Testimony in First Portion of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trial Concludes This Week

On Wednesday, April 25, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier finished hearing testimony for the first part of a trial intended to determine who is guilty for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This portion of the trial spanned eight weeks and was not heard by a jury, and its purpose is to figure out what caused the blowout and whether BP, the well owner, acted with gross negligence. While “negligence” is a failure to exercise caution that would normally be expected of a reasonable person, a finding of “gross negligence” would mean that BP’s actions [...]

Common Pharmacy Errors

Pharmacy errors occur when the wrong medication is given to a patient at the pharmacy. These mistakes are more common when there is more pressure on pharmacy personnel such as long lines at the counter or lack of staff on duty. Pharmacy errors can lead to serious harm when pharmacists fail to ask each patient the right questions. To protect yourself from the serious consequences of pharmacy errors, it is important to know how to detect them. Here are some of the most common types of pharmacy errors: Wrong Medication or Dosage The patient is given the wrong medication or [...]

New Technology Helps Keep Teenage Drivers Safe

Many parents fear the day that their teenager starts driving. With car accidents being the biggest cause of teen deaths, it is no wonder that many parents are nervous about their teenagers driving. Some additional factors that lead to a high rate of road deaths for teenagers are a lack of seat-belt use, drunk driving and distractions. Some car manufacturers are offering new technology that will allow parents to have a level of control over the driving of their teenager. Four of the systems that are being introduced are the MyKey from Ford, the BlueLink from Hyundai, the mbrace2 from [...]

Distracted Driving

Driving requires your full attention but there are many distractions. You have to learn that in order to be safe you have to be focused. For teenagers and parents alike, it is wise to view the list of state cell phone and driving laws at the Governors’ Highway Safety Association website. As of April 2013, at least 10 states have laws that prevent using a hand-held cell phone while driving and at least 36 states have laws that ban novice drivers from all cell phone use while driving. Texting while driving is currently banned in 39 states. The average time [...]

Controversial Dietary Supplement Ingredient Removed from Products

Following an April 2012 decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the dietary supplement ingredient known as DMAA has been removed from all dietary supplements manufactured in the U.S. The last of 10 manufacturers found to be using the ingredient in its dietary supplements as a workout booster, USPlabs informed its customers DMAA had been removed from its products on April 16, 2013. USPlabs had been under pressure to remove the ingredient after 86 illnesses, including at least five deaths, had been reported to the FDA and linked with DMAA use since 2008, according to the New York [...]

Riddell Guilty of Failure to Warn Football Player about Concussion Dangers

A lawsuit brought on behalf of a Colorado high school football player injured during a 2008 practice has resulted in a jury award of $3.1 million against helmet manufacturer Riddell. While the jury rejected the plaintiff’s claim that the helmet was defective, it held Riddell responsible for “failure to warn” of potential dangers associated with its use. The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment sets the safety standards that most helmet manufacturers use. However, critics have argued that because NOCSAE is funded largely by industry-supported organizations, inherent conflicts of interest create a situation akin to “the fox watching [...]

Recall of ShapeMatch Cutting Guides Announced

Companies might issue a recall of a product for a wide variety of reasons. The product could be defective, there could be an unforeseen consequence of using it or in some cases, the product could have been manufactured under the wrong set of requirements, which means it has to be redesigned to fit government guidelines. That is what happened with the ShapeMatch Cutting Guide, a product designed by the Orthopedic branch of the Stryker Corporation. Improper Design Leads to Voluntary Recall When Stryker designed the ShapeMatch Cutting Guide, a product that is used to mark the bone of a patient [...]

Common Medication Errors

Unfortunately, medication errors are an all-too common occurrence. Medication errors can be dangerous to the human body, where overdoses can cause adverse reactions in patients, such as allergies and even death. Human error and mis-communication, or lack of communication, between physicians and patients are the main reasons that medication errors occur. Medication errors are a very serious matter, but many of these errors can be easily prevented by properly reading labels and taking the time to learn a patient’s medical history. Misinterpreted Abbreviations Misinterpreting abbreviations is so frequent that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration created a reference list of [...]

Implementing the FSMA Just Became More Interesting for the FDA

Ever since the Food Safety Modernization Act was enacted two years ago, there has been quite a bit of interest on the part of food safety organizations regarding how the FDA would react in terms of implementing the new law. Consumer-driven food safety organizations that remain watchful have gone so far as to file suit against the FDA for missing its deadlines. In all, thus far, seven deadlines have been missed since the law was implemented. In the end, it looks like the FDA perspective is set to win the day. After the bill became law, the agency was somewhat [...]

Insulin Infusion Pump from Animas Recalled Due to False Alarm

There has been a Class I Recall on the Animas 2020 Insulin Infusion Pump. These machines are manufactured to pump insulin directly into a person’s bloodstream. They are used by people who have insulin issues related to a diagnosis of diabetes. This recall was listed during the first week of April and was issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The pumps manufactured from March 1 to November 30 of last year (2012) are the ones that have their functionality in question. According to FDA safety information, a component of the machine could possibly sound a false alarm. The [...]