Important Safety Recall on 86,000 GRACO Wooden Highchairs: Fall Hazard
Contact the Houston Child Injury Attorneys at Denena & Points to Report Injuries from the Recalled Graco Highchair
If your child was injured by a defective baby product, it’s important vital to report your injury at once. The U.S. CPSC takes reports of child injuries from defective products very seriously and keeps track of the data in order to issue urgent safety recalls to consumers.
At Denena & Points, our Houston child injury attorneys are very concerned about products that might cause serious or fatal injury to Texas children. As part of that effort and to help ensure that the CPSC receives reports of all serious injuries, we ask that any Houston area families whose children have suffered from the Graco highchair safety defect to contact us at once with information. You can reach us toll free at 877-307-9500 or fill out our online contact form anytime.
Details of the Graco Highchair Safety Recall:
Parents and Legal Guardians: The U.S. CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission, Health Canada, and Graco Children’s Products Inc. have announced an important safety recall on approximately 90,000 Graco Classic Wooden Highchairs.
The recall stems from the ability of the highchair seat to loosen or detach from the chair base. This safety defect poses a risk of falling and serious or fatal injury to children using the chairs.
Graco has already received 58 reports of the highchair seat loosening or detaching from the base. At least 9 children have fallen and been injured, including concussion injury, due to the highchair safety defect.
Model numbers affected by the Graco highchair safety recall are: C00BPN, 3C00BPN TC, 3C00CHY, 3C00CHY TC, 3C00CPO, and 3C00CPO TC. The recalled Graco highchairs were sold between September 2007 and December 2010 at Burlington Coat Factory, Babies R Us, other brick and mortar retailers, Walmart.com, and Target.com.
The recall notice urges consumers to stop using the product immediately and contact Graco for a free repair kit. You can contact Graco at 800-345-4109 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. M – F (Eastern Time) or www.gracobaby.com.
Sunscreen Recall: You Won’t Get Sunburn, but Might Get 3rd Degree Burn
Contact our Texas Burn Injury Attorneys right away to Report an Injury from Recalled Banana Boat UltraMist Aerosol Sunscreens
It’s important to report injuries linked to product defects right away. U.S. government agencies keep tabs on such data and use it to ensure that dangerous products get removed from the market. As part of our ongoing efforts to reduce product defect injuries and dangers, we’re urging any Texas consumers who have suffered injury from the Banana Boat UltraMist aerosol sunscreens to contact us with information. You can reach us at 877-307-9500 or fill out our convenient “Get Help Now” form online.
Maker of Banana Boat Aerosol Sunscreen Products Issues Recall after 2nd and 3rd Degree Burns Related to Product Use
The Texas burn injury attorneys at Denena & Points report that Energizer Holdings, maker of Banana Boat sunscreen, has recalled 23 varieties of its aerosol spray-on sunscreens due to a fire hazard. So far there have been 5 reports of users that sprayed on the products to avoid sunburn, but ended up with 2nd and 3rd degree burns instead when the sunscreen caught fire on their skin.
The Banana Boat company says the problem lies in a defective applicator spray valve that allows too much product to be sprayed on the skin. The sunscreen therefore does not dry as quickly as it should. And if you apply the sunscreen and come near open flame or a spark before the sunscreen is dry, the product could catch fire on your skin. In other words, you might not get sunburned; you’ll get flame-burned instead.
Many people use sunscreen before going outdoors for a bar-b-queue or cookout, so this particular applicator defect presents a real burn hazard to the unwary. The recall includes the Banana Boat sunscreen varieties: UltraMist Kids, UltraMist Sport, and UltraMist Ultra Defense. The recall affects about 500,000 million bottles of the aerosol sunscreen.
The maker of Banana Boat sunscreen advises people to stop using the recalled aerosol sunscreen immediately. You can reach the manufacturer for more information at 1-800-SAFESUN.
As a further caution, the Texas burn injury attorneys at Denena & Points note that you should not use ANY aerosol product near open flame or where a spark might come into contact with the product. Aerosols contain combustible ingredients, so you should always use them with care.
Health experts saying deadly meningitis outbreak nowhere near its end
Every day so far the total numbers increase of those infected with fungal meningitis from contaminated NECC drugs. The number of U.S. states affected by the outbreak has continued to climb, as has the death toll.
