American staple creates widespread danger

The famous Keebler elves are probably in shock. Their cookies are on a list of 3,222 products
recalled by the federal government since January because they were made with peanut butter paste tainted with Salmonella Typhimurium. It came from a plant in Georgia – Peanut Corporation of America – that has since declared bankruptcy. Questions about products should be directed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since the company no longer takes calls from consumers. The FDA has created a special web page where the public can research products by brand name, UPC Code and product description or any combination of the three. The government agency plans continuous updates to the site. As of March 9, 2009, its list included hundreds of America’s favorite foods, including ice cream, candy, cookies, brownies, cakes, pies and donuts. If any of these products have made you sick, you may be eligible for legal action against the manufacturer of the peanut butter paste.

Accident animation reveals details of American disasters

“Seeing is believing,” the old saying goes. While statistics can make believers out of some doubters, there is nothing like watching an accident happen. In this case, the deadly force of an 18-wheeler. When there’s a fatal accident with a truck, more often than not, the dead are found in the other vehicle. An animation by the National Transportation Safety Board on http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/animations.htm demonstrates the deadly force of a truck in an accident that left three school bus passengers dead and seriously injured two others. The truck weighed more than 79,000 pounds. It slammed into the side of the bus when its brakes failed. The NTSB said the poor condition of the truck’s brakes and inadequate truck inspections were the cause of the 2001 Arkansas accident. But the safety lesson for all drivers is clear: Don’t drive in or around 18- wheelers on the highway if you can avoid it. And watch side roads for truck traffic. There’s no room for mistakes. Note: The National Transportation Safety Board website also has scores of animations that recreate plane crashes, collapsing bridges and other accidents that have made national headlines, including the crash of a light plane into a Manhattan skyscraper in 2006 and the a Southwest Airlines plane that overran the runway in Chicago in 2007.

Major victory for victims from U.S. Supreme Court

In fact, it’s the biggest in years! It means that people hurt by bad drugs can sue drug manufacturers in state court even if labels on the drugs include a federal warning about their potential danger under some circumstances. You might be tempted to say “So what?” But if the ruling had gone the other way - that is, for the drug company involved - millions of Americans would have no right to sue drug companies that hurt them or their loved ones when federal warnings on their drugs are inadequate. Jim Adler, an attorney with 30 years experience in personal injury law, says that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration - the federal agency charged with making sure drugs are safe - is “underfunded and understaffed…” setting up the situation where “…drugs are being tested on the American public.” How did the question end up before the court? A Vermont musician was injected with a drug to relieve migraine headaches even though the warning label said the type of injection she received might cause gangrene. A large portion of her right arm was amputated after the worst happened. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, she can keep the $6 million awarded to her by a Vermont state court.

www.elmartillotejano.com

Ahora, Hispanos pueden ver safety videos en Espanol. The new voice of the website is the extremely popular former KTRK Channel 13 anchor, Minerva Perez. The videos have extremely important information for keeping family members safe. They include stories about a medical device that can permanently cripple you, how to protect yourself from drivers without insurance who can push you into bankruptcy, how the ATV can cripple or kill you and the dangers of texting while driving. New videos will be added weekly. They are meant to improve lives by warning against dangerous situations, bad drugs and products that are harmful. Tune into Minerva’s new show “Latina voices” on KUHT, Channel 8, Houston PBS for lively discussions with three Latina professionals, attorney Sophia Androgue, Emmy Award-winning Channel 8 producer, Patricia Gras and Minerva. And……if you have something you want to blog about that is affecting the Hispanic community, send us 300 to 500 words about it. Your comments could be chosen for posting on the site. We welcome submissions from children as well!

