The agency is warning that benzocaine, which is in most popular teething medications, can have dangerous health effects.  Benzocaine is a painkiller, but according to the agency, it has also been associated with a rare, but potentially serious condition called methemoglobinemia.  In this condition, there’s a vastly reduced supply of oxygen carried through the bloodstream.  In very severe cases, infants may be at risk of death.

In the US, benzocaine is available in liquid and gel form, under the names Orajel, Baby Orajel, Anbesol and other brands.  It is also available in spray form and as lozenges.  These are typically used to treat teething pain.  However, these drugs are also used by adults to treat canker sores and relieve gum irritation.

However, the agency is warning that methemoglobinemia has been linked to benzocaine at varying levels.  Even teething products containing 7.5% concentration of benzocaine has been linked to the fatal condition.  Most of these cases involved children under the age of two.  According to the Food and Drug Administration, parents must watch out for the following symptoms

• Fatigue
• Confusion
• Shortness of breath
• Gray color for skin
• Rapid heart rate
• Blueness of the nails or lips
• Headache

Typically, these symptoms appear within hours or even minutes of using benzocaine.  Even a single dose of the product is enough for symptoms to turn up.

Even adults who use gels and lotions containing benzocaine must follow precautions.  Use the recommendations on the label of the product.  Keep the product out of reach of children. Avoid using these products frequently.

The study indicates that more than 75% of teenage and tween drivers admit to being strongly influenced by the parents’ driving behavior.  Appallingly, more than 82% have seen their parents show poor driving practices at the wheel.  What’s more, parents seem to be oblivious to their bad driving behavior.  More than 95% of the parents in the survey were confident about their driving abilities, rating these abilities as good.  However, more than half of the children in the study, including teenagers and tweens had found it necessary to draw their parents’ attention to their poor driving, including speeding and cell phone use while driving.

This indicates a disconnect between how parents see their driving abilities, and the reality of their driving skills.  It also means that teenage drivers may be at a much higher risk of picking up such poor driving practices from their parents, because parents have no idea they are setting such a bad example.

Most parents we know wouldn’t dream of driving under the influence, but many would consider talking on the cell phone or text while driving with their children in the car.  Such practices are a bad example for teenagers, setting the tone for possibly dangerous driving behaviors as an adult motorist.  Parents can do much to foster safe driving practices in their children, and the best thing to do would be to set a good example by driving safely.  Always obey traffic laws, never use cell phones while driving, and drive at safe speeds.

The two motorcyclists sustained fatal injuries.  The other motorcyclists were not injured in the accident.  The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating what caused the driver to plow into the group of motorcyclists.

As more and more motorcyclists around Texas gear up for riding season, Houston motorcycle accident attorneys would advise motorists to watch out for motorcyclists at all times.  A motorcyclist may be easy to miss, and could also easily fall into your blind spot.  It’s important for drivers to look out for motorcyclists in these spots, especially behind your vehicle or near busy intersections.  Look out for motorcyclists when you’re backing out of a parking lot.

Motorcyclists are at risk of severe injuries in accidents.  Even a helmeted motorcyclist may suffer serious head and brain injuries in an accident, which can even prove fatal.  A helmet can do nothing to protect a motorcyclist from other kinds of injuries, like spinal cord injuries, fractures and amputations.  These injuries are frequently seen in motorcycle accidents.

Most motorcycle accidents are caused by motorists who fail to look out for motorcyclists or fail to yield right-of-way to them.  These continue to remain the most important factors in motorcycle accidents.  It also doesn’t make it easier for motorcyclists that drivers these days are more distracted than ever before.  You’re less likely to see a motorcycle if you are engaged in other activities while driving.

The 67-year-old man had been prescribed Botox to treat his hand tremors and writer’s cramp.  The man suffered an autoimmune reaction to the toxin, which left him with a brain injury.  As a result of the brain injury, the man, who owned a successful design business earlier, has been left unable to take care of himself.  He is now totally dependent on others to care for him.

The man filed a lawsuit against the makers of Botox, Allergan, alleging that the company had failed to warn patients about possible side effects, including autoimmune reactions that result in brain injury.  Allergan denied that the man’s brain injury had anything to do with Botox, saying that its product has been tested extensively.

The jury obviously didn’t agree with Allergan.  It has handed over a $212 million verdict against Allergan, including $12 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages.

