The trouble with recalls

It’s simple: Not everybody hears about recalled products even when they get a lot of publicity. So it’s worth bringing up two recent recalls because you and your children need protection from products that can kill babies or – and this isn’t much of a stretch – burn the house down. We’re talking about cribs and laptops, believe it or not.

• The Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than one and a half million Delta Enterprise Drop Side Cribs in October after they “trapped and suffocated” two eight month-old babies. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the cribs have two lethal defects: missing safety pegs and spring peg failure.
• One hundred thousand Sony laptop batteries were recalled in October after 40 incidents of overheating.  Users reported smoke and flames. Twenty-one cases involved damage to property. Minor burns were involved in other instances. Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Dell are involved in the recall. In 2006, Sony recalled almost 10 million laptop batteries for fear they could catch fire.

Does a plastic bottle cause heart disease and diabetes?

Recent scientific studies indicate that bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used in plastic baby bottles and packaging for food and beverages, may be linked to possible risks for heart disease and diabetes. So far the Food and Drug Administration does not agree that BPA is a threat in the food containers and medical devices which it regulates. But two scientists believe such a damaging link exists. As yet, studies on BPA appear to be suggestive but not conclusive.  Until BPA is proven to be safe, there’s not much anyone can do to limit exposure. According to Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany in New York, virtually everyone is exposed to BPA via a wide range of plastic products.

“The problem in our society is that we are all exposed to this mixture of chemicals, and which ones are responsible for disease is difficult to determine,” he says. Besides plastic baby bottles, BPA can be found in CDs, sunglasses, canned goods and water bottles. An FDA advisory panel has been meeting on the issue to assess the latest data. We’ll try to keep you posted on the results.

FDA slams Botox scammers after beauty seekers are temporarily paralyzed

Beauty knows no pain,” the old saying goes. But it does have a price. Illegal Botox scammers are paying with fines and prison sentences. Victims are paying with facial paralysis. What the beauty-seekers hoped would eliminate forehead wrinkles put some in the hospital. Botox is made from the toxin of a bacterium that causes botulism, a severe form of food poisoning. The scammers knowingly used a cheaper version of it that is not approved by the FDA. Twenty-nine people, including several doctors, were convicted of knowingly injecting the unapproved Botox into nearly 1,000 victims. The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) handled the case after four victims were hospitalized. There were no deaths and the paralysis was temporary. But the OCI uncovered instances of illegal Botox use across the United States, resulting in 68 arrests. Botox Cosmetic is the only FDA approved version of Botox. It is made from highly purified botulinum toxin. Small amounts of it injected between the eyes, affect the muscles ability to contract, smoothing out facial wrinkles for several months.

AIR MATTRESSES SUFFOCATE INFANTS:

The Consumer Products Safety Commission warns against putting infants on younger than 8 months of air mattresses, or other soft surfaces (water beds or adult beds). The agency reports that 11 infants suffocated in a face down position. Five others died when they slipped between mattresses and bed frames or adjacent furniture or the wall.

ATVs POSE DEADLY RISK TO RIDERS

KYMCO USA says riders of its 2006-2008 Model Year MXU 500 ATVs risk death or injury because pivot bolts holding the rear suspension onto the frame can become loose, causing the rear swing arm to detach from the chassis. The Spartanburg , South Carolina company is voluntarily recalling 1,350 of the models.