accident injury blog

Polaris Industries Inc. has been forced to recall about 800 snowmobiles because at least eight riders have lost control of the vehicles.

According to a Consumer Product Safety Commission release, the 2009 Polaris Assault snowmobile is being recalled. Bolts on the rear suspension can break causing the rail tip to become dislodged and interfere with the snowmobile’s track. This can cause the track to lock up and the rider to lose control of the snowmobile, posing a risk of injury.

Polaris has received at least eight reports of drivers losing control of their vehicles when the rail tips broke. Two riders were ejected from the snowmobile, but no one has been injured yet.

This recall involves 2009 Polaris 800 Assault RMK 146 snowmobiles model numbers S09PL8EE and S09PL8ES. “Assault 800” is printed on the snowmobile’s hood. “Polaris” is written on the seat. The model number is located on the right side of the tunnel below the seat. The snowmobiles are red and black.

The snowmobiles were sold at Polaris dealers since September 2008 for about $10,600.

Polaris has notified all registered owners of the snowmobiles and anyone who may have purchased one through a private owner should contact a Polaris dealer to schedule a free repair.

Marine Tech Products Inc. has been forced to recall about 450 Tabletop Rope Cutters because they can overheat, posing a burn hazard to consumers.

The company has received at least four reports of the rope cutters overheating. No injuries or property damage accompanied those incidents.

The products are used to cut and cauterize rope. This recall includes MarineTech part number 75-7070 and West Marine part number 559419. The Marine Tech part number is located on the side of the rope cutter. “Panther” is printed on the rope cutter.

Rope cutters were sold at West Marine stores nationwide from December 2006 until April 2009 for about $100.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is urging all residents to exercise the utmost caution with fireworks during the Independence Day holiday.

In making its annual appeal for safety with fireworks during the weeks surrounding July 4, the CPSC also announced that fireworks-related accidents and deaths decreased from 2007 to 2008.

According to the CPSC, seven people died from fireworks accidents last year and more than 7,000 visited emergency rooms. In 2007, 11 people died and more than 11,000 visited the hospital because of fireworks.

A surgeon at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration hospital admitted he incorrectly implanted radioactive seeds during prostate surgeries.

This error - which occurred nearly 100 times in 3 years at the Philadelphia VA - causes prostate cancer patients to receive incorrect doses of radiation.

The physician, Dr. Gary D. Kao, said the mistake is commonplace during prostate cancer surgeries, and that he’s not going to be labeled a “scapegoat” for problems at the VA in Philadelphia.

Ever since the revelation of horrid conditions inside the Walter Reed Medical Center where returning soldiers were being treated, VA hospitals in the South and now in Philadelphia have been exposed for shoddy conditions inside, and for numerous botched operations and other surgical procedures.

Kao has admitted that he intentionally did not tell patients of his errors, which occurred in nearly all his prostate surgeries performed at the VA.

Tennessee Valley Authority officials tried to provide answers last week to a report explaining why a coal fly ash retention pond at one of its coal-fired power plants failed.

The fly ash spill at a Kingston, Tenn., TVA facility sent millions of gallons of toxic fly ash slurry into two nearby rivers and into a nearby community.

According to a report released last week, one of the main reasons why the retention pond failed was an undetected layer of unstable ash sludge. The layer remained undetected for decades and was about 6 inches thick.

TVA appears on-the-hook for several other leading contributors to the fly ash spill last December: the construction of retaining walls on the top of the ash, the saturation of stored ash and the pressure exerted by existing stacks at the Kingston power plant.

Internal wall failures in the retention pond eventually made their way to the external wall, leading to the failure.

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control, has released a guide for doctors and others dealing with questions about Chinese drywall.

The agency also said that short-term exposure to sulfur gases, which have been found in Chinese drywall, can cause symptoms that resemble the complaints voiced by residents.

Longer exposures can result in fatigue, loss of appetite, irritability, poor memory, insomnia and dizziness.

In addition, testing found low levels of hydrogen sulfide seeping from the drywall, which can combine with moisture and oxygen in lungs to become sulfuric acid.

DEWALT Industrial Took Co. has been forced to recall about 9,000 framing nailers because a malfunction poses a risk of serious injury.

The recall involves the DEWALT D51825 and D51850 Framing Nailers. The first is sold as a Clipped Head Framing Nailer, and the latter as a Full Round Head Framing Nailer.

According to a release from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the bump action trigger on the framing nailers could have been incorrectly assembled during production, allowing the nailer to eject a fastener unexpectedly or cause the trigger lock-off not to function. This poses a serious injury hazard to users and people nearby.

The nailers were sold at wholesale distributors and retailers nationwide from January 2008 until September 2008 for about $280.

Poseidon has announced a voluntary recall of about 300 Besea W50 Diving Wings with Poseidon Inner Bladders.

The wings are distributed by Poseidon West, of West Lake Village, California, Poseidon Central, of Conroe, Texas, and American Divers Division, of Alexandria Bay, N.Y.

The inner bladder located inside the diving wing can break, causing the wing to fail to operate as a floating/buoyancy device, posing a drowning hazard to divers.

Poseidon has received 15 reports of inner bladders breaking. No injuries have been reported.

The wings were manufactured in Sweden.

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has discovered that his suburban New Orleans house has defective Chinese drywall installed.

Following an offseason practice on Thursday, the coach said he has moved his family out of his Mandeville house.

Use of Chinese drywall in the US surged earlier this decade, peaking in 2006, when many homes in south Louisiana were gutted and repaired following Hurricane Katrina.

Payton is suing the drywall manufacturer, the supplier and the home builder, but does not expect to receive compensation until well after he has paid up front to replace the walls in the home he owns.

The NTSB had recommended three years ago that Washington’s Metro system replace the type of rail car involved in Monday’s crash that killed nine and injured 80.

The NTSB made the recommendation because they felt the cars were vulnerable to catastrophic damage in a collision.

Metro officials, however, said they couldn’t afford to get rid of the cars, some of which have been in service since the subway system opened in 1976.

Monday’s accident was the deadliest in Metro’s 33-year history. The union is providing grief counseling for employees while investigators start the early stages of their inquiry.