WHEN IS A WARNING NOT A WARNING?

I am on my annual summer vacation at Cape Cod where I typically enjoy all that you would expect Cape Cod to offer any tourist seeking plenty of sunshine, great ocean views and water sports including swimming, diving, sailing, fishing, water skiing, jet skiing, kite sailing, kiting, etc. and, of course, feasting on anything fish or clam….my favorites include clam chowder (not too creamy lest you miss the distinct clam broth that makes a chowdah a chowdah) and large Ipswich big bellied fried clams (seared and not too doughy, lest you miss the sumptuous taste of the bellies’ succulent juices as you bite into its rich base at the bottom of a long, tender clam neck. Readers: don’t be alarmed! This is not going to turn into a food review, although I proudly claim authorship of “Goldhaber’s Gourmet Greats”, a culinary ride through Albuquerque, N.M.’s best restaurants in 1972. No, this is a newsletter about safety and warnings related to hazards I and others would not normally expect to encounter, especially on a vacation celebrating its 50th year in the same destination….and, yet here I am, confronting two hazards that I had little idea existed, let alone any “effective” warnings about these two hidden hazards.

1. Hot Tub Hazard: Pregnant Women Should Significantly Limit or Avoid Time in a Hot Tub. It is well known that all people whose decision making and physical well being may be impaired by alcohol or drugs should not be in a hot tub. It is also well known that hot tubs present a drowning hazard to unsupervised children who are naturally drawn to virtually any body of water. What is not well known is the hazard that time in a hot tub presents to pregnant women. Hot tubs typically present temperatures ranging from 100 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Exposure to temperatures in this range can actually be hazardous to the fetus in a pregnant woman. Given the existence of this “hidden hazard”, a warning should be conspicuously placed on the hot tub that any user can easily see, read and understand, especially if the potential user is pregnant or a family member or close friend of a pregnant woman who may want to use the hot tub. Note that I used the word “conspicuously” to describe the placement of such a warning. While on my vacation, I photographed the following warning on a hot tub I encountered.

EXHIBIT 1:

As you can plainly see in this photograph, the warning cannot be plainly (conspicuously) seen. While it is prominently located on the front (and only) entrance to the hot tub, the actual language about the hazard to pregnant women has clearly faded and is virtually impossible to read, probably due to being subjected to the elements such as wind, salt, sand and water itself. The lesson here is that this and any warning must be constructed so that it is AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE conspicuous to potential users of the product at the time of use. This means that the materials used in constructing the warning (e.g., protective metals, plastic coverings, weather resistant paints or embossings, etc.) should be selected by considering, as a highly significant factor, the environment where the product is to be used.

2. Seal Hazard: Dead Seals Washed Up on Beach May Signal Presence of Great White Sharks. Cape Cod is a well known refuge year-round for 2 of the approximately 30 species of seals found in the world: harbor and grey seals, the females of which typically give birth to their “pups” in late spring or summer. Because these seals are found in such abundance along the shores of Cape Cod, they attract many types of sharks, also looking for abundance in meals, namely seals, and these sharks now include even Great White Sharks, which can grow to an average of 15 feet and weigh as much as 5,000 pounds. Recently while we were walking on our Cape beach, my children and I discovered a dead seal on the beach.

EXHIBIT 2:

After reporting the seal to IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), their team arrived, inspected the seal and pointed out the clear teeth marks from a Great White Shark which apparently killed the seal for a meal. The presence of Great White Sharks in the waters of Cape Cod, despite the Jaws movies, is still a hidden hazard requiring a warning to the thousands of tourists who don’t normally confront or think about seals and sharks, just as the family from Kansas, who tragically lost their toddler at Disney World, weren’t normally thinking about alligators. Thus, it follows that conspicuous warning signs should be present on popular beaches frequented by many tourists, especially in known seal breeding areas at Cape Cod. Lest you panic at the mere mention of the word “shark” (especially Great White Sharks), be aware that Great Whites are primarily interested in a seal meal, not a human, for lunch or dinner. The reason for the warning is because if humans panic merely at the mention of sharks, they may also panic at the sight of a shark, Great White or other, and do something rash to anger a shark, causing that shark to attack the human.

