Category: Latest

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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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 causes evacuation at Louisville Airport due to battery safety concerns

As you’re probably aware, Samsung are having a real nightmare in terms of their Galaxy Note 7 and its tenancy to suddenly set fire to itself…

In one recent incident off the back of this ongoing issue, a supposedly safe device starting ‘smoking’ at Louisville Airport when the owner tried to power off the phone on take-off at an airport. This caused a big disruption to the outbound flight and led to an evacuation.

Of course, the bigger concern is that the faulty product could have caused a serious incident had this have happened during the flight!
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“Recall after Recall” – Hyundai Motor America recalls just over 3,000 2015 Genesis Sedans for Instrument Cluster Defect

Last month, Hyundai was among car manufacturers recalling vehicles, which was due to an instrument cluster defect in its 3,031 2015 Genesis Sedan models. This was picked up by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who pressed the automaker to recall this model as soon as possible.

Vehicle recalls are very common. Usually they’re through incidental things which are discovered post-sale, but, on occasions, we see scandals like the VW emissions scandal, where we are acting for thousands of people who have essentially been the victim of a huge bout of misrepresentation.
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