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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.
Earlier this month, the Associated Press exposed yet another disturbing Chinese trade secret when it reported that some manufacturers in China are making children’s jewelry with the highly toxic metal cadmium. Children’s jewelry now joins the growing list of dangerous and sometimes deadly products pouring into the United States from China – a list that includes toys covered with lead paint, pet food and baby formula tainted with melamine, sulfuric drywall that has ruined thousands of homes, and other poorly made or defective merchandise.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world’s largest retailer, is pulling items of children’s jewelry known or suspected to be manufactured with high levels of toxic cadmium from store shelves. The move follows an Associated Press investigation published earlier this week which found some China-based manufacturers were creating children’s jewelry with varying amounts of cadmium — a heavy medal considered by the federal government to be one of the most toxic substances on earth.
On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s priority list of the 275 most toxic substances in the environment, the heavy metal cadmium is ranked seventh. Unfortunately, in an investigative report, the Associated Press found that cadmium is being used in large quantities to make children’s jewelry and other products that are sold in the United States. The country of origin for almost all of these products is China.
Toys with lead paint, contaminated food, toxic drywall, defective all-terrain vehicles – these are just some of the Chinese exports that have spawned massive safety recalls and personal injury lawsuits in the last couple of years. In 2007, made-in-China products accounted for more than 82% of all U.S. consumer product recalls. Assuming that U.S.-China trade relations remain normal, what will the future of the American marketplace look like in 5 or 10 years? Will it be rife with all sorts of defective and dangerous imports or will Chinese manufacturers eventually embrace what it means to make a “quality” product?
Off-label marketing is an illegal yet commonly employed sales strategy that some big pharmaceutical companies practice to broaden the appeal of a drug and boost sales. One of the most blatant examples of off-label marketing involved Bayer Healthcare’s blockbuster birth control pill Yaz. Bayer promoted the drug as a treatment for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) symptoms and to clear up moderate cases of acne when the FDA approved it as birth control only. Bayer stopped the deceptive marketing of Yaz when the FDA cited it for false and misleading advertising.
Chinese drywall manufacturer Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd., the company accused of producing and then exporting toxic, sulfuric wallboard to the United States, was found to be in default during a preliminary trial in New Orleans after it failed to respond to a lawsuit filed by an Alabama home builder in June. The Mobile-based Mitchell Company, a builder of residential and commercial properties, alleges it used Taishan’s toxic drywall extensively in its homes. The company filed a motion earlier this month asking the court for a default judgment against the company.
An investigative report by CBS reveals the lengths some big corporations will go to conceal evidence that casts the company and its products in a dubious light. The report features Dimitrios Biller, a former attorney for Toyota, who accuses the car manufacturer of withholding and destroying evidence in more than 300 rollover and roof crush lawsuits. Biller alleges Toyota took measures to hide evidence “of its vehicles’ structural shortcomings,” an effort which he claims amounted to a “ruthless conspiracy.”
Chrysler Group LLC, formed when Chrysler LLC reorganized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last spring, changed its stance on lawsuits filed by or on behalf of drivers and passengers who were injured in pre-bankruptcy Chrysler model vehicles. The new Chrysler says it will now assume accountability for the older cars and trucks. The old Chrysler faced 160 lawsuits filed by people injured in defective Chrysler vehicles – lawsuits that the company originally intended to leave behind in bankruptcy court.
If it’s not lead in paint or melamine in dog food, then perhaps it’s poisonous drywall? The latest batch of toxic Chinese imports – some 550 million pounds of highly sulfuric drywall – has found its way into homes throughout the U.S. and even Canada. The cheap Chinese drywall flooded into the U.S. during the building boom, beginning in 2004, and peaked as the bustling economy and Hurricane Katrina put a strain on domestically manufactured drywall. Most of the affected homes appear to be in Florida, but newly constructed homes in several states and beyond are also affected.
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