Posts by Breakstone, White & Gluck
Massive Egg Recall Prompts Calls for Food Safety Overhaul
We urge government officials and farms to reconsider food safety measures after the recall of a half-billion eggs and the salmonella poisoning of over 1,300 Americans. And it is time for Congress to act on pending legislation that would strengthen the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ability to protect the public.
Earlier this month, Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa issued a voluntary recall of 380 million eggs on its five farms. Shortly thereafter, the FDA and the State of Minnesota identified Hillandale Farms in Iowa as a second source of contamination. Some 550 million eggs were recalled overall.
As the agencies investigate, many are calling for government reform on several fronts.
First, there is the problem of government oversight. The FDA has authority over shelled eggs sold in the grocery store. Yet the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has jurisdiction over chickens and any eggs cracked before shipping. Individual states also have inspection power of farms.
These agencies may have contradicting priorities and problems with coordination. In the case of Wright County Egg, the agencies lacked any knowledge of the others’ work.
A CBS News report shows state inspectors visited one of Wright County Egg’s sites in April, without reporting on 27 key inspection points, including questions about on-site birds, insects and rodents.
The report explains the state inspector saw no need because the farm was assigned a full-time USDA inspector. But the USDA claims its inspector was only responsible for measuring eggs and finding cracked shells.
“When you have multiple agencies in charge of a single issue, sometimes no one’s in charge,” Caroline Smith Dewall, Director of Food Safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told CBS News. Click here to watch the CBS News video.
Another troubling point CBS News uncovered was the frequency of inspections. Shockingly, records obtained by the news outlet show the FDA has not inspected 56 percent of the nation’s food production facilities and farms in the past five years.
Consumers deserve better protection. The legislation that would address these issues is stalled in Congress. The legislation would increase the frequency of inspections and provide the FDA greater authority over food production sites.
The House passed a bill, but it has remained stalled in the Senate despite widespread, bipartisan support. The bill is essential so the Obama administration can continue to revise food safety regulations, including regulations that would improve the safety of egg production.
The Boston personal injury lawyers at Breakstone, White & Gluck support this legislation and encourage you to contact your United States Senator to urge the bill’s passage.
U.S. Senator Scott Brown
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4543
U.S. Senator John Kerry
218 Russell Bldg.
Second Floor
Washington D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2742
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Keeping Kids Safe from Motor Vehicles in Warm Weather
For young children, summer is about warm weather, splashing around the pool and family daytrips. These activities often involve a motor vehicle and that, combined with a change in routine during which people may drop their guard, may present dangers. The key is for parents to educate themselves about potential motor vehicle accidents, then actively pay attention.
Hyperthermia and Heat Stroke
With many things on their minds, parents can quickly forget a child who is usually in school is in the backseat. Parents need to be extra careful in the summer not to leave children in the car unattended and should also avoid it in the cooler months.
If the outside temperature is 80 degrees, the temperature inside a vehicle can reach the 100 degree mark within minutes. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration advises that even temperatures in the 60s can rise beyond 100 inside your closed-up car. Children’s bodies overheat much faster than adults and leaving the window open a small amount may not be enough.
Avoid leaving your child in the car unattended by placing your purse or briefcase in the backseat with your child. Also try writing yourself a note and placing it where you will see it when exiting the vehicle. At home, keep your keys out of your child’s reach.
Power Windows
Most new cars are built with power windows, a feature great for convenience but potentially dangerous for children.
Implementing strong rules protects your children. Never allow your children to be alone in your vehicle. Teach children not to play with automobile window switches. For your part, never leave the keys in the ignition when you are not there. Before purchasing, investigate vehicles with safeguards, such as power windows that automatically go down when a child’s arm gets in the way.
Motor Vehicle Backovers
Adults pulling vehicles out of driveways always need to watch for young children. But the need is greatest in the warm weather when children spend more time outdoors.
