Fisher-Price has recalled more than 10 million toys, tricycles and high chairs over safety concerns and injuries requiring medical attention.

Approximately seven million Fisher-Price Trikes and Tough Trikes toddler tricycles are included in the recall. Apparently, the plastic ignition key for the tricycle protrudes near the seat has caused injury involving genital bleeding and stitches.

Over one million high chairs produced by Fisher-Price are included in the recall. The tray holding pegs on the chairs have caused 14 known or reported problems after children have fallen on them.

More than 2.8 million other toys, including an inflatable tether-ball toy has been recalled also. Over 50 incidents of the inflatable valve falling off have been reported. This could easily become lodged in a child’s airway.

Detailed information on all of these toys can be found on the company’s website.

Please share this information with friends, families, daycares etc… so we can help minimize any potential hazards to our kids.

If you know anyone injured by these products , contact one of our personal injury attorneys at (800)251-1111 or visit us on the web.

www.harrellandharrell.com

How do these two topics relate to each other? Here’s a summary by our attorney Mark Papa of a memo sent to all the Social Security Administartive Law Judges from their boss:

An August 9, 2010 memorandum from the Chief Administrative Law Judge to all Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) titled Receipt of Unemployment Insurance Benefits by Claimant Applying for Disability Benefits-REMINDER reiterates the following: 

• Receipt of unemployment benefits does not preclude receipt of Social Security disability benefits.
• Receipt of unemployment benefits is only one of many factors that must be considered in determining whether the claimant is disabled.
• A claim for Social Security disability benefits can be consistent with a claim and/or receipt of unemployment benefits.
• Because of the uncertainty regarding whether a claimant will be found disabled under the Social Security Act and because the decision can be lengthy, “it is SSA’s position that individuals need not choose between applying for unemployment insurance and Social Security disability benefits.”

Again, an application for or the receipt of unemployment benefits is evidence that an ALJ will consider in deciding an SSD claim.  This memorandum instructs ALJs to “look at the totality of the circumstances in determining the significance of the application for unemployment benefits and related efforts to obtain employment.” 

Please contact Harrell and Harrell, PA to discuss this and any other issues you may have with your Social Security Disability and/or Supplemental Security Income claim.

The US Department of Transportation held its second annual distracted driving summit yesterday. All the pertinent facts can be found through the government’s official website at  www.distraction.gov.

I won’t bore you with the statistics that their related studies show other than to say distracted driving is on the rise and the number of distractions are constantly increasing.  Automobile manufacturers are making important safety changes in an effort to minimize potential distractions but ultimately the onus is on us to combat these distractions and prevent car accidents.

Texting and teenagers seem to be the most obvious target of concern but from my own observations during my drive to work on the roads of Jacksonville (study to be rel’d at a later date), texting and just basic cell phone use is by no means just a teenage problem. Yes the teenagers are not as experienced behind the wheel but neither are a lot of you adults out there.  It only takes a moment to completely change your life, your family’s life or that of a complete stranger and their friends and family. In less than 6 hours one day this week, I read about  three tragic accidents that lead to untimely deaths on our local roads and highways.  Not all were caused by distractions but we may never know if distracted driving played a role in any of those car accidents.

Hang up and drive is the best solution. Pull over and take that important call or read that e-mail. Unless you are carrying the nuclear football it can wait. In my humble opinion, it’s only going to get worse as our smart phones and mobile devices get even more advanced.

Cell phones are not the only common driving distractions. Here’s a sample list of other common distractions:

Please take some time to think about your normal driving routine and maybe even write a list of your own distractions you create every day. Share and compare with other drivers in your household and workplace and let’s make Jacksonville a safer place to drive.

www.harrellandharrell.com

Besides the fact that the law requires seat belt use, here are ten reasons why you should wear your seat belt based on statistics from a James Mason University study:

1. One in five drivers are involved in an auto accident each year.
2. Auto accidents are the leading cause of death for those under the age of 45.
3. Close to 35,000 people die each year in auto accidents, half of whom would have been saved by the use of seat belts.
4. For every one percent increase in the use of seat belts, 172 lives are saved.
5. Seat belts reduce auto accident fatalities by 60-70 percent.
6. A person is 25 times more likely to die when thrown from a vehicle.
7. Children are often killed by being crushed by unrestrained adults.
8. The most common injuries to children in car accidents are head injuries resulting in brain damage, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy or death.
9. Over 80% of child fatalities in auto accidents would have been prevented by the proper use of seat belts or car seats. Unfortunately, less than ten percent of children are properly restrained.
10. Seat belts may provide the greatest and only protection against DUI drivers. 

A seat belt may very well save your life in the case of a car accident. If that is not enough, it may save your child. Just as importantly, it could minimize physical injuries.There many more good reasons for wearing a seat belt and none that would suggest otherwise.

www.harrellandharrell.com

Here’s a quick link to FAQ’s about the recently recalled hip implants by Depuy, a Johnson and Johnson subsidiary.

Click here for other patient related information regarding the recent hip implant recall. You can also visit the manufacturer’s website to learn even more.

If you, a loved one, friend or co-worker has been affected by this recall please contact us at www.harrellandharrell.com so we may assist.

Don’t settle for less than you deserve!