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

Children’s furniture manufacturer Munire of Piscataway, N.J., has recalled 3,000 cribs and 6,000 pieces of matching furniture. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that a child fell ill after ingesting some of the paint off a piece of Munire furniture. The child was diagnosed with lead poisoning, prompting investigators to examine the child’s crib. Paint samples taken from the child’s furniture showed that the finish violates federal lead paint standard.

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An activist and advocate for higher automobile roof strength standards believes that the federal government’s latest delay will ultimately benefit the consumer.

As we have reported in the past, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a branch of the Department of Transportation, decided in 2005 to boost its archaic standards for roof strength, issuing a deadline of mid-2008 to accomplish that.

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An Indiana man who was injured on the job has been awarded $48 million in damages. 42-year-old Anthony Arciniega of Westville, Indiana, fell from a ladder at ISG Burns Harbor, the steel mill (now known as ArcelorMittal) where he is employed. The fall, which occurred on November 20, 2004, rendered Mr. Arciniega paralyzed from the waist down.

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In November, we reported that federal U.S. standards for vehicle roof safety were dangerously low, and that the decision to raise the standards, even just to a level still inferior to that of many foreign auto manufacturers, has been continually delayed. Then, just yesterday we speculated as to whether a bailout of the auto industry would mean better, safer American cars.

Unfortunately, it looks as if the Department of Transportation is just as dysfunctional as the American auto industry in its ability to do the right thing … or anything at all.

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The safety problems that plagued the Ford Explorer and Bridgestone/Firestone tires earlier in the decade have resurfaced in court, according to the Southeast Texas Record.

Relatives of a man killed in a Ford Explorer accident in November 2005 are suing both Ford Motor Company and Bridgestone/Firestone as well as the driver of the Explorer, Ana Herrera.

Ricardo Garcia died of injuries he sustained when the 1998 Explorer he was a passenger in rolled over multiple times. The driver, Ana Herrera, lost control of the vehicle on an Arkansas road. Herrera’s Explorer rolled several times when she attempted to return the vehicle to the road.

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With the Big Three on such uncertain and unsteady ground, it’s anyone’s guess what the future of American auto manufacturing will look like a couple of years from now. Will our car companies still exist, and if so, what will they and the cars they manufacture look like? Will they be fuel efficient, cleaner, and any safer than they are now?

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Melamine, the nitrogen-rich substance that found its way into pet food and treats and, more recently, infant formula and other milk products in China, continues to make appearances in unexpected places.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall of teddy bears sold at Walgreens stores. The 9-inch high Christmas toy bears are sold as “Dressy Teddy Bears” and come with 4-ounce chocolate bars that are believed to contain melamine.

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On July 15, three-year-old Caprice Robinson and her mother, Diaarra Griffin, were making their daily hour-long commute in Atlanta. Caprice grabbed her mother’s hand and the two stepped onto the escalator at the Kensington MARTA station – just another small part of the daily routine they had done so many times before.

This time, however, Caprice began to scream in pain within second of stepping onto the escalator.

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After the trampling of a 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee on Black Friday, there is bound to be a lot of finger pointing. Some people who were hurt in the incident blame not just Wal-Mart but the Nassau County Police Department as well. The police, the grocery worker’s union, and others blame Wal-Mart. And Wal-Mart seems to be shrugging its shoulders as if to suggest it’s never before heard of mob mentality and crowd control.

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A man and his son who were caught in the crowd that stormed the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart have now filed a lawsuit against the retail chain for injuries they sustained in the Black Friday incident. The stampede of anxious customers took down the Wal-Mart’s doors as employees began to unlock them, killing one 34-year-old employee.

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