Consumer Awareness

A study of telephone calls to poison control hotlines revealed that between 2002 and 2012, a child was subject to an out-of-hospital medication mistake approximately every eight minutes, Reuters reported. The number of mistakes marks an increase from previous years for every medication outside of cough and cold medicines, according to The Huffington Post. The reduction in errors pertaining to cough and cold medication is attributed to a prolonged educational campaign aimed at parents decreasing…

The total number of General Motor vehicles recalled in 2014 has climbed to 13.5 million across 29 models, according to the New York Times. GM attributes the latest recalls to its “new standards,” which were put in place after the manufacturer was heavily criticized for failing to act to correct a problem pertaining to faulty ignition switches in many of its models. GM reportedly has been aware of these defects for almost a decade, which…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that the general statement that “taking an aspirin a day” may help to prevent heart attacks may not be true for everyone, and it can even cause some dangerous side effects, according to its website. On Monday, the FDA announced that it would not be granting Bayer Corp. its requested approval of listing aspirin as one of the drugs known to combat heart attacks and strokes, according…

Johnson & Johnson has temporarily suspended its international sale of its power morcellators following an April 17 advisory from the Food and Drug Administration warning that their use to remove fibroids from the uterus has a risk of worsening hidden cancer, according to Reuters. The company says that it will attempt to resume sale once their role in fibroid treatment is further investigated and understood by the medical community, Reuters reported. Laparoscopic power morcellation is…

Democratic Senators Edward Markey (MA) and Richard Blumenthal (CT) urged the Department of Transportation to take action to ensure that owners of the estimated 2.6 million recalled GM models to cease driving them until they are repaired, according to Reuters. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, who has been investigating the failure of GM to take action to combat the defects, has authority to pursue recalls of vehicles deemed as unsafe, but they cannot force…

A proposal by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to significantly revise nutrition labels for the first time in 20 years, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (“Food Labels Set for New Look,” Feb. 27, 2014). In a story by Thomas M. Burton and Annie Gasparro, it was reported that the Obama administration is looking for food labels to have larger-font calorie counts and more realistic portion sizes so that…

In response to criticism stemming from a failure to properly investigate complaints of ignition switch failures in many of their models, General Motors has hired a private investigator to determine if the company failed to adequately respond to the dangerous condition. The New York Times reported that over the last 11 years, GM has received more than 260 complaints of cars spontaneously shutting down while drivers were on highways, in city traffic, and even on…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a federal agency tasked with keeping the American public aware of potential health risks like E. Coli and pharmaceutical side effects, is warning that there could be a link between testosterone-boosting pills and increased risk of heart problems and fatalities. According to the Chicago Tribune, many men take these drugs due to the persuasive nature of the marketing efforts that coined the phrase “low-T” without fully researching the possible…

Children remind us of the innocence and joy of the holidays year-round, which is why it is so important for parents today to monitor the toys their children play with to keep the kids safe. Product recalls are down by almost 66% over the past five years, but it is stringent safety mandates, dangerous toys being seized upon their import and vigilant parents that are responsible for this laudable trend. Most toys are not meant…