Parents and drivers must both work to keep children safe. If you are a parent, keep a close eye on your children. Teach them not to play around cars and to move away when a driver enters a vehicle to avoid a motor vehicle accident. Teach children not to leave their toys in the driveway. Drivers can back out of their driveways slowly and ask children to stand on the sidewalk.
Trunk Accidents
Children love to play and that sometimes leads them to the danger of a vehicle trunk. Because this can be deadly, parents must watch youngsters closely and teach children trunks are for cargo, not for playing.
Always lock car doors and trunks and keep keys out of sight. Keep the rear fold-down seats closed or locked to prevent your children from climbing.
Lastly, explain the dangers of playing in the trunk and show young children how to use the “glow in the dark” trunk release in case of emergency. Auto manufacturers have been required to install these releases in new vehicles since September 2001. If you have an older car, ask your local car dealer about retrofitting your vehicle with the release.
For more tips on children and motor vehicle safety, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.
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Honda Recalls 384,000 Vehicles for Faulty Ignition Interlocks
Honda has recalled 384,000 vehicles for faulty ignition interlocks that allow drivers to shut off the engine and remove their keys before placing the vehicle into park.
The motor vehicle recall follows at least 28 complaints, 10 of which allege rollaway motor vehicle crashes. In one case, a female owner said she was almost into her house when she noticed her car rolling out of the garage. The car crashed into a cable box at the end of the driveway. In another case, an owner stated the vehicle rolled out of a driveway and crashed into a tree across the street.
One complaint involved a minor injury, Honda said in a statement.
The product recall announced last week involves 197,000 Accords and 117,000 Civics from 2003 and 69,000 Honda Elements from 2003-2004.
Honda has recalled vehicles for similar problems in 2003 and 2005. In those cases, the recalls involved Accords, Odysseys, Acuras and Preludes.
If your vehicle is involved in the Honda recall, you can visit the company’s recall website at www.recalls.honda.com or call its recall center at 800-999-1009, option 4. By calling the recall center, you can determine if your vehicle is actually impacted by the recall. Due to a production change during the model years, Honda said some of the vehicles may not have the ignition problem.
Honda expects to mail recall notices in late September and start the process of repairing vehicles. Motor vehicle repairs will be free.
Until then, concerned drivers may contact their local dealer, but Honda said they have not received replacement parts yet.
To read a Christian Science Monitor article about the recall, click here.
To read the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration alert on the recall, click here.
To read Honda’s statement on the recall, click here.
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Shedding an Important Light on Pool Safety
A recent Boston Globe editorial sheds an important light on how to prevent pool drownings.
The editorial points out that many states already have strong pool safety laws. For example, Massachusetts and nine other states have laws requiring fencing around pools. Safety groups also recommend pool gates be self-closing, self-latching and equipped with an alarm. Angelo Puppolo Jr., a state representative from Springfield, has further proposed mandating motion-detecting pool alarms and other safety measures.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission calls these steps, “layers of protection” and it’s an important concept to think about incorporating into your backyard pool – regardless of whether you have children.
The Boston Globe editorial, however, points out pool safety goes beyond the “layers of protection” strategy. Here’s a startling statistic shared in the editorial: nine out of 10 children who drown are being supervised by a parent or caregiver at the time.
This means we need to rethink how we supervise children in the pool. Listening while a child plays in the pool may not be enough. Drowning children are struggling to breathe, unable to call for help. Rather than splash, children will sink to the bottom of the pool.
When with a group of adults, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends designating someone the “pool watcher.” But with more than one child, the more eyes the better.
Read the Boston Globe editorial, “Pool Safety: Eyes on Kids at All Times,” Aug. 4, 2010
Read another Boston Globe article, “Drownings Put Focus on Pool Safety,” Aug. 7, 2010
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Massachusetts Social Host Law Holds Property Owners Accountable for Underage Drinking
The Massachusetts social host law was back in the media this weekend when a mother and son were arrested following a large underage drinking party at their Cohasset home.
