James O. Cunningham 
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Camp Lejeune LawsuitsProduct Liability | Orlando Accident & Injury Blog - Part 14
Toyota Recall News: White House, Legislators Talk Brake Overrides for Toyotas
The U.S. government is currently looking at what is, to many, a common-sense proposal for modern vehicle safety: brake override systems on all new Toyota vehicles equipped with electronic throttle systems.
New Admissions in the Wake of the Sudden Acceleration Toyota Recalls
When Toyota staffer James Lentz went before a Congressional oversight panel Feb. 23, the public got some new information on what’s really going on with the massive Toyota recall involving million of vehicles that has led to halted sales of some new models.
Specifically, it was the first time, according to industry reports, that a Toyota employee went on record as saying that the sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles could have come from an electronic issue.
360000 Discovery Kids Animated Marine Lamp Recalled
A recent recall affected popular children’s lamp due to a defect that causes the lamp to catch fire. This article reports that models of Discovery Kids Animated Marine and Safari Lamps were recalled after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission learned that the lamp’s manufacturer had received nine reports of problems with the lamp. The Discovery Kids Lamp recall occurred on February 9 after reports of at least seven of the lamps catching fire. The fires reportedly caused at least three separate incidents of property damage and smoke inhalation injuries to one child.
Toyota Orders Worldwide Prius Recall
This article describes the Toyota Motor Corporation’s increasing recall problems in the United States and other markets around the world with the company’s recent announcement of recalls of many of the company’s hybrid models. The Toyota Prius is the largest target of the recall, but the recall also affects other hybrid models. The recall includes 437,000 total vehicles for brake problems that owners have been reporting since the 2010 Prius models went on sale in May 2009.
Faulty Brakes on Prius Models create Another Quality Problem for Prius
The New York Times reports that Toyota’s problems with quality and reliability have taken another blow after the Japanese government told the world’s largest automaker to launch an investigation on the brakes of their popular Prius models. The company is still reeling from the biggest recall in its history regarding well-publicized accelerator problems that can cause gas pedals on many Toyota models to stick and accelerate out of control. This new development with brakes on the Toyota Prius represents another possible black mark on Toyota’s safety record.
CPSC Announces Crib Recall
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced that Simplicity Inc., of Reading, PA, voluntarily recalled nearly 1 million cribs due to a problem with the sides. The company said that the drop-side has the potential to detach from the side of the crib, creating a gap that can cause infant entrapment and suffocation. The CSPC cited no less than 55 different incidents involving these cribs that resulted in infant deaths, entrapments and other dangerous situations. The CPSC said that there had been at least seven confirmed entrapment cases in a Simplicity crib. They also knew of at least two incidents that caused the death of 6- and 9-month-old children trapped and suffocated in older models of Simplicity cribs with different hardware.
Toyota Expands Recall to China and Europe
Toyota Motor Corporation, already contending with the biggest recall in the company’s history due to accelerators which may become stuck and cause the vehicle to accelerate out of control, has expanded their recall to include Toyotas sold in China and Europe as well. The world’s largest automaker, which had a sterling reputation for dependability, safety, and quality, is dealing with a recall that affects 6 million vehicles in the U.S. alone. It is not yet known how many Toyota models in Europe and China will be affected but the recall is expected to cost the company billions to fix the accelerator problems and reimburse dealers for the work.
FDA Says Heartburn Drugs May Interfere with Plavix
The Food and Drug Administration officials issued a Public Health Advisory regarding Plavix and OTC heartburn medications, especially Prilosec and Nexium. The heartburn medications can interfere with the effectiveness of Plavix, a blood thinner taken by millions of people to reduce stroke and heart attack risks. The FDA said Prilosec and Nexium reduced the effectiveness of Plavix’s blood-thinning capabilities by half. FDA regulators said that the active ingredient in the popular heartburn pharmaceuticals potentially put some people at risk by blocking an enzyme that the body needs to break down Plavix (clopidogrel).
Merck had Knowledge About Vioxx Risks Years Before Recall
U.S. News & World Report reports the very unsettling news that Merck, the manufacturer of defective arthritis drug Vioxx, knew that the drug caused serious health risks years before it was taken off the market. People who took Vioxx to relieve the discomfort of arthritis were at increased risk for stroke, heart attack and other serious health issues that could result in death. Merck had claimed their drug was perfectly safe to take regularly, but by the year 2000, there was mounting evidence of the dangerous side effects of the drug within a year of it being approved for sale in 1999.
NHTSA Investigates Timing of Honda Airbag Recalls
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has requested an explanation from Honda Motor Company and Takata Corporation as to why the automaker did not include Honda vehicles from a second recall in an earlier recall eight months previously. Takata Corp. is the manufacturer of airbags for Honda vehicles. The NHTSA “requires additional information from Honda and Takata to more fully evaluate the scope and timeliness” of a Honda recall for the same defective airbags that were the reason for the previous recall of Honda vehicles.
Mr. Cunningham is an excellent and knowledgeable attorney.