Inventure Foods and Listeria

Inventure Foods is recalling dozens of frozen-vegetable products as well as Jamba brand smoothie kits from large supermarkets and retail centers in several states, including Mississippi according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration email alert distributed this morning.

The voluntary recall by Inventure Foods, Inc. affects dozens of varieties of the company’s “Fresh Frozen” line of frozen vegetables as well as select varieties of its Jamba “At Home” line of smoothie kits because of the detection of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria during routine testing in the company’s production facility in Jefferson, Georgia.

To view a list of the specific products recalled, go to www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls.

No known illnesses linked to consumption of Fresh Frozen frozen vegetables or Jamba “At Home” smoothies have been reported to date, and no listeria has been detected in the products themselves, but the company issued the recall notice because of the detected presence of the bacteria in the production facility.

Listeria can cause infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, the FDA said. Healthy people may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, but a listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Inventure Foods urged those who purchased recalled product to destroy the contents and its package and notify the company to obtain a refund.

If you’ve been injured or hurt due to consuming “Fresh Frozen” line of vegetables or Jamba “At Home” smoothies that have been recalled, please contact the attorneys at Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A., at 601-948-8005 or by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com . We might be able to help you receive compensation allowed by law for damages or injuries. It doesn’t cost you anything to call and talk to an attorney to see what options you have.

Blue Bell Ice Cream and Listeria

There have been three different recalls in the last month pertaining to Listeria contamination. Blue Bell has now begun to recall more ice cream due to pints of banana pudding ice cream testing positive for listeriosis. The contaminated ice cream came from the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma plant which serves a variety of supermarkets throughout several states, including Mississippi, according to Blue Bell.

More and more products are being recalled from Blue Bell Creameries, as 3 of the 8 people hospitalized for Listeria have already. For a complete list of the recalls, take a look here.

Blue Bell Creameries are not the only Listeria contamination recall this week; Sabra Hummus has also had some of their product test positive for the food-borne illness as well.

If you have consumed Blue Bell Ice Cream on the recall list and then become ill, contact your physician, and then contact Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A.  Also, keep the ice cream in your possession but store them in a location where they will not be consumed by anyone.

If you’ve been injured or hurt due to consuming Blue Bell Ice Cream that has been recalled, please contact the attorneys at Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A., at 601-948-8005 or by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com . We might be able to help you receive compensation allowed by law for damages or injuries. It doesn’t cost you anything to call and talk to an attorney to see what options you have.

I Want to Speak to the Attorney

Every day, we get calls where a client insists on speaking to an attorney.  Sometimes they are new potential clients and sometimes, they have been a client for a long time.  We strive to return every call every day and make our attorneys as accessible as possible.  But where you find good lawyers, you find very busy lawyers.  And where lawyers are busy, efficiency matters.  So when is it ever appropriate to call and demand that an attorney get on the phone?

Perhaps an analogy is appropriate here.  Do you ever call up the doctor’s office and demand to speak to the doctor right now?  Do you ever walk in and demand to see him immediately?  Have you ever seen a doctor without some person that works for him take your vital signs and triage you?  Lawyers, the good ones that are busy, don’t work any different than doctors.  The job of the lawyer is to diagnose and treat the legal problem.  To diagnose each problem, he or she needs some basic information.  And every second spent getting basic information that the lawyer’s staff is paid to obtain, is a second less that the lawyer can concentrate on hearings, trials, depositions, and other important “treatment” for the solution.

So next time you call a lawyer’s office, instead of saying “I want to talk to a lawyer now,” perhaps you would actually get quicker diagnosis and treatment, if you would allow the lawyer’s office to work as efficiently as it is designed to do, and allow the assistant, receptionist, or paralegal to get the basic needed information so that an efficient solution can be provided.  

California woman wins $28 million against Kaiser Permanente

A young California woman who lost her leg and won a $28.2 million lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente said Thursday she hopes the verdict will bring reform against the managed care giant and empower patients to question their treatment.

“I truly hope that this is going to make a change in health care reform,” said Anna Rahm, a 23-year-old Cal State Northridge student.

“However, I know that it takes so much advocacy and so much passion,” she said. “We went into this with an initiative hoping that no matter the outcome, we wanted to get our story out there for everyone to be able to relate to and to learn from.”

A jury on Wednesday found that Kaiser Permanente was liable for mishandling Rahm’s medical treatment, resulting in the loss of her right leg, half of her pelvis and parts of her spine. The jury awarded Rahm the $28.2 million for future medical expenses, future loss of earnings, and pain and suffering after a four-week trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to her attorneys.

In response to the verdict, Kaiser issued a statement Thursday saying it was evaluating the outcome of the case.

“Although we understand the jury’s findings and wish only the best for Ms. Rahm, highly respected medical experts testified that the medical care provided was appropriate,” according to the statement. “We will be evaluating in the days ahead how best to respond to this verdict.”