Police found 30 people at the Deep Run Road gathering. The mother was charged with furnishing alcohol to minors under the social host law, keeping a disorderly house and disturbing the peace. Her 18-year-old son was charged with furnishing alcohol to minors and being a minor in possession of alcohol.
The Massachusetts social host law was passed in 2000 after the 1996 death of a Marshfield teen. The teen had been drinking at a Cohasset graduation party and left with a blood alcohol limit of .19, crashing his car.
In that case, the homeowner was at the party but acquitted of providing alcohol to a minor. This was in part because underage guests helped themselves to unsupervised alcohol and were not offered drinks.
The social host law now holds Massachusetts homeowners and their teenagers more accountable. It is against the law to serve minors alcohol and allow them to consume it on any premises you control. The penalty is a fine up to $2,000, imprisonment for a year or both.
A person charged under the law can expect to face a civil lawsuit as well. If an underage guest leaves a party and causes a motor vehicle accident involving personal injury or death, both the underage guest and the party host may be liable.
When two or more parties are found civilly liable, any one of them may be required to pay the full judgment if the other party or parties cannot afford to pay.
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Massachusetts Legal Standard for Slip and Falls on Snow Changes
The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) of Massachusetts today changed the rules in slip and fall cases involving snow and ice.
The Massachusetts high court eliminated the distinction between natural and unnatural accumulations of snow and ice, replacing it with the standard rule of reasonable care for all property owners.
The change came in a case involving a Peabody resident who fell on ice in the parking lot of the Target department store at the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers. The trial court determined the ice was a natural accumulation and found for Target and the landscaping company. The personal injury case was affirmed by the Appeals Court. The SJC took the matter on further appellate review and invited briefs on whether the time had come to reconsider the long-standing doctrine concerning unnatural versus natural accumulations of snow.
The court found for the plaintiff and eliminated the distinction in Papadopoulos v. Target Corporation, SJC-10529 (July 26, 2010). For additional analysis of the case, read our Lawyer Alert! The full text of the decision can be found by clicking here.
Breakstone, White & Gluck is a Boston personal injury law firm specializing in complex injury cases such as slip and falls, medical malpractice and premises liability. If you are a Massachusetts attorney, we invite you to read our legal analysis and provide us your feedback. If you are a member of the public seeking assistance with a personal injury case, we can be reached at (617) 723-7676.
Be Safe in Massachusetts Pools This Summer
The warm weather is here and that means many Massachusetts residents can be found poolside. The pool is a fun spot for all ages, but it also poses safety risks. These risks can be reduced by the use of good judgment and common sense.
We want you and your loved ones to be safe. Sadly, each year, more than 300 children under 5 years old drown in residential swimming pools – often pools belonging to their own family. More than 2,000 children the same age are treated in hospital emergency rooms for pool-related injuries.
Here are common sense safety tips to help keep your family safe around the swimming pool:
- Learn CPR and make sure babysitters and older siblings have CPR training.
- Do not allow children to swim without supervision, even if they have attended swimming lessons.
- If a child is missing, check the pool first. Seconds count in preventing death or disability.
- Install a fence or barrier around your pool. The fence should be at least 4 feet high and have a self-closing, self-latching gate.
- If the fence is chain link, then no part of the diamond-shaped opening should be larger than 1-3/4 inches.
- Install a pool alarm to alert an adult when someone enters the pool area unauthorized. A key pad switch alarm allows adults to pass through without setting off the alarm.
- Keep rescue equipment and a phone with emergency numbers by the pool.
- If there are multiple adults at the pool, designate one person the pool-watcher to avoid distractions.
- Ladders leading from the pool to the ground or to a pool deck should be locked or removed when the pool is out of use.
- Remove toys that may attract children from in and around the pool when they are not in use.
