I-Flow Corporation manufactures and sells pain pumps that are used after surgery.  Recently, an Oregon jury found the company liable for negligence.  The jury awarded the plaintiff $4.5 million for the permanent damage he suffered to his shoulder joint. 

In 2004, the thirty-five (35) year old plaintiff underwent surgery after hurting his right shoulder while playing flag football.  After surgery, his surgeon inserted a pain pump catheter directly into the shoulder joint.  The pain pump is designed to deliver pain medication directly into the shoulder.

Afterward, the plaintiff reported to his doctor that he was experiencing ongoing pain and a “clicking” sound in his shoulder.  Physicians discovered that the patient’s cartilage in his shoulder joint was almost completely worn away.  This condition is called chondrolysis.  The pain pump damaged the plaintiff’s cartilage.  Now the patient has undergone more surgery but surgery cannot repair all of the damage.  He now faces a lifetime of repeat surgeries, constant pain and limited use of his right arm.

Although the FDA has not approved inserting these pain pump catheters directly into a joint, the product’s manufacturer instructed doctors to insert the catheter directly into the joint and then failed to warn medical doctors of the risks.

If you or a family member has had a pain pump inserted after surgery and have experienced cartilage damage, you should immediately contact an attorney.  The Fitzgerald Law Firm has more than 30 years of experience prosecuting product liability cases.  Their attorneys review potential cases for free.

Defective tires are dangerous. Tread separation and other tire defects can result from design error or manufacturing defects. When faulty tires suddenly lose their tread or explode (blow out), this event can cause the driver not only to lose control of the vehicle but also be unable to regain control, resulting in a deadly collision or accident.

Tire tread separation is particularly dangerous for owners of SUVs and vans because these vehicles have a higher center of gravity than passenger cars. This higher center of gravity can lead to deadly rollover accidents when a tire unexpectedly blows out. Blowouts can occur long before the tire tread is worn out. That can happen if the tire has minute cracks. They quickly lead to larger cracks that develop between the belts, causing premature tire fatigue and tread failure.

In late June 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that Bridgestone recalled 127,000 Firestone tires sold in 2007 and 2008 -- nearly doubling an earlier recall of tires from the same line.

NHTSA reports that in recent years tens of millions of flawed tires have been recalled. Firestone's Wilderness AT tires were recalled because they did not have proper adhesion between the steel belts and the surrounding rubber. This defect was caused by Firestone’s failure to utilize gum edge strips, nylon overlays or caps, or other safeguards to reduce the hazard of tread belt separation. Cooper Tire, Goodyear, Uniroyal, Dunlop and Foreign Tire Sales, Inc., and an importer of Chinese tires under the brand names Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS have all issued recalls for some of their tire models.

Tire manufactures are legally responsible for automobile wrecks that are caused by faulty tires. For over thirty years The Fitzgerald Law Firm has successfully brought product liability cases against many tire manufactures on behalf of their seriously injured clients and these clients’ family members who were killed in automobile accidents.

After the death of a six month old baby and other reports of multiple injuries, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in January 2010 announced on its website that Dorel Asia SRL of Barbados was voluntarily starting a recall to replace drop side and non-drop side cribs. This recall involves 20 models. It covers nearly 635,000 drop-side and fixed-front-rail Dorel Asia cribs sold by Kmart, Sears, Wal-Mart and other stores.

The Product Safety Commission is advising owners of these cribs to stop using them immediately until replacement kits are obtained and installed.

The Commission and Dorel Asia have received reports of 31 drop side incidents. In six cases, children were trapped between the drop side and crib mattress. In addition three babies suffered bruises.

Defective cribs and playpens pose serious dangers. Infants and toddlers can become entangled, trapped, or strangled by improperly designed or weak slats. Defective bedding can lead to airway obstruction when babies are trapped between the mattress and the side of the crib.

In February 2010, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 500,000 drop-side cribs sold at Buy Buy Baby, Kmart, Wal-Mart and other stores after three infants died. According to the Commission, plastic hardware on Generation 2 Worldwide and ChildESIGNS cribs can break and allow the drop side to detach. The mattress supports can also break away from the crib frame. Both defects create gaps that allow babies and small children become trapped that can result in suffocation or strangulation.

2. Shift the transmission into Neutral. Don't worry if the engine revs up alarmingly - most modern cars have rev-limiters to protect it, and this move will put you in back in control of your vehicle.

3. Steer to a safe location and come to a full stop.

4. Shut off the engine with the transmission still in Neutral.

5. Finally, shift the transmission into Park or, with a manual transmission, set the emergency brake. Then call for help. Do not attempt to drive the car.

Consumer Reports suggests that you memorize these steps in case you experience unintended acceleration. Practice makes perfect so you might consider practicing them in a safe location at low speeds. They could save your life and those of your loved ones and others.

According to The Associated Press, Honda Motor Company has now recalled more than 822,000 vehicles, including some 2001 and 2002 Accord sedans, Civic compacts, Odyssey minivans, CR-V small sport utility vehicles and some 2002 Acura TL sedans because they have air bag inflation problems. Honda will replace the driver's side air bag inflator on these recalled cars because the airbags can deploy with too much pressure. The inflator ruptures and propels metal fragments toward the driver. These defective airbags can injure or kill the driver.

Honda originally announced the airbag recall to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in November of 2008. The first recall covered four thousand 2001 Accords and Civics. The recall was expanded in July of 2009 to 440,000 vehicles including the 2001 and 2002 Accord and Civic, and some 2002 Acura TL sedans.

