The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced the recall Thursday, says the company, part of Whirlpool Corp., has received 12 reports of electrical failures in the dishwasher heating element that led to fires and damage. One kitchen fire caused extensive damage, the agency said. No injuries have been reported. The recall includes Maytag, Amana, Jenn-Air, Admiral, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag and Crosley brand dishwashers with plastic tubs. The recalled dishwashers were made with black, bisque, white, silver and stainless steel front panels and sold at department and appliance stores nationwide from February 2006 through April 2010. They cost between $250 and $900. CPSC advises consumers to immediately stop using the recalled dishwashers and disconnect the electric supply by shutting off the fuse or circuit breaker controlling it.<< MORE >>

Ford is cooperating with an NHTSA investigation into reported cases of unintended acceleration in the 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan. As was the case in one of the recent high-profile Toyota recalls, it is believed that floor mats are what’s causing the problem. Thus far, the NHTSA has only received three complaints about floor mats hindering proper operation of the gas pedal in the Fusion and Milan. However, it is not taking any chances. Kicking Tires explains: “Typically, three complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration won’t spark an investigation. … The investigation would seem unusual if weren’t for Toyota’s massive recall for a similar problem late last year.” Interestingly, one of those complaints came from Edmunds’ Director of Vehicle Testing, Dan Edmunds, who experienced a frightening incident of unintended acceleration after the gas pedal in his test-model 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid jammed due to the thickness of its stacked floor mats.<< MORE >>

GlaxoSmithKline Plc has settled thousands more lawsuits brought by patients alleging its Avandia diabetes drug caused heart attacks, in a move that may defuse potentially massive claims over the medicine. A company spokeswoman said on Tuesday that consolidated cases which had been due to come to court in Philadelphia this month had been settled. She declined to give further details and said the terms remained confidential.<< MORE >>

04/19/2010 - “The case reports first surfaced about two years ago -- orthopedists reported that women taking osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates to prevent broken bones were showing up with rare and serious fractures of their thighbones,” The New York Times reports. “The bone was snapping like a twig, sometimes splintering. Often there was no trauma, such as a serious fall, to bring it on. And some of the women were younger, in their 50s, with pre-osteoporosis but without the extremely fragile bones of people with the full-blown condition,” the NYT continues. The fractures are highly unusual because they are occurring in the long bone of the thigh, when ordinarily thighbone fractures occur near the hip socket. Further, because this area does not have a rich blood supply, the fractures are difficult to heal. ... << MORE >>

04/19/2010 - The Food and Drug Administration is weighing whether to halt a safety study involving thousands of patients taking GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Avandia diabetes drug, a decision that could also determine whether the drug stays on the U.S. market. Studies during the past three years have tied the medicine to an increased risk of heart attacks. In 2007, the FDA approved a trial comparing Avandia with a rival drug called Actos made by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. that hasn't raised as many safety flags. Bloomberg News FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, above, says the agency is reassessing the trial involving Avandia versus Actos. Some scientists inside and outside the FDA have said it is unethical to compare a drug with known cardiac risks with a seemingly safer alternative. They also say Avandia should be pulled from the market. ... << MORE >>

04/14/2010 - In the wake of mounting lawsuits, Bayer Pharmaceuticals is issuing new warnings regarding its contraceptives called Yaz and Yasmin. The two birth control pills make big bucks for Bayer. The pharmaceutical giant racked up $1.3 billion from the drugs in the first three quarters of 2009 alone. But 1,100 lawsuits have been filed by women who claim the drugs are dangerous and now the company is voluntarily issuing new warnings. Indianapolis CFO Gina Miller is one of the women suing Bayer. The thirty-something wife and mother of three has always been an avid runner, logging up to 35 miles a week until she began taking Yaz. "My running was a struggle. I was fatigued and short of breath. I just didn't feel like myself," Miller said. She was diagnosed with multiple pulmonary embolisms or blood clots in the lungs. She's suing Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the ... << MORE >>

03/30/2010 -Avandia is a diabetes drug that is usually given to senior citizens. It helps control blood sugar levels by making the cells of the body more sensitive to the action of insulin. Avandia is for people with Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes. It is sometimes used in combination with other medications, but it is not for treating Type 1 diabetes. However, there are recent studies that Avandia is harmful for the heart, and increases the chances of getting a heart attack. << MORE >>

03/30/2010 - “I broke the left femur (shattered it 2 times in 2006 and 2007),” while on Fosamax writes a 72-year-old patient this week on askapatient.com. “I now walk with a walker and the Dr. says it can never be repaired.” “I twisted my left leg while shopping & broke left femur in two places, requiring surgery, pins and a rod,” wrote a 61-year-old patient on the site after taking Fosamax for 13 years. “Then in 2/08 I jarred same side foot coming off a step & developed a stress fracture that won’t heal. I now have a stress fracture on the right side femur after walking on the beach.” << MORE >>

03/30/2010 - After recalling over 8 million vehicles worldwide, Toyota Motor Corp. has been on a PR campaign to repair its reputation as well as repair mechanical issues related to sudden acceleration in its vehicles. But a panel of electrical engineers say that the issue lies in electronics, not mechanical parts, and that Toyota is taking the wrong approach in its investigations, according to a March 23 news conference in Washington. “Electronics have weaknesses and can go wrong in many ways,” said Euring Keith Armstrong, an electronics expert. “Many electronic throttles are not safe enough, but it is easier to blame drivers, floormats, and sticky pedals.” << MORE >>

03/22/2010 - Saudi Arabia has suspended GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK.L) diabetes drug Avandia for six months, arguing that potential heart risks outweigh its benefits. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) was the first healthcare regulator to take such action. Its decision means detailing and advertising of Avandia is banned and patients on Avandia will be referred to their doctor for consultation. The SFDA said on its website it was concerned about the safety of Avandia, or rosiglitazone, based on growing evidence from clinical studies indicating serious cardiovascular risks. << MORE >>