Massachusetts Lawyer Alert: A SJC Ruling on Admissibility of Medical Expenses
An important Supreme Judicial Court decision this week affirmed the statutory right for admitting medical bills in Massachusetts courts, but opened the door for rebuttal.
In Law v. Griffith, SJC-10463 (July 20, 2010), Massachusetts’ highest court ruled on a Middlesex Superior Court case involving G.L. c. 233, Sec. 79G. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed an earlier opinion of the Appeals Court, reversed a Superior Court judge and ordered a new trial in a case where the judge improperly restricted evidence of medical expenses.
The high court’s decision provides a window for attorneys to ask judges to tender jury instructions on medical liens.
Read the case and analysis from Breakstone, White & Gluck here.
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Product Safety Recall: Baby Tents Pose Strangulation Risk
Just weeks after a massive children’s crib recall, a portable playard tent linked to a young boy’s fatal strangulation has been pulled for safety.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada, in cooperation with Tots in Mind Inc. of Salem, New Hampshire, has announced the voluntary recall of 20,000 Cozy Indoor Outdoor Portable Playard Tents Plus Cabana Kits. An additional 85 tents were recalled in Canada.
The tent is a white dome-shaped covering designed to fit over playards that contain a child. In December 2008, a two-year-old boy from Vinalhaven, Maine died when he climbed out of the playard. He was found hanging with his neck entrapped between the playard frame and the metal base rod of the tent. In this case, the tent had been tied to the playard with pieces of nylon rope and partially attached with the tent’s clips because the child knew how to remove the clips.
In three other incidents, children removed the clips on the tent and were able to place their necks between the tent and the playard. The children were not injured.
The unsafe cribs were made in China and sold at Walmart, Amazon and various baby stores from January 2005 to February 2010.
Consumers should immediately stop using the playard tents. They can contact Tots in Mind to get free replacement clips. Replacement clips will be available in late August or early September.
This is the second major product safety recall affecting parents and children in recent weeks. In June, the CPSC recalled two million cribs because of an unsafe drop-side rail, which created a gap where a baby’s head could become trapped. Government officials say this could lead to suffocation or strangulation.
The companies involved in the recall include Evenflow, Delta Enterprises Corp., Child Craft, Jardine Enterprises, LaJobi, Million Dollar Baby and Simmons Juvenile Products Inc.
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Massachusetts Law Bans Highly-Flammable Floor Sealer
Massachusetts has banned the commercial use and sale of lacquer sealer, a highly flammable wood floor finishing product linked to deadly home fires.
Gov. Deval Patrick signed the safety bill into law this week. The bill had strong support from MassCOSH (the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health), which convened a Floor Finishing Safety Task Force to investigate the problem.
The task force was convened after a 2004 house fire in Somerville claimed the lives of two Vietnamese floor sanders and burned their co-workers. Shortly after, a Vietnamese flooring contractor died in a Hull house fire. Both fires involved the use of lacquer sealer used in floor finishing.
“This groundbreaking law will save lives and end floor finishing fires that have caused so much pain and destruction,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, executive director of MassCOSH. “We owe a great deal of thanks to the Governor and Legislature for recognizing these grave dangers and taking action to protect workers and residents.”
Following the three fatal fires, the Floor Finishing Safety Task Force issued a 2005 report stating Boston had seen 25 fires involving lacquer sealer over the 10 previous years and Needham had seen two in the prior year that threatened worker safety.
In the 2005 report, the task force recommended the state promote use of non-flammable water-based finishers to protect Massachusetts worker safety and prevent worker deaths.
The task force observed the problem of flammable lacquer sealer was targeting Massachusetts’ Vietnamese community, which has a large concentration of workers in the floor finishing industry.
The bill proposing the ban was jointly filed by state Rep. Martin Walsh and Sen. Patricia Jehlen.
Breakstone, White & Gluck of Boston is a supporter of MassCOSH and its work to protect Massachusetts construction workers and other employees.
To learn more, visit the MassCOSH website.
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