Vlaw Legal and Consumer News

In an age where identity theft and other scams are prolific, seniors are targeted much more frequently than most other groups. Whether these scams claim to provide medicare discount cards, donations to charities, prizes, or cheap drugs, they all are directed at seniors who have a lifetime of savings to lose. One Western Illinois group is trying to help.
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A product designed to safely warm bottles and food for infants has turned out to be a fire hazard. The “Deluxe Bottle and Food Warmer,” manufactured by Munchkin Inc., of North Hills, California was recalled on Thursday after several reports of the product igniting in flame.
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Hundreds of dune buggies were recalled earlier this week after a rider suffered nerve damage in an accident caused by a malfunctioning seat belt. The recall comes as a joint announcement from TJ Power Sports, a Texas-based company, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The “Twister Hammerhead” dune buggy was sold all across the country, as well as online from July 2004 to December 2004 for approximately $3,000.
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Doctors need to be reminding their patients about possible confusion with asthma medication, which could put people’s health in danger. The agency says that the asthma medications Spiriva and Foradil both have the potential to be administered incorrectly. While the mistake does not do direct harm to the person as a result of ingesting the drugs, it also does not help their respiratory condition as the medications are intended to do.
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An antibody used to help patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis may cause serious liver injury that leads to death, according to a safety alert from the FDA. Tysabri us manufactured by Biogen Idec and Elan Pharmaceuticals. These companies, along with the FDA, are sending letters to health care professionals to warn them of the drug’s potentially deadly consequences.
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The IRS is warning consumers of emails and phone calls claiming to be from their agency. The first round of scam warnings went out in the time right before most people were expecting their income tax returns. Now, the Economic Stimulus Payments are the source of the fraud warning.
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Canadian telemarketers are being fined $4,997,695.60 by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for practicing telemarketing fraud on United States Consumers. The FTC says that three men and a handful of companies were involved in scams that required consumers to pay advance fees (up to $316) to receive credit cards, cell phones and computers– none of which were ever delivered to the American consumers.
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By now, American consumers are used to hearing about product recalls that center around children’s goods, specifically lead paint and choking hazards. However, “grown up toys” are recalled more often than one might expect for a different, yet very serious, type of hazard: laceration.
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For the first time since heparin was recalled, those who lost loved ones to the dialysis drug testified before Congress earlier this week. A House subcommittee heard from families of some of the more than 80 people who died because of the tainted drug. They told stories of painful and irreversible decline in just a course of hours.

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A Wheeling, Ill., pet food company may be producing food that could give pets botulism, according to the FDA. Inspections of Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Co., Inc. revealed that the company had not properly documented many of the necessary steps for the production of a low acid canned food, known as LACF.
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