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3
Mar

NYTimes touts need for product safety law

In an editorial titled “How Quickly They Forget,” the New York Times (2/24, A26) questions efforts to undo safety regulations regarding children’s products. The Times notes the House’s decision to slash funding from a product-safety reporting website, a result of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. House Republicans are also railing against requirements for third-party testing of children’s products for lead. The Times calls the business community’s arguments about litigation and costs associated with testing “predictable,” countering that the costs “must be set against the enormous costs incurred by families and society when a child is poisoned or hurt by a dangerous toy. Exposing older children to such risks should also be unacceptable.” Citing the 2007 recall of “of millions of hazardous children’s products imported from China,” the Times asks, “Why would anyone want to make that same mistake again?”

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3
Mar

Pompeo provision would derail product safety database

The Washington Post (2/28, Layton) reports, “The first-ever government database of product safety complaints, which is scheduled to go public in two weeks, could be scrapped as a result of a budget amendment offered by a freshman member of the House,” Rep. Mike Pompeo. Pompeo, a Republican, “won support for a measure to withhold money to implement the system, which is set to launch March 11.” The Post adds that the lawmaker, “backed by groups representing manufacturers,” said “the database would be filled with fictitious or inaccurate claims and place new financial burdens on US businesses.”
We posted recently about the plans to create the database, which would provide consumers with access to information on thousands of complaints the CPSC receives each year. We support the creation of the database and hope that Congress will restore the funding.

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1
Mar

Hospital Infections Cause Thousands of Re-admissions

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (2/25, Fabregas) reported, “Hospital-acquired germs may have contributed to several thousand rehospitalizations in Pennsylvania,” according to a review by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. The group found that “23,287 people got hospital-acquired infections in 2009, or 1.2 percent of the 1.9 million patients admitted to hospitals statewide. Nearly 30 percent of patients who picked up an infection wound up back in the hospital for the infection or a complication within 30 days of their release.” By comparison, “6.2 percent of patients without an infection were readmitted.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 1.7 million hospital-associated infections, from all types of microorganisms, including bacteria, combined, cause or contribute to 99,000 deaths each year.

Of course, you want to be treated in a hospital that is committed to infection prevention. According to a report from the Pennsylvania Healthcare Quality Alliance Pennsylvania, it appears that infections are down. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re totally safe.

You want to know the hospital’s infection record. Penn PIRG publishes a report detailing the safety records of hospitals across the state That can help you. You can also take precautions when in the hospital to keep yourself safe. The best thing you can do is to request that health professionals wash their hands before examining you. If anyone takes exception to your request, don’t let them touch you!

If a hospital’s negligence has resulted in your getting an infection, then you should talk with the medical malpractice lawyers at Lundy Law by calling 1-866-281-8612.

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25
Feb

Supreme Court ruling protects vaccine makers from lawsuits

Major national and regional print media including the Los Angeles Times, the AP, USA Today, and the Washington Post widely covered the Supreme Court ruling in a case which sought to hold a drug maker liable for the side effects of a childhood vaccine. Most sources considered the Court’s decision a victory for vaccine makers.

By a 6-2 vote, the court ruled against the parents of a child who sued the drug maker Wyeth in Pennsylvania state court for the health problems they say their daughter, now 19, suffered from a vaccine she received in infancy.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, which along with the US government had urged the court to bar such lawsuits, said the decision will enhance the national immunization system and ensure “that vaccines will continue to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in this country.”

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25
Feb

Justice Department Wants Tobacco Companies to Admit Wrongdoing

To all of our readers, this is a story worth following.

The AP (2/24) reports, “The Justice Department disclosed Wednesday it wants to require the tobacco industry to admit publicly that smoking causes a multitude of medical problems, killing 1,200 Americans every day.” The department has “proposed that a federal judge order the companies to say in advertisements that they lied to the public about the safety and dangers of smoking.” Industry heavyweight Altria Group and its Philip Morris subsidiary “said the proposed statements go beyond factual and scientific information and that the Justice Department would compel the tobacco companies to admit wrongdoing under threat of contempt of court.” Specifically, Phillip Morris “said the Justice Department proposal would violate a court of appeals decision which held that any corrective statements must be purely factual and uncontroversial.”

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