Dr. William Schaffner, infectious disease expert from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, has said on “CBS This Morning” that he expects a “steady increase” in the number of potentially deadly fungal meningitis infections over the coming weeks. (Source: Reuters, 10/16/12)
Federal authorities have indicated growing dangers in relation to the contaminated drugs from the NECC compounding pharmacy in Framingham, MA. Several days ago, the FDA expanded its recall of potentially contaminated NECC products to ALL drugs manufactured by the compounding pharmacy. The list of recalled drugs is lengthy, around 70 pages. And now federal agents have raided the NECC compounding pharmacy.
Part of the danger is the lengthy incubation period of the infection in the body before you feel symptoms of fungal meningitis. The incubation period could be a month a more, which is why health experts feel the deadly meningitis outbreak is nowhere near its end. Some patients might have received contaminated products as recently as September 28th.
The fungus causes an inflammatory reaction in the body. The contaminated drugs have mostly been injected into the spine, where the fungus has a direct route to the spinal cord and central nervous system. Meningitis is an inflammation of the lining of the brain and central nervous system that can quickly prove fatal.
Houston, Texas Drug Injury Attorneys – Always Free Legal Consultations
Call 877-307-9500 or contact us online for a FREE, no obligation drug injury legal consultation. There is no obligation to hire a lawyer. The Houston, Texas drug injury attorneys at Denena & Points are generally retained on a contingency fee basis. So there is no fee to you until our experienced, Board Certified Houston, Texas drug injury attorneys successfully recover fair compensation for you.
Patients injured by the contaminated drugs from the NECC compounding pharmacy have already begun filing lawsuits to seek fair compensation. The course of anti-fungal medications necessary to treat the infection can require months of hospitalization at great expense. If you become affected by the meningitis outbreak, you can’t afford to wait to claim the financial compensation you deserve for your needless pain and injury. Contact us today; we could help.
All about U.S. compounding pharmacy production of unique medications
The Houston pharmaceutical injury attorneys at Denena & Points remark that compounding pharmacies play a strong role in the U.S. medication market, producing roughly 10% of the medications used in patients. Often, these specialized compounding pharmacies take manufactured pharmaceutical products and re-compound them into different individualized doses. Or they add a bulk ingredient to the medication to make it more suitable for certain patients’ individual needs.
Why compund?
Compounding might occur to change the flavor of a medication, or to change it from a liquid medication to a solid pill (or vice versa). Sometimes compounding pharmacists remove an ingredient to which certain patients have allergies.
Who regulates compounding pharmacies?
Because these compounding pharmacies aren’t “manufacturers,” the U.S. FDA does not regulate their production. Our Houston pharmaceutical injury attorneys emphasize that these pharmacy companies are regulated instead by the state pharmacy boards, which don’t have the resources, manpower, budget, or knowledge to provide full oversight of these companies’ operations.
The products of a compounding pharmacy are generally made in response to prescriptions for compounded medications prepared by your physician. Back in the day, before large pharmaceutical companies mass-produced and mass-marketed medications beginning around 1950, compounding was a common activity of pharmacists. But now our Houston pharmaceutical injury attorneys understand that compounding is far less common and few pharmacists are qualified to perform the task.
When your doctor deems it necessary however, a compounding pharmacist might be asked to compound a specific medication for the reasons mentioned above or for the following needs:
- If you need a drug that has been discontinued by pharmaceutical manufacturers because it wasn’t profitable.
- If you absorb or excrete drugs in an abnormal manner.
- For bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.
- If you face a shortage of your normally prescribed drug.
- If your pet needs a special veterinary medication.
Different areas of the U.S oversee compounding pharmacies differently
The U.S. Supreme Court addressed some of the issues regarding compounding pharmacies in Thompson v. Western States Medical Center (535 U.S. 357, 2002). The Supreme Court addressed a provision of the FDAMA statute and held that it was unconstitutional to restrict advertising by compounding pharmacies.
The FDAMA statute also contained a provision mostly exempting compounding pharmacies from FDA control because they do not produce “new” drugs. Our Houston pharmaceutical injury attorneys note that this standard is similar to the FDA expedited approval process standard of substantial similarity for medical devices being introduced to the market. The Supreme Court did not rule on how broadly to interpret that provision nor on if it was severable from the advertising provision it struck from the regulation.
As such, a split now exists among the U.S. circuit courts regarding these questions. So depending on which circuit court governs your state, the strictures regarding compounding pharmacies could be quite different.
