Consumer Awareness

People who bought certain kinds of flooring from Lumber Liquidators “are potentially at a greater risk of cancer than previous[ly] thought,” according to a warning from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), perhaps as much as three times higher. The sale of certain types of laminate flooring has been halted and customers are being offered air quality tests. The flooring in question is manufactured in China and reportedly has too high a concentration of formaldehyde…

Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health care products, was slammed with a $72 million verdict by a Missouri jury for the death of an Alabama woman who died from ovarian cancer caused by the company’s well-known baby powder and other products containing talcum. The verdict, that was handed down Monday, February 22, 2016, is reported to be the first of among some 1,200 cases nationally involving this product and others that reportedly…

A popular gift for the upcoming holidays is the much-touted “hoverboard,” a self-balancing scooter that many young people like to use as a method of simple transportation. However, a grave concern over the possibility of these vehicles exploding has led officials in the United Kingdom to confiscate 15,000 of them at ports and airports in recent months. The media is reporting that officers from the U.K.’s Trading Standards have inspected more than 17,000 and have…

It’s estimated that as many as one million drones will be given as holiday gifts in the next few weeks, according to an article in Popular Mechanics. Aside from the issue that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is going to have to deal with thousands and thousands of new small unmanned aerial systems in the air, many of those who receive these gifts are children, according to the Business Insider. The National Geographic even published…

Volkswagen’s CEO has apologized for cheating on emission standards of various models that it claimed had “clean diesel” engines that delivered better performance and low emissions, when, in fact, the car maker was accused last week of defrauding environmental regulators. Martin Winterkorn issued the statement Sunday (Sept. 20, 2015), adding that VW is cooperating with authorities and has commissioned an external probe, according to The Wall Street Journal. The German car maker also reportedly has…

It is being reported that Coumadin, the popular prescription blood thinning drug, is a particular problem in nursing homes and requires careful calibration in that too much can cause uncontrolled bleeding and too little threatens the development of life-threatening clots. A story in the Washington Post reported that at least 165 nursing homes residents were hospitalized or died following errors from ingesting Coumadin or its generic version, warfarin, from 2011 to 2014. The reporter, Charles…

Asbestos is a known carcinogen that reportedly kills up to 15,000 Americans every year. And it’s still legal to put it in products. But is was a bit surprising to find asbestos in children’s crayons, according to tests commissioned by EWG Action Fund, a 501(c0(4) organization. The EWG (Environmental Working Group) Action Fund’s mission is to protect the health of people and the environment by educating the public and lobbying on a wide range of…

Consumer Reports 2015 rankings is considered a place to start when looking at hospital safety. Recently, the publication released its rankings of what it considers to be the safest hospitals in the state. Consumer Reports uses data from various state and federal sources to rate patient safety at Illinois’ 176 hospitals; however, for some, insufficient data existed. The safety scores are on a 100-point scale for key measures regarding patient safety such as hospital-acquired infections,…

The United States is the largest medical device market in the world with sales expected to reach $133 billion by 2016. In most cases, medical devices save and improve lives. Unfortunately, not all devices undergo the same rigorous review process before hitting the market. A number of new medical devices can and do bypass scrutiny by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through a fast-track approval process called the 510(k) program. If a manufacturer…