Access To Justice

News developments that we’ll be watching at Sokolove Law:

Radiation from computerized tomography or CT scans performed in 2007 will cause an estimated 29,000 cancers that will result in the deaths of 15,000 Americans, warns a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Two-thirds of the projected cancers will occur in women, one-third in people ages 35-54 at the time of their CT, and 15 percent in children or teens, according to a Reuters article. About 70 million CT scans were done on Americans in 2007.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled millions of Roman shades and blinds today after receiving reports of several strangulation deaths in young children. CPSC has received reports of five deaths and 16 near strangulations, since 2006, in Roman shades, and three deaths, since 2001, in roll-up blinds. The CPSC and the Window Covering Safety Council are working to provide repair kits for the recalled shades, which were sold by retailers including Wal-Mart, Pottery Barn, Ace Hardware, West Elm, The Land of Nod, and JCPenney.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton will carry the ball in a class-action lawsuit against Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd., says a blog post at The Times-Picayune. Knauf is a Chinese company that made drywall that is believed to be corroding homes and making people sick. Payton, the suit’s lead plaintiff, was one of the first in Louisiana to link media reports of defective Chinese drywall to his family’s health problems and the failure of electrical and other equipment in his home. It is estimated that at least 550 million pounds of Chinese drywall has been imported into the United States since 2006 — enough to build 60,000 average-size homes.

Resolving Paxil lawsuits has cost GlaxoSmithKline almost $1 billion, according to a Bloomberg News report that cites court records and people familiar with the cases. This figure includes $390 million to settle suicide or attempted suicide cases linked to the anti-depressant drug, and $200 million to settle Paxil addiction and birth-defect cases. Bloomberg says Glaxo declined to confirm the $1 billion figure. Paxil went on the market in 1993.

Nursing home administrators in Illinois may soon face tougher disciplinary sanctions in cases of patient harm in their facilities as state officials push to improve elder safety. The Chicago Tribune writes that administrators are now seldom punished by the state entity charged with licensing them and other professional nursing home staff, despite reports of elder abuse.

Keep those you love protected from harm. At Sokolove Law, we’re here to help.