All news posts from June 01, 2010 to June 30, 2010

For more than six years, the FAA has been told to order major airlines to fix the faulty window heaters aboard Boeing aircraft that spark fires and force emergency landings. The order may finally come next month.

BP stations around the U.S. are suffering from sluggish sales and destruction of the BP logo, and the oil giant is reaching out to help. Were 1,800 veterans exposed to HIV and hepatitis at a veterans hospital in Missouri? Some injury related headlines around the web for Wednesday June 30.

For more than 20 years, the FDA has been urging the drug and agriculture industries to stop using antibiotics in animal feed and water. With antibiotic resistance at epidemic proportions, the agency is giving the public 60 days to comment before it issues new industry guidance.

A survey of 1,231 doctors finds that 91 percent believe that doctors order more tests in order to protect themselves from medical malpractice lawsuits. A CBO survey had found that medical malpractice lawsuits amount to less than 2 percent of overall healthcare spending.

Filing a slip and fall case in Florida was just made more difficult thanks to a new law promoted by retailers. Private attorneys are lining up to prepare a large reparations request for BP, and thanks to one whistle blower, we now have a better understanding how WellCare Health Plans defrauded the government.

The investigation continues into whether nine cases of rare brain cancer at The Acreage in Palm Beach County are a cancer cluster.

Salmon that doubles in size may be good for the industry but is it good for you? The FDA is considering the approval of genetically altered fish. And BP station owners say don't blame us- your protests are hurting local businesses, not BP are among the headlines for Monday, June 28.

Better check your shelves for packages of Fruit Loops and Corn Pops after Kellogg's announces a recall of 28 million boxes of cereal for an "off" smell. Five people claim to have been sickened.

A study out of the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University, finds that reusable, cloth grocery bags sometimes harbor dangerous foodborne bacteria such as E. coli and coliform from raw-meat.

Health, Safety and Consumer headlines for Friday, June 25.

Seven crib manufacturers are announcing recalls to repair cribs that can trap and suffocate infants. This is the latest industry-wide initiative to fix inherent problems with the drop-side cribs, which the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced will be phased-out. Watch for the cribs on the resale market and in garage sales.

At a "fairness hearing" in New York City Wednesday, a federal judge approved a settlement between the city and first responders that would end their seven-year legal battle over the ill health effects from the World Trade Center collapse.

This latest Commonwealth Fund reports ranks the U.S. last in the delivery of low cost healthcare at the highest price among seven countries. The Netherlands ranks best.

Headlines from around the Internet concerning safety, health, and injury avoidance for Thursday, June 24.

Sandwich shop, Subway, is apologizing for a Salmonella outbreak in central Illinois that has hospitalized 24. Everyone has recovered. At least one is suing.

U.S. District Judge who on Tuesday overturned the administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling for six months, reportedly owns stock in the oil industry according to a 2008 financial disclosure form disclosed by the group, Judicial Watch.

Attorney Keith Jones' son died in the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. Now he is behind efforts to overturn the Death on the High Seas Act that limits recovery of damages for wrongful death on the high seas.

Flame retardants, found in the blood of pregnant women are correlated with lower levels of thyroid stimulating hormone. The malfunction is linked to miscarriage, premature birth and intrauterine growth retardation.

The one year anniversary of the Tobacco Control Act marks an expanded regulatory role of the FDA in overseeing cigarettes short of banning them or reducing nicotine. Candy flavored cigarettes, misleading labeling and menthol in cigarettes are all top priorities for regulation.

Online suppliers are selling Magic Power Coffee that the FDA warns is enhanced with an additional chemical similar to the active ingredient in the prescription drug, Viagra. Consumers are warning not to drink the coffee.

They didn't want to litigate but a Miami couple has become the first to win a lawsuit over a single home made with defective Chinese wallboard. A Miami-Dade jury awarded the couple $2.5 million in damages and expenses. They had sought over $4 million.

