Many Recalled Dietary Supplements Quickly Return to the Shelf Unchanged
In the US, dietary supplements are sold and marketed with little regulatory oversight. Even when the Food and Drug Administration recalls dietary supplements found to contain banned substances the supplements are often are back on the market a year later with the same illicit ingredients.
Consumers are warned to be particularly wary of products containing a mixture of herbs or ingredients. These “herbal cocktails” are the most likely to be spiked with dangerous ingredients. It is safest to buy ingredients individually, rather than in combination.
Most recent faulty airbag recall the scariest so far
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s most recent recall of faulty airbags is one of the scariest. Takata airbags in certain Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors vehicles can rupture and blast metal fragments. At least four people have died in accidents related to the air bag problem. Check the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to see if your vehicle has been recalled and if it has, don’t delay – act immediately on recall notices to replace defective Takata airbags.
http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Owners/vin-lookup-sites
Another reason to love dogs – therapy dogs help special ed kids deal with anxiety and stress
Cali, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, is a cortisol detection dog working at Calais School, a special education school in Whippany, N.J. A service dog trained to detect cortisol – the stress hormone secreted by the adrenal glands when a person becomes agitated, stressed or anxious – Cali lets her handler know when a distressed student needs special attention. A few moments with Cali and her handler calms the student down and helps them refocus on learning. The Calais School is becoming a recognized leader in using service dogs in an educational setting for students with multiple learning disabilities. In addition to reducing stress and anxiety, service dogs in schools can help students by improving their social skills, motivating them, helping with language development, and enhancing their feeling of safely and well-being.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/stressed-this-dog-may-help/?ref=health
What to do if your car has been recalled
Move over GM, Fiat Chrysler has recalled 184,000 2014 Dodge Durangos and Jeep Grand Cherokees for a potential short circuit that may disable airbags and prevent them from deploying.
This National Highway Traffic Administration page allows you to search by your VIN number to see if a recall has been issued for your vehicle. http://www.nhtsa.gov/Vehicle+Safety/Recalls+&+Defects
If your vehicle has been recalled, you can follow the steps in this US News and World Report blog to get it repaired. http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-blog/2014/03/My_Car_was_Recalled_-_Now_What_Do_I_Do/
A sad statistic – this summer 7 children drown in Arizona pools/spas
From Memorial Day through Labor Day 2014, at least 174 children between the ages of 1 and 14 drowned in swimming pools or spas. Tragically, 7 of those children drowned here in Arizona.
Please teach your kids to swim and take this pool safety pledge together. http://www.poolsafely.gov/pledge/
October is National Seafood Month – here’s some seafood safety tips
Seafood tastes really good and can be part of a healthy diet but it is vital to handle seafood safely to avoid food poisoning. You can reduce your risk if you follow the basic food safety tips in the video in this FDA article on buying, preparing, and storing fish and shellfish.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/BuyStoreServeSafeFood/ucm077331.htm
Grant Road and Alvernon Way is Tucson’s most dangerous intersection for bicyclists
If you ride a bike in Tucson you may want to check out this bicycle crash database to learn where you need to be most careful. The site complies information from the City of Tucson and the Tucson Police Department to generate crash statistics, cyclist statistics and motorist statistics related to bike accidents in the city. The site identifies Congress Street and 6th as the most dangerous area and Grant Road and Alvernon Way as the most dangerous intersection.
Wash your hands! A respiratory virus is sending kids to the hospital
A pediatric respiratory illness associated with the common cold has spread from the Midwest to 38 states and may be making its way to Arizona. This particular type of enterovirus — EV-D68 — is uncommon but not new. It was first identified in the 1960s and there had been only 100 reported cases since then. It’s possible that the relatively low number might be because EV-D68 is hard to identify. Parents and kids are advised to wash hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds. Disinfect toys. Avoid sharing cups or utensils with sick children. Symptoms of the virus resemble a bad cold – body aches and a cough – but warning signs that a child requires immediate medical care are rapid or labored breathing that involves neck muscles, wheezing, complaining of chest pain, not being able to catch one’s breath, and blue lips. A baby who has to stop drinking from a bottle to breathe should be seen by a doctor. The sick child may not have a fever.
A visit to the emergency room may cost you much more than you expected
Heads up – even if you choose an in-network hospital for an emergency room visit you might end up with a hefty bill. Some patients are learning the hard way that their emergency room doctor is a private contractor who is out of network or does not accept any insurance plans. Unfortunately, patients have no choice about which physician they see when they go to an emergency room and it is nearly impossible to find out if they are in-network. “It’s very common and there’s little consumers can do to prevent it and protect themselves — it’s a roll of the dice,” said Stacey Pogue, a senior policy analyst with the nonpartisan Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, Texas.
Khalidi Law Firm wins 4th of Arizona’s top 10 verdicts for 2013
We’re proud that in 2013 our firm fought Tucson City Hall and won justice for the Rollings family. For more than 15 years, the family has sought compensation for catastrophic damage to their historic adobe buildings from the City’s leaking underground water distribution system.
Located in downtown Tucson, these adobe buildings are in the heart of historic Barrio Viejo, much of which was razed in the 1970’s during “urban revitalization”.
This was a complex – and interesting – case requiring testimony from experts in hydrology, soil science, structural engineering, water distribution systems and historic preservation. We brought in a high school teacher to help us make the experts’ technical information understandable to the jury.
The verdict of $2,945,158 was the 4th largest Arizona verdict in 2013. The case is currently under appeal.
http://www.azattorneymag-digital.com/azattorneymag/201406#pg43