Products Liability

Serious Cancer Risk From Medical Device Used During Laparoscopic Uterine Surgeries

July 22, 2015 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a serious warning regarding the use of a medical device during laparoscopic (minimally invasive) surgeries. On November 24, 2014 the FDA updated a pervious warning that it had issued on April 2014.

The device is called a power morcellator which is used in laparoscopic surgeries to divide tissues into small pieces so they can be removed via small incision sites that are made by the surgeon.
Unfortunately, when used to remove uterine fibroids or a uterus during a hysterectomy, it poses a risk of spreading unsuspected cancerous tissue, notably sarcomas.
Continue reading

EKO Recalls Motion Sensor Trash Cans Sold Exclusively at Costco Due To Laceration Hazard

July 20, 2015 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

EKO Sensible Eco Living Motion Sensor Trash Cans manufactured in China, imported by Costco Wholesale Corporation, of Issaquah, Washington and sold exclusively at Costco stores and Costco.com was recalled on July 17, 2015. The recall (number 15-742) involves approximately 367,000 trash cans which were sold between December 2013 and June 2015.

Continue reading

Takata Airbag Recall – Floridians Most At Risk Due To Climate

July 14, 2015 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

Mark Rosekind, the head of the National Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA) will stop in Florida this week to urge Florida drivers to check whether their automobiles are included in the Takata Airbag Recall.
Continue reading

Chinese Drywall Maker Agrees to Pay Millions For Products Liability Claims

December 16, 2011 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. has set up two funds to pay property owners and injury victims for the damage and harm suffered from defective drywall. Most of the products liability claimants are in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.

One fund is uncapped and the money from here will go towards paying the owners of about 4,500 properties for damages sustained by their homes. The other fund, which is capped at $30 million, will pay for other kinds of losses, including the health issues people say they suffered.

The Chinese drywall was used to build thousands of homes after the hurricanes of 2005 and prior to the housing bubble popping. While there is no scientific evidence linking the drywall to certain physical side effects, people that have been exposed to Chinese drywall report similar symptoms, including congestion, nosebleeds, asthma attacks, acne, coughing, headaches, hair loss, hives, muscle and joint pain, irritated eyes, nausea, phlegm, miscarriages, rashes, shortness of breath, sneezing, sore throat, breathing problems, and urinary tract infections. Kids and the elderly appear more prone to experiencing side effects after they’ve been exposed to Chinese drywall.

Knauf Plasterboard has admitted that the drywall that it makes includes low levels of sulfur gas. However, the company has said that its product is not hazardous.

If you believe that a defective product caused your health issues or injuries, you may have grounds for filing a Florida products liability lawsuit against a negligent manufacturer.

Chinese drywall settlement could be worth up to $1 billion, Sun-Sentinel, December 15, 2011
Chinese Drywall Saga: End in Sight?, Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Florida Products Liability: Palm Beach County Burn Injury Lawsuit Seeks Damages From Napa Home and Garden Over Dangerous Gel Fuel, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, August 16, 2011
Baby Deaths and Injuries Prompt Recalls of 1.7 Million Summer Infant Video Baby Monitors and 500,000 Bassinets by Burlington Basket Company, February 16, 2011
19 Products Liability Lawsuits Filed in Palm Beach County Against ConAgra Foods After Plaintiffs Over Salmonella Outbreak From Tainted Peanut Butter, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, July 7, 2008 Continue reading

Florida Products Liability Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Manufacturer of ShoulderFlex Deep Kneading Shiatsu Massager For Parkland Woman’s Wrongful Death

September 6, 2011 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

Dr. Kenneth Gegerson is suing several companies for Florida products liability and wrongful death. Gegerson’s wife, Dr. Michelle Ferrari-Gegerson, died in a choking accident after the leather necklace she was wearing got caught in a ShoulderFlex Deep Kneading Shiatsu neck massager. The jewelry became entangled in the device’s rotating piece.

