DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, recently recalled two of its popular hip replacement systems the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System due to a higher-than-normal failure rate of the devices. Despite the devices’ marketed success since they were approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in […]

Graco recently recalled approximately 2 million Graco strollers because the strollers have been known to cause entrapment and strangulation, including four deaths between 2003 and 2005. There have also been several reports of infants becoming entrapped in the stroller, resulting in cuts, bruises and difficulty breathing. The recall includes the older versions of the Graco […]

The city of San Francisco has effectively banned McDonald’s Happy Meal. The city’s Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance on November 2, 2010 requiring that meals that include toys with their purchase, like the popular Happy Meal does, meet specific nutritional guidelines. Since the Happy Meal currently does not meet such nutritional requirements, it is […]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a report setting forth the findings of its 10-year study tracking the retail food industry’s efforts to reduce certain key risk factors. Based on the study’s findings, the FDA’s report called for increased efforts to improve food safety practices in retail food establishments, specifically with respect […]

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), a children’s product is defined as a consumer product designed or intended for use primarily by children 12 years of age or younger, but, until recently, there was little clarification about the interpretation of the definition. Because children’s products are subject to strict product safety guidelines […]

When a manufacturer wishes to introduce a new medical device or reintroduce a device that will be significantly changed or modified to the extent that its safety or effectiveness could be affected, the manufacturer must provide the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with a Premarket Notification (PMA) in the form of a 510(k) submission […]

Caffeinated alcoholic beverages may soon be a thing of the past. On November 17, 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to four manufacturers of beverages containing both alcohol and caffeine, such as Four Loko and Joose, admonishing the companies for violations of federal law and effectively banning the beverages from […]

The City of Chicago has changed the way that it handles civil rights lawsuits brought against Chicago police officers, by taking the cases to trial rather than settling them before trial. This new policy has resulted in a large reduction of these types of lawsuits, as explained in a recent Chicago Sun-Times article: This year, […]

Red light cameras in Illinois have been criticized as being unfair, inconsistent and nothing more than an easy way for cities and towns to make money. A new law tweaks the way the cameras are being used.

The deadline for reporting childhood sex abuse has changed because many victims of sexual abuse have repressed memories, and even if they remember the abuse, they may not discover its harmful impact until much later.