Tag: attorney

Hungry? Coffee, Bagel and Salmonella poisoning for breakfast anyone?

The Center for Disease and FDA announced a defective product the recall of two breakfast cereals manufactured by Malt-O-Meal. The cereals “Puffed Rice’ and “Puffed Wheat’ were found to be contaminated by salmonella.

Salmonella is bacteria that can cause diarrheal illness in humans. These microscopic living creatures pass from the feces of people or animals, to other people or other animals. Salmonella has been known to cause illness for over 100 years. People with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness and other personal injury.

A hard working and serious, American scientist named Salmon, for whom the nasty little microbe is named, discovered the bacterium. Why such a learned man of science would want to give his name to this illness which comes from feces is another story. For more tid bits regarding salmonella click on the CDC website.

The defective products were distributed nationally under the Malt-O-Meal brand name, as well as private labels including Acme, America’s Choice, Food Club, Giant, Pathmark, Shaw’s, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. The cereal bags have “best if used by” dates from April 8, 2008 (coded as APR0808), through March 18, 2009 (coded as MAR1809). If you have purchased such a box, you are advised to throw them out, and retailers have been told to remove the cereals from their shelves.

If you or someone you loved have become ill from salmonella and believe it may have been caused by this cereal, click here for further information. We will continue to post information on the illness , so check back regularly for any new developments.

Who Is Really To Blame For Contaminated Heparin?

I read an interesting post by a fellow blogger regarding the dangerous Chinese import saga. While I don”t entirely agree with his argument, I think his thoughts are worth re-printing in their entirety:

“Ask yourself this question, How important is the health, safety, and well being of my family?”

First it is toys from China being recalled because of various safety issues, but more specifically from lead in the paint. Now there is a recall on blood thinner [Heparin] manufactured in China, which is causing deaths in patients.

It is obvious in the Chinese quest for money it is willing to put our health and the health of our children at risk. When will the world community say acquiring cheap goods is not enough and demand quality in those goods? Do you support inhumane and unethical treatment of human beings just so you can by more “stuff”? The Chinese should be scrutinized and held to our safety and health standards.

ABC News reports, FDA Links More Deaths to Blood Thinner:

Heparin is derived from a mucous obtained from pig intestines and other animal tissues, often processed by small, unregistered workshops in China.

FDA determined last month that Baxter”s drug was contaminated with an unnatural chemical during production at a plant in China.

This in part is our own fault. Demanding a bargain, the willingness to look the other way, and greed. The Wal-Mart economic plan (cheap second rate goods), which many of Americans support is jeopardizing our safety and economy. When will your family”s well being become more important than getting a good deal? It is your greed which is driving the Chinese economy?”

Ouch. That”s a bit hard to swallow, yet there is a lot of truth to it. Obviously there is something that is hindering the American public from speaking out against dangerous imports. Could it very well be our desire for cheap “stuff”?

While I believe that may be true with regard to the recent influx of toxic toothpaste, dog food and lead paint toys from China, I think the Heparin recalls fall outside of that box. My personal opinion is that most Americans feel helpless against the pharmaceutical giants (such as Baxter) who practically play puppet master with our politicians. They have an endless amount of resources, a tremendous amount of clout and because of this people just give up and accept whatever they dish out.

I just read an article about the rise in Heparin deaths by journalist Stanley Bing. Sadly, he decided to name his article “More Good News For Lawyers”.. Apparently, what he doesn”t realize is that people depend on trial lawyers for help when things like this happen. It is our job to take on these giants when they unleash their garbage (ex Heparin, Vioxx) on the public. Without the ability to file a lawsuit and affect the only thing that matters to these companies (i.e. their money), nothing will change and the despair will continue.

There needs to be some fear instilled in these drug companies. They need to realize that if they fail to keep the American public safe, there will be consequences. There will be lawsuits filed and they will loose a ton of money. It”s just that simple–and it”s our only hope.

