Can You Do Anything to Not Get a Foodborne Illness These Days?

As Chipotle restaurant stores reopen, experts remind us that one in seven Americans get sick from food every year. (Corbis)

In the wake of the announcement that the Chipotle restaurants that were temporarily closed down  to an alarming E. coli outbreak in the Pacific Northwest, the above quote comes in from experts to let the public know that the chances of foodborne illnesses are actually much more frequent that the public is aware of.  Around forty-eight million people are sickened with foodborne illnesses each year in the United States alone!  About one hundred and five thousand of these people end up in the hospital and around two thousand cases are fatal!  If you break it down, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are telling us that about one in seven people get sick from food every single year, with some cases from eating at home, but many cases from restaurant food outbreaks as well. 

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Mislabeled Birth Control Packaging Equals Greater than 100 Pregnancies

 

Okay there may be many of you out there breaking out in a cold sweat when you hear this latest news flash.  Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is accused in a lawsuit by Qualitest, Inc. due to the mispackaging of birth control pills leading to at least 113 unplanned pregnancies.  The suit represents 117 women from 26 of our 50 states in the United States.  The plaintiffs are claiming they are due compensation valued at millions of dollars due to the unplanned pregnancies bringing unplanned expenses regarding healthcare, baby delivery, and raising children.  The pregnancies resulted from birth control packaging putting the placebo sugar pills in as the first pills to take for the month, rather than the actual working pills.  These are the pills usually taken by women during their menstrual period week to help them not get out of the habit of taking their daily pills.  What a surprise when taking birth control pills as directed and then being surprised with a pregnancy!   Endo Pharmaceuticals decided 4 years ago to do a voluntary recall of the affected pill packs. 

If you or a loved one was not aware of the recall and may have been impacted with an unexpected pregnancy from an Endo Pharmaceutical pill pack, consult your doctor.  You may also feel free to contact Inserra & Kelley Law Offices to discuss whether you may be entitled to compensation. 

Still No Evidence Those Silicone Breast Implants Are Safe

Perhaps many of you are out there thinking that the days of danger with silicone breast implants are long gone and over with?  Unfortunately, there has been recent notice given to the fact that there still has not been any reliable, hard evidence given to the public to assure that this is in fact true.  The silicone gel breast implant was reintroduced to the American consumer going on ten years ago, but no one has proved up the safety, which is unfortunate for the consumer while probably not so big a bother to the companies profiting from possibly questionable silicone gel implants being sold to hundreds of thousands per year. 

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Red Flags on Your Next Dental Visit

Perhaps the recent Halloween candy frenzy is sending you or your family on a dental visit?  There are things that the dental patient should beware when it comes to dental offices for safety and health.   A list has been compiled of twelve red flags that should make you just say no to some dental practices.  First, if it is a first trip to a particular dental office and no one asks about your prior dental records, this could be a red flag, especially regarding the number of x-ray radiation you have been exposed to.  Second, if you notice that the dental office continues to use old fashioned x-rays, rather than the new digital technologies, this could be another red flag.  Digital x-rays will give the dentist better diagnostics and the patients less radiation exposure.  Third, if the dental office you visit does not seem the most hygienic or germ conscious, another red flag has arisen.  The tools should be in sealed bags, heat sterilized, and the dentist and other staff should be changing their gloves every time they touch something besides the inside of your mouth.  Fourth, modern dentists are now aware that oral cancer screenings are important at dental visits, so if your dentist does not do this, another red flag is in front of you.  Your mouth, cheeks, gum tissue, throat, and neck should be inspected.

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Advice for Your Happiest Thanksgiving!

With the holidays quickly approaching, Inserra & Kelley wants to wish everyone, first, Happy Thanksgiving!  In keeping with our desire to keep you ever informed of ways to stay safe and healthy, we will present you with some thoughts for celebrating Thanksgiving safely in 2015. 

First off, there are obviously more motorists out on the roads hurrying and scurrying to their loved ones’ homes for a Thanksgiving day filled with food, football, and fun.  Be aware of your fellow motorists out there and ready to engage in defensive driving so as to allow people the opportunity to celebrate without needless accidents and injuries. 

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Tips for the Popular Drone Christmas Gift

I was in my local cell phone sales office the other day and it was brought to my attention that personal/hobbyist drones are all the rage for gift giving in the upcoming holiday gift giving season.  It is estimated that in 2015 a million drones will be given as gifts to the novice drone flyer and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does have some safety concerns tied to millions of drones flying out in the skies.   In fact there are some hints to consider when you or someone you know take up the drone flying hobby or are out and about where there is the potential for drones to be flying around near you.

