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National Steel firm fined £1.98million for safety failings
Tata Steel has been fined as two workers suffered hand injuries on two separate incidents involving machinery.
A 52-year-old employee lost part of his little finger when his left hand was caught in an inadequately guarded machine while undergoing refresher training. A 25 year old employee also lost two thirds of his left hand and his middle and ring fingers while trying to unblock a steel tube manufacturing line that also did not have suitable guarding. These were two separate incidents.
Such incidents should not be occurring in a well established firm like Tata Steel, and the result is significant fines for clear health and safety failings.
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Risk of explosion identified in ZeniPower hearing aid batteries
A medical device alert has been issued by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for ZeniPower mercury-free batteries manufactured by Zhuhai Zhi Li Battery Co Ltd.
The affected batteries are said to cause a “low risk” of explosion due to excessive gassing causing the battery to expand and then possibly explode as the zinc electrodes react with the electrolyte to generate hydrogen.
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Update on our 56 Dean Street Clinic action – settlements will be available
We’re now at an advanced stage of our action for justice for many victims of the 56 Dean Street Clinic, where an email was sent to almost 800 users of an online service for HIV sufferers without the details (names, email addresses) of all recipients being obscured.
As we speak, we’re still taking cases on, we are now at an advanced stage having successfully persuaded the NHS to agree to pay compensation.
It’s important to understand that our action is against the NHS as data controllers for systemic failures, and we do not blame the staff who sent the email (read on for more about this).
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Heart Surgery survival rate under scrutiny at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham
According to information from The Guardian, statistics for survival rates of heart surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham are being investigated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Whilst final reports are yet to emerge and the hospital themselves are yet to address any potential issues, figures potentially show that 17 more people died than should have in the last three years at the unit.
Whilst the numbers may seem small, any problem (if there is one) of any scale is of no comfort to family members of anyone who has not survived heart surgery at the hospital.
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Thousands may look to claim for dangerous Whirlpool Tumble Dryers linked to fires
In November last year, electrical giant Whirlpool accepted that thousands of their large air vented tumble dryers and condensing tumble dryers may pose a potential fire risk when fluff catches the heating element. Despite this, they have yet to initiate a recall, and we are so far only seeing a product safety alert with the risk of fire being described as ‘rare’.
Now, thousands of owners are waiting for repairs, with some who have had fires waiting to claim money back that has been claimed form their insurers.
The recall affects potentially five million Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda brands sold between 2004 and 2015.
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Bigen Hair Dye removed from shelves over fears it can harm unborn babies and women’s fertility
The EU’s Rapid Alert System (Rapex) has issued a European-wide alert concerning Bigen Hair Dye products that have been found to contain a toxin that can damage unborn babies and harm women’s fertility.
It is believed that the dangerous ingredient sodium perborate is contained within the product which has sparked immediate removal form shelves from supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury’s who are known to sell the product.
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Several commuters injured in Reading Railway Station escalator accident
According to news reports, more than 40 people have been injured at Reading Railway Station at around 7:30am at platform 14 during the busy commuting hours on Wednesday 6th January 2016.
In a nightmarish start to the year, several people walking up the stationary escalators ended up in a heap when the stairs suddenly started moving backwards at pace. Some of those at the top were able to rush off or jump to the side, but many were caught in the middle and ended up in a heap at the base of the escalators.
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News reports have emerged about allegations against two doctors practising under the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust who allegedly administered extra strong doses of chemotherapy to patients who apparently didn’t need the treatment. All forms of chemotherapy come with horrendous side effects, but there are forms of cancer that it can do little for.
According to reports, 55 patients were administered with the allegedly needless treatment, suffering awful side effects like nausea, loss of fertility, and fatal infections.
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Our Medical and Product Lawyers have a lot of experience in fighting for the rights of those affected by medical device recalls and claims. We have acted for a large number of victims of the PIP breast implant scandal where millions have been recovered in damages for victims.
We recently blogged on the Silimed investigation where contaminant particles were found on devices following an inspection. In an update from the MHRA, a number of Coloplast A/S devices that were made by their subcontractor Silimed lndustria de lmplantes Ltda have had their CE mark revoked.
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CE safety certification removed for Silimed implants
Just three years after the PIP breast implant scandal which saw thousands of people claiming worldwide, another major investigation in to implant safety has been launched.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and other European healthcare product regulators are conducting an ‘urgent investigation’ in to implants manufactured by the Brazilian company Silimed after concerns realised in a recent inspection of their production facilities.
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