May 31, 2010

Calls for Warning Labels on Foods Get Louder

food.jpgIt is a well-known fact that children are just as much at risk from choking on pieces of food, as on toys. Earlier this year, a study confirmed that 60% of children below the age of four, who had to be rushed to hospital emergency rooms after a choking incident, had choked on food, and not toys.

In spite of this, there are few or no restrictions on the kind of foods that you can allow a three or four-year-old child to have. In contrast, there are a number of barriers between a child and a small toy, or a toy with detachable parts. This is in spite of the fact that many of the small toys that are believed to be a choking hazard, like small balls, are shaped and sized exactly like foods that can cause serious harm to a child, like gumdrops.

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February 4, 2010

Indianapolis Radiation Therapies Offer Hope, But Also Present Risk of Injuries

radiation.jpgNew radiation technologies are offering patients more focused and precise treatment, but as a series of investigative reports in the New York Times shows, lack of safeguards, software flaws, faulty programming, poor safety procedures or inadequate staffing and training are causing these technologies to harm the very patients they are meant to treat.

The New York Times profiles a series of radiation errors involving new, more advanced and highly sophisticated machines capable of delivering a treatment called Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). The errors have included overdoses caused by poorly configured systems, radiation that misses all or part of the target or is focused on the wrong part of the body and other errors. With these increasingly sophisticated radiation tools, you would think that the margin for errors would be virtually nil. In fact, as the NYT reports, the complexity of the machines that deliver the radiation, combined with the failure of hospitals to implement processes that catch errors in time and poorly trained staff, have all helped create a “crisis” situation.

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December 24, 2009

Indiana Children at Risk of Strangulation from Defective Roll Up Blinds, Roman Shades

blinds.jpgThanks to relentless efforts by consumer safety groups and product liability attorneys in Indiana and around the country, there are stricter safety standards in place for children’s products. However, it is important for parents and caregivers to know that their children may also be at danger from other consumer products in the home. Last week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of up to 50 million rollup blinds and window shades, after a series of strangulation deaths involving little children.

The CPSC has confirmed eight reports of deaths in which children were strangulated by the blind and shade cords since 2001. It has also received reports of at least 16 incidents in which children wrapped the cord around themselves but were rescued in time. This recall is believed to be the second largest American product recall, and the latest in a series of recalls of window coverings. The last massive recall was nine years ago when 85 million blinds had to be recalled for similar hazards.

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June 9, 2009

Indiana Weight Loss Option Questioned

pills.jpgIndianapolis residents hoping to lose weight may be in danger because of common diet supplements sold in health food and vitamin stores. The Food and Drug Administration reports that weight-loss capsules called StarCaps could be hazardous to the health of many in Indiana and around the country. Made primarily of papaya, the capsules also contained a potent pharmaceutical drug called bumetanide and can have serious side effects.

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January 20, 2009

Indiana Residents on Alert for Play Yard Recall

crib.jpgIn a January 15, 2009 press release, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of Simplicity’s Rainforest Portable Play Yards. These products are sold in major department stores, including Wal-Mart, Target, and Toys-R-Us. Manufactured in China and sold under the company name, Simplicity for Children, with a Fisher-Price logo, these play yards pose a hazard to children in Indiana and around the country due to the unexpected collapse of the side railing. This collapse can cause entrapment and serious injury to young children.

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January 5, 2009

Indiana Seizure Patients Face Increased Suicide Risk

The FDA released a new warning concerning antiepileptic medications and an increased risk of suicide. Pills%20-%20Anti%20Seizure%20medications.jpgThe FDA will mandate that more than 30 medications prescribed for seizures must carry additional warnings of the increased risk. The agency also released a statement directing physicians to inform patients and their families about the medications. Physicians in Indiana should be receiving these notices very soon.

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