Yearly Archives: 2019
Final Trucking Compliance Deadline for ELD Safety Mandate Comes Dec. 16
Dec. 16, 2019, is the final compliance deadline for the federal electronic logging device (ELD) mandate affecting the trucking industry. ELDs, or electronic logging devices, log commercial truckers’ hours for when they’re on-duty and driving, on-duty but not driving and resting. The final version of the ELD mandate was published in 2015, with an… Read More »
Ex-Juul Executive Files Lawsuit Alleging Company Knowingly Shipped One Million Contaminated Pods
On Oct. 29, Juul Labs, Inc., was hit with a lawsuit filed by an ex-executive of the company claiming that Juul knowingly shipped out over one million contaminated e-cigarette nicotine pods. This comes as Juul is under fire in its role in fueling widespread youth nicotine addiction and as EVALI, the vaping-related lung disease… Read More »
Overall U.S. Highway Traffic Deaths Down in 2018, But Large Truck-Involved Crash Fatalities on the Rise
On Oct. 22, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released fatal highway crash data for 2018, which brought some promising news. The total number of fatalities declined by 2.4%, decreasing from 37,437 deaths in 2017 to 36,560 in 2018. Unfortunately, however, the downwards trend was not universal across every category: the number of… Read More »
Nearly 1,500 Vaping-Related Lung Disease Cases and 33 Deaths Confirmed by CDC
On Sep. 26, I blogged about the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) investigation of 530 vaping-related illnesses and nine deaths in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Washington, D.C., and 38 states. On Oct. 15, that number rose to a staggering 1,479 cases in 49 states and 33 confirmed deaths. CDC officials estimate that these numbers… Read More »
Supported Decision Making Promotes Independence in Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors
According to the Brain Injury Association of American (BIAA), 5.3 million Americans are living with a disability-related to a TBI. On top of that, approximately 137 people die every day in the U.S. due to TBI-related injuries. The high prevalence and severity of traumatic brain injuries make it especially important for caretakers and providers… Read More »
Electronic Health Records Linked to a Rising Number of Medical Malpractice Claims
We want to believe that the era of electronic records is making our lives safer. However, according to a Doctors Company data analysis of malpractice claims from 2010-2018, medical malpractice lawsuits related to electronic health records (EHR) are becoming more common in the United States. In fact, the percentage of claims in which EHRs… Read More »
Federal Investigations Launched in Response to Nation’s Vaping Lung Disease Epidemic
On Sep. 23, a Wall Street Journal report revealed that federal prosecutors in California have launched a criminal investigation into JUUL, the nation’s leading e-cigarette company. The investigation will be led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, but the scope and focus of it have not yet been released…. Read More »
CDC Updates Case Count in Investigation of Vaping-related Lung Disease and Deaths
Recently, I blogged about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Sep. 9 warning letter issued to JUUL Labs, Inc. for illegal marketing of its e-cigarette products as safer alternatives than other tobacco products. Of particular concern was JUUL’s marketing tactics directed to youth and young adults. For example, one JUUL representative made several… Read More »
Report: FDA Issues Warning to JUUL About Illegal Marketing of E-Cigarettes
On Sep. 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to JUUL Labs Inc. for “marketing unauthorized modified risk tobacco products by engaging in labeling, advertising, and/or other activities directed to consumers, including a presentation given to youth at school.” In a separate letter sent to JUUL, the FDA expressed… Read More »
Proposed Hours-of-Service Regulation Changes Decrease Trucking Industry Safety
On Aug. 14, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a notice containing five key proposed changes for the Hours of Service (HOS) standards that regulate truck operations across the nation. The stated goal of the proposed changes is to “enhance safety by giving America’s commercial drivers more flexibility… Read More »