Chicago Injury Lawyer Blog

As a products liability and personal injury attorney in Chicago, I urge parents to pay attention to recalls affecting products they may be using for their children and replace the recalled products as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary injuries. This week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of 1.2 million high chairs because they pose a falling hazard to children. (Washington AP 3/18). Graco Children’s Products, Inc., of Atlanta, manufactures the recalled product identified as the “all Harmony –TM high chairs. The CPSC cautioned that consumers should cease using the product immediately.

The regulatory agency said "screws holding the front legs of the high chair can loosen and fall out and said cracking plastic brackets can cause the high chair to tip over unexpectedly." Thus far, 24 injuries have resulted causing “bumps and bruises to the head, a hairline fracture to the arm and cuts, bumps and bruises and scratches to the body." Consumers can locate the model number can be located on the underside of the foot rest.

The Food and Drug Administration announced this week that it is “adding its strongest warning to the label for Plavix after reports that some patients cannot process the blockbuster blood thinner…Plavix is prescribed to heart disease patients to prevent dangerous blood clots, which can cause heart attack, stroke and death.” (Washington AP, M. Perrone, 3/12).

The FDA said in a statement Friday “that certain patients with a genetic variation cannot metabolize the drug, putting them at increased risk for heart attack and stroke.” Admittedly, these risks are as grave as they come, thus patients on this drug should consult their doctors immediately.

Fortunately, a generic test can identify patients who do not respond to Plavix. Other blood thinners, including Aspirin, are recommended by the FDA for patients who do not respond to Plavix.

As a personal injury and products liability attorney in Chicago, I encourage patients on Plavix to consult with their doctors to make sure they are not increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

The Food and Drug Administration is “cracking down on baby food manufacturers and other companies for misleading nutrition labeling on their products, the beginning of a larger effort to set stricter standards for the labels” (M. Jalonick, AP Washington, 3/5). Recent warning letters sent to 17 food companies highlighted unauthorized claims made regarding health and nutrient content.

The agency communicated to big name companies including Nestle/Gerber, Beech-nut, First Juice, Inc., Want Want Foods, and PBM products. Although there is nothing wrong per se with the baby food, the agency is concerned that labels on the products make claims regarding heath and nutrition that are not empirically supportable.
The agency said back in October “that nutritional labels from food manufacturers may be misleading consumers about the actual health benefits of cereal, crackers and other processed foods and sent a letter to companies saying it would begin cracking down on inaccurate food labeling. On Wednesday, the agency said it would soon propose new guidelines for calorie and nutrient labeling on the front of food packages.”

In response to the letters, companies have fifteen days to propose solutions to the label issues. As a products liability attorney in Chicago, I am pleased that the FDA is addressing these labeling issues quickly.