Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said it is notifying the owners and managers of about 15,000 workplaces that their rate of employee injury is exceedingly high compared to other similar companies. OSHA uses data, known as the DART rate (Days Away, Restrictions and Transfers) to determine which businesses have the highest number of illnesses and injury resulting in days away from work, restricted work activities, or job transfers.

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At a time when the news is full of reports of cars accelerating out of control and crashing, drivers texting behind the wheel and car roofs crushed in deadly rollovers, here’s some welcome news: the number of people killed in U.S. traffic accidents is the lowest since 1954.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning health care professionals, hospital personnel and patients that counterfeit flat sheets of polypropylene surgical mesh are being marketed in the United States and labeled with the C.R. Bard/Davol brand name. Four products have been identified to date as not being Bard-manufactured products. These products are used to reinforce soft tissue where weakness exists in the repair of hernias and chest wall defects.

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A Frankfort, Illinois man was killed while conducting pressure tests for Peoples Gas in Chicago Wednesday. According to Chicago Fire Department authorities, Mike Gryga, 41, and his fellow workers, also employees of Peoples Gas, were performing an air pressure test on a section of a 20-inch gas pipe in downtown Chicago below Jackson Boulevard and Wacker Drive at the time of the accident.

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The owner of two construction crane and rigging companies and a mechanic have been indicted on manslaughter charges after a 200-foot construction crane crashed onto a New York City apartment, killing 2 men and seriously injuring a third.

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Several food products on store shelves have misleading labels that violate federal law, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning companies to change those labels within 15 days or the agency will pull those products from grocery store shelves. The FDA sent warning letters to 17 different food makers last week demanding swift compliance.

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When Joshua Brantner was 20 years old, he attended a party that changed his life forever. He arrived as a healthy, ordinary guy but left in an ambulance with a traumatic brain injury that severely impaired his mental and physical functions.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has developed a legal template that will help states develop legislation banning the act of texting behind the wheel. The sample law is modeled after the Executive Order issued by President Obama in October of last year that prohibited federal employees from texting while driving.

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March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and this year the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is calling attention to concussions, which are often overlooked, ignored, or not taken seriously. To help boost awareness of concussions and the threats they pose, especially to children and adolescents, the BIAA is launching a year-long education and advocacy campaign called under the banner “A concussion is a brain injury. Get the facts.”

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning health care professionals and patients about a potentially serious side effect on the heart from use of two antiviral medications when given together to treat HIV infection. The warning is based on preliminary data from a clinical trial that suggests that Invirase (saquinavir) in combination with Norvir (ritonavir) may cause prolongation of the QT and PR intervals on an electrocardiogram. This prolongation may lead to abnormal heart rhythms such as torsades de pointes and heart block. These conditions may cause lightheadedness, fainting, or abnormal heart beats. In some cases, torsades de pointes may progress to a life-threatening irregular heat beat known as ventricular fibrillation.

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