The dent in Toyota’s reputation deepened Tuesday when the reeling auto giant announced two more recalls to eliminate the possibility of momentarily failing brakes in hybrids and leaking brake tubes in another model.

Toyota said the company would conduct a voluntary safety recall on the 2010 flagship hybrid, the Prius, and the Lexus HS 250h sedan to “update” software in the anti-lock brake system so it would get rid of inconsistent brake feel that has alarmed some drivers.

Toyota also disclosed that it would launch a recall on some 2010 Camry models to inspect conditions that could trigger a brake fluid leak and increase stopping distances for motorists.

The company will send notices to the 3,582 owners of Prius and HS250h hybrids and 393 drivers of the early-production, four-cylinder Camry models for the free repairs and inspections.

Although the latest recalls don’t involve a high number of cars, they mark the third and fourth time that Toyota has sent notices for repairs in less than three months.

The recalls now total 8.1 million vehicles internationally.

If you or someone you know was a victim throughout these recalls either through the negligence or mistakes of the Toyota company, it is important you find the right legal representation.

It won’t due to simply approach a local personal injury lawyer who has no experience in lawsuits of this magnitude. Allow the Hayes Firm to connect you with the real movements that can hold Toyota responsible.  Contact us now for your free consultation.

For more information regarding the recent recalls visit our website. http://www.dreamlegalteam.com/toyota_brake_and_floor_mat_recall/attorneys_and_lawyers.html

Recently, Toyota announced two safety recalls that cover some of its models. Both recall campaigns address conditions related to the accelerator pedal. The first recall, “Floor Mat Entrapment,” regards the potential for an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat to interfere with the accelerator pedal and cause it to get stuck in the wide-open position.

The second recall, “Pedal,” is being conducted because there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position.

The following vehicles have been recalled:

2005-2010 Avalon

2007-2010 Camry

2009-2010 Corolla

2008-2010 Highlander

2009-2010 Matrix

2004-2009 Prius

2009-2010 RAV4

2008-2010 Sequoia

2005-2010 Tacoma

2007-2010 Tundra

2009-2010 VENZA

Toyota has known that their vehicles have had these defects for years.  They have also known of the potential for serious accidents with catastrophic injuries, however, they failed to do anything about it. 

Our law firm has decades of experience successfully finding the best lawyers for accident victims and we would like to help you.  We had a client injured by the negligence of a major automobile manufacturer. It was a seat belt case and we referred our client to the most successful firm we knew in prosecuting seat belt claims. The trial resulted in a verdict well in excess of FIVE MILLION DOLLARS and we collected every penny of it for our client.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured as the result of an accident in which a Toyota vehicle went out of control, please feel free to contact us online or at 1-800-603-6388.  All consultations are free of charge.

Posted December 17, 2009

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A Los Angeles toy importer is recalling about 22,000 toy dart gun sets after an 8-year-old child’s death.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says children can choke on the soft plastic darts included in the Action Team toy dart gun imported by OKK Trading Inc.

The agency reports that an 8-year-old boy in Port Arthur, Texas, died in November 2007 when one of the darts became lodged in his throat.

In addition to the dart gun and darts, the Chinese-made sets included a toy watch, a baton, a walkie-talkie, a whistle and a badge. They were sold at discount stores around the country between December 2006 and March 2008.

Contact OKK Trading at 877-655-8697 for information on returning the toy.

Posted November 24, 2009

US News & World Report

Reports of four infant suffocations have led to the North American recall of about 2.1 million Stork Craft drop-side cribs. The recall covers cribs sold since 1993 and includes nearly 150,000 with the Fisher-Price logo.

The cribs have a side that moves up and down to allow parents to lift children from the cribs more easily. Hardware on the cribs can break, deform or get lost after years of use. In addition, owners may make mistakes while assembling the cribs. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said it received 110 reports of drop-sides detaching from the cribs, the Associated Press reported.

When the drop-side detaches, it creates a space between the drop-side and crib mattress where a child can become trapped.

The CPSC said the cribs were distributed between January 1993 and October 2009 and sold at major retailers and online for between $100 and $400, the AP reported.

Parents with the cribs should stop using them until they receive a free repair kit from Stork Craft Manufacturing, which is based in Canada. The kit converts the drop-side into a fixed side.

To order the free repair kit, phone Stork Craft 877-274-0277 or go to the company’s Web site.

Earlier this year, Stork Craft recalled about 500,000 cribs because of problems with the metal brackets that support the mattress, the AP reported. Some of the same models in the earlier recall are also part of the new recall, CPSC said.