Get help if you’ve been injured by a flawed pharmaceutical product
If you or a family member have experienced pain, disability, illness, or injury because of a flawed pharmaceutical product, contact our dedicated Houston pharmaceutical injury attorneys for a free and confidential legal consultation. With more then 14 years of experience addressing the complex issues of causation, liability, and injury related to defective drugs, we could help you understand your eligibility for financial compensation for your injury.
Our sound legal counsel could help you make informed choices among your available legal options to suit the needs of yourself and your family. Call or email the Houston pharmaceutical injury attorneys at Denena & Points today for your free case evaluation consultation and get started on your road to recovery.
On the common practice of prescribing off-label medications in the U.S.
The Houston drug injury lawyers at Denena & Points realize that you might not be aware that up to about one third of the medications prescribed to patients in the United States are thought to be “off-label.” This means that patients’ physicians have prescribed the medications for uses or conditions for which the FDA has not approved the drug.
The reason for this is the broad professional discretion granted to physicians to customize their patients’ care based upon the presumed superior knowledge of the attending physician regarding the individual patient’s needs. So off-label prescription drugs is not as dangerous or frightening as it might at first appear.
Our Houston drug injury lawyers point out that off-label prescribing might address such needs as individual doses, the need to avoid allergens in certain medications, or the need for special compounding of an otherwise unavailable medication. The FDA does not regulate a physician’s prescription of off-label medications. The state medical licensing and regulatory authority oversees such activities.
The federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act says that a manufacturer cannot label, promote, or advertise a drug for uses other than those for which the medication’s safety and effectiveness have been established and for which the FDA has granted its approval. These approved uses will be listed on the drug’s label.
The FD&C Act does not similarly limit the uses for which a physician may prescribe an approved drug. Once the FDA has approved a drug for the U.S. market, individual physicians may prescribe the drug for uses, conditions, treatments, and patients for which the drug has not been officially approved and labeled.
The lack pf restriction on physician prescription of the drugs exists because the broad professional discretion granted to physicians recognizes that in some circumstances, it might be effective and rational to use a drug for a use for which it has not yet been specifically tested and approved. Our Houston drug injury lawyers emphasize that such novel uses of the drug might be extensively observed by physicians and reported in the medical literature even if they never undergo clinical trial and the FDA approval process.
In some cases, however, compounding pharmacies may seek to create “extra strength” drugs and market them widely for profit. Or physicians may over-prescribe medications like painkillers that might be subject to abuse by patients. In these instances, off-label or unapproved prescription practices could be harmful.
Learn more about what compounding pharmacies do and how their products reach the individual patient. Click here to read our Houston drug injury lawyers’ in-depth look at compounding pharmacy practice.
Why you need a drug recall lawyer if you’ve been injured by medication
Every year, the U.S. market sees additional new drugs to combat pain, illness, and conditions you sometimes have never heard of before. And some of these drugs reach the market without sufficient testing to determine whether they are safe and effective for their intended use. Indeed, prescription drugs now cause more deaths in the U.S. each year than illegal street drugs.
If you or a loved one have suffered serious injuries or side effects from a prescription medication, you should speak with a knowledgeable Houston drug injury lawyer like Chad Points or Tony Denena regarding your situation. Possible side effects and complications from defective drugs include heart attack, stroke, renal failure, liver damage, cancer, pain, and in some cases even a rare form of fungal meningitis. Attorneys like those at Denena & Points that have long-term experience with drug recall liability claims could help you establish your valid claim for compensation.
When a pharmaceutical company fails to follow proper FDA procedures for marketing a drug or when it fails to warn consumers of potential health problems or serious dangers, the company could be held accountable for your financial damages due to their product. You could receive a full financial recovery for your injuries that includes payment for your medical expenses, costs of future medical care, lost wages, decreased earnings capacity, and pain and suffering, among other things.
The experienced Houston drug injury lawyers at Denena & Points might be able to help you or your loved one if you’ve been injured by:
- Lipitor
- Transvaginal Mesh
- IVC Filters
Chad Points and Tony Denena believe that drug manufacturers and marketers should be held accountable for the harm that unsafe drugs cause to an unsuspecting public. The Houston drug injury lawyers at Denena & Points focus on the harm caused by drugs recalled by the FDA.