The $200 million in punitive damages is likely to be in question because of a cap on punitive damages in Virginia.  However, for Allergan, the fact that there has been such a massive verdict against it based on injuries caused by the use of its best-selling wrinkle smoothing drug, is likely to create trouble.

It’s not the first time that Houston defective product attorneys have come across injuries caused from Botox side effects.  Last year, a jury awarded $15 million to a person who claimed that he had suffered botulism poisoning from the use of Botox.  Also last year, Allergan agreed to pay $600 million to settle a federal probe into off-label marketing of the drug.  Doctors are allowed to prescribe a drug for off label purposes, but are prohibited from marketing the drug for unapproved purposes.  In this case, the plaintiff’s writer’s cramp would constitute an off-label use.  With this plaintiff’s victory, it is likely that the floodgates of Botox injury lawsuits will now open.

Houston product liability attorneys have been reviewing complaints of nerve injuries filed by persons who used popular brands of zinc-containing dental adhesives.  As it turns out, the risks of zinc poisoning from using these dental adhesives, may be more widespread than earlier believed.

Earlier last month, the Academy of Gen. Dentistry shot out a letter to dentists around the United States, warning about zinc poisoning from the use of the denture adhesives.  Now the Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that accumulation of zinc in the body from denture paste can actually have serious ill health effects.

Several patients, who have developed medical conditions, specifically nerve damage, from the use of the dental adhesives, have filed lawsuits against companies that manufacture these products.  The biggest health complaint that people have is linked to nerve damage or neuropathy.  Patients, who suffer from neuropathy, may find it very difficult to even walk about, or perform routine daily tasks.  In extreme cases, there may be partial paralysis of the limbs.

The Food and Drug Administration has not bothered to classify denture adhesives at a higher level of danger.  These adhesives are classified as class I medical devices, which means that they have the least risk of injury.  However, now the Food and Drug Administration says that it is asking manufacturers of dental adhesives to modify their products using a substitute for zinc.

GlaxoSmithKline, which manufactures SuperPoliGrip, one of the dental adhesives that have been linked to incidences of zinc poisoning, has already confirmed that it is reformulating its product to make it zinc-free.  The other major branded dental adhesive that has been linked to zinc poisoning is Procter & Gamble’s Fixodent.  Procter & Gamble is still reviewing the substitution of some other ingredient in place of zinc in its adhesive.

A deadly gas tanker accident on a freeway in Fort Worth, Texas, has been blamed on a wrong way driver who was traveling in the opposite direction on the freeway, under the influence of alcohol.  The man has now been charged with intoxication manslaughter.

The 23-year-old motorist was driving a pickup truck the wrong way in the westbound lanes of Interstate 30 in Fort Worth.  Soon, the pickup truck crashed into a gas tanker, and the tanker exploded in flames.  The tanker driver died at the scene of the accident.  The accident occurred on a bridge, and there was some damage to the structure of the bridge from the heat generated by the explosion.

Investigations into the accident have begun.  The driver has admitted to having had at least 10 beers before he began driving.   Investigators are focusing on where the man consumed that amount of alcohol before the accident.  The Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission has begun an investigation into the business where the man purchased his drinks.  They have identified one establishment where the man might have consumed his drinks, and are specifically investigating whether the business was negligent in over serving the man.

As Houston DWI lawyers and Houston Auto Accident Lawyers, we always encourage bars, taverns, pubs, restaurants and other establishments that serve alcohol, to remember that they have a responsibility to do so safely.  For instance, staff at an establishment must not serve alcohol to a patron they can see is too intoxicated to drive.  Failure to do so can result in criminal charges being pressed against the establishment.  For instance, an establishment may face misdemeanor charges for serving alcohol to an intoxicated patron.  Also, an establishment may face a civil lawsuit for negligently serving a known intoxicated person additional drinks under the Texas Dram Shop Act.

The week between 4 April and 10 April is being commemorated as National Work Zone Awareness Week.  Few states need more awareness about work zone safety as much as the state of Texas.  In 2009, 181 people died in accidents that occurred in work zones in Texas.  That was a decrease of 35% over the past two years.  However, the Texas Department of Transportation is taking Work Zone Awareness Week, especially seriously this year.