Posted November 11, 2009

By Sue Sierralupe, examiner.com

Maclaren USA has recalled millions of their folding single and double baby strollers this week after reports of serious injuries were filed. A dozen children in the U.S. had their fingertips amputated when they were caught between the support posts of the popular baby buggy. The recalled models were the Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, Techno XLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveler.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommended that parents stop using the strollers immediately. A spokesman for the CPSC said: “The stroller’s hinge mechanism poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is unfolding/opening the stroller.” Maclaren USA was in agreement with this statement but added,”We wish to reassure our customers that they should continue to use their existing Maclaren buggies since they are safe when opened and closed correctly. As further reassurance we have updated our operating instructions and placed a warning label on the buggy to ensure that customers take care and keep children away from the buggy when it is being folded or unfolded.”

The stroller recall is just another addition to the serious concerns that parents have about the safety of items that they trust to be regulated by the government. This month products that were initially approved by the FDA and CPSC were recalled by the millions. Each of these products endangered the lives of American children.

Earlier this month, Hospira recalled one line of their dietary supplements and anesthesia products with propofyl including Liposyn. These pills are sold to parents with babies who have trouble getting fat in their diet. These products have steel particles in them that can fatally restrict blood flow.

Recalls for beef tainted with E. Coli came too late for those that were sickened or died. The meat was sold in September but wasn’t recalled by the USDA until November. The list of buyers for the toxic batch of hamburger included Wisconsin school district cafeterias.
Last week, parents with children with peanut allergies cringed when they learned that Jelly Belly candies were recalled due to incorrectly labeled packages. A statement for m the FDA warns, “The mislabeled packages failed to list peanut butter and peanut flour in the ingredient statement. People who have an allergy to peanuts or a severe sensitivity to peanuts run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these ingredients.”

US parents have many resources for getting access to product recalls that may not make the news but still affect their families. The FDA ,  the CPSC and the USDA update their hazardous recall list regularly. Parents can also get recall notices by mailing the product registration forms that comes with many toys or furniture or registering on-line

Posted November 4, 2009

By Christine McConville

A week after suppliers of tainted ground beef recalled tons of their products, the families of two New England children who fell ill after eating the beef are suing the companies.

Yesterday in Plymouth District Court, lawsuits were filed against Brockton-based South Shore Meats and Fairbank Farms Inc. of Ashville, N.Y.

In one complaint, the parents of Andrea Munro of Marshfield, say their 12-year-old daughter was infected with the potentially deadly Escherichia coli bacteria after eating Fairbank Farms’ beef on Sept. 24. The family lawyer has said the beef was purchased from Star Market in Marshfield.

In the second case, the mother of Austin Richmond, 11, of Lincoln, R.I., says her son was infected last month with E. coli after eating a hamburger on a school outing at Camp Bournedale in Plymouth. The boy’s burger was reportedly made with meat from South Shore Meats, a unit of Crocetti’s Oakdale Packing Co.

Fairbank Farms has recalled more than half a million pounds of fresh ground beef products, while Crocetti’s has recalled 1,039 pounds of ground beef. The companies did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The plaintiffs in yesterday’s lawsuits are represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm, and Somerset lawyer Steven Sabra. The suits seek unspecified damages.

Two deaths and 28 illnesses in the Northeast have been linked to the Fairbank Farms beef recall, according to federal health officials.

Published October 31, 2009

By newsinferno.com

The distributor of recalled Simplicity bassinets has been named a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the Illinois Attorney General.  The lawsuit alleges that SFCA Inc, which acquired Simplicity Inc. last year, ignored a nationwide recall of Simplicity bassinets that had suffocated two infants.

In August, dozens of retailers recalled the defective Simplicity bassinets.  The massive recall affected nearly 900,000 bassinets and was prompted by the death of a six-month-old girl from Shawnee, Kansas who was strangled on August 21 when she became trapped between the bassinet’s metal bars.  In 2007, a four-month-old baby girl from Noel, Missouri, became trapped in the bassinet’s metal bars and died. It was determined that metal bars on the  Simplicity bassinets were spaced farther apart than federal standards allow.

When the Missouri baby died last fall, Simplicity was already in dire financial straits, owing to another massive crib recall it had issued earlier in the summer.  With creditors circling, Simplicity sold its assets at auction two months later to SCFA, an affiliate of Blackstreet Capital, a Bethesda, Maryland private-equity fund with $88 million dollars under management.  Under the deal, SFCA bought the right to sell products under the Simplicity brand but did not take legal responsibility for products made under its previous owners.  Because of that legal loophole, the  Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) had to ask retailers to recall the Simplicity bassinets.

In announcing her lawsuit, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan criticized both SFCA and the CPSC for the way the Simplicity bassinet recall was handled.  “Our investigation revealed that SFCA continued to distribute recalled products that posed serious risks to children,” Madigan said in a statement. “I will not allow this company to wash its hands of responsibility to Illinois families.”

Madigan wants SFCA to implement a recall that  it would publicize in newspapers across Illinois.  The lawsuits also seeks a refund for retailers who were forced to take on the costs of the Simplicity bassinet recall.

