Defective & Dangerous Products

• Heparin or Over Sulfated Chondroitin Sulfate? That is the Question.

  Armand Rossetti | November 07, 2008 10:51 AM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  In its natural form, chondroitin sulfate (itself a glycosaminoglycan) is used as a natural dietary supplement for the palliation of osteoarthritis. In fact, natural chondroitin sulfate is not a...

• The Yin Yang of the Bisphenol A Controversy

  Armand Rossetti | September 17, 2008 4:29 PM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  The Yin: As the old saying goes, there are two sides to every story. Today, an article appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) raising new concerns about a unexpected...

• Big Tobacco's Lawyers Need Help

  John Hopkins | August 20, 2008 1:50 PM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  Over 8000 lawsuits and so little time. Big Tobacco's lawyers want to call in fellow Big Tobacco lawyers from other states to assist in defending the lawsuits filed by injured victims in the "Engle"...

• Pennsylvania Attorney General Tough on Joe Camel

  John Hopkins | January 10, 2008 10:02 AM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  The Daily & Sunday Review reports that Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett is one of eight attorney generals preparing to sue RJ Reynolds for violating an agreement that was part of the 1998 settlement between Big Tobacco and various states. As a part of the agreement, Big Tobacco promised not to use advertising that appealed to youth. That seems like a reasonable and moral request. Big...

• Big Tobacco Loses Again

  John Hopkins | December 12, 2007 4:01 PM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  Big Tobacco had sought a transfer of all cases currently filed in federal courts, to a Multi-District Litigation Panel that would be located in the Middle District or Southern District of the federal court system in Florida. Today the United States Multi-District Litigation Panel issued an order that denied Big Tobacco's request for transfer and ruled that the cases can be properly handled where...

• Smokers Have Until Jan. 11, 2008 to File Suit

  Courtney Mills | November 30, 2007 3:02 PM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  The deadline to file suit is getting closer for plaintiffs who suffered from illnesses related to smoking. Last year the Florida Supreme Court overturned a class action civil damage award of $145 billion spread among 700,000 decided in 2000, requiring instead that each smoker show that cigarettes caused the damages. Although the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to plaintiffs by overturning the...

• Big Tobacco May Find the Florida Climate Much Too Hot

  John Hopkins | September 20, 2007 10:23 AM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  Last year, the Florida Supreme Court appeared to have done Big Tobacco a favor iwhen it ruled that the $145 billion punitive damage verdict would have to be vacated and the "Engle Class" would have to be disbanded. Ruling that plaintiffs would have to proceed in individual trials against Big Tobacco. In fact, many on Wall Street saw it as a a huge victory for Big Tobacco. So, did Big Tobacco...

• Big Bird Weighed Down by Lead

  John Hopkins | August 02, 2007 8:43 AM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys -- including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters -- because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead. CNN reports that more than 967,000 toys have been recalled.This is a unique recall since Mattel, the parent company to Fisher Price, maintains very high quality control standards and have had only one previous recall of a...

• Its Not Just China--Castleberry Recalls 75 Brands

  John Hopkins | July 24, 2007 12:58 PM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  China was criticised for bad pet food, poisoned toothpast and tires that they forgot to glue together. But, not to be outdone, enter Castleberry Food Company. They have issued recall of 75 different products; all apparently suspected of being contaminated with botulism. Botulism contamination of canned, processed foods, in the US is extremely rare. That said, botulism can cause a severe,...

• China's Version of the FDA--Tough Place to Work

  John Hopkins | July 17, 2007 9:56 AM | 0 CommentsWest Palm Beach, FL

  China has certainly suffered its share of setbacks in the export of products to the rest of the world. They have allowed tainted toothpaste to leave their country and deadly dog & cat food to be exported. Most recently, it was discovered that Chinese tires were manufactured without including the material that binds the belts together. China's response to this event has been essentially two-fold....