Many jokes are going around about the nutritional content of SpaghettiOs which are now the subject of a Class I recall, the most serious, by the Department of Agriculture because some of the canned kid food may not have been properly cooked. No one has been made sick.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 29 people in 14 states have been diagnosed with Salmonella serotype Chester after eating some brands of Marie Callender’s brand frozen chicken products.

Another drugmaker has found that its products have the same problem that plagued J & J, an unusual musty odor in over-the-counter products. A recall of 52 lots of 500 mg of the diabetes drug, Glumetza, has been initiated.

After the Vioxx scandal, Congress approved a new law that forces the FDA to reveal post-approval safety information on new drugs and vaccines. Information on the first 26 drugs were posted this week.

The news keeps getting worse for Johnson & Johnson and its McNeil Consumer Healthcare division. The company has announced an expanded recall for Benadryl allergy tablets and Extra Strength Tylenol gels. This is a follow-up to a January recall after consumers complained of musty or moldy odors.

Ron Motley is receiving the AAJ's 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award next month in Vancouver. The IB partner and head of Motley Rice revealed some of his motivations in a Frontline interview.

The American Medical Association is releasing its third annual report card on insurers and finds one in five claims is not processed correctly.

All drugs have side effects and the latest published study finds that a class of blood pressure drugs known as angiotensin-receptor blockers or ARBs had a slight increased risk of cancer.

Health clubs, schools, first responders, fire departments should all be aware of malfunctions reported in a defibrillator battery pack that is the subject of a most serious Class I recall by the FDA.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents big and small business, generally favors fewer regulations and government oversight, unless it comes to cleaning up the Gulf oil spill, according to Chamber President Tom Donohue.

IKEA along with the government is recalling more than 3 million window blinds after a child nearly strangled earlier this year on a hanging cord. That brings to 4.5 million blinds recalled over the strangulation hazard.

Rick Scott whose Columbia/HCA was charged with Medicare and Medicaid fraud and fined $1.7 billion, is leading the race to become governor of Florida, according to the latest poll.

Valproic acid (Depakote) is prescribed to control the seizures of epilepsy, but for pregnant women the drug can cause birth defects if taken in the first trimester.

A published report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) finds that 67% of the outpatient centers visited had at least one lapse in infection control. An estimated 100,000 people die from hospital-acquired infections every year.

The FDA needs to be remade from the bottom up says a new report from the Institute of Medicine, citing lapses in inspections, standards and authority.

Lifesoy Inc. of San Diego has agreed to a permanent injunction to stop operations after the FDA inspectors observed dirty conditions in violation of sanitation rules.

A brake lining and wiring defect has more than 600,000 Chrysler vehicles recalled. This follows another Chrysler recall just one week ago over a sticky accelerator pedal.

A published study points to July as the worst month for surgeries and fatal medication errors. The problems were found at teaching hospitals, not nonteaching hospitals suggesting that new doctors may be to blame.

Take those Shrek glasses back to McDonald's for a full refund after an anonymous source informed a California congresswoman that they contained the metal cadmium. The government is issuing a recall for 12 million of the glasses.

Workers trying to clean up crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico are reporting respiratory problems nausea and headaches. Meanwhile BP has failed to act on an order by the Environmental Protection Agency to switch to a less toxic dispersant to break up the oil.

As part of a major investigation into the hazards of baby slings, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued another recall for a defective product, this time the Sprout Stuff Sling, associated with the death of a 10-day-old Texas boy.

PediaCare cold medications have been recalled because they were produced at the same problematic manufacturing plant as the recently recalled Children's Tylenol products. The FDA says criminal sanctions are being considered against McNeil/Johnson & Johnson.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that American produced cigarettes contain higher levels of cancer causing agents than those made in Australia, the UK and Canada.

Arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury were some of the heavy metals found in the 15 protein supplements tested by Consumer Reports.

Reporters ask top energy adviser, Carol Browner who is in charge of the ongoing BP spill. She says it is the government which has brought in a brain trust of 100 scientists working with the technology of BP in the region, after the latest effort to cap the spill failed this weekend.