Rahm was 16 years old when she began experiencing lower back pain. A chiropractor urged her to see her physician for an MRI. But according to court documents, her physician, Dr. Charlene Huang, who specializes in adolescent health at Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills, told Rahm and her mother, Lynnette, she could not authorize the test. Rahm was referred to another physician, Dr. Ngan Vuong, who according to court documents noted that the young woman was experiencing pain down her leg and was unable to sleep. Instead of a diagnostic test, Vuong prescribed an epidermal injection and antidepressant, according to court documents.

Between March and June of 2009, Rahm’s family repeatedly requested an MRI from their treating physicians but both doctors refused to order any diagnostic exams. The complaint also said physicians failed to document the MRI request in the medical records.

Neither physician has had administrative penalties issued against them, according to licensing information by the California Medical Board.

When Kaiser Permanente agreed and the MRI was done on July 2, 2009, it revealed that Rahm had an aggressive tumor mass in her pelvis known as osteosarcoma. Rahm underwent chemotherapy, then surgeries lasting a total of 22 hours which resulted in the loss of her right leg.

Rahm’s attorneys said Kaiser Permanente’s refusal to give her an MRI not only resulted in the loss of her leg, but also was an example of medical negligence. Her attorneys said the physicians’ refusal to authorize the MRI was an example of Kaiser trying to keep costs low.

One of Rahm’s attorneys, Michael Bidart, said he hopes the verdict will change the way Kaiser provides health care to its members.

“The hope is that they will allow their doctors to do prompt imaging and diagnosis without having an institutional bias against getting MRI,” Bidart said. “There are a lot of good doctors at Kaiser, including the surgeon who did a magnificent job on her.”

But the same surgeon could have done more to help her, had the MRI been done earlier, Bidart said.

Bidart also noted this is one of the few cases of its kind involving Kaiser to be presented in front of a jury.

“We were able to avoid arbitration,” Bidart said. “When juries are able to see this, they are offended.”

For Rahm and her family, the verdict helped to cast light on an injustice.

“In our minds and in our hearts, it was important for justice to be done.” Lynnette Rahm said. “We felt she had been wronged. Monetarily, it could never be corrected. For years and years, Kaiser had been telling us, ‘We’ve done everything right.’ This was the greatest verdict of all.”

She agreed that after the MRI detected cancer, her daughter received great care at Kaiser.

“The doctors who came afterward were wonderful,” Lynnette Rahm said. “They saved her life. We love them. It goes to show we’re not against Kaiser or against all doctors. We’re against doctors who don’t do their jobs.”

Now that the trial is behind her, Anna Rahm said she plans to continue pursuing her degree at CSUN in child and adolescent development. She said she already visits children and teens who are hospitalized and frightened.

“When I ended up surviving cancer, I felt I needed to help children in the hospital, because I was helped after my diagnosis,” said Rahm, who has been cancer-free since 2010. “I felt as though it was important for me to give back. I just feel I know they benefit from what I’m giving to them and I can benefit from what they are giving me.”

If you or a loved one have become victim to medical negligence, contact Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. today by going to http://www.cglawms.com or by calling 601-948-8005 for a free consultation.

How To Prep For Workers Compensation

The reality tv show “Doomsday Preppers” is about families who are preparing for the end of the world.  Everyday ordinary people who believe that life as we know it will end due to earthquakes, nuclear war or cyber-warfare, or some other disaster.  What’s remarkable is that the preppers are prepared for catastrophes that may or may not ever happen. 

We can learn from the preppers.  Maybe we don’t need to prepare for global earthquakes, but the way preppers know exactly what to do in moments of crisis is something positive we can all apply in our own lives.

At Chhabra and Gibbs, we regularly meet people during their times of crisis and it is our privilege to represent them.  But, like the preppers, it is important to know what to do before a crisis ever occurs.

If you are involved in an accident at your workplace or feel any pain while you are working, the first thing you should do is report it to your boss.  Tell your supervisor or your boss that you’ve been hurt—even if it was your own fault, even if it seems minor.

Accident = Tell your boss.  Even if you don’t think you’ve been injured in the accident = Tell your boss.

Sometimes a worker will be performing everyday ordinary tasks at their job and they will feel pain somewhere in their body. 

Pain = Tell your boss.

After you’ve reported your injury, seek medical treatment.  You have a legal right to medical treatment. We will work with you throughout your treatment process to get you the care and compensation that you deserve.

Do not quit or resign from your job.  If your doctor has taken you off work or given you light or medium duty, abide by your doctor’s instructions.  If your employer refuses to accommodate your restrictions, you should still continue to abide by the restrictions your doctor has given you.

If your doctor has cleared you to work and you do not have a job, search for a job.  This is good for your life and good for your claim.

If you feel that you have a workers' compensation claim, contact Chhabra and Gibbs, P.A. today for a free consultation by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com or by calling 601.948.8005.

The Workers’ Compensation System Is Broken And It’s Driving People Into Poverty

There’s a good news & bad news situation for occupational injuries in the United States: Fewer people are getting hurt on the job. But those who do are getting less help.

That’s according to a couple of important new reports on how the system for cleaning up workplace accidents is broken -- both because of the changing circumstances of the people who are getting injured, and the disintegration of programs that are supposed to pay for them.

