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• Patient Awarded $40.1 Million In Burned Heart Case

  Greg Webb | March 24, 2008 3:55 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  A Washington State Superior Court jury awarded $40.1 million, including $8.35 million in punitive damages, to Paramjit Singh who had to undergo a heart transplant because his was so badly damaged by a defective machine during an operation. The incident in question happened in October 2004, when Singh checked into Providence Everett Medical Center for cardiac bypass surgery. A monitor...

• Virginia Court Rules Doctors Liable Even If Affiliated With Charitable Foundations

  Greg Webb | March 20, 2008 10:45 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  The Virginia Supreme Court recently ruled that doctors affiliated with charitable foundations are not immune from malpractice suits. The cases involved the University of Virginia Health Services foundation whose lawyers argued that since its doctors were working for a non-profit organization, they should be immune from malpractice suits. The court, however, ruled that although the work done by...

• Consumer Advocacy Group Asks For A More Efficient CPSC

  Greg Webb | February 19, 2008 10:04 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  Public Citizen, a District-based advocacy group, criticized the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for sometimes taking more than six months to inform the public about dangerous products. The advocacy group also complained that it took some companies almost three years to report hazards to the commission. Forty-six cases, from 2002-2007, were taken into consideration in Public Citizen's...

• CPSC Proposing All Home Furnishing Products Be Nonflammable

  Greg Webb | February 19, 2008 9:57 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is pushing a proposal to require all home furnishing products sold in the United States be nonflammable. The CPSC has been trying to get this proposal passed for more than ten years because they believe such a standard could save about one hundred lives and prevent one hundred and thirty injuries annually. It would require consumer upholstered...

• New Consumer Activist Report Shows U.S. Property Insurers Overcharging Policy Holders

  Greg Webb | February 06, 2008 5:04 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  A report made by consumer activists claims the United States property/casualty insurance agency systematically overprices policy holders and underpays their claims. This report shows, in 2007, the insurers paid fifty-five cents in benefits from each dollar collected. The insurance companies are overcharging their consumers while cutting back on benefits and not fully paying claims. This new rise...

• CPSC Issues Recall On Red Toy Wagons

  Greg Webb | February 06, 2008 4:56 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  Red toy wagons are being recalled by the U.S. Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and their importer, Tricam Industries, due to a violation in the paint lead standard. The recall is voluntary, although consumers are being asked to stop using the recalled products immediately unless instructed otherwise. The fifteen thousand affected toy wagons, manufactured in China, were sold for thirty dollars at...

• Ford Recalls 1.1 Million More Vehicles

  Greg Webb | December 11, 2007 10:20 AM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  Ford Motor Company is recalling 1.1 million more vehicles. This time, Ford is recalling more than 1.1 million heavy-duty trucks with diesel engines because of a problem that could lead to engine stalling. When an engine stalls, particularly when the vehicle is moving, this may present a safety problem for the driver and occupants because the driver may lose control of the vehicle. Ford's...

• Federal Regulation on Amusement Parks Needed

  Greg Webb | December 06, 2007 2:16 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  While amusement park thrill rides are only supposed to seem dangerous, many people are injured each year due to negligence in the operation of these rides. On average, four people are killed each year while riding amusement park rides, while injury reports average in the thousands. A man was killed in 1999 riding the Shockwave at Paramount's King's Dominion in Doswell, Virginia.The Consumer...

• Ford Settles Lawsuits Involving Its Rollover Plagued Explorer

  Greg Webb | December 03, 2007 9:56 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  The Ford Motor Company has settled a class-action lawsuit in California, Illinois, Connecticut and Texas regarding its 1991-2001 models of the Explorer sports utility vehicle (SUV), which has come under fire for being prone to rollovers. The claimants have said the Ford Motor Company used false advertising to sell the SUV. They knew the automobile was prone to rollovers, but marketed it as a...

• Toy Recall Due To Excessive Lead

  Greg Webb | November 26, 2007 5:34 PM | 0 CommentsCharlottesville, VA

  Mattel Inc., Fisher Price, and eighteen other companies have been accused of having illegal amounts of lead in their products, the legal amount being 600 parts per million. Lead is a toxic substance that damages the nervous system and many other organs. There are many toy recalls each year, but this year's recall is especially damaging because it deals with very popular toys, such as Barbie...