ThePopTort

CPSC Releases 2nd Chinese Drywall Report; Corrosion Link Cited

The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) released a sequel to its previous report about Chinese drywall yesterday—and surprise, surprise, it found a “strong association” between the chemicals in Chinese drywall and the corrosion of wires in proximity of the stuff.

The Council was somewhat more tentative when it came to addressing health concerns of those exposed to the drywall.  Said CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson:  "We can say that we believe that there's a number of different chemicals that when brought together can be related to some of these irritant health effects that we've been getting reports of….But we're still working toward that exact nexus."  However, the CPSC also advised those with Chinese drywall in their homes to “[s]pend as much time outdoors in fresh air as possible.”

Meanwhile, the civil justice implications of these findings remain unclear. “Thousands of homeowners who bought new houses built with the imported Chinese building product are finding their lives in limbo as hundreds of lawsuits against builders, contractors, suppliers and manufacturers wind through the courts.”  Yet just one manufacturer, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjian, has “agreed to be served with a federal class-action lawsuit and not force plaintiffs to go through international legal channels.”  Still others “with corrosive drywall from China in their homes are in a bind because their builders have gone bankrupt and it's not clear whether they can be held liable.” 
 
In the meantime, the CPSC “along with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, continues to study the potential health effects, and the long-term implications of the corrosion.”

Feds Order Columbia to Inform Drug Study Patients the “True Nature” of Their Risk

As if we needed more evidence of the horrific effect potential profits can have over patient safety, not to mention the epidemic of medical malpractice in this country…there’s a crazy and horrendous investigative piece just published exclusively by the Huffington Post.

The article details a two-year medical study at Columbia involving some 200 or so open-heart surgery patients who were part of a clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of several “blood expanders” (commonly used for patients who lost significant quantities of blood).  At least two patients died.  Here’s how it starts:

The man who would be known as Patient No. 1 emerged from routine open-heart surgery at Columbia University Medical Center in stable condition. Then he began to bleed uncontrollably. Surgeons rushed him back to the operating room to reopen his chest, but by the time they could stop the hemorrhaging, Patient No. 1 was barely breathing and in a coma.

On Aug. 15, 2000, shortly before he was discharged on his way to a nursing home, a physician wrote a terse final diagnosis in his chart: "Medical disaster."

Patient No. 1, along with more than 200 other open-heart surgery patients, was part of a two-year medical study at Columbia that government regulators now say was carried out with ethical and regulatory mistakes and may have caused harm to some patients.

What’s more, the study “was indirectly funded by a pharmaceutical company.”   Sound familiar?

Check out the full story on the Huffington Post.

In the News

Lead story in today’s New York Times about primary care doctor shortages.  Neither medical malpractice  insurance nor lawsuits are even mentioned as reasons for doctor shortages - and none of the typical complaining specialties (OB-GYN’s, surgeons) are mentioned either - except to say that specialties aren’t having shortages!

In the wake of the Wall Street meltdown, U.S. Supremes to hear arguments about whether state AG’s can investigate national banks that discriminate.

Florida Senate considers bill that “seeks to ban vaccines containing mercury” despite a bad ruling. 

South Florida Sun-Sentinel warns that delays in enforcing CPSIA standards mean parents should remain on guard against existing hazards.

And several good stories from last week that we should tell you about:

Major environmental victory as Shell Oil settles air pollution lawsuit—agreeing to reduce emissions from air pollutants by 80 percent within three years.

Utah Supreme Court says a state law that reduces workers’ comp. for people over 65 (who qualify for Social Security) amounts to unconstitutional age discrimination.

Another bad ruling from the U.S. Supremes upholding mandatory arbitration for union members in ageism disputes.

Another Starbucks employee wage dispute may be granted class-action status—this time in Florida. 

Last Thursday, U.S. Senate said no to capping whistleblower awards for citizens who bring False Claims Act lawsuits to recoup taxpayer money lost to fraud. 

Documents filed in lawsuit reveal, “Global Climate Coalition, a group representing industries with profits tied to fossil fuels, led an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign against the idea that emissions of heat-trapping gases could lead to global warming,” despite receiving contrary evidence from its own experts.

Oklahoma county settles with man whose jailers refused to dispense prescribed medications and kept him in a “restraint chair,” ultimately requiring his legs to be amputated.

Pennsylvania hospital found liable after failing to follow treatment standards for a cyst removal that put a woman in a coma.

Story about dirty VA hospital equipment, which exposed 11,000 vets to infectious diseases, gets worse and worse as frustration mounts over the alleged “lack of information” being provided by the VA.

And finally, here we go again.  As with Katrina and Rita, insurance companies are making life even more unbearable for Hurricane Ike survivors in South Texas.