The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s announced last week that all homes fitted with the Chinese drywall need to have all drywall removed, as well as all wiring or plumbing that has been corroded. Many homeowners affected by the drywall problems are left in a house that is possibly hazardous to live in and unmarketable. Many insurance companies have refused to pay for repairs due to the drywall claiming it is a manufacturer’s defect.

The fact that many homeowners cannot pay for the repairs themselves has created an issue of its own. In March of 2010, one lawsuit resulted in the insurance company being forced to pay for repairs, but it’s possible that  the case will only apply to Louisiana.

In the meantime homeowners have been forced into one of three decisions. First, stay in the home, have the repairs made at their own cost and hope to be reimbursed. Second, stay in the house at risk of possible health and safety dangers. The third choice is to move out of their home and find another place to live while still paying for the first one. None of these choices are appealing to the home owners and they are stuck with unsellable homes in the meantime.

The settlement includes both walk-behind and riding lawn mowers made by numerous lawnmower engine manufactures. If the engine was made by:

Briggs & Stratton
Honda
Kawasaki
Kohler
Tecumseh
Toro

Or the lawnmower itself was made by:

Deere
EHP
Honda
Husqvarna
MTD
Sears
Toro

You may be entitled to a settlement payment. Some of the brands included are:

Yard-Man, Cub Cadet, Honda, Bolens, Exmark, Deere, Sabre, Scotts, Toro, Yard Machines, Craftsman, Troy Bilt, Husqvarna, Poulan, Poulan PRO, Lawn-Boy, Weed Eater, White Outdoor, Snapper, Simplicity, Brute, and Murray.

Lawnmower owners could be eligible for up to $35 for each walk-behind lawn mower purchased and up to $75 for each riding lawnmower purchased. The class action lawsuit settlement is a result of claims the mowers did not deliver on the horse power advertised by the engine makers.

A California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family were killed in the accident. Since then there have been numerous other claims of acceleration problems with Toyota vehicles.

Most of the lawsuits accuse Toyota of knowingly selling thousands of potentially defective autos over the last several years in California. Toyota has since recalled upwards of 8.5 million vehicles since last November because of problems ranging from defective floor mats that impede the motion of the gas pedal, gas pedals that stick and brake failure.

Akavar was marketed as a ‘New! European weight loss breakthrough’ and further claimed that ‘Studies have proved a virtual 100% success rate among the participants.’ The complaint states that the defendants knew that none of these claims were true.

Specifically, the problem is with the “leads” that run from the device to the heart and deliver a “shock”
to the heart when an abnormal beat is detected.  The “Sprint Fidelis” leads may fracture resulting in either shocks to the heart when none are needed or a failure to shock when an abnormal beat occurs.  To date, five deaths have been attributed to this defect and 599 reports of malfunctions had been given to the FDA by January 2007.

Medtronic has agreed to replace the device which costs about $20,000 as well as pay for some expenses but has not agreed to pay for the replacement surgery itself.  Roughly 13,000 have already been surgically removed from patients.

The following devices, manufactured between April 2001 and December 2003, were affected:

• Marquis VR/DR
• Maximo VR/DR ICDs
• InSync I/II/III Marquis
• InSync III Protect CRT-D

Model numbers that appear alone or begin with 6949, 6948, 6931 and 6930 are suspect.

Medtronic’s Micro Jewell II and GEM DR ICDs were also recalled in 2004.

Professionals in the medical field have advised that if you have one of Medtronic’s defibrillators implanted you consult with your physician as soon as possible to discuss your options.

The class action lawsuit claims that the iPod Nano is defectively designed and that the screen quickly becomes scratched even under normal use. The suit also claims that the excessive, rapid wear makes the Nano unusable.

“The suit charges that Apple violated implied and expressed warranties when it began selling what plaintiffs claim are defective devices, and violated aspects of state consumer protection laws,” the law firm bringing the class action said in a statement.

The suit seeks compensation for buyers of the Nano. Executives at Apple responded to consumer complaints in September regarding excessive scratching and broken screens by saying that the screens on the iPod Nano are made with the same material that is found in the company’s fourth-generation iPod, which, to date, is complaint free.  Apple recommended users purchase an iPod nano case to prevent scratching.

In August of this year 10 kidney patients died in Spain while undergoing dialysis using the Baxter dialyzers. As a result of this, Baxter halted production of its A series dialyzers and authorities in France temporarily removed the machines from nine of its hospitals. Then, in October, approximately 21 kidney patients died in Croatia over a period of one week. Some of the patients died while undergoing dialysis, while others died shortly after, with most of the patients experiencing shortness of breath, chest tightening, heart attack, or stroke. Croatian health officials report that under normal circumstances, only three to six kidney patients die per week. Other fatalities have occurred in Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Colombia, and the U.S.

Baxter International ordered a recall of all A, AF, and AX series dialyzers as a precaution. After the deaths in Croatia, the dialyzers were replaced and no other deaths have been reported. At first, Baxter officials claimed that there was no evidence to suggest that the dialyzers were to blame for the deaths and that there were other common elements that could be responsible for the fatalities. Now, however, initial tests have indicated that a chemical used in the manufacturing process may have played a role in the deaths. More research is needed to confirm this finding. Officials from Baxter believe that the defective blood filters, called dialyzers, were manufactured at a plant in Ronneby, Sweden. The FDA has launched its own investigation into the deaths.