcare Group LP(Covidien) is recalling over 47,000 boxes of individual use, disposable insulin syringes due to possible mislabelling. The syringes were sold exclusively at WalMart and Sams Club stores under the name of ReliOn from August 1, 2008 through October 8, 2008.

The mislabelling involved a mixup of U-40 and U-100 syringes before they were individually wrapped and then boxed in 100-pack boxes. The possible mixup means a patient could receive two and a half times their normal dosage of insulin, possibly resulting in hypoglycemia, other health problems and even death.

The recall is for following product -

Lot Number 813900
-- ReliOn 1cc, 31-gauge, 100 units for use with U-100 insulin

FDA officials are asking patients, physicians and other healtcare professionals to take a good look at their current supply of syringes to make certain they are not from Lot Number 813900. If you have any of these syringes, you should return them to WalMart or Sams Club for a free replacement. If you have any questions or concerns about your syringes, you may contact Covidien at 866-780-5436 or www.relion.com/recall for more information.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sandy Grinnell