The first comes from the Department of Labor, which aims to tie the 3 million workplace injuries reported per year -- the number is actually much higher, because many workers fear raising the issue with their employers -- into the ongoing national conversation about inequality. In an overview of research on the topic, the agency finds that low-wage workers have disproportionately high injury rates, and that injuries can slice 15 percent off a person’s earnings over 10 years after the accident.

There are two main components to the financial implications of a workplace injury. The first is the legal status of the people getting injured. A staggering number of workers in the construction industry are misclassified as independent contractors, which means they’re not entitled to workers' compensation payments. Also, more of them are employees of temporary staffing agencies, who tend to be less well-trained and less likely to report their injuries. Businesses will often contract out their most dangerous work, which allows them to keep their own workers' compensation premiums to a minimum.

The second component is the degradation of workers' compensation programs themselves. That issue is addressed by the second report out Wednesday, from ProPublica and NPR, which looks at how employers have lobbied states to get out of paying as much as they used to in workers' compensation, leaving injured workers with inadequate treatment.

Since 2003, the investigation found, 33 states have weakened their workers' compensation regulations, scaling back the procedures that will be covered and the duration for which benefits are offered. In addition, while businesses often push for reforms on the grounds that workers' compensation costs are out of control, data shows that premiums are lower than they’ve been at any point since the early 1990s.

Somebody ends up paying for those injuries, though: taxpayers. When a worker ends up unable to work because of an injury, he or she can be covered by Social Security Disability Insurance, a program that has steadily increased in cost over the past two decades. The rise has many demographic factors behind it, but it looks like the abdication of responsibility by employers may have played a role as well.

The Department of Labor has tried to tackle the misclassification problem -- which contributes to unsafe workplaces, and prevents those who are injured from getting help -- by aggressively pursuing employers abusing the system. But there’s not much they can do about the decline in workers' compensation coverage. That’s something states are going to address themselves -- over employers’ strong objections.

Has your employer been ignoring your workers’ compensation case? Are you having problems getting your paychecks or receiving medical treatment after you’ve been injured in a work-related accident? It might be time to hire a good Mississippi workers’ compensation lawyer to fight for you. If you feel that you have a workers’ compensation claim, contact Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. today by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com or calling 601-948-8005. 

Ashley Furniture faces $1.76M in fines after OSHA finds more than 1,000 worker injuries

In a three-and-a-half year period, 4,500 employees at Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., in Arcadia, Wisconsin experienced more than 1,000 work-related injuries. One worker became another terrible statistic when he lost three fingers in July 2014 while operating a dangerous woodworking machine without required safety mechanisms in place. Of the injuries recorded, more than 100 were caused by similar machinery.

After the incident, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an inspection of the facility. Investigators identified 12 willful, 12 repeated and 14 serious safety violations at Ashley Furniture's Arcadia location, carrying a total of $1,766,000 in penalties. The company has also been placed in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program for failure to address these safety hazards. OSHA previously cited the Arcadia facility in 2014 after an employee suffered a partial finger amputation.

"Ashley Furniture has created a culture that values production and profit over worker safety, and employees are paying the price," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "Safety and profits are not an ‘either, or' proposition. Successful companies across this nation have both."

Dr. David Michaels, the assistant secretary of labor of occupational safety and health, said, "Ashley Furniture intentionally and willfully disregarded OSHA standards and its own corporate safety manuals to encourage workers to increase productivity and meet deadlines. The company apparently blamed the victims for their own injuries, but there is clear evidence that injuries were caused by the unsafe conditions created by the company. OSHA is committed to making sure that the total disregard Ashley Furniture has shown to safety stops here and now."

Forbes lists Ashley Furniture Industries, a furniture manufacturer with worldwide distribution, as the 117th largest private company in America. With annual revenue of $3.85 billion as of October 2014, the company employs about 20,000 workers at 30 locations nationally. The Arcadia plant is also the largest employer in Wisconsin's rural Trempealeau County, with a population of about 30,000.

The 12 willful and 12 repeated violations were cited after OSHA found that the company did not take the necessary steps to protect its workers from being injured by moving machine parts. It did not prevent machines from unintentionally starting when workers were performing tooling and blade changes on woodworking machinery, and also failed to provide adequate safety mechanisms to prevent contact with those moving parts. These types of violations are among the most frequently cited by OSHA and often result in death or permanent disability.

A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health. OSHA issues repeated violations if an employer previously was cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

OSHA also cited Ashley Furniture Industries for 14 serious violations, including not training workers on safety procedures and hazards present when servicing machinery. The company also lacked adequate drenching facilities for workers exposed to corrosive materials; it committed three electrical safety violations, and it did not equip some of its machines with readily-accessible emergency stop buttons.

An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., has had 33 federal OSHA inspections and 23 state plan inspections since 1982. In its 33 previous inspections, OSHA issued citations for 96 serious, four repeat and 38 other-than-serious violations. Four inspections were initiated as a result of finger amputations, with Arcadia's 2014 incident being the most recent.

If you or a loved one have experienced any type of injury or death while working for Ashley Furniture or any other employer that has violated OSHA guidelines, contact Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com  or calling 601-948-8005.