In his Miami-Dade, Florida wrongful death complaint, Gegerson blames the providers of the device for failing to put in a mechanism that would have made the ShoulderFlex Deep Kneading Shiatsu stop immediately when the rotating knobs experienced resistance. He also claims that the “defective” product lacked the “obvious and adequate” labeling needed to warn that items could get caught in the massager.

Defendants of the South Florida products liability lawsuit are distributor King International, King Yiu Chan and Si Ming Dui (the creators and patent holders), franchise Relax the Back Corp., and ABP Aventura Inc, which ran the Relax the Back store in Aventura.

Florida Products Liability: Palm Beach County Burn Injury Lawsuit Seeks Damages From Napa Home and Garden Over Dangerous Gel Fuel

August 16, 2011 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

Jacqueline Delgado and her husband Renee have filed a Palm Beach County personal injury lawsuit against two sellers and a packing company. Jacqueline sustained serious burns when the NAPAfire and FIREGEL Gel Fuel she was using ignited, dousing her body in flames. Renee also was injured.

Not long after the Palm Beach Shores burn accident, the US CPSC and Napa Home & Garden recalled about 460,000 pourable NAPAfire and FIREGEL Gel Fuel jugs and bottles because the product could ignite suddenly and splatter onto people and objects when poured into a firepot that is still burning. Napa said there were 37 incidents reported, including 23 burn accidents.

In the Delgados’ Palm Beach products liability complaint, the couple is suing Fuel Barons and Losorea Packaging Co., TJX Companies, and Manhattan’s Pharmacy. Because Napa Home & Garden has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, it would prove very challenging to obtain anything from the beleaguered company, which is facing dozens of other products liability lawsuits over its dangerous gel fuel.

Florida Auto Products Liability: Mother Files Broward County Wrongful Death Lawsuit Blaming Toyota’s Smart Key System for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

July 15, 2011 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

We’ve all read about auto defects that can cause catastrophic Palm Beach County car accidents. Faulty engines, worn tires, air bag malfunctions, and stuck accelerator pedals can lead a motorist to lose control of a vehicle and crash. Now, here are allegations of another type of auto defect-one that doesn’t require anyone to be driving the car let alone even be in it.

In her Broward County auto products liability complaint, Kimberlin Nickles is suing Toyota and car dealer JM Lexus for her daughter Chastity Glisson’s Boca Raton wrongful death. Glisson died of carbon monoxide poisoning after leaving her Lexus running in her garage last year. Nickles believes that her daughter either forgot to shut down her car’s engine or thought she had done so but in fact did not. Glisson’s boyfriend, Timothy Maddock, was also a victim of the CO poisoning incident and is also suing Toyota for Palm Beach personal injury.

Toyota’s Smart Car system is a keyless system that doesn’t require anything to be inserted into an ignition. Instead, it is a key fob that allows a car to keep running as long as the device is near the vehicle. Nickles contends that because her daughter’s Lexus was designed to have an engine that was “virtually soundless and smooth,” it was easy for her daughter to not realize that the vehicle was still running.

Palm Beach Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Yamaha Over Fatal WaveRunner Accident That Killed One Teen, Leaving Another With Brain Damage and Physical Injuries

May 20, 2011 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

Six years after the Florida water scooter accident that killed 14-year-old Yasell Perez and left then-15-year-old Samantha Archer with serious injuries, their families are in court seeking damages from Yamaha for Palm Beach County wrongful death, products liability, and personal injury. The jury trial opened last week and the plaintiffs are seeking millions.

The tragic Palm Beach County injury accident occurred on Easter Sunday on March 2005 after the teens got on a WaveRunner on the Intracoastal Waterway. Five minutes after taking off, the WaveRunner struck a boat, killing Perez and causing Archer, now 21, to sustain serious injuries, including a traumatic brain damage, a broken pelvis, and gashes to her legs, stomach and groin. She was hospitalized for two months and had to return several times to undergo surgery. Doctors have testified that Archer has lost the mental and emotional abilities that would allow her to sustain a marriage, hold a job, have a kid, or live independently.

