The recall has been announced due to elevated levels of the heavy metal cadmium. Polish Groceries Galicha Ltd. is providing point-of-sale notices for display in retail shops that they supplied. No other products or batches are known to be affected by this recall.

The field safety notice notified users that a new part had to be fitted to the CPR release mechanism to prevent this issue from re-occurring in the future.

One customer in Ireland has already reported an incident in which the CPR release on a bed with new parts fitted failed to work in an emergency situation. An investigation carried out by the manufacturer indicated that the incident occurred because the replacement CPR release arm was not installed in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer.

Arjo Huntleigh issued a second field safety notice in October 2011. They have been unsuccessful in their attempts to date to locate all devices in Ireland affected by the safety corrective action notice.

The Irish Medicines Board has advised users as follows –

• Ensure the appropriate personnel are made aware of this notice.

• Identify the location of all affected bed frames.

• If your institution has affected medical devices please contact the manufacturer to arrange to carry out the required modification to the bed frame. 

If you or a loved one has been affected by this product please feel free to contact Liam Moloney, Product Liability Solicitor today on 045 898000 or by email at liammoloney@moloneysolicitors.ie

The study which is published in the British Medical Journal The  Lancert included almost 10,000 New York City fire fighters, most of whom were exposed to caustic dust and smoke created by the fall of the Twin Towers.

The findings indicate an “increased likelihood for the development of any type of cancer”, said Dr. David Prezant, the Chief Medical Officer for the New York City Fire Department who led the study.

The 9/11 Health and Compensation Act has set aside $4.3 billion to treat, compensate and monitor those suffering from health problems associated with the attacks and their aftermaths, like asthma and other respiratory ailments. US law requires officials to conduct various studies to assess whether to add illnesses to that list or not.

The study published by the British Medical Journal is the largest assessment of cancer to date and its impact on fire fighters who worked at Ground Zero.

The report studied cancer occurrence in nearly 10,000 male fire department personnel in the 7 years after September 11^th. There were 253 cancer patients in the exposed population, making a cancer rate of 19% higher than that of the group. The cancer rate of the exposed group is only 10% higher than that of American men overall. The group of fire fighters who were not exposed had a lower rate than the general population which the researchers said may be as a result of their overall physical fitness and low smoking rate.

The research team said that the findings should be interpreted cautiously because many cancers caused by exposure to substances found at the site, including asbestos and jet fuel, can take decades to manifest.

The study also published other reports related to the September 11^th attack, including one by researchers at the Mount Sinai Medical Centre showing persistence of respiratory, gastro intestinal and mental illness among rescue and recovery workers. It is felt that in time a connection between certain cancers and exposure to the trade centre site will be confirmed.

The taser gun is also used by certain members of An Garda Sìochana. In 2006 police were called when Stephen Butler, who had been drinking and wasn’t taking his anti psychotic medication, refused to get off a city bus. When he became hostile, the police fired a taser model X26 over his heart to subdue him. Mr. Butler went into cardiac arrest, paramedics revived him 18 minutes later, but only after the lack of oxygen caused him severe brain damage. Mr. Butler now requires full time care.

In Mr. Butler’s legal proceedings he claimed that Taser Inc. knew that its stun guns were dangerous if shot near the heart but trained police officers to do just that.

Taser had repeatedly argued that the devices were safe and that injuries occur only when a person has a pre-existing condition. Both sides of the case pointed to medical studies to support their positions.

Two studies which were done in 2006 found that pigs had abnormal cardiac rhythms or went into fibrillation when tasers were shot near their hearts. Scientists concluded that devices shouldn’t be used near the heart.

Even after the studies were released Taser updated its training materials to instruct officers to “aim for centre body mass” because it would debilitate but not hurt the subject.

This case is only the second case to reach a resolution. In 2008, a US jury found for the family of Robert Heston who died after being stunned by police 27 times. That case is currently under appeal.

Speaking today, Liam Moloney, Product Liability Solicitor in Naas, said, “this is a clear product liability case. The police officers would never have thought that Mr. Butler’s heart would stop. However, Gardaì need to be very careful when using the taser gun as permanent injuries can be caused to victims and the State may be liable for damages claims from injured people”.

If you have been injured with a taser gun you may be entitled to seek compensation from the State or Taser International. To find out more about your rights please contact Liam Moloney, Solicitor, at 045 898000 or simply log onto our website www.moloneysolicitors.ie for further information.

Workers do not, as was commonly previously believed, have to be doing the same thing all day long every day for the RSI to be actionable. Much physical work is not repetitive per se but does cause cumulative wear on a particular body part over time. Also, a worker’s job and age don’t always factor into whether a worker develops an RSI.

All orthopaedic injuries can result in repetitive stress, but if a construction worker exhibits any of the following conditions it may be an RSI.

• Tendonitis
• Bursitis
• Trigger finger
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Tennis elbow
• Hearing loss
• Tendonitis of the tendons that control thumb movement
• Chronic back pain
• Slipped disc

Employees suffering from these conditions typically argue that the degeneration of their body parts could have been prevented by modifying their work tasks. The employees allege that their employers should have made these modifications because they knew or should have known that workers were suffering from RSI, but they chose to forego making modifications or even warning workers about the potential health risk that could be associated with their job’s duties.

Rail road workers, electrical workers and construction workers of all types are exposed daily to risk factors that are generally recognised to cause orthopaedic cumulative trauma injuries. The rail road industry has known for many years about these risk factors yet it has often not taken sufficient steps to reduce these hazards. Some of the more common culprits are awkward posture or positioning, standing still for an extended time, poorly designed equipment, repetition of movement, vibrations, exposures to the same temperatures, bending over and a lack of mandatory rotation of job duties.

Any job in these industries has the potential to lead to an RSI. However, some of the more common causes are walking on ballets (the raised space on which the tracks lie) constantly lifting excessive weights, repairing rail road tracks and operating kango hammers and drills.

Employers should conduct an ergonomic assessment of the work tasks that have caused multiple injuries. Companies have accepted that they must review all injury claims to analyse which task is causing the RSI so that it can be changed. The failure to conduct a thorough ergonomic evaluation of the work place puts employees at risk of permanent disability.

Most ergonomic experts agree that the science involves designing work place tools and equipment to make them more user-friendly and safe for workers. Changing the way work tasks are done is considered and administrative change, changing tools or equipment is an engineering change. For example, a change in seat design for bus drivers has helped with back pain and other occupational injuries.

Repetitive strain injuries are common place in Ireland and if an injured person does not seek legal advice their ability to recover compensation can be severely restrictive. It is important that the injury is diagnosed correctly and that expert engineering advice is obtained to prove that the injury was caused as a result of the negligence of your employer.

If you feel that you have suffered a repetitive strain injury you should immediately contact Liam Moloney, Solicitor in Naas, today on 045 898000 or simply onto our website at www.moloneysolicitors.ie for further information.