WARNING: ARE MUSK, KENNEDY, AND TRUMP IGNORING THE GRAVE CONSEQUENCES OF SLASHING PUBLIC HEALTH FUNDING?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • April 14, 2025
Recent budget cuts at the Health and Safety Science Services (HSSS) have sent shockwaves through the scientific and public health communities, threatening the very infrastructure designed to protect us from disease outbreaks, food contamination, and medical crises. These cuts have affected food inspectors, vaccine scientists, Alzheimer’s researchers, and experts studying bird flu, among others—positions that are essential to ensuring public safety and advancing critical medical research. The consequences of these decisions will be dire, potentially reversing years of progress and exposing society to increased health risks.

WARNING: IS ELON MUSK'S DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY JEOPARDIZING AIR SAFETY?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • March 12, 2025
As Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DGE) pushes for sweeping reforms and cost-cutting across federal agencies, concerns are mounting over the impact on critical public safety roles. Among the most alarming areas affected is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), where staff reductions may threaten the lives of millions of air travelers. The DGE, established with a mandate to streamline government operations and reduce bureaucratic waste, has come under fire for its aggressive downsizing tactics. Critics warn that essential safety personnel, including air traffic controllers, are being cut under the guise of efficiency, leaving the nation's airspace dangerously understaffed.

WARNING: WILL TRUMP'S SURGEON GENERAL SUPPORT IMPROVED ALCOHOL WARNING LABELS?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • February 11, 2025
Biden Administration former Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, on his way out of office, issued a Surgeon General's Advisory calling for new warnings on alcoholic beverages related to the cancer risk from consuming alcoholic beverages. Given that most individuals are unaware of the connection that consumption of alcoholic beverages can increase the risk for at least seven types of cancer, Murthy said in his advisory: "Given the conclusive evidence on the cancer risk from alcohol consumption and the Office of the Surgeon General's responsibility to inform the American public of the best available scientific evidence, the Surgeon General recommends an update to the Surgeon General's warning label for alcohol-containing beverages to include a cancer risk warning."

WARNING: TRUMP'S RE-ELECTION MEANS A DEREGULATORY NIGHTMARE FOR CONSUMERS

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • December 2, 2024
In my best-selling book, Murder, Inc.: How Unregulated Industry Kills or Injures Thousands of Americans Every Year...And What You Can Do About It , I propose a safety triad consisting of three components: manufacturers, regulators and consumers. All three must function properly in order to keep us safe. Manufacturers must produce and market safe (or safe as possible) products and warn us about any potential hazards so that we can make informed choices about whether or not to purchase their product and/or how to use it safely. Regulators , by imposing and implementing necessary rules and regulations, should hold manufacturers accountable for the above stated actions and to endure that they engage in "principled disclosure" by warning us about any potential hazards and dangers associated with their products. And, finally, Consumers , especially in the absence of well-meaning manufacturers or competent, well-intentioned regulators, must be highly diligent by researching products and learning about potential hazards prior to buying and/or using them. All three, manufacturers, regulators and consumers, must perform their jobs or the safety triad may fail to protect us and our loved ones. Think of a three-legged stool that distributes the weight of a person sitting on the stool, equally among the three legs. But what would happen if we leaned heavily to one side of the stool, essentially spreading the weight that was once borne by three legs to the two legs remaining braced to the floor. Unfortunately the third leg is no longer contributing to the stability of the stool, which may actually collapse because the two remaining legs may not be able to handle the amount of weight that was intended to be equally distributed among all three legs. 

WARNING: FDA RECOMMENDS REMOVING POPULAR DECONGESTANT FROM MARKET

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • November 15, 2024
If you or anyone in your family has used, uses or plans to use such over the counter (OTC) remedies for the flu or common cold as Theraflu, Robitussin, NyQuil, DayQuil, Mucinex, Sudafed or even some versions of Tylenol or Advil, you may want to read this newsletter very carefully.

WARNING: SOCIAL MEDIA IS ASSOCIATED WITH SIGNIFICANT MENTAL HEALTH HARMS FOR ADOLESCENTS

By Gerald Goldhaber • October 2, 2024
In an unprecedented, but, according to many social scientists and parents, a long overdue action, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, in a June editorial in the New York Times, called for a warning label to be placed on all social media platforms. In the words of the Surgeon General:

WARNING: DOES YOUR REFRIGERATOR CONTAIN LISTERIA?