Madigan also said the CPSC should take tougher action when crib or bassinet recalls are necessary.  She criticized the commission’s policy of allowing crib manufacturers to respond to recalls by issuing repair kits. She also said the commission’s recall notices are unnecessarily complicated and confusing for consumers

Published on October 30, 2009

by EU News Network

WASHINGTON, DC

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of Arctic Cat snowmobiles due to a fire hazard.

 
About 3,000 Model Year 2009 Arctic Cat Z1 Turbo, Z1 Turbo Sno Pro and TZ1 Turbo snowmobiles have the potential to leak oil, which can pose a fire hazard, the commission said in a statement.

 
The company has received 33 reports of oil leaks, eight of them including fires, the commission said.

 
The snowmobiles were sold nationwide from June 2008 through July 2009 for $12,500 to $14,300.

 
Consumers were advised to stop using the snowmobiles and contact an Arctic Cat dealership to schedule a free repair.

Consumers can call 800-279-6851 for information.

Published October 5, 2009

By KEN THOMAS (AP)

WASHINGTON — Toyota Motor Corp. officially recalled 3.8 million vehicles in the United States on Monday to address problems with floor mats that could cause the gas pedal to stick and cause a crash.

The automaker formally informed the federal government of the recall in a letter Monday. It will be Toyota’s largest U.S. recall and the country’s sixth-largest recall, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The recall includes 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250/IS350.

Chris Santucci, Toyota’s assistant manager for technical and regulatory affairs, wrote in the letter to NHTSA that there are 3.8 million vehicles involved but “this estimate is subject to change as Toyota refines the number of affected vehicles by model.”

Toyota told the government it has not determined that the vehicles “contain a ’safety-related defect’ within the meaning of the federal safety laws” but would notify owners of the safety campaign.

Santucci wrote “there is a potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the wide open position due to an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat. A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death.”

Toyota announced last week it would recall the vehicles and warned owners to remove the driver’s side floor mats and not replace them until the company determined a way to fix the problem.

The massive recall was prompted by a high-speed crash in August involving a 2009 Lexus ES350. California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, 45, and three members of his family were killed when their vehicle hit speeds exceeding 120 mph, struck a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.

Family members made a frantic 911 call from the Lexus and said the accelerator was stuck and they couldn’t stop the vehicle.

In Japan, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said last week that the fatal crash was “extremely regrettable” and offered his “deepest condolences.”

Toyota said in the letter it would tell owners of the affected vehicles to take out the driver’s floor mat and not replace it with another floor mat until model-specific remedies are developed. Toyota said it expects to begin notifying customers by first class mail in late October and complete its mailing in December.

When it figures out a fix for the problem, Toyota will notify owners “about the availability of a free remedy.” The automaker told the government it did not have a firm schedule for the second notification but would provide the government a schedule as soon as possible.

If a vehicle accelerator pedal becomes caught on the floor mat, Toyota recommends the following steps:

_ Reach down and pull the mat back from the accelerator. Then pull over and stop your vehicle. If you can’t dislodge the pedal or it seems unsafe to do so, press on the brake with both feet. Then shift the vehicle into neutral, which will disengage the transmission. Continue braking until you come to a stop.

A driver can also try shutting off the engine or turning the key to the “ACC” position on the ignition. You won’t lose control of steering or the brakes. But once the vehicle is turned off the driver won’t have the benefit of power brakes or power steering.

Published August 11, 2009 by aboutlawsuits.com

A fentanyl patch recall has been issued by Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for one lot of their generic 100 mcg/hr pain patches, as manufacturing problems could cause the patches to leak the powerful fentanyl gel contained inside, potentially causing an overdose, respiratory depression or death.  

 The Watson pain patch recall was announced on Friday, for 100 mcg/hr Fentanyl Transdermal System patches shipped in the United States between April 2, 2009 and May 20, 2009, with the Lot Number 145287A. The lot number is located on the box or the foil patch, and any pouches covered by this recall should not be handled directly.

The fentanyl pain patch is a generic version of the Duragesic patch, and is designed for use by patients suffering from severe, chronic pain. The patch is supposed to release fentanyl, a powerful opioid that is 100 times more potent than heroine, over an extended period of time. However, if the fentanyl gel leaks out of the patch and comes in direct contact with the skin, it could cause a fatal fentanyl overdose.

Similar manufacturing problems have resulted in a number of prior recalls and hundreds of fentanyl pain patch overdose deaths have been associated with different versions of the patch since it was first introduced by Johnson & Johnson in 1994.

At least six different fentanyl patch recalls have been issued by Johnson & Johnson and companies manufacturing generic versions of the patch, raising questions about whether the powerful painkiller can be safely made.

Last year, in August 2008, another Watson fentanyl patch recall was issued for 75 mcg/hr pain patches due to the same risk of leaks and overdose.

Dozens of pain patch wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers of the fentanyl patches, alleging that defects caused too much of the gel to be delivered into the users bloodstream. Out of the first four cases to go to trial against Johnson & Johnson, the plaintiffs have been successful in each case, receiving verdicts that combine to exceed $36 million.