The discovery of contaminated drinking water in Salisbury, Maryland last year reportedly led to a quick response by both the state and federal governments. Households in the area have received bottled water and filters, in the hopes of making the water safer for consumption. Investigators are still trying to determine…
Class action lawsuits have long provided a means for large numbers of claimants to consolidate their claims into a single action, when they might not have the resources to pursue individual lawsuits. This has allowed countless people to seek compensation in cases involving products liability, bad faith insurance practices, and…
Two insurance companies have brought a declaratory judgment action, Netherlands Ins. Co. v. Phusion Projects, Inc., asking the court to declare that they are not bound to defend or indemnify Phusion in several products liability and wrongful death lawsuits relating to the company’s product, Four Loko. The plaintiffs state that…
A federal judge in New York denied Phusion Projects’ motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit alleging damages caused by its product, the energy drink Four Loko. The lawsuit, Yourth v. Phusion Projects, LLC, alleges that the company failed to warn consumers of potential negative effects of the beverage’s…
A U.S. District Judge in Pittsburgh has denied a plaintiff’s motion to certify a class in a products liability lawsuit. In Haggart v. Endogastric Solutions, Inc., the plaintiff claimed that a medical device manufacturer failed to warn of certain risks associated with a device used to treat his gastroesophageal condition.…
Samsonite, the world’s largest luggage manufacturer, has voluntarily recalled its “Tokyo Chic” line of luggage after tests on several samples found high levels of carcinogenic compounds in the handles. The tests, conducted by the Hong Kong Consumer Council (HKCC), led to a recommendation by the government of Hong Kong to…
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the federal agency that monitors most consumer goods sold or imported in the U.S., recently reported on a collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to monitor shipments of goods arriving at international ports from abroad. The CPSC says that it either…
Fourteen year-old Anais Fournier, of Hagerstown, was at the mall with friends on December 16, 2011. Her friends told the Record Herald that Fournier drank one 24-ounce energy drink that day, and that she drank another one less than twenty-four hours later. On December 17, she went into cardiac arrest.…
A Maryland teenager died the evening of Saturday, February 18, 2012, when he fell from a moving car and was struck by another vehicle. Michael Truluck, age 13, had allegedly consumed an energy drink containing alcohol earlier in the evening with friends. He was reportedly feeling sick, and his friends…
A lawsuit filed by an anonymous “Company Doe” seeks to block “baseless allegations” on a new website that allows consumers to post information on hazardous products. The website, SaferProducts.gov, represents an effort to “crowdsource” reporting of dangerous and defective products in the marketplace. The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) created…