Sacramento Injury Lawyer Blog

There has been a world-wide recall of a toy called Aqua Dots. It is always frightening to find a toy recalled because of defects or a choking hazard, anything that may bring harm and injury to our children immediately send parents racing around the house, removing the invading toy threat. The recall of Aqua Dots is especially terrifying as researchers have found that the coating on the colorful toy beads, when ingested, metabolize into gamma hydroxy butyrate, better known as the date rape drug.

So far, at least two children in the United States and four in Australia have been hospitalized after swallowing the toy beads. One 20 month old boy, from Arkansas, starting stumbling around, throwing up and eventually passed out, after swallowing Aqua Dots. After several hours in the hospital he was released. The date rape chemical components are dangerous even to adults. According to an article by Find Law, the date rape drug “can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death”.

According to reports, Aqua Dots were planned to be produced using a non-toxic chemical that can be found in glue, but would up being made with a toxic chemical called 1,4-butanediol. This chemical was declared a Class I health hazard in 1999 by the Food and Drug Administration, indicating it can cause life-threatening harm.

Product recalls are a serious issue. If a product causes injury to a person because of a design defect, manufacturing defect, or a failure to warn, liability will fall into the hands of the person or company responsible for that product. Manufactures, supplier, distributors, and retailers all have the responsibility in putting a safe and danger-free product into the market. Liability for a dangerous product can come in several different forms, including negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty.

If you or someone you love have ever been seriously injured because a product did not live up to this standard of safety, you should contact a lawyer who can lead you in the right direction. Please give me a call at the Law Offices of Moseley Collins, I am here to help.

Web Resouces:

Walking into one of our Sacramento grocery stores nowadays, I find myself wondering if I am going to be purchasing another product that will show to have some sort of bacteria attached to it, and after consumption, find that it has been recalled. Food poisoning is not the most pleasant of experiences. To add to this badgering thought, today I came across yet another article in the paper, talking about a recalled food product. This time we are presented with salmonella-tainted pot pies, yum yummy.

The maker of these pies, ConAgra Foods, have recalled the product after the pies were linked to a nationwide outbreak of the infection. Reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are showing that more than 200 cases of salmonella infection have been reported this year, covering 34 states. This salmonella infection shows to be all from the same strain.

A federal lawsuit is being carried out against ConAgra Foods, representing two classes. One class is a consumer class, representing people who bought and/or ate the infected pies. The second class is called an injury class, which will represent all those who after eating such infected pies, became ill.

All food manufacturers have standards they are required to work by. When these standards are violated and/or neglected, the company can face serious liability issues. A food manufacturer has the responsibility of producing a product that is safe to its consumers. They also have a responsibility to ensure that the working area at the manufacturing plant is kept in a way that is safe and free from disease. Plaintiffs in this case are arguing that ConAgra violated these issues.

If you or a loved one have ever been seriously injured because of a food contamination, please call me at the Law Offices of Moseley Collins.

Stay safe and be wary of those pies.

Web Resource:

Salmonella-Tainted Potpies Produce Class-Action Lawsuit , Andrews Publications

A food allergy can be a difficult and tiresome battle to deal with. Parents with children of food allergies, especially more-encompassing allergies such as gluten, know the caution needed to be taken each time their child is given something new to eat. Frank and Beth Miller are parents of not one, but two children with food allergies. Their oldest son, Mekenzie (7-years old), has celiac disease, making him allergic to gluten and wheat. Their 4-year old, Macauley, is autistic. Milk, gluten, and wheat worsen his behavior problems.

The Millers went to McDonald’s one day and after thoroughly inspecting the ingredients, allowed their sons to have French fries. Later that day, the boys experienced emotional distress and physical illness. It turned out that the French fries included both casein and wheat, even though they were not listed on the ingredients section. There is now a Personal Injury suit being brought against McDonald’s for the two boys. Along with this case, there are 16 Personal Injury cases in Florida and one federal class action suit against McDonald’s.

Any company or organization dealing with the sale or production of food products have the responsibility to provide food that will not cause illness or death. When they fail in this area, they are putting themselves in the position to pay for any injured person’s damages. If you or a loved one have ever been injured by negligence or intentional misconduct by a food manufacturer or company, please give me a call at the Law Office of Moseley Collins. I will be able to discuss your available options and next steps.

Take care…

For the full article on the lawsuit against McDonald’s, please click here.

West of Sacramento, in the San Mateo Superior Court, a verdict for $1.8 million was affirmed in a case where a man was seriously injured after a forklift fell on top of him. The plaintiff of the case, a forklift operator, alleged that the forklift had a defect in its design, placing “excessive stress on the tires”. The stress eventually caused a tire of the forklift to split, sending the forklift crashing down on top of the man, crushing his leg.

The injured man eventually lost his leg in the accident. The resulting $1.8 million verdict was for lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.

A design defect occurs when there should have been an alternative solution used in the making of a product and because of the product’s current design, the product is now unreasonably dangerous. If you or a loved one have ever been injured because of a defective design, please call our Law Offices for further help and advice.

Until next time…

For the full report on this case, please click here.

An activist group called Stop Hurting Our Children (SHOK) has arisen from a lawsuit that took place just west of Sacramento in Marin County, California. The lawsuit was brought on by families of eight children, after the children were injured from quick-release bicycles sold by Wal-Mart. The quick-release bicycles have been said to spontaneously pop off, causing injury to the anyone riding the bike. In the Marin County case, three of the eight children suffered from traumatic brain injury.

Bicycles that have a quick-release option were designed to allow the rider to take off the wheels of their bike without using tools. Many bike riders want the ability to remove the wheel(s) of their bikes for fixing flat tires, preventing theft, and putting bikes into cars. A website called Bicycling Life states the reason quick-release wheels come off is because the are often not put back on properly. There is a page on the website that describes the correct and incorrect way to put on a quick-release wheel. I suggest that if you do purchase or have purchased a bicycle with a quick-release wheel, you read the article.

If you have ever been injured in an accident by a product defect, please call the Law Offices of Moseley Collins for advice.

Until next time…

To read the article, please click here.