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• Louisville Funeral Director Charged with Improperly Storing Body

  Laura Blatt | June 06, 2007 9:33 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  Former Louisville funeral director Nathaniel Anderson has his troubles. Although his license was suspended in 2006, he was arrested last February for storing a corpse without refrigeration at his business, Anderson Funeral Services. A customer identified the deceased as her mother, and said that the body was supposed to have been cremated, according to Channel 32 News, WLKY, in...

• Nursing Home Abuses: Oversight of California Nursing Homes

  Laura Blatt | June 05, 2007 11:23 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  A recent state audit criticized the California Department of Health Services (DHS) for not doing an adequate job of overseeing the quality of nursing homes. Some DHS employees overlooked or underestimated nursing home violations, the audit said. Also, the timing of inspections was quite predictable, so it was too easy for a nursing home to prepare for the visit and hide deficiencies.The DHS...

• Funeral Home Malpractice: Funeral Home Problems in the Nation's Capitol

  Laura Blatt | June 01, 2007 7:55 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  Reese Funeral Home in Washington, DC, was cited for allegedly not storing the bodies of the deceased at appropriate temperatures to prevent decay and for not having a licensed funeral director. The DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) also took enforcement actions against five other local funeral homes for not having proper licenses. Three of the funeral homes did not even...

• Nursing Home Abuse: Finding Out About California Nursing Home Violations

  Laura Blatt | June 01, 2007 6:51 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  When it comes to quality care for the elderly, California nursing homes have a mixed record. Some deliver good service, but too many have been cited for serious deficiencies. In 2005 alone, for example, the California Department of Health Services (DHS) received 21,388 complaints, and this may be an understatement of the problem.Wouldn't it be helpful to know about a nursing home's history of...

• Nursing Home Abuse: Nursing Homes with Repeated Violations

  Laura Blatt | June 01, 2007 5:44 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  In 2006, one in five nursing homes received citations for violations that could seriously harm residents. This figure comes from recent studies by the GAO (Government Accountability Office), which has been tracking nursing home performance for the last decade and reporting back to Congress at least once a year.Sadly, the GAO found that some nursing homes repeatedly violated federal and state...

• Funeral Home Malpractice: Body Snatching and Medical Transplants

  Laura Blatt | May 23, 2007 12:27 AM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  Three funeral home directors and four employees of a biomedical supply company are accused of stealing body parts, organs and tissue from corpses awaiting cremation or burial. Other charges include opening graves, unlawful dissection and fraud. The defendants allegedly sold the parts to medical tissue banks, which provided them to hospitals and doctors for use in transplants and other medical...

• Consumer Product Safety: Is Michael Baroody the Fox Guarding the Henhouse?

  Laura Blatt | May 23, 2007 12:24 AM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  President Bush's nominee to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is none other than Michael Baroody, the vice president of the industry-driven National Association of Manufacturers. This group makes the products that the Commission regulates and its members include corporate giants such as Dow Chemical and Proctor & Gamble. Mr. Baroody is known for lobbying against fire-safe...

• Defective Products: Do You Have a "Killer Stove"?

  Laura Blatt | May 21, 2007 9:50 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  "Killer stoves" have caused the deaths of 33 people and injured at least 84 others from 1980 through 2006, according to Public Citizen and the Consumer Federation of America. The groups are referring to freestanding kitchen ranges that can easily topple over, crushing their victims or causing burns from spilled hot foods. Manufacturers began using lighter, cheaper materials in freestanding...

• Funeral Home Negligence: CA Mortician Loses License

  Laura Blatt | May 17, 2007 12:32 AM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  A mortician's license was indefinitely suspended for improperly storing bodies, allowing them to decay in a warehouse without proper refrigeration. Anthony Villeggiante is co-owner of Abby Chapel of the Redwoods in Rohnert Park, California. The mortuary has now been shut down. When state inspectors checked the warehouse in March, they found nine bodies. A swamp cooler and baby powder did nothing...

• Toxic Toy Legislation Bans Phthalates Used in Baby Toys

  Christina Cole | May 09, 2007 8:46 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  The Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxics Materials Committee passed legislation, authored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, to eliminate a dangerous toxic chemical that is used in the manufacturing of baby toys. AB 1108 passed the committee with an unofficial vote of 5-2. During the hearing, the bill was amended to include a ban on phthalates only. After It was agreed upon to focus on banning...