Recently in Products Liability and Recalls Category

Sometimes, lawsuits are not filed for financial reasons. Instead, the lawsuit is merely a tool to get answers, to assign blame, or to put a company out of business by running up exorbitant legal fees. For the last strategy, the death by a thousand paper cuts, the plaintiff will refuse to settle and will push extraneous motions for years in order to build up the cost of the lawsuit.

Unethical? Quite possibly. Does it happen? All the time.

Litigation, with legitimate ends in mind or not, was one strategy formerly pursued by gun control advocates. Fortunately or not, they lost. They lost in legal decisions, and eventually, a federal law banned lawsuits against gun manufacturers.

Everything on Earth is better fried. Snickers are better when deep fried. Twinkies as well. Fried greens are far more edible than ordinary rabbit food.

And then there is poultry. Grilled and baked chicken is good. Fried chicken is magical. One would expect the same out of turkey, which too often shows up on the Thanksgiving table dried out and in need of a gravy bath.

It’s always best to seek the advice of elders before trying something new. Before you try to turkey fry, let’s ask William Shatner his thoughts on the matter:

Steer clear of the spinach. And the baked goods. And the gluten free products. Better yet, perhaps you should just stick to fast food. That’s got to be better for you than violent allergic reactions and E.coli, right?

We kid a bit, but Wegman’s Food Markets have announced a series of recalls over the last few weeks that cover everything from baked goods to veggies in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts. The recalls were announced on the FDA’s recall website.

More than two years after then one-year-old Paula Spolar's hands suffered second-degree burns, the lawsuit between the family and the parties responsible for installing the sizzling metal playground equipment has settled, and quite frankly, the settlement is just $17,500, reports The New York Times.

On June 16, 2010, Spolar was playing at the new Brooklyn Bridge Park. As she was walking along, she stumbled a bit and placed her hands on the metal "orb" climbing domes. In an instant, both hands were burned and blistering.

A custom formulation of a steroid used to treat back pain may be responsible for a Meningitis outbreak that has claimed the lives of five, sickened at least thirty-five, and could affect thousands of others. So far, the damage has been limited to six states: Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina and Indiana. However, the drugs were also distributed to New Jersey clinics as recently as a few days ago, reports CBS New York.

According to The Associated Press, the questionable injections were formulated at a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts, the New England Compounding Center. Compounding pharmacies typically produce specialty combinations or dosages of drugs that aren’t available commercially. For example, they might provide a pain reliever in a lozenge (cough drop) form instead of a pill.

After hearing of the Trader Joe's Creamy Valencia Peanut Butter recall, you may have been tempted to avoid all peanut-related products when you went to TJ's. Fair enough, but it turns out you might want to avoid all peanut products.

And some Tahini. And some almond butter. And some cashew butter. And Kroger spinach, though that is a completely unrelated recall. In fact, the only safe thing to eat is probably a McDouble from the Notorious Mickey D's. Oh wait. Never mind.

Yep, great pun, wrong brand. Then again, same crap, different badge.

A settlement pending judicial approval has been reached in a New Balance class action lawsuit alleging false advertising about the company's toning shoes. NB logged $145 million in toning-shoe sales in 2009 and $252 million in sales in 2010. That's a lot of cash for an exercise tool that doesn't work.

The shoe manufacturer will set aside $2.3 million to cover reimbursements for purchasers of its faulty footwear, reports Courthouse News Service.

To some, it would seem to be a freak accident, unlikely to be repeated. Steven Domalewski released the pitch. The batter made contact. The ball struck Domalewski in his chest, right above his heart, at a millisecond between heartbeats. He went into cardiac arrest and his brain was deprived of oxygen for 15 to 20 minutes. More than six years later, he's still unable to perform any of the functions of daily life on his own, reports The Associated Press.

What were the odds of the ball hitting him at that precise millisecond, right near his heart? Probably pretty slim. Nonetheless, it has been the catalyst of change throughout youth baseball leagues, especially in New Jersey.

Some might say that New York Senator Chuck Schumer has a stick, well, someplace a stick should never be. But at least he doesn’t have a bristle in his throat, as happened to this poor man in Texas, reports CBS Los Angeles. Even still, according to Politicker, Schumer is worried about it, and wants you to be worried about it as well.

Matt McMahon, of Carrollton, Texas, was grilling out, cooking up burgers for the family. Unfortunately, after eating one of the burgers, he discovered that he had something stuck in his throat. It took a surgeon four hours to get the 1.5 cm metal brush bristle out of his throat.

Brett Sigworth, of Stow, Massachusetts, is flaming mad right now, after he used Banana Boat aerosol sunscreen and accidentally lit himself on fire, reports CBS Boston.

According to Sigworth, he sprayed the sunscreen on, waited a couple of minutes, and then went to his grill to adjust the charcoal. All of a sudden, he found himself engulfed in flames.