On August 14, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (the “Act”). This legislation, sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR), comes a year after last summer’s recalls of millions of toys. It took the recalls and the deaths and hospitalizations of children resulting from magnets, collapsing cribs, lead trinkets, and toys filled with poisonous liquids to spur the federal government into action. The Chicago Tribune deserves (more…)
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Good News for Consumers – Congress Reforms the CPSC – Food Safety Must Be Next
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008Heparin Contamination – Another Case Study for Corporate Social Responsibility
Friday, March 21st, 2008Nineteen deaths and nearly 800 life-threatening allergic reactions may be linked to contaminated heparin sold by Baxter International Inc. (“Baxter”) of Deerfield, Illinois. Heparin is used as a blood thinner in cardiac surgery and kidney dialysis. On March 20, 2008, (more…)
Lead and Magnets – More News from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008On March 18, 2008, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Reebok International Ltd. will pay a $ 1,000,000 civil penalty for importing and distributing charm bracelets that contained toxic levels of lead. In March 2006, a four year old boy from Minneapolis swallowed the bracelet’s heart shaped pendant and died.
The penalty is the largest for a violation of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), which bans toxic levels of lead in toys and other children’s products. Reebok denied that it violated federal law in settling the matter according to the CPSC.
The million dollar fine will not bring the boy back to life. The CPSC took two years, since his tragic death to (more…)
Secession and Self-Determination – The United States and Serbia Compared
Sunday, March 16th, 2008In 1619, a ship carrying African slaves landed at Jamestown, Virginia. Even though Congress had banned the future importation of slaves in 1807; the abolition of slavery itself could not be resolved through political negotiations. The Southern states (more…)