A lawyer for Yamaha has said that the teenagers shouldn’t have told the WaveRunner’s owner that they knew how to operated the personal watercraft. He also notes that Archer at the time of the accident was under 16, which is the legal age for operating a water scooter in Florida. Meantime, the plaintiffs are claiming that a steering problem with the WaveRunner prevented the girls from being able to avoid striking the boat. Their lawyer contends that the PWC accident that killed the girls could have been avoided if only Yamaha had listened to concerns it had been receiving for years about problems with the WaveRunner’s steering system. Archer is seeking almost $7 million, while Perez’s family is also seeking millions.

Miami-Dade Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks Damages Over Fatal Jacuzzi Drowning at Bahamian Resort

May 17, 2011 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

The family of John Van Hoy Jr. has filed a Miami-Dade wrongful death complaint against Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort. Van Hoy died after getting caught in a Jacuzzi suction drain at the Bahamian resort on December 28, 2010. Other plaintiffs include Sandal Resort International, Unique, Hayward Industries, and other companies involved with the manufacture of the hot tub and its parts.

Several resort guests, including Van Hoy’s fiancé Nicole Cleaveland, reportedly tried to help free him, but by the time they were able to pull the 33-year-old away from the drain it may have been too late. The whirlpool reportedly lacked an emergency shut-off button.

In their Miami-Dade drowning accident complaint, the plaintiffs accuse hotel staff of ignoring Van Hoy and either being unwilling or lacking the training to perform CPR during the 45 minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive. The workers at the resort then allegedly tried to prevent Cleaveland from communicating with family, friends, or others and subjected her to an “interrogation” while suggesting that she or Van Hoy were “somehow at fault for the death.”

Florida Products Liability: Senate Passes Tort Reform Legislation That Could Limit Payouts from Manufacturers of Defective Autos

March 24, 2011 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

Last week, the Florida Senate approved a bill that could make it harder for victims to obtain Florida products liability compensation from manufacturers. Sen. Garret Richter’s, R-Naples, “crash worthiness” bill mandates that juries consider everyone who may have been at fault in contributing to an accident, not just a product maker. The bill is geared towards limiting car manufacturers’ liability for auto defects that cause injuries or death in a Florida car crash. A companion bill is now making its way through committees in the Florida House.

Under current state law, juries for Florida products liability cannot consider evidence regarding the fault of the person that actually caused the accidents. They can only consider evidence related to the manufacturer’s fault in a product’s defect.

If this bill becomes law, it would reverse the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling in D’Amario v. Ford Motor Co. in 2001. That auto products liability case involved teenager Clifford Harris, who sustained serious burn injuries and lost three limbs when the 1988 Ford Escort that his drunk friend was speeding in struck a tree and then caught fire.

Harris’s mom filed a Florida auto products liability complaint against Ford. She said a relay switch failure contributed to the vehicle catching fire. While a jury ruled in Ford’s favor, the state’s highest court reversed the decision. This precluded juries from looking at evidence involving the party that caused the accident. In this case, it would have been Harris’s friend.

Critics are worried that this latest bill would make it easy for manufacturers to not be held accountable.

Florida Products Liability
Manufacturers should be held accountable for products that cause serious injuries or death. Poor design, product defects, manufacturing flaws, parts malfunctioning, marketing defects, breach of warranty, and faulty instructions are some grounds for victims and their families to sue.

Proving Palm Beach products liability can be challenging, which is why you should get legal help. The statute of limitations for a Florida products liability case is four years. However, if a product defect resulted in a death, then the statue of limitations is two years.

Florida Senate Moves to Curb Liability Suits Against Car Makers, Insurance Journal, March 17, 2011
Florida Senate limits product liability lawsuits against auto makers, other businesses, NaplesNews, March 16, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Defective Product Liability Claims: Who to Sue?, Nolo
Products Liability, Cornell.Law.Educ

More Blog Posts:
Will US Supreme Court’s Revival of Seat Belt Defect Lawsuit Against Mazda and Window Defect Case Against Ford Pave the Way for More Florida Auto Products Liability Cases?, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, February 28, 2011
Five People Killed in West Palm Beach After Tire Blowout Causes SUV Rollover, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 20, 2008 Continue reading