Depuy / J & J hip recall info

Here’s a quick link to FAQ’s about the recently recalled hip implants by Depuy, a Johnson and Johnson subsidiary.

Click here for other patient related information regarding the recent hip implant recall. You can also visit the manufacturer’s website to learn even more.

If you, a loved one, friend or co-worker has been affected by this recall please contact us at www.harrellandharrell.com so we may assist.

Don’t settle for less than you deserve!

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Driving in a school zone

By now almost all of our First Coast area schools are back in session and that means lots more traffic and those bothersome school zones with those pesky blinking yellow lights and slow speed limits . Speeding through a school zone or being distracted by a cell phone is a quick way to seriously hurt or even kill someone. You’re not really going to get to work much faster than you would by being patient and observing all the traffic laws.

I was reminded of this today by reading a news article this morning of a bicyclist run over by a woman turning into a school. I’m sure neither of them wanted to be in an accident and no one intentionally tried to harm someone. A few extra seconds to make sure there is no one in harm’s way will do us all some good.

A few years back, a teacher died as a result of a car accident in a school parking lot in our neighborhood. The vehicle was going no more than 10 mph but the teacher was in the wrong place at the wrong time and landed right on her head.

At the end of last school year, I was almost an eye witness to a young elementary school girl being run over by a car while crossing in a crosswalk with our regular crossing guard holding her big red stop sign up in the air. The crossing guard always waits until traffic is completely stopped in a ll 4 directions before letting the kids come anywhere near the roadway. Not this time, she looked all 3 ways but had her back turned to the car directly in front of me when she let this poor child cross the road. As you should expect, the let’s say 3rd grader did not even look for traffic. Why ? – she thinks the crossing guard has done that just like she always does. The driver of the Ford Explorer missed this child by inches and I had my heart drop like a rock. The child, the guard and the driver all stopped in their tracks for several minutes to fully realize what they thankfully avoided. I patiently waited and said a quick prayer of thanks that I did not witness a gruesome crash.

After doing this job for 15 years, I could bore you to death with literally thousands of horrific accident stories. Let’s all try to take that extra moment, drive a little slower and make sure we look all 4 ways before proceeding through our school zones. Your day and someone else’s will be much better as a result.

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Wear your seat-belt!

This past weekend we had a tragic reminder of why seat-belt use is so vital to our well-being. Two teeenagers in separate accidents sadly lost their lives on the roads of North Florida. One vehicle swerved to miss an animal and a young girl was ejected and killed. The other accident involved a young man who failed to negotiate a curve and was killed on impact.

Both of these accidents involved the wrongful death of a young teenager filled with lots of promise and potential. Neither of them were restrained by a seat-belt. I can’t say for certain if a seat-belt would have changed the outcome but my hunch is that both of these kids would still be with their friends and family enjoying the waning days of summer had they taken a few seconds to buckle up!

Don’t start the car until you and your passengers are properly restrained by a seatbelt or secured in a car seat.

DON’T BECOME A STATISTIC – WEAR YOUR SEAT-BELT!

www.harrellandharrell.com

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Boating deaths on the rise

According to the 2009 Recreational Boating Statistics report released today by the US Coast Guard’s Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety, fatal accidents for recreational boaters increased by 3.8 percent in 2009. The actual number of boating accidents decreased by 1.2 percent.

Two of the more shocking statistics are the fact that nearly 75 percent of of the 736 deaths from boating accidents were as a result of drowning and 84 percent of those victims were not wearing a life preserver. The other shocking statistic is that 86 percent of boat operators involved in an accident had not received any boat safety instruction. According to Admiral Kevin Cook “the two most important things boaters can do to prevent the loss of life is to wear a life jacket and take a boater’s education course.”

Would you ride in a car with someone that had never driven before? Better yet, how about fly with a pilot that has never soloed or taken flying lessons? I’m guessing MOST of you would say no.

You can’t just park the boat when bad weather rolls in and wait for it to clear like parking on the side of the highway in your car. Also, if you haven’t noticed your boat or personal watercraft doesn’t have any brakes.

Check into a local boat safety course and if you have any question about your own swimming ability or your passengers ability – please wear a life jacket. They are much more comfortable and less bulky than the old orange pull over your head life jackets our parents wore.

Happy and Safe Boating!!

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Recalled chicken nuggets – sold at WalMart

Perdue Farms Inc. is recalling close to 100,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets that were sold through WalMart. The recall was initiated after the company noticed pieces of blue plastic in the nuggets. Beware the blue chicken nugget!

Here are some images of the product labels:

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Rampant abuse in nursing home

State authorities are closing a Jacksonville nursing home because of abusive conditions – a measure so rare that local authorities can’t remember it ever happening here.  This facility is one in which a known sex offender raped a comatose woman and inspection reports back to at least 2008 document out-of-control patients who became violent.  One recent AHCA report resulted in 257 deficiencies. But the final straw came during a February investigation, when it found some residents were hitting other residents, falling repeatedly and attempting to escape, including one resident that got as far as St. Johns County and another that attempted to climb the exterior fence. 

It is saddening and truly unfortunate to hear that such extraordinary measures are being taken to stop the ongoing abuse and neglect in a Jacksonville nursing home.  As a community, we need to work harder to immediately hold nursing homes responsible when there has been abuse or neglect.  It is often, sadly, the most vulnerable, that need our protection.  If you feel a loved one has been the victim of abuse or neglect in this or any other nursing home, please contact us…

www.harrellandharrell.com

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Declaration of Independence

Lest we forget, it is important for all of us to re-read or even read for the first time the document that forged our Independence.  As we approach the July 4th holiday, we should spend a moment remembering all the struggles and sacrifices our forefather’s went through to make the United States a great country. Share this with your children and explain a real piece of American history.

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription


IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

click here to read further

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UH OH SPAGHETTIO’S

Here’s a link to a recently announced recall of Spaghettio’s. Looks like most of the recalled cans are the ones containing MEATBALLS. There is a high health risk due to UNDERCOOKED MEAT in the children’s favorite (at least to my 3 kids) meal in a can.

Check out the link and dispose of those Spaghettio’s cans in your pantry.

UH OH SPAGHETTIO’S

www.harrellandharrell.com

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Where’s my check?

Social Security to Phase Out Paper Checks

The Treasury Department announced that Social Security will stop issuing paper checks on March 1, 2013, at which point all payments will be made electronically.  New enrollees to Social Security programs, including Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income, will no longer be able to receive benefits via paper checks beginning March 1 2011.  Existing beneficiaries will have until March 1, 2013 to switch.  After March 1, 2013, all Social Security payments will be deposited electronically to a person’s bank account or to a beneficiary’s government issued debit card. 

It is estimated that this switch will save the Federal Government $300 million over the first five years and $125 million each following year.  It now costs $1 overall to cut and mail a check and only 10 cents for a direct deposit.  The Treasury Department issues more than 135 million benefit checks annually.

If you have any questions please contact Attorney Mark Papa in our Jacksonville,  FL office.

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Earn a quick $100

Take your GM car in for a recall and they’ll fix it and give you some cash.

General Motors is recalling 1.5 million cars from the 2007-2009 model years because of a problem with a heated washer fluid system that could trigger a fire.

GM says they will disable the feature and provide the vehicle owners and lessees with a $100 compensation. Owners can take their vehicles to the dealership to have the heated washer fluid module removed and the washer fluid hoses rerouted.

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