Protecting What's Right

Having major problems with your Mini?

You’re not alone.

A class action lawsuit filed by the national firm of Baron and Budd alleges that BMW of North America knew that the transmissions installed in some Mini Cooper models were prone to premature failure. Models include the 2002 through 2006 Mini Cooper Coupes and the 2005 to 2008 Mini Cooper Convertibles. This is the first class action lawsuit filed against the company regarding this issue.

The lawsuit, filed in the Central District of California, alleges that the transmission failures present a safety issue and place the vehicle’s occupants at risk of serious harm. Imagine driving down the highway and the transmission fails without warning. You lose power to the drive wheels, and you are exposed to speeding traffic as you try to find a safe place for your Mini to coast to a stop. Or, you’re in a busy intersection waiting to make a left turn. Just as the light turns yellow, you start to turn, but when you press on the gas pedal, nothing happens. Now, stranded in the middle of the intersection, you brace for impact and watch helplessly out the window as cars begin to approach from the opposite direction.

BMW Group concealed the faulty transmissions so that the warranty would expire before owners became aware of the problem, forcing them to repair the defect out of their own pocket, the suit states.

The first Generation Minis were introduced in the United States in 2002. The car had gained popularity in Britain during the 1960s for its unconventional small design. At the time of its American debut, the Mini was heralded as a stylish, affordable compact car under $20,000. An advertising blitz in America hyped the vehicle so much that BMW couldn’t keep up with demand and churned out a substandard, shoddy product, the lawsuit alleges.

The company even purchased the first-ever centerfold spread in Playboy magazine to show off the car’s beauty. A Playboy photographer was hired to show off the vehicle’s assets in the pictorial.

The beauty, however, was only skin deep. Owners of the first generation of Minis were duped into believing that their vehicles were not only beautiful but well-crafted. Instead, BMW left the owners of these faulty cars to foot the bill.

When the transmissions fail, Mini enthusiasts are required to spend $6,000 to $9,000 (a third to half of the Mini’s purchase price) to repair or replace the transmissions.

Not long after its American debut, BMW issued several technical service bulletins on the faulty transmissions. Instead of disclosing the problem to its loyal customers, BMW attempted to resolve the issue by simply replacing the transmission oil.

When more Mini owners began bringing their broken vehicles back to the dealership for service, BMW told its mechanics to only replace certain parts. The company knew about the problem, didn’t tell its customers and failed to replace shoddy workmanship that should’ve never come off the assembly line.

Contact Baron and Budd at 1.866.844.4556 or via email here to learn more about the Mini Cooper lawsuit.

Did you know that the meat substitute Quorn contains a fermented fungus?

Doesn’t exactly sound appetizing, does it?

Quorn has become a controversial product because it contains a microscopic fungus, called mycoprotein, known to cause violent allergic reactions, vomiting and diarrhea, according to a report by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit has asked in a letter to the FDA to either take the Quorn off the market or place a warning label on its products.

Mycoprotein, the main Quorn ingredient, is a fermented fungus mixed with vegetable flavoring, egg whites and other ingredients that is then shaped into patties and frozen.

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Johnson & Johnson, makers of the popular No More Tears baby shampoo, recently announced plans to eliminate deadly carcinogenic chemicals from its products within two years.

Then why are our eyes still watering?

It’s because it took nearly two years for Johnson & Johnson to react after leading health and parents’ groups asked the company to remove the chemicals 1.4-dioxane and quaternium-15. The company only made the decision after the nonprofit group Campaign for Safe Cosmetics threatened to boycott its products.

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Just last week, a judge approved a $10 million settlement for the family of a California Highway Patrol officer in a Toyota sudden acceleration lawsuit. The officer and three others died when their car sped out of control and crashed in 2009.

According to a March 2 lawsuit filed by the victim’s family, the vehicle involved in the fatal crash, a Lexus ES350, accelerated on its own and reached speeds of more than 100 miles an hour before it came to the end of a freeway and broke through a fence. As stated in the complaint, a 911 emergency call from one of the car’s occupants said that the accelerator was stuck.

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles for issues related to sudden unintended acceleration. In September 2009, the company recalled 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles because of a defect that may cause floor mats to jam accelerator pedals. Toyota later recalled additional vehicles over defects involving the pedals themselves.

Baron & Budd has a substantial history of protecting consumers from defective products, ranging from automotive issues, such as Toyota, to harmful pharmaceuticals and medical devices to Chinese drywall. Visit http://baronandbudd.com for more information.

Health care giant Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that consumers may have to wait until the end of the year before local stores shelves start to fill up again with the company’s recalled children’s Tylenol, Motrin and Bendryl.

Johnson & Johnson had hoped to restock retailers with all the recalled medications by the middle of 2011, but company executives said Tuesday that retailers will not received adequate supplies until the later half of the year, which is “slightly later than expected.”

Though Baron & Budd is not currently handling any cases regarding Johnson & Johnson’s recalled pharmaceuticals, the firm is a leader in litigation surrounding the recall of the DePuy hip implant system, made by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

The firm is also involved in litigation surrounding the diabetes drug Avandia, anti-depression medication Paxil, Reglan, Fosamax and others.

Following the recent string of product recalls for healthcare manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, the company has faulted lax cleaning procedures and other issues at a manufacturing plant as the culprit for massive recalls of over-the-counter medications, such as Tylenol. The company said it was voluntarily recalling nearly 50 million more units of consumer medications.

Just last week, Johnson & Johnson recalled packages of various kinds of Tylenol, Benadryl, Rolaids and other products and last month, the company recalled all batches of Softchews Rolaids made by an outside manufacturer after wood and metal bits were discovered in the tablets.

J&J’s image has been recently tarnished by repeated recalls totaling nearly 200 million bottles in the past year and could be faced with criminal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice. The recalls have also impacted the company’s bottom line, and has led J&J to seek buyers for some of its brands.

Just last week a federal judge said that he expects the first lawsuits against Japanese automaker Toyota about alleged acceleration issues to go to trial in 2013.

U.S. District Judge James Selna, who oversees the consolidated economic class action and personal injury lawsuits in the litigation, gave the date in a status hearing last week.

Plaintiffs in the suit allege that issues with the Toyota’s throttle-control system led to unexpected acceleration.

Toyota, meanwhile, maintain that plaintiffs have been unable to prove that a design defect is responsible for the acceleration issues. The company has tagged driver error, faulty floor mats and sticky gas pedals as other possible culprits.

The maker of blood pressure medication ProAmatine will remove the drug from the market, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) threatened to recall the drug because of lack of proof concerning the drug’s long-term benefits.  The FDA stated that the maker failed to conduct postmarketing clinical trials to confirm the drug’s effectiveness.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced an investigation into whether the drug Stalevo, which is used to treat Parkinson’s disease, may increase elderly patients’ risk of heart attack and stroke.  The FDA encourages patients taking the drug to talk to their physicians about their risk of cardiovascular disease.

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