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Beware of Popular GoPro Distractions

With the holidays approaching, consumers are starting to shop and there are gifts out there that will be very popular this year, with one being the GoPro camera.  2015 promises to be another big year for the GoPro and it is not unusual for parents to gift this to their teenagers.  With another technological wonder also comes the potential for dangers coming from risk taking, but also from distracted users.  While extreme sport participants might be schooled in the art of risk taking, and accustomed to it, the average teenager is not.  The GoPro can bring temptation to engage in riskier activities for the sake of great video, so parents should be ready to lay down strict rules and warnings regarding their use.  It can give the average parent nightmares to imagine their child out on a bike, boat, skate board, surfboard, snowboard, or other recreational equipment with a GoPro along to promote more risk taking or distractions, but parents should also be aware that GoPros have also been used while driving motor vehicles, bringing the potential for distracted driving and risk-taking while driving.  A GoPro spokesperson told an ABC news reporter  that it is vital that people gifting or receiving GoPros understand safety tips and rules concerning the use of these sought after devices. 

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E-Cigarette Explosions Endangering Consumers!

E-cigarettes consumers turn to when kicking the regular cigarette habit is proving dangerous in other ways.  They have the potential to explode and the news has abounded with stories on injured users from explosions.  A man in Florida suffered severe burns, internally and externally and was struggling to even breathe after his e-cigarette blew up in his face.  More than two dozen such explosions have been reported, and that is only the reported episodes.  Another man in Wichita had his e-cigarette explode, breaking it into two pieces with such force that the pieces went into opposite walls in the room and pieces of metal and plastic scattered throughout the home.  They can explode when their lithium-ion batteries fail and behave like a “flaming rocket”.  The explosions can have enough force to severely injure, place someone in a coma, or even kill a person!  Stores carrying e-cigarettes give the defense that they place signs to make customers aware they can explode, and also state that a computer chip can be purchased to keep the batteries from exploding, something the man in Wichita stated he was not informed about when he purchased the e-cigarette. 

If you or a loved one has been injured due to an e-cigarette produce, or another defective product on the market, do not hesitate to contact our firm with questions.  As always, Inserra & Kelley Law Offices wants you safe and healthy and will keep you up-to-date on potentially dangerous products.  You may be entitled to compensation if product defects resulted in injuries or death. 

MRSA Dangers in the Gym

MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a staph infection resistant to drugs.  Many people have visited people in the hospital or nursing home and been met with a sign at the door to use a glove, mask, and gown to protect one’s self from contracting the dangerous infection, but now MRSA can lurk in the world outside the hospital in places like your local gym.  The New York Giant’s tight end, Daniel Fells, contracted MRSA from the gym and lost part of his foot, which may prevent him from playing football ever again.  With the too common use of antibiotics to treat everything, infections like MRSA have become more and more resistant to antibiotics and the resistant bacteria can be anywhere where that is skin-to-skin contact, shared equipment, or crowding. 

To protect yourself from anti-biotic resistant bacteria take precautions such as covering your exposed skin by wearing pants and long sleeves and any cuts with Band-Aids or dressings.  Also, you can try to keep your contact with equipment limited and/or utilize disinfectant sprays or wipes to clean off areas you will be using.  You can also take a shower or wash your hands with soap and water after coming in contact with anything that might be suspected to be contaminated.  If you do develop swelling, redness, pimples with pain, abscesses, and skin infections, be sure to contact your medical provider immediately to be sure you do not have a dangerous MRSA infection. 

At Inserra & Kelley Law Offices we strive to keep you informed so that you can live your life to the fullest, safe and healthy. We will update you regularly on dangerous products, health hazards, safety hazards, and the like so stay tuned! 

Smartphones Distract Drivers Even When Not In Use

We are regularly alerted to the dangers of texting and driving, but are you aware that your smartphone can distract you even when you are just texting at red lights or using your hands-free technology to use them?  Research studies have been done that reveal distraction occurs in varying levels, depending upon the quality and ease of use with the voice-activated commands.   Fifteen to Twenty-seven seconds of distraction were noted with systems moderately to significantly difficult to use.  Even a split second distraction with eyes off the road can be deadly for you and your fellow motorists out on the road.  THREE THOUSAND FATALITIES and FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY-FOUR THOUSAND INJURIES occurred in the year of 2013 due to distracted driving, and a 2014 survey revealed that at least one thousand drivers admitted to texting and driving despite the knowledge of its dangers.   Distraction can continue even after the cell phone texting or conversation has ended, making motorists less aware of their surroundings.

Many recommend disabling the smartphone altogether when driving through new technology out there that does so for you, or simply shutting the phone off when in the car.  If using hands-free technologies for smartphones, as well as other features in the car like music, GPS and the like, be sure to test the technology to check for user friendliness before purchasing your vehicle or in-vehicle products.  Most importantly, consider whether that text or call is really so important that it is worth risking property damage, injury, or even death in a vehicle, even when stopped at a red light. 

If you or a loved one has been in an injury accident, or fatal accident, do not hesitate to contact us at Inserra & Kelley Law Offices.  You may be entitled to compensation and our firm wants every driver out there safely arriving to their destinations.  Be alert on the roads utilizing safe driving principles, as well as the defensive driving principles that become necessary in a world where distractions about for drivers on the roads.