Trenton, New Jersey Blog

New Jersey's Office of The Attorney General is expanding the state's primary enforcement department in an attempt to curb prescription drug abuse.

The Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is increasing its sit-in pharmacists from nine to 13, adding two investigators to its drug-diversion department and bringing in three more investigators who double as nurses within its quality of healthcare section, according to the Record. The changes come amid concern that abuse of drug prescriptions and distribution is on the rise.

Identity theft comes in many forms. It can involve lost or stolen credit cards, or misappropriation of data in a business setting. With so many companies mining personal data for various sales purposes, the boundaries of what is permissible are still evolving - especially in a world saturated with social media.

As lawyers who defend New Jersey identity theft charges, we are well aware of how a broad a term "identity theft" can be.

We also know that there is such a thing as mistaken identity theft. A recent case in point concern a man who sought to purchase a house in New Jersey, only to be informed by his bank that his identity had been stolen.

PC magazine recently reported on the case. The man, by the name of James, was about to sign the mortgage papers for a townhouse in Morristown. He and his wife had been working in New York and renting an apartment in Connecticut.

After finding a house they loved in New Jersey, they were all ready to sign off on the loan when their bank, Bank of America, told James that someone had stolen his identity.

Failure to diagnose and properly treat cancer is a major problem at any age. That includes senior citizens in nursing homes.

As nursing home neglect lawyers, we know that abuse and neglect can take many forms. It can range from outright assault to negligent inattentiveness that leads to falls and wandering off episodes. It can also involve allowing bedsores and other pressure sores to develop in residents with mobility issues when staff do not provide sufficient assistance.

These are all significant threats to vulnerable elderly people. Yet none is as consistently lethal as failure to diagnose cancer.

Infants are vulnerable to so many dangers. Some of those dangers can't be helped. But others can - and that should include the bumpers on their cribs.

According to a key federal safety agency, there were 52 deaths involving crib bumpers from 1990 to 2010. The Consumer Product Safety Commission did not say bumpers were specifically to blame for these deaths, but nonetheless bumpers were involved.

Manufacturers of children's products dispute the notion that crib bumpers are responsible for defective product injuries. Instead, the manufacturers assert, bumpers can actually prevent children's injuries by keeping limbs from getting stuck in the slats of the crib.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended last week that parents stop using all crib bumper pads due to the risk such bumpers pose to infants. Those risks include the risk of suffocation and the risk of strangulation.

Product manufacturers claim that these risks apply only to "pillow-like" bumpers, not to the vast majority of bumpers. Safety advocates counter that there is no evidence that the traditional bumpers are less likely to cause suffocation than the fatter, pillow-like bumpers.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to review the crib bumper issue closely and set up an expert panel to make recommendations.

Motor vehicle recalls tend to garner a lot of headlines when they are announced. That is rightly so, because the need for a recall usually indicates a serious safety concern involving traffic accidents.

More attention should also be paid, however, to what auto manufacturers are doing proactively to design safer cars and trucks. Recalls are about fixing product defects and other past problems. What are carmakers like Toyota doing to make safer vehicles for the future?

Toyota recently announced that will provide funding for several research projects on vehicle safety. The automakers is partnering on this with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) and others to develop recommendations for improving safety.

The projects will seek to gather more detailed data on distracted driving, teenage drivers who are newly licensed, and senior drivers whose faculties are failing.

Driving a motor vehicle is a major responsibility. After all, a driver has people's lives in his or her hands. Poor decisions made behind the wheel can cause serious and often fatal car accidents.

That is why so many states have graduated driver's license (GDL) laws. These laws create a structure for teenagers who are learning to drive. Components of the laws include such safeguards as limitations on night-time driving and the number of passengers that a new driver can carry.

In New Jersey, the GDL law was modified two years ago to impose a strict passenger limit. First-year drivers are required to have an adult in the vehicle at all times. After that first year, the next step is a Graduated Driver's License. This type of license allows driving without an adult, but with only one passenger.

The consequence for violating the passenger limit is a possible $100 fine. But a violation does not affect the status of the violator's license.

Bus safety has been an issue in America for years. Other developed countries have required seat belts on buses for several years. In the European Union, this has been the case for five years and in Australia for 20.

Yet the U.S. has lagged behind. Even as horrific bus accidents continue to occur, the bus industry has resisted the installation of lap-and-shoulder belts that would unquestionably save lives in rollover accidents.

Efforts to improve bus safety failed last year in the Senate. But this year the issue has received renewed attention after the terrible crash in March in New York City in which 15 people were killed. Only two days after that crash, another bus crash on the New Jersey Turnpike claimed the lives of two more bus passengers.

A recent decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court clarifies the rights of uninsured car owners who are injured as passengers in car accidents.

Under New Jersey law, all vehicles must carry automobile insurance, and uninsured drivers are not permitted to sue for the injuries they suffer in car accidents. Until now, however, the law was unsettled as to whether the owner of an uninsured vehicle may sue for injuries suffered while riding in the vehicle as a passenger. The answer, the court says, is no.

The question was brought before the court by Denise Perelli, a New Jersey woman who was injured while riding as a passenger in her own uninsured vehicle. As reported in the Star-Ledger, Ms. Perelli's friend was driving the car when another vehicle pulled into their lane, causing a collision that injured Ms. Perelli and killed her companion.

After a hard winter, summer evenings in the backyard hold the promise of an idyllic scene. Soft breezes have replaced the icy winds, and the sound of birds serves as a lovely reminder that nature is alive. Adding a decorative firepot should only enhance the scene, offering gentle light as darkness falls.

But when manufacturers of those firepots fail to make them safely, terrible accidents can occur. Two recent explosions involving firepots and fuel gel in New York caused three people to suffer severe burns. The burns required hospitalization.

When the New York Times wrote about these accidents, numerous people from around the country reported that similar fires had occurred in the last few years, since firepot products went on the market. These cases are a vivid reminder of why products liability law exists: to hold those who make and distribute unreasonably dangerous products like this accountable.