Honda advised owners to take their vehicles to dealerships as soon as they are notified in writing. Apparently car owner notification will begin during February.

The Food and Drug has recently issued an alert [November 13, 2009 Updated: February 16, 2010] after reviewing 35 reports of damaged and destroyed cartilage in patients who were given pain pumps after shoulder surgery. The death of the cartilage causes a grinding bone-on-bone joint resulting in the severe pain.  A pain pump is medical device used to manage post-operative pain.  This device pumps continuous pain relief medication directly into the patient’s shoulder by way of a catheter.

There is currently evidence that these pain pumps have caused irreversible shoulder damage, (glenohumeral chondrolysis,” which is the complete or nearly complete loss of cartilage in the shoulder joint.  Glenohumeral chondrolysis cannot be treated.  Cartliag damage is irreversible.  This is a disabling and excruciatingly painful condition. The injured person may well need to take medication for life and may have to undergo reconstructive shoulder surgery. 

The FDA is now requiring physicians to inform their patients about the substantial risk that the insertion of shoulder pain pumps may lead to Chrondrolysis.  Despite their rather widespread use, the FDA never approved pain pumps for use in joints.

Before undergoing shoulder surgery or any other type of joint surgery you should carefully question your surgeon about both the benefits and the potential damagers of pain pumps.  More than 140 lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers of these pain pumps (one being I-Flow Corp. of Lake Forest, California).  The plaintiffs in these lawsuits are claiming these companies negligently encouraged physicians to inset catheters directly into the shoulder joint space even though the safety of this technique has never been studied.

In October 2009 Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda issued a public apology for the deaths of four California family members.  According to information received during a 911 call, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor was unable to stop the Lexus ES 350 sedan he was driving after it suddenly began to accelerate to more than 100 mph.  The vehicle crashed and then burst into flames, killing the officer, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law.

Unfortunately, this is not the only fatal wreck caused by sudden unintended acceleration.   According to Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., there have been 16 deaths and 243 injuries caused by sudden unexplained acceleration of Toyota vehicles. 

According to the Associated Press, Toyota Motor Corporation announced on Tuesday, January 26, 2009, that it was no longer selling some of its models.  The week before that, Toyota recalled eight of its models, about 2.3 million cars.  In addition, Toyota as of February 1, 2010, is suspending production of new cars at six of its North American car assembly plants.

If you or family members have been injured as the result of sudden unexplained acceleration of a Toyota car you or they may be entitled to compensation.  Contact an attorney immediately.  It is also very important that you preserve the vehicle.  It can be very difficult to sue an automobile manufacturer if the vehicle has been destroyed or crushed. 

The Fitzgerald Law Firm has handled numerous defective products cases and we have set our fees so that anyone can talk with us free of charge about a potential case against Toyota Motor Corporation.

In 2005, Wyoming doctors succeeded getting the State Legislature to pass a bill requiring injured patients who want to file medical malpractice lawsuits to first file their claims with the Wyoming Medical Review Panel.  Physicians argued this panel was needed to stop frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits and to lower their malpractice insurance costs.

However, as reported in the Sunday, January 31, 2010, Cheyenne Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, the Wyoming Medical Review Panel has not lowered medical malpractice insurance costs.  One reason is that most Wyoming doctors, surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, hospitals, assisted living centers and nursing homes are waiving their rights to take the case to the panel.  They choose not to have the panel hear their side of the story. The Wyoming Medical Review Panel requires filing by patients alleging injury or death of a family member, but the health care providers do not have to file any defense.  Patients must hire expert witnesses to testify before the panel but doctors can merely opt out of the process. 

Opting out of the Medical Review Panel not only hurts doctors, it also hurts patients.  As noted in the article:

Cheyenne attorney Jim Fitzgerald said the medical view panel gives patients a chance to be heard. Opting out of the review process almost guarantees that the only way to resolve a claim is to go to court.

The review process allows patients to determine whether their case is strong enough to go to court. He said that in some cases, physicians were encouraged to settle if a panel of their peers criticized the care they had provided. Fitzgerald added that the original medical review panel also was more effective because doctors used it.

Jim Fitzgerald is more than willing to go to court but it is too bad for the patients with meritorious claims to not even get a hearing in front of the panel first.  For the panel process to work, everyone in the medical profession who has been blamed medical negligence needs to step up to the plate and present their side of the story to the Wyoming Medical Review Panel. 

Research reveals Toyota may have known about some vehicles’ sudden acceleration problem for at least five 5 years before notifying the public.  The Center for Auto Safety reported sudden acceleration problems in the 2002-2003 Toyota Camry and Solara and also in the 2002-2003 Lexus ES 300.  On March 22, 2004, Automotive News reported the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began a preliminary investigation of 37 complaints of sudden acceleration made by Toyota and Lexus car owners.  So far, there have been more than 2,000 complaints of this defect reported to the automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Although Toyota and NHTSA apparently both believed the electronic throttle in these vehicles was the most likely cause of the sudden accelerations, Toyota continued to install these suspect electronic throttles in hundreds of thousands of new automobiles. Toyota publicly placed blame on the floor mats in these defective cars.

If you or family members have been injured as the result of sudden unexplained acceleration of a Toyota car, you or they may be entitled to compensation.  Contact an attorney immediately.  It is also very important that you preserve the vehicle.  It can be very difficult to sue an automobile manufacturer if the vehicle has been destroyed or crushed.

The Fitzgerald Law Firm has handled numerous defective products cases and we have set our fees so that anyone can talk with us free of charge about a potential case against Toyota Motor Corporation.