The Department of Transportation is calling on all motorists to exercise extra caution while traveling through a work zone, to prevent injuries to motorists and construction workers.  According to the Texas Department of Transportation, much of the decrease in work zone fatalities in Texas has been due to increased outreach efforts and better safety measures.  For instance, the Department of Transportation has tried to raise awareness about the need to drive safely through a work zone.  However, any Houston car accident attorney will tell you that there are too many people out there who fail to look out for warning signs posted at the beginning of a work zone.  These people speed through a work zone, increasing the risk of injury to the construction workers toiling on the road, and enhancing the potential for a crash inside the zone.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, worker fatalities every year would reduce further if people paid attention when they entered a work zone, and maintained low speeds as they traveled through the work zone.  Most work zones will have signs posted at the entrance, and motorists must drop speeds when they see these signs.  Avoid all distractions when you’re inside a zone, and look out not just for motorists and other construction workers, but also construction debris and equipment lying around.

In fact, most car seats that are approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are only tested for effectiveness in preventing injuries during front impact accidents.  Most serious injuries in accidents every year involve rollover accidents and side impact crashes.  Besides, whiplash and serious spinal cord injuries can result from rear end accidents.  Children, who are strapped into car seats, may be at a special risk of injuries during a rear end accident.  However, the NHTSA does not test the effectiveness of car seats in these accidents.

Moreover, the NHTSA does not have crash test dummies to test the effectiveness of car seats that are designed for children who are above 65 pounds in weight.  Some children may reach 40 pounds by the end of 2 ½ years, and increasingly Houston injury attorneys are coming across children who are overweight.  Parents of such children need large-size car seats, but the NHTSA has no proper testing procedures for these car seats.  These children are too big for normal sized car seats, and too young to be secured by seatbelts.

What is even worse is that the NHTSA has been developing a plus-sized crash test dummy for children at least since 2002.  There is no word from the agency about when this test dummy will be ready.  In the meantime, parents need to be vigilant about the kind of car seats they buy for their children.  Look up rankings by safety organizations like Consumer Reports, which do their own testing for car seats and booster seats.

According to the report, children’s product recalls accounted for 45% of the total number of recalls last year, or a total of 160 products.  Out of these, nursery products were the most often recalled products accounting for 29% of recalls.  These products also seemed to involve the most number of injuries before a recall.  There were five products that had more than 100 reported incidents of injuries and other adverse incidents before the recall.  Out of these, four involved nursery products.

The largest recall in 2010 was the recall of 12 million McDonald’s drinking glasses recall because of cadmium content in the glasses.  There were also a number of recalls related to children’s sleep environment-related products, including cribs and beds.  The kind of penalties that the Consumer Product Safety Commission levied on manufacturers of products for safety violations last year was quite meager, and amounted to just $2.7 million.

However, the CPSC did take a few other steps to warn parents about possibly dangerous products.  For instance, the CPSC did warn parents against using bag-style infant slings.  These slings have become very fashionable in recent years, but have been traced to several incidents of infant suffocation deaths.  The CPSC also warned consumers about the use of sleep positioners.  The biggest accomplishment of the CPSC last year was the announcement of a federal consumer product safety database that parents can refer to when they want to look up complaints about specific children’s products.  However, there is more that the CPSC can do, including reviewing crib bumper pads that have been linked to at least two fatalities last year.

Texas’ relatively higher accident rate has much to do with the number of accidents that occur on rural roads here. By and large, most of the states that seem to have some sort of control over their accident death rate have larger urban communities and more urban roads. Urban roads are generally much safer, because they are better designed and maintained, and because they are typically equipped with dividers and other safety aids. Besides, urban roads also see more numbers of DWI and seatbelt crackdowns by local police, thereby lowering those death rates further.

There’s yet another tragic reason why urban roads are safer than rural roads. It’s because rural areas have limited access to emergency trauma care facilities in the event of an accident. The closer an accident victim is to an emergency trauma care center soon after an accident, the higher his chances of survival.

Unfortunately, there are parts of Texas that continue to have limited access to emergency trauma care, and for many of them, this makes the difference between life and death.  Those of us who live and work in Houston and other Texas cities, take our easy accessibility to high-quality emergency medical care for granted. But such trauma care can increase your chances of surviving a crash.

Texas lawmakers should be looking at increasing accessibility to life saving trauma care in rural areas, to save more lives in accidents every year.