Chattanooga Law Blog

"We're 5% of the world's population, but we consume 80% of the world's prescription opioids," says one Stanford medical researcher of the U.S.

That's a problem, especially because opioid painkillers put people at risk for addiction and overdose. Nevertheless, according to public data analyzed by NPR, enough opioid prescriptions are written each year in the U.S. that half of all Americans could have one. These prescribing rates are widely considered unsafe for patients.

In a recent blog post, we discussed how parents can take measures to keep their families safe at the pool this summer.

However, it seems it is necessary to highlight pool and water safety again since a new report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) demonstrates it is even more critical than ever.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, residents and staff of long-term care facilities account for almost 45% of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. Yet testing for the virus has not reached levels that experts say are necessary to stem the spread of the virus.

Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, says that only seven states even require ongoing testing of these residents, staff or both. Those states are Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Maryland, Florida, Louisiana and New Mexico.

Thousands of people in the U.S. have sued Johnson & Johnson, claiming that its talc-based products such as Baby Powder are contaminated by asbestos and caused cancer after routine use. Asbestos is a known human carcinogen and is mined in the same soil types as talc, but J&J denies that its talc-based products ever contain asbestos.

In 2018, however, Reuters issued an investigative report indicating that J&J has known for decades that at least some of its talc was contaminated by asbestos and took active steps to cover it up.