Product liability

November 11, 2009

Kirk Bernard’s Survival Guide to Handling Foodborne Illness

A recent ArticleBase post by Kirk Bernard discusses the Seattle personal injury attorney’s survival guide to handling foodborne illness. Foodborne illness may result from product liability issues and forms of negligence, such as a food product being contaminated from poor handling during manufacturing or a food product containing E. coli bacteria or any other harmful substance. However, there are several precautions people can implement in their own homes to help prevent foodborne illness. The article addresses five main steps that you must take to keep you and your family safe from foodborne illness.

Learn more about how to protect yourself from foodborne illness by reading the entire article.

October 7, 2009

Johnson & Johnson’s Voluntary Recall of Infants’ and Children’s Liquid Tylenol

By Kirk Bernard

A recent komonews.com article reported that the McNeil unit of Johnson & Johnson has issued a voluntary recall of 57 lots of liquid Tylenol products, intended for use on infants and children, due to a plausible bacterial contamination. Many parents are shocked to learn that the reputable company revealed that a B. cepacia bacterium was found in a portion of raw material that went unused in the finished product.

Although no bacteria were discovered in the finished product that reached consumers, Johnson & Johnson decided to recall the products as a precautionary measure after consulting with the Food and Drug Administration. As skilled Seattle product liability attorneys, we believe it is better to be safe than sorry in instances such as these, especially when the lives of infants and young children are involved.

According to the report, the recalled products were manufactured between April and June and are made-up of almost two dozen varieties that include Infants’ Tylenol Grape Suspension Drops ¼ oz., Children’s Tylenol Suspension 4 oz. Grape, and Children’s Tylenol Plus Cold/Allergy 4 oz. Bubble Gum. Despite there being a very slim chance that any medical events will take place since the bacterium was not present in the finished products, the company released the following statement: “It was decided, as a precaution, to recall all product that utilized any of the raw material manufactured at the same time as the raw material that tested positive for the bacteria.”
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June 15, 2009

Tests Show Higher Risk for Small Cars in Crashes

By Kirk Bernard

The website latimes.com reported in an article on April 14, 2009 that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has recently published the results of a series of crash tests. The Institute crashed a Honda Fit into a Honda Accord, a Smart ForTwo into a Mercedes C-Class, and a Toyota Yaris into a Toyota Camry each at 40 miles per hour. Test results showed that small cars may be more efficient but your safety is definitely compromised. The vehicles were tested in “offset” crashes in which the cars do not crash head on; instead, the collisions are made to simulate the type of collision that would occur during an auto accident if a car had veered over the center line where the damage can easily break into the passenger compartment. The institute believes that the cars sustained enough damage that their occupants would also have suffered moderate to serious injuries.

Adrian Lund, president of the Arlington, Virginia based institute said, “Though much safer than they were a few years ago, minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes, simply because they’re smaller and lighter. In collisions with bigger vehicles, the forces acting on the smaller ones are higher, and there’s less distance from the front of a small car to the occupant compartment to ‘ride down’ the impact. These and other factors increase injury likelihood.”

Dave Schembri, president of Smart’s U.S. operations said the tests were an example of “rare and extreme” accidents. The Smart ForTwo meets or exceeds all U.S. government crash-test standards. The other manufactures released similar statements.

March 12, 2009

Washington Bill Seeks A Ban On Novelty Lighters

By Kirk Bernard

The seattletimes.com website reported in a story on January 20, 2009 that State Senator Claudia Kauffman was sponsoring the senate version of bill SB 5011 that would ban Novelty lighters to prevent personal injury in Seattle.

Kauffman said, “It’s really to stave off any potential dangers that are out there for youth in such a confusing manner.”

One lighter that particularly struck Kauffman as dangerous was one shaped like a miniature camera. Kauffman said, “you put it up to your eye, and the flame comes out the top, and these lighters are displayed at the front counter of any convenience store.”

Joe Meinecke, public educator with the Tacoma Fire Department can attest personally to the dangers of these novelty lighters. As a matter of fact, he owns one shaped like a miniature gun and refers to it as his $50,000 lighter. The reason for this name is because that is the total sum of damage it caused to a Tacoma family’s home when a four year old played with it and set a couch on fire. Meinecke now uses it as a prop in his fire safety lessons with children and families.
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