New Jersey Personal Injury Law Blog

Rich Products Corp. has recently recalled 10 million pounds of frozen food after 27 E. coli illnesses were linked to its products. Of those 10 million pounds of food, 3 million pounds is still believed to be in the marketplace with roughly 300,000 pounds possibly having ended up in school lunchrooms. The main items believed to be causing the E. coli outbreak were labeled pizza dippers and pepperoni pizzatas.

So far, 27 people have become ill with some type of E. coli illness that has been linked directly to the defective products. Of those 27 individuals who have become ill, nine were hospitalized and two have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure that can have long-lasting effects. Other people's illnesses have not been identified because the strain of E. coli linked to these products is rare and labs still cannot identify it.

A woman sustained injuries after being bitten by a dog in New Jersey March 31. The incident reportedly occurred when a friend of the cocker spaniel's owner, who had been watching the dog, let it outside without a leash in order to relieve itself. The dog then reportedly attacked the 52-year-old woman, who was outside in a nearby yard.

The dog bite incident took place on East Dewey Avenue in Wharton around 11:20 a.m. The victim was brought to St. Clare's Hospital in Dover to be treated for scrapes and a bite wound after the dog attacked her leg.

Johnson & Johnson, the well-known pharmaceutical company, has just issued a recall for nearly 2 million of their blood glucose meters. Residents of New Jersey that have OneTouch Verio IQ meters may have defective products that will not work properly if the meter reads a high enough glucose level. When the meters encounter a reading of 1024 milligrams per deciliter or higher, it will not show a warning but shut down instead.

The manufacturer has notified the FDA about their voluntary recall, and the company is also alerting hospitals and medical professionals about the malfunctioning meters. According to Johnson & Johnson, approximately 90,000 of the OneTouch Verio IQ meters are being recalled in the United States, and 670,000 OneTouch Verio Pro meters are being recalled in Europe. The OneTouch Ultra glucose meter is not a part of the recall.

The latest in a series of drug recalls by compounding pharmacies has highlighted the lack of FDA control over these manufacturers and spurred the agency to increase monitoring efforts. Avastin is a drug approved for cancer treatment, and it is also used off label as a low cost alternative to treatments for wet macular degeneration. Clinical Specialties Compounding Pharmacy prepares the drug in syringes for off-label use by physicians. The recall involves lots of Avastin shipped between Oct. 19 and March 19.

The CDC received reports that five individuals receiving Avastin treatments suffered eye infections. This information was relayed to the FDA, which undertook an inspection of the pharmacies' premises. Inspectors discovered "practices at the site that raise concerns about a lack of sterility assurance," and the recall of the defective drugs was issued shortly thereafter.