Child Safety Seat Recall From National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Minnesota and Wisconsin Product Liability and Safety Attorneys On Child Safety Seat Recall

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced a child car seat recall due to a product safety hazard. The plastic adjustment cover on certain Peg Perego Primo Viaggo SIP 30/30 infant child restraint systems manufactured between July 1, 2007 and March 14, 2008, could have an exposed mold flash with a sharp edge.

 The model numbers of the affected seats are Peg Perego IMUN00US32MD41KN41, IMUN00US35CR13BU13, IMUN00US35CR13PL46, IMUN00US35CR24BU24, IMUN00US35TL49KN53, IMUN00US35TL53KN46, IMUN00US61FG13ST53, IMUN00US61FG53ST49, IMUN00US61FG53ST64, IMUN00US61ST13IC53, IMUN00US61ST34IC53, IMUN00US61ST48IC53, and Jacadi Model No. IMCB00JA57RJ31JU31. The sharp edge of the flash could cause cuts, scratches, or abrasions on the feet or legs of bare-footed infants.

Peg Perego is providing a free repair kit. Owners may contact Peg Perego toll-free at 1-800-671-1701.
For more information for this particular recall, please go to 09C001. 

Or if you have questions about product safety or liability generally, visit our web-site at www.champion-law.com or call one of our product liability and safety lawyers in St. Paul at 651.766.5886.

Minnesota and Wisconsin Zimmer Durom Cup Hip Replacement Attorneys

Personal Injury and Product Liability Attorneys – Zimmer Durom Cup Hip Replacement Part 3

In the last two entries of this blog, I discussed the Zimmer Durom Cup hip implant generally, its problems and how to recognize those problems if you have the Durom Cup implanted in your hip.  This entry focuses on how Zimmer is handling these problems. 

Zimmer has so far blamed the high failure rate for Durom Cup implants on the surgeons and surgical techniques.  But Dr. Dorr, a leading joint replacement surgeon and a paid consultant of Zimmer, found that the failure rate of the Durom Cups was about 8% in his patients.  Suffice it to say, the evidence suggests the problem  is in the Durom Cup, not the doctors. 

 

Zimmer has started selling the implants again, but this time with more and different instructions to doctors on how to implant the Durom Cups. 

 

As to patients, Zimmer has written some patients asking them to sign releases that give away their legal rights against Zimmer. 

 

If you receive a Durom Cup notice from Zimmer, don’t sign anything.  Instead, call the Zimmer Durom Cup hip implant lawyers at Champion Law at 651.766.5886 or ask for your free consultation electronically by logging onto our web-site at www.Champion-Law.com. 

 

Nate Bjerke

Champion Law LLC

3252 Rice Street

St. Paul, MN 55126

(t)651.766.5886

(f)651.766.5235

www.champion-law.com

 

Licensed in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California

 

 

 

Minnesota and Wisconsin Zimmer Durom Cup Hip Replacement Attorneys

Personal Injury and Product Liability Attorneys – Zimmer Durom Hip Cup Implants – Part 2

In the last installment of this blog, I discussed the Zimmer Durom Cup hip implant and its failure mode.  But how do you know if your Zimmer Durom Cup implant is failing?  Most Zimmer Durom cups fail within 18-24 months after they have been implanted.  Typical symptoms of a Durom Cup failure are:

 

·         Pain walking up and down stairs;

·         Limp while walking (that sometimes patients don’t even notice);

·         Pain and stiffness in the first 10-20 steps when patients get up and start walking; and

·         A sharp pain the groin that comes on when the patient bends at the waist and then straightens up. 

 

If you have had a Zimmer Durom Cup implanted and have any of these symptoms more than a few months after your surgery, see your surgeon.  Tell them about your symptoms and ask about the Zimmer Durom Cup hip implant problems and whether it could be the cause of your symptoms.  Your doctor should take x-rays of the hip area.  In the first six months after the Durom Cup is implanted, it may not migrate far enough from the pelvic bone to show up on an x-ray.  But as time passes, there are often radiolucent sports – or dark spots – on the x-rays near the Durom Cup.  These dark spots suggest the Durom Cup did not seat properly to the bone. 

 

After you see your surgeon, call the Minnesota and Wisconsin Zimmer Durom Cup hip implant attorneys at Champion Law for a free case evaluation at 651.766.5886. 

 

Mn Product Liability’s Discussion On Product Safety In Times Of Budget Cuts

Bad Things Can Happen When Big Manufacturers Cut Budgets.