For further information, click on the following links below:

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Information

Patient’s advocate to preventing bedsores

Whenever a patient is in a nursing home, that patient is at risk of developing a bedsore. Although there are both and federal and state guidelines specifically designed to prevent bed sores, many nursing homes and hospitals have failed to follow these guidelines. As a result, nursing home patients are developing bedsores at an alarming rate. This article is designed to help patients and their families prevent bedsores when in a nursing home.

First, some background. What is a bedsore? A bedsore is skin and tissue that has died because it has not received sufficient oxygen from the body. Since blood carries oxygen to all parts of our body, a bedsore is developed when the blood vessels that feed the skin are compressed or damaged in some manner.

The compression or damage prevents the blood from reaching the skin and the skin cells begin to die. If the blood supply continues to be damaged or compromised, more tissue will die. Eventually, the blood supply compromise can infect the underlying tissue, bones and joints. It takes as little as two (2) hours of sustained blood flow compromise to begin this process.

Bedsores are common in the lower back, buttocks and on other boney protrusions that routinely come in contact with a patient’s bed. Although every patient in a nursing home is susceptible to bedsores, the majority of cases are easily preventable. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has published clinical guidelines for bedsore prevention since 1992.
These guidelines can be found at this website

In addition, all nursing homes are required to enact, publish, and follow similar guidelines to prevent bedsores. Despite longstanding published guidelines, why is it then that nursing home patients continue to develop bedsores resulting in hospitalizations, medical complications and, in some instances, death?

Basically, the failure of healthcare facilities to employ enough qualified staff members is the primary reason for the high incidents of bedsores. Typically, licensed practical nurses that work in a nursing home setting are less experienced and cheaper to employ when compared to registered nurses. Furthermore, the resident to nurse ratio is very high. The nurses are simply unable to spend the necessary amount of time with each patient to ensure that the guidelines are being followed. Sadly, understaffing at nursing homes is a serious problem that leads to patient neglect.

For example, many residents are immobile and unable to regularly reposition themselves while lying in bed. The guidelines require nurses and aides to physically move these patients every few hours to prevent bedsores. Unfortunately, by the time an overwhelmed nurse gets around to checking on the resident, the two-hour time frame in which a bedsore can develop has already expired.

Similarly, bedsores are also caused by prolonged exposure of the skin to moisture. It is no wonder then that patients who are left to sit for hours in urine soaked diapers and sheets quickly develop bedsores in places that go unnoticed by the nursing home staff and family members alike. Sadly, the situation spirals out of control and the resident suffers because the staff could not make time to provide them with dry diapers and sheets.

So, what should patients do to prevent these devastating injuries? Fortunately, nursing homes fear the civil tort system where juries can hold them financially accountable for failing to follow the guidelines. Family members should not hesitate to seek legal advice if their loved one develops a bedsore. In addition, family members should go to the web, print up several copies of the guidelines and bring them to the nursing home. Family members should sit down with the nursing home’s medical director to ensure that the guidelines are being followed with respect to their loved one. They should leave a copy of the guidelines prominently displayed on the resident’s bedside table. Finally, family members should follow-up in writing asking the director of medicine and nursing if the guidelines are being followed on an every other-day basis.

The real key is involvement. Family members cannot sit back and blindly trust that their loved ones are in good hands. Most residents are already in poor health when they enter a nursing home facility. Therefore, any neglect can have serious physical consequences. It is only by being a patient advocate in the manner set forth above that family members can ensure that their loved one is receiving the federally and state mandated required bedsore prevention care.

In order to prevent other potential abuses in nursing homes go to our nursing home abuse or our bed sore prevention web pages.

John R. Mininno, Esq. is a New Jersey and Pennsylvania trial lawyer representing clients in medical malpractice, defective products and other serious injury claims. He also writes about issues concerning patient safety. His offices are in Collingswood, NJ and Philadelphia, PA.