Category: Latest
Who is to blame for Tesla car crash in Minnesota?
A 58-year-old driver of a Tesla car was involved in a car crash in Minnesota on the 17th July 2017. The high tech vehicle, produced by Elon Musk’s Tesla car company, is installed with ‘self-driving’ technology that’s designed to assist drivers in their journeys with automatic driving capabilities.
However, they’ve come under huge scrutiny after a number of incidents have led to crashes that have fuelled calls that the technology just isn’t ready yet; and certainly isn’t safe.
In this incident, police authorities reported that the driver had “engaged the self-driving mode” when it “suddenly accelerated, causing the car to leave the road and overturn”.
So, was this human error or technological error?
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Medtronic under greater scrutiny as more of its products run into problems
Medical device maker Medtronic have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. Priding itself as the “global leader in medical technology, services, and solutions”, Medtronic have been at the centre of a fair few recalls for defects and risks that have arisen from the use of their products.
In the latest issues, scrutiny has come from issues with their products and an alleged lack of warning for equipment incompatibility.
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Depression and chronic pain relief drug, Duloxetine, recalled after failing tests
The drug Duloxetine, more commonly known as its brand name Cymbalta, is generally used to treat depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. It’s an active ‘serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor’, providing pain relief for patients with diabetes or sufferers from chronic or widespread pain.
The drug is commonly prescribed to people with arthritis and fibromyalgia. However, select batches of the Torrent Dutor Gastro-resistant Capsules have been recalled by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) because “out of specification results for dissolution were obtained during routine stability testing”.
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Takata files for bankruptcy as a result of exploding airbag scandal
The Takata airbag recall is one of the biggest automotive recalls in history. The company started producing airbag inflators in the late 1990s, and around the year 2000, Takata discovered some of their airbag inflators weren’t functioning properly, and even found some had erupted during tests.
The first recorded incident reportedly happened in May 2004 where a driver’s side bag ruptured in a Honda Accord. It was not until half a decade later that Honda recalled more than 500,000 airbags for the defect to be rectified, and regulators didn’t start investigations until June 2014.
Now, the scale of the issue has resulted in the Japanese manufacturer filing for bankruptcy.
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Medical device alert issued for Prismaflex Haemofiltration machines
A medical device alert has been issued warning hospitals and healthcare institutions that Prismaflex Haemofiltration machines are susceptible to software failure.
Machines manufactured by Baxter, and installed with the 6.10 version of software, may not compute information about syringe size and the brand of syringe used. As a result, the machine may revert back to default settings, which means it will work at the lowest possible plunger speed which may therefore lead to under-dosage.
When under-dosing occurs, a lack of anti-coagulants may be added to the blood. Without carefully measured anti-coagulants, the patient’s blood may then be at a high risk of clotting, which can of course lead to potentially serious consequences.
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Call for U.K. public inquiry into vaginal mesh implants
Senior doctors in the U.K. have called for a public inquiry into the use of vaginal mesh surgery. This comes after growing concerns that patients who have undertaken the surgery have been scarred for life.
Vaginal mesh implants are a net-like implant usually made out of polypropylene plastic and are used to treat pelvic organ prolapse, and stress urinary incontinence in women who may have these conditions as a result of hysterectomy, menopause or childbirth.
The problems that can occur if the devices fail can be catastrophic.
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Headphones explode mid-flight – victim suffers facial burns
A woman wearing noise-cancelling headphones on a flight from Beijing to Melbourne was injured when her headphones exploded whilst she was sleeping.
They suddenly exploded – sparking and igniting – while she slept.
Feeling her face burning, she ripped the headphones from around her neck and threw them onto the floor of the cabin, stamping on them. The headphones were still emitting sparks so flight attendants swiftly threw buckets of water on them to avoid any serious incidents.
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Coca-Cola has ‘misled’ consumers for years, according to the CSPI
A lawsuit has been brought against Coca-Cola for allegedly misleading consumers in relation to the health risks that consuming sugary drinks can pose.
According to the suit, filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), it’s alleged that Coca-Cola, together with the industry group the American Beverage Association (ABA), have misled customers regarding the health risks of drinking sugary drinks.
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Sanofi Depakote epilepsy drug that reportedly caused birth defects in 10,000 unborn babies
Valproate Semisodium, better known as Depakote, has reportedly put more than 10,000 pregnant women at risk in France, and there are raising concerns that the same amount of women in the U.K. may also be affected by the epilepsy drug.
Our Group Action Lawyers are investigating the issues, and anyone affected here in the U.K. is free to come forward for confidential and no obligation advice.
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Competition Act claims advice
Competition Act Claims usually affect large groups of consumers or businesses, so it’s one of the things our Group Action Lawyers do.
Under the Competition Act of 1998, it is illegal for anyone or any company to prevent, restrict, or distort competition in any way. Any person or company who is affected by anti-competitive behaviour by breaching the Competition Act may be eligible to claim for the losses incurred as a result of the breach.
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Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Pelvic Floor Prolapse recall – we’re still taking cases forward
Birmingham surgeon Dr. Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan performed hundreds of the pelvic floor surgeries using a mesh implant that the Trust he worked for had banned from using.
Dr. Arunkalaivanan seemingly ignored the Trust’s instructions and carried on inserting these mesh implants into hundreds of women despite the warnings from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) of incontinence and infection, and his own Trust’s policy on their use.
Some 200 patients who have undergone pelvic floor surgeries with Dr. Arunkalaivanan have been recalled to be checked. However, pelvic floor operations are so routine that it may be many more than 200 woman affected by the surgeons actions.
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Carcinogenic Artificial Turf Research
Concerns have been raised about the safety of recycled tire crumbs used in playing fields and playgrounds. Limited studies have seemingly not shown an elevated health risk from playing on fields with tire crumbs, but existing studies do not appear to comprehensively evaluate the concerns about health risks from exposure to tire crumbs.
Whenever there is a question of this nature though, we must do all we can to investigate any potential issues to avoid major problems like we have seen with materials such as asbestos over the last few decades.
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