So what happens when big manufacturers cut engineering budgets?  Bad things.  Engineers are doing the work of 1 ½ or 2 people.  They get overworked.  They make mistakes.  They don’t have time to test products the way they should be tested.  Don’t get me wrong, I think most engineers really care about what they do.  They want to make good, safe products.  But too often, corporate executives send them off with one hand tied behind their back. 

This creates interesting trial issues – many lawyers blame the engineers.  I think the blame should often fall on the shoulders of executives who don’t provide their engineers with the resources they need to design, manufacture and test good safe products. 

If you have questions about product liability or safety, feel free to call us or visit our web-site at www.champion-law.com.
Nate Bjerke
Champion Law LLC
3252 Rice Street
St. Paul, MN 55126
(t)651.766.5886
(f)651.766.5235
www.champion-law.com

Licensed in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California

Minnesota and Wisconsin Zimmer Durom Hip Cup Implant Lawyers

Personal Injury and Product Liability Attorneys – Zimmer Durom Hip Cup Implants

Prominent orthopedic surgeons report that the Zimmer Durom Cup hip replacement or implant were coming loose in patients, leading Zimmer to take the Zimmer Durom  Hip Cup implant off the market on July 24, 2008.  The Zimmer Durom Cup sale freeze was prompted by a letter sent to Zimmer and surgeons across the country by a leading orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles, Dr. Larry Dorr.  Dr. Dorr, who had used the Zimmer Durom Cup implant on over a hundred patients, began noticing a high failure rate in the Durom Cup.  In a letter to his colleagues at the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, Dr. Dorr noted the following concerning the Zimmer Durom cup implants:

 

·         The failure rate was very high in the first two years after the Zimmer Durom cup was implanted;

·         Symptoms were classic for loose implants;

·         The cups would “just pop free”;

·         He did not believe the fixation surface on the cups was good;

·         The cups were not properly seating to the pelvic bone; and

·         He stopped using the cups after the first time he had to replace a Zimmer Durom Cup implant.

 

Dr. Dorr wrote this letter concerning the Zimmer Durom Cup hip implant on April 22, 2008 and Zimmer finally stopped selling the Durom Cup implant on July 24, 2008.  Zimmer sent a letter to doctors and patients recommending that doctors monitor their Durom Cup patients closely.   

 

Estimates are that about 13,000 Zimmer Durom Cups were implanted before the cups were initially taken off the market.  The problem was that the Durom Cup – that simulates the hip socket – was not seating to the pelvic bone.  In other words, the bone was not growing over the Zimmer Durom Cup to secure the cup in place and it would come free.  The fix is typically a revision – or a “do over” of the hip implant.  The next installments of this blog will discuss common symptoms of defective Zimmer Durom Cup hip implants and how Zimmer is dealing with the problem.   

 

If you are experiencing complications with a Zimmer Durom Cup hip replacement, call our experienced attorneys for a free consultation at 651.766.5886 or submit a confidential e-mail at www.Champion-Law.com.   

 

 

 

 

MN Product Liability Attorney on Safety Of Consumer Products In These Hard Times

Companies Making Budget Cuts Often Mean More Dangerous Products

As a product liability lawyer, the economic downturn makes me concerned about the safety of consumer products.  Tough times cause executives at big companies to make cuts.  We all know that and that’s expected.  But my concern is that the cuts will be to the departments that design, manufacture and test products.  I defended industry giants for years in product liability suits.  Having my nose under the tent, I saw that too often, when times got tough, engineering budgets were cut.  (Interestingly, marketing and sales budgets for these big companies tended to go up or at least stay level – profits rule over safety too often in big business.) 

Budgets cuts often mean more dangerous products. 

My next entry will discuss common situations where budget cuts lead to a decrease in product safety.  If you have questions about product liability or safety, feel free to call us at Champion Law, 651-766-5886, or visit our web-site at www.champion-law.com.

Nate Bjerke
Champion Law LLC
3252 Rice Street
St. Paul, MN 55126
(t)651.766.5886
(f)651.766.5235
www.champion-law.com

Licensed in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California

Rollover Safety Lawyers in MN and WI

How To Find Out If Your Vehicle Is Prone To Rollover.

Ever wonder if the truck, car or SUV you drive every day is prone to rolling over?  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is doing something to help educate consumers on rollover crashes and risks of rollovers.  NHTSA has a star-rating system in place for rollover propensity.  It also tracks rollover-related defects and reports of defects.  If you would like to check to see if your vehicle has a reported rollover risk, log onto www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov. 