Fighting large drug manufacturers for your rights and the financial compensation you deserve is a major challenge. You need the negotiation and litigation experience, skill, and dedication of our Board Certified personal injury lawyers to effectively present your claim and ensure your chance to win in court. Our Houston drug injury lawyers have the in-depth knowledge of the very specific area of law involved in drug defect and drug injury cases. Chad Points and Tony Denena could help you win the full financial recovery you deserve for the needless pain and harm you have suffered from a defective drug.
You only get one good shot at winning the financial compensation you deserve for your injury. So it is critical that you hire the experienced and knowledgeable injury counsel you need to pursue swift and aggressive action against a defective drug manufacturer. The Houston drug injury lawyers at Denena & Points could put our extensive knowledge, resources, and experience to work for your benefit to achieve the most favorable case results for you and your family. So call or email us today to schedule your free case evaluation consultation.
Almost 500,000 GM vehicles recalled for dangerous transmission defect
The Houston injury lawyers at Denena & Points report that the U.S. NHTSA has just announced a recall by General Motors of more than 426,000 vehicles due to a dangerous transmission defect that could lead to your vehicle crashing without warning. The recall affects the 2008 to 2010 Chevrolet Malibu, the 2008 to 2010 Pontiac G6, and the 2007 to 2010 Saturn Aura that have 4-speed automatic transmissions. The defective component in the vehicles is the power train’s automatic transmission gear position indication.
The three 4-speed transmission makes and models of GM vehicles have tabs on the transmission shift cables that could fracture and separate. If these tabs do fracture and separate, the vehicles’ shift levers may not match with the position of the actual transmission gear. In other words, you might know what gear your vehicle is actually in.
So if you put your GM vehicle into the “park” position, remove your key, and leave the vehicle, your vehicle might decide to go for a drive while you are away (since it was never actually in the “park” gear. While your vehicle might not actually restart, since you removed the key, it very well might roll away.
So if you’re “parked” on a slight incline, the vehicle could roll away into a crash. Our Houston injury lawyers caution that the crash could seriously damage the vehicle, as well as any small children, animals, or unaware passers-by that might be in the vicinity. And you don’t want to be responsible for someone’s injury or death simply because your GM vehicle had a transmission defect.
General Motors has said that it will notify registered owners of the affected vehicles. GM dealers will install a retainer over the transmission shift cable end or replace the cable entirely if needed. These services will be performed free of charge on the recalled GM vehicles. Concerned owners can reach General Motors at 800-521-7300.
If you or a family member have been injured because of the defect in any of the recalled GM vehicles, fell free to contact the Houston injury lawyers at Denena & Points to learn about your eligibility for a full financial recovery for your needless injuries.
FDA issues SimplyThick baby product recall due to at least 7 deaths
Houston baby product recall lawyers note that the U.S. FDA has expanded a recall on a baby product called SimplyThick due to at least 22 cases of necrotizing enterocolitis in infants since May 2011. In 7 of those 22 cases, the infants died from the necrotizing condition. Necrotizing enterocolitis presents a condition in which intestinal tissue becomes inflamed and dies.
The FDA warns that the signs of necrotizing enterocolitis include:
- Greenish vomit,
- Bloody stool, and
- Bloated stomach.
SimplyThick is added to breast milk and infant formula to help babies, particularly premature infants, swallow their food without spitting it back up. The product is also added to help older children and adults who have problems swallowing due to trauma injuries to the throat.
The U.S. FDA is warning that infants face increased risks of developing the life-threatening condition of necrotizing enterocolitis if they use the SimplyThick product. You will notice that of the 22 reported cases of the necrotizing condition since May 2011, almost 33% of them died.
The U.S. agency mentions that further study will be required to definitively establish a causal link between the SimplyThick baby product and the reported illnesses and deaths. The baby product comes in individual serving packets and in 64 ounce dispenser bottles.
The Houston baby product recall lawyers urge you to seek medical attention immediately if your infant or loved one develops the systems listed above. If you or a family member suffer an injury from a defective product of any sort, don’t hesitate to contact us with questions. You can schedule a free initial consultation regarding your injury matter.
Our Houston baby product recall lawyers’ 14 years of extensive experience in all facets of the personal injury field could answer your urgent questions about what you should do, what legal options you may have, and what your potential could be for a full financial recovery for the injuries. Call or email us today to schedule your free personal consultation.