ATV accident deaths alarming authorities

The statistics are shocking. In 2006, 555 people lost their lives on these recreational vehicles. More than 100 were children. Manufacturers say ATVS are safe. But the growing number of deaths has authorities worried. Read the story: on MSNBC

Forewarned is forearmed: Quick clicks that protect you

A quick click here will update you on the latest recalled peanut products and keep you updated. It takes you to the Food and Drug Administration’s “peanut page.” That page and all of its links will serve you in good stead as you try to avoid the salmonella outbreak that’s killed 9 people in the United States at last count and sickened hundreds of others who ate products made from peanuts. A daily check could keep you out of the doctor’s office if not the hospital while the FBI, congressional hearings and other federal agencies try to get to the bottom of salmonella poisoning that apparently could have been avoided.

And a quick click on the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall list for dangerous household items is definitely worth the trip to avoid 12 items with serious defects. The list includes clamps for halogen lamps from Staples, explosive aromatherapy kits, lead contaminated necklaces, recliners that tip over backwards and Cost Plus and World Market Stores blinds that can strangle children. Other common household items on the list may surprise you, including defective products that can burn your house down.

ARE YOUR GRANDPARENTS DANGEROUS?

In 2003, USA TODAY carried a story about an 86-year-old driver who killed 10 people when his car veered into a crowded farmer’s market in Santa Monica, CA. In 2004, the Chicago Sun Times ran a story about an elderly driver whose car plowed into a Chicago Subway sandwich shop killing one patron and injuring two others. In 2005, FOX NEWS reported that a 93-year-old driver in Florida hit a pedestrian and kept on driving with the victim stuck on his windshield.

Authorities fear these stories will become commonplace as more Baby Boomers - 79 million people born between 1946 and 1964 – reach age 65 and their physical abilities begin to decline. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety warns that by 2025, “people aged 65 and older will account for 25 percent of U.S. drivers…” It says state licensing systems are ill prepared to weed out unfit drivers. Continue reading »

ARE YOUR KIDS DANGEROUS?

Yes, they are…if they talk on a cell phone, even a hands-free phone, while they are driving. New research debunks the idea that talking on a “hands-free” phone while driving a car is safe. In a breakthrough brain imaging study last spring, scientists at the Carnegie Mellon Institute showed for the first time “that listening alone reduces by 37 percent the amount of brain activity associated with driving. This can cause drivers to weave out of their lane, based on the performance of subjects using a driving simulator.”

Teen drivers (and others) often head down the road with a host of distractions diverting their attention from driving: music, listening to the radio, texting, eating, talking to passengers. But scientists at the prestigious engineering college in Pittsburg think that cell phones “may be especially distracting” because of the social demands they impose, like not ignoring the party on the other end in heavy traffic. Continue reading »

SCAMS AFTER AN ACCIDENT COULD COST YOU

Beware of people who show up after a car accident saying they represent lawyers and medical clinics. These predators not only are breaking the law but their greed could keep you from getting good medical care and expert legal representation.

Attorney Mitch Ginsburg knows their scams by heart since these con artists have been operating in San Antonio, where he heads a Jim Adler office. Ginsburg says the most common scam involves a “solicitor” who contacts the person involved in the accident saying he’s from an insurance company, a doctor’s office or the police. He then directs the injured person to a specific clinic using several ploys: “We will pay (insurance) or “I recommend this doctor” or “We will file your claim for you.” When the victim goes to the clinic, he or she is ushered into a room where a representative persuades them to hire a specific lawyer. After that, Ginsburg says, the victim almost always has trouble getting in touch with the lawyer and the doctor is usually affiliated with a clinic that provides substandard care and is under investigation by the insurance industry. These scams are apparently on the rise elsewhere. Continue reading »

DEVASTATING HELICOPTER CRASH HIGHLIGHTS VICTIMS’ RIGHTS

Believe it or not, a law governing rights of sailors to recover damages if they’re hurt could come into play if relatives of six offshore oil rig workers killed in a helicopter crash Jan. 4 can file suit against the company that owned the copter. The deadly crash happened about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans. The off-shore oil rig workers who lost their lives may be protected under The Jones Act, a federal law that says an injured worker only has to show that “employer negligence played any part, even in the slightest, in producing the injury…” Offshore oil workers may recover damages if they are hurt in accidents traveling from one company location to another. Continue reading »