If you would like more information about rollover safety, please feel free contact the rollover and product liability lawyers at Champion Law in Minneapolis at 612.743,4918 or St. Paul at 651.766.5886.  Or visit our web-site at www.champion-law.com

Does Minnesota No-Fault Pay For My Lost Wages and What is Stacking?

Minnesota No-Fault Insurance Pays You For Missed Work.

If you are in an accident in Minnesota and cannot work due to injuries from that accident, then your insurance company pays wage loss benefits.  They must pay you 85 percent of your lost wages up to a maximum of $250.00 per week.  That is the minimum coverage allowed.  You can buy higher coverage and I highly recommend it.  The coverage is inexpensive and provides excellent income loss protection in the event of an accident with significant injuries. 

Also, make sure you have stacking on your policy if you own more than one vehicle.  Stacking takes the minimum $20,000.00 policy on each vehicle and stacks them.  The resulting coverage is $40,000.00 AND the wage loss maximum payment increases to $500.00 per week.  If you have three vehicles, then the result is $60,000 in wage loss coverage and maximum wage loss payments of $750.00 per week.  This is a tremendous benefit that, by law, must be offered by the insurance company.  If you were injured in an accident and suffered wage loss, call me to see if your insurance company is paying you what you are entitled to under your policy.

Robert W. Roe
Champion Law LLC
3252 Rice Street
St. Paul, MN  55126
651-766-5886
f – 651-766-5235
robert@champion-law.com
www.champion-law.com

Do I have No-Fault Auto Insurance if I live in Minnesota?

What is No-Fault Insurance?

Minnesota is a no-fault insurance state.  Everyone thinks that means that it doesn’t matter who caused the accident.  Wrong!  If you suffer injuries in a car crash caused by someone else, you can make a claim for your injuries against the person who caused the crash. 

 

With no-fault insurance, your own insurance company pays your medical bills, wage loss, and other economic losses, regardless of who caused the accident.  Every automobile insurance policy in Minnesota provide for payment of $20,000.00 in reasonable, necessary, and related medical or chiropractic bills.  Every policy also provides up to $20,000.00 in wage loss benefits.  No-fault is intended to allow you to get treatment paid for without fighting with someone else’s insurance company.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way.  Insurance companies often try to avoid paying benefits.  Check back Thursday and in coming weeks for a continuing discussion about no-fault and how to get your benefits paid.

 

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to call 612-743-4913 in Minneapolis, or 651-766-5886 in St. Paul.  Or Visit Champion Law today.

 

 

 

 

 

Product Liability Attorney’s Personal Running Information

Helpful and Safety Tips From A Seasoned Runner

I’m a runner.  I love starting my day with a few miles on the road before breakfast.   This morning, I was out running before dawn through a light dusting of snow on my local paved path.  It occurred to me that runners and walkers should share their ideas to stay safe while doing what we love – especially during the dark and/or on potentially slippery surfaces like the ones we see all winter long in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Here are a few things I’ve found helpful.

In the dark, I always wear a reflective vest.  They aren’t heavy or cumbersome and cost less than $20 at your local sporting goods store.

I also like running with a headlamp.  Headlamps cut through the darkness to help you see icy spots ahead and avoid falls.  They also make you very visible to cars.  (Although I tend to get a few “what-the-heck-is-that” looks when I wear mine).

Most camping or outdoor sporting good stores carry them.  If you’re on on-line shopper, check www.ebay.com or www.backcountry.com for some options.  Last, if conditions are really slippery, you may want to consider some over-the-shoe traction grabbers.  If you’re a walker, look at www.noslipstore.com.  If you run or walk regularly on ice or snow, you may even consider creating your own pair of “screw shoes”.  For more information on screw shoes, visit http://www.skyrunner.com/screwshoe.htm.  I have also seen something similiar at Walmart in the shoe section.  And last, carry your cell phone.  If you fall and break your ankle in an area without much foot traffic, your ID bracelet won’t help you catch a ride to your house or the emergency room. 

Of course, we can’t control how other people drive their cars, no matter how many precautions we take.  If you’ve been injured or hurt by someone else’s bad driving and want to discuss your rights, contact the personal injury lawyers (and runners) at www.champion-law.com or at our St. Paul Minnesota office number: 651.766.5886. 

Nate Bjerke
Champion Law LLC
3252 Rice Street
St. Paul, MN 55126
(t)651.766.5886
(f)651.766.5235
www.champion-law.com

Licensed in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California