Do you have Wright Profemur hip implant complications in Texas?
Houston hip implant injury attorneys: Stryker recently recalled certain modular metal-on-metal neck and stem hip implant medical devices due to an unreasonably high rate of failure and injury. The modular metal-on-metal design resulted in deterioration like corrosion, fretting and flaking of the metal parts. The miniscule metal flakes from the corrosion and fretting can get into patient tissues and cause bone loss, toxicity, tissue damage, and death.
But our Houston hip implant injury attorneys point out that Stryker isn’t the only maker of such a dangerous and effective modular metal-on-metal hip implant medical device. The Wright Profemur metal-on-metal hip implant also employs the modular, adjustable neck and stem design. Wright Medical designed the neck and stem implant to be less invasive and also more adjustable so that, theoretically at least, surgeons would have more ability to speed recoveries and equalize leg lengths.
But the very qualities that seem to increase the flexibility of the implant for surgeons also seem to increase the risk of fractures and implant loosening over time. The bendable neck can increase the risks of implant deterioration and failure. The modular metal neck fits inside a metal stem. And the two metal parts can grind together and deteriorate through the fretting and corrosion mentioned previously.
The U.S. FDA has already received almost 17,000 reports of adverse health events stemming from metal-on-metal hip implants that include the Wright Profemur implant. Our Houston hip implant injury attorneys note that 14,000 of these reports involved revisions of loosened or failed medical devices, and almost 9,000 described pain from the hip implants.
In addition to severe pain from the modular metal-on-metal hip implants, reported problems from the Wright Profemur medical devices include: premature loosening of the devices, component fractures and breakage, physical impairment, and overall implant failure.
Like so many dangerous and defective medical devices, the Wright Profemur hip implant was approved through the expedited 501(k) FDA approval process. This means that the medical device did not receive clinical trials or testing prior to being launched onto the U.S. market and implanted in living patients like you. Just last month, Wright Medical disclosed that the U.S. Attorney’s office had issued subpoenas for documents relating to the Wright Profemur medical device.
Patients who have suffered pain and other adverse health events from the Wright Profemur modular metal-on-metal hip implants could be eligible to file civil lawsuits to claim just financial compensation for their needless injury from the defective medical devices. The titanium modular neck and stem design on the Profemur device has been linked to high risks of fracture, fatigue, and failure rates. And injured patients claim that Wright Medical failed to warn both physicians and patients of these risks. Contact the concerned and experienced Houston hip implant injury attorneys at Denena & Points for your free legal consultation to discuss options and potentials for full financial recovery.
Multi-purpose drug recalled in U.S. by Samantha Lynn over safety issues
Houston drug injury lawyers: Samantha Lynn Inc. has voluntarily recalled 500 lots of its Reumofan Plus Tablets due to a finding by the U.S. FDA of undeclared ingredients in the drug. The undeclared ingredients could cause dangerous allergic reactions in users that could lead to serious complications and even death.
The Samantha Lyn Reumofan Plus Tablets were found after FDA analysis to contain methocarbamol and diclofenac. These undeclared ingredients could lead to life-threatening hypersensitivity reactions as well as anaphylaxis. They undeclared ingredients could also lead to temporary and reversible increases in CNS depression.
The multi-purpose drug is used to prevent kidney transplant rejection and as a treatment for bone cancer, muscle pain, arthritis, osteoporosis, and other conditions. Our Houston drug injury lawyers point out that the recalled Reumofan Plus Tablets expire in 2016 and have the lot number 99515 ex096. The tablets generally come in set of 30 round lavender tablets in a green bottle and are distributed via the Internet.
If you purchased Reumofan Plus from Samantha Lynn Inc. between Feb 2012 and June
2012, you should receive an email notifying you of your options. If you purchased Reumofan Plus from elsewhere such as via the Internet, you could contact your local FDA office for information. If you possess some Reumofan Plus Tablets, you should be aware that the defective product with its undeclared ingredients might pose a serious, even fatal, health. So stop using the product immediately. Contact your physician or healthcare provider if they have any health questions.
And if you or a loved one have experienced any problems like life threatening allergic reactions that may be related to taking or using this product, contact our Houston drug injury lawyers for a free consultation regarding your injury. We could help you protect your rights in the matter and advise you regarding your important legal options for winning full financial compensation for your harm from the dangerous and defective product.