By Gerald Goldhaber • September 5, 2024
If you are one of the millions of Americans who recently purchased one of several Boar's Head Deli Products, you may have bought a product containing deadly listeria bacteria. At least nine people have died and 57 have been hospitalized from a listeria outbreak linked to deli meat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In late July, Boar’s Head, a deli meat and cheese company, expanded a previously announced recall to include at least 7 million pounds of deli products the company says may have been contaminated by listeria amid a nationwide outbreak. The recall spans 71 products and includes meat meant to be sliced at retail delis along with prepackaged meat and poultry products sold at retail locations, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

WILL THE CHEVRON DECISION CREATE A DEREGULATORY NIGHTMARE FOR CONSUMERS?

By Gerald Goldhaber • August 6, 2024
In my best-selling book, Murder, Inc.: How Unregulated Industry Kills or Injures Thousands of Americans Every Year...And What You Can Do About It (Hartford, Ct.:PYP Press, 2020), I discuss the need for "principled disclosure" from corporations about potential hazards that could hurt or kill us. I also discuss the role we as consumers play by seeking information about those hazards and finally, the role various regulatory agencies must play to initiate and enforce meaningful regulations on industry so that they do, indeed, engage in "principled disclosure" (i.e., tell the truth). In order to carry out its mandate, any regulatory agency or department charged with the responsibility of protecting the general public or consumers or workers and so on, must be empowered to both set the safety and hazard warnings rules and take aggressive, impactful action when they are not followed. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark 6-3 vote last month, overturned a 60-year old decision, colloquially known as "Chevron", which has the potential to undermine our government's regulatory agencies' ability to hold corporations accountable. What is the Chevron Decision and how could it impact your safety and well-being? In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court ruled against energy giant, Chevron, who challenged the Clean-Air Act, and instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are not crystal clear. The 40-year-old decision has been the basis for upholding thousands of regulations by dozens of federal agencies, but has long been a target of conservatives and business groups who argue that it grants too much power to the executive branch, or what some critics call the administrative state. In the decades following the ruling, Chevron has been a bedrock of modern administrative law, requiring judges to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of congressional statutes. But the current high court, with a 6-3 conservative majority has been increasingly skeptical of the powers of federal agencies. With a closely divided Congress, presidential administrations have increasingly turned to federal regulation to implement policy changes. Federal rules impact virtually every aspect of everyday life, from the food we eat and the cars we drive to the air we breathe and homes we live in. For example, the Biden administration has issued a whole host of new regulations on the environment, including restrictions from emissions at power plants and from vehicle tailpipes. Those actions and others could be opened up to legal challenges if judges are allowed to discount or disregard the expertise of the executive-branch agencies that put them into place. When you consider who was advocating for the overturn of Chevron, it does not bode well for consumers and their safety: groups representing the gun industry and other businesses such as tobacco, agriculture, timber and homebuilding, were among those pressing the justices to overturn the Chevron doctrine and weaken government regulation. Can you imagine the FDA being defanged by Chevron-influenced lawsuits to the point where tobacco could sell their products to teens or resume advertising on television, a practice banned by Congress since 1970. Or imagine OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations being stripped away that protect worker safety? Or a CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) challenged on its stringent toy regulations that are aimed at infant choking hazards? Or a Department of Agriculture no longer able to inspect meat with the rigor that industry now faces? Or a NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) no longer able to regulate the safety of our automobiles, especially now as we address the feasibility and safety of self-driving vehicles?

CAN DEMENTIA BE CURED: NEW DRUG WITH NEW WARNINGS

By Gerald Holdhaber • July 16, 2024
CNN recently featured its medical expert, neurologist Sanjay Gupta, narrating a very thorough documentary entitled "The Last Alzheimer's Patient" which, over a 5 year period, collected data on the latest research related to dementia, highlighting advances in new medications as well as in lifestyle changes, both of which offer promising developments that may, in some cases, reverse or, at least stop the advance of Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia. What is Alzheimer's Disease (AD)? According to the Yale School of Medicine, AD "is a progressive disorder that damages and destroys nerve cells in the brain. Over time, the disease leads to a gradual loss of cognitive functions, including the ability to remember, reason, use language, and recognize familiar places. It can also cause a range of behavioral changes."

WARNING: SUMMER FUN MAY LEAD TO SUMMER DANGERS!

By Gerald Goldhaber • June 6, 2024
The following story is from one of my cases. I have changed the names to protect my client's identity.
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