03/22/2010 - Long-term use of osteoporosis drugs seems to change bones in a way that could lead to unusual leg fractures, according to two reports presented earlier this month at a meeting of orthopedic surgeons. Doctors have reported seeing the unusual fractures in some patients on bisphosphonate drugs such as Fosamax. It seems paradoxical that a medicine designed to protect against bone fractures in fact might be the cause of broken legs. Adding to the confusion, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a statement in the same week as the medical conference that said there is no clear connection, based on available evidence, between the bisphosphonates — including Actonel, Boniva and Reclast in addition to Fosamax — and atypical femur fractures. << MORE >>

03/16/2010 - Go through life and you can't help but worry about your health -- about prescription drugs and their side effects, about finding a lump, about an aneurysm doing you in. But your denture cream crippling you? Add that to the list. Hundreds of people across the United States have developed serious health problems that researchers have tied to zinc in denture adhesives. It's important to note that the problems surfaced after what has been called long-term, excessive use -- two or more tubes a week for years. But this isn't just Grandpa's problem. << MORE >>

03/15/2010 - The drug Fosamax is used to treat osteoporosis and osteopenia. It is supposed to strengthen bones to offset bone-weakening problems... but ironically, it turns out that it may actually be weakening them even more! Merck, just can’t get away from bad press – or bad medicine for that matter... In January 2008, major controversy struck when Merck decided to change the goals of a clinical trial it was running (annoyingly the results weren’t working in their favour!) after the trial had already started. The drug involved was Zetia (ezetimibe) and the trial, known as ENHANCE, tested whether Zetia and another drug, Vytorin, are better at clearing plaque out of arteries than generic drugs. << MORE >>

03/15/2010 - Bayer's popular oral contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin have a number of lawsuits being filed against them by a group of Canadian women. These women have alleged that the warnings on the pills were not adequate as there were cases of stroke and other health problems being faced by women. Thousands of teens and women in Canada are using these pills. These pills work well for many but there are certain women who have reported racing hearts, strokes and, in some cases, gallbladder problems leading to surgery. << MORE >>

03/15/2010 - Federal regulators in 2007 asked Toyota Motor Corp. to consider installing software to prevent sudden acceleration in its vehicles after receiving complaints that vehicles could race out of control, company documents show. Yet the automaker began installing the safety feature, known as brake override, only this January after a widely publicized accident involving a runaway Lexus ES that killed four people near San Diego. Safety regulators acknowledged late last week that they pressured Toyota anew last fall to consider the override software in the wake of that crash, which set off a chain of events leading the company to issue nearly 10 million recall notices worldwide. Brake override -- software that automatically drops a vehicle's throttle to idle when both the brake and accelerator pedals are depressed simultaneously -- is designed to stop a car even if its engine is accelerating. Lawmakers and safety experts have questioned whether sudden acceleration is responsible for at least 56 deaths and hundreds of injuries in Toyota and Lexus vehicles over the last decade, and since late January have been scrutinizing the automaker's response to the issue. << MORE >>

03/11/2010 - The makers of the antidepressant drug Paxil are facing an increasing number of lawsuits alleging the medication causes birth defects, and one family has already won a settlement of $2.5 million, online investigative news site The Public Record reports. Paxil's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, also has been sued by plaintiffs alleging the drug is addictive and can make people suicidal, The Public Record reports. To date, the company has paid out more than $1 billion to resolve the lawsuits. Paxil was approved by the FDA in 1992. So far, only one lawsuit alleging the drug causes birth defects has been brought to trial. In October 2009, a jury in Philadelphia awarded the family of Lyam Kilker $2.5 million after it brought forward a suit claiming Paxil caused Kilker's severe heart defects. << MORE >>

03/10/2010 - Public records at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show complaints about speed-control problems with Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles have surged since the Japanese car maker announced in September it would recall millions of vehicles to fix floor mats that can pin the gas pedal in an open position. The recall followed a widely publicized incident of sudden acceleration near San Diego in which a Lexus sedan sped out of control and crashed, killing an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and three family members. Increases in complaints to NHTSA by car owners are common after auto makers announce plans for recalls because awareness of the problems increases. << MORE >>

03/09/2010 - A day after a highly publicized acceleration incident involving a Prius hybrid sedan in California, Toyota Motor (TM) said Tuesday 2004-09 Prius models will be subject to a future recall to keep floor mats from pinning down accelerator pedals, according to The Wall Street Journal. The driver of a 2008 Prius hybrid sedan dialed 911 on Monday to say that his car was speeding uncontrollably down a San Diego-area freeway. The driver, James Sikes, said he was accelerating to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 when his Prius suddenly took off on its own. << MORE >>

03/15/2010 - The UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) reported publicly last week that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC could end up liable for more than $6 billion in settlements and compensation for serious health complications caused by the company’s popular diabetes treatment medication Avandia. The type-2 diabetes prescription drug has been linked with severe heart problems, including heart attacks. Even though the FDA has said Avandia patients should keep taking the drug until they consulted with a healthcare provider, UBS said the FDA will be under pressure to pull it from the market. “Non-scientific political pressure from Congress will likely be as important as science at FDA in the coming months; and, product withdrawal, if it occurs, could put GSK at the top end of our liability range,” UBS added. “Bellwether trials start from 1 June and will help narrow our liability range.” << MORE >>

03/09/2010 - Sandy Potter, 59, of Queens, N.Y., was jumping rope with neighborhood children when she felt her thigh bone snap. "I went up in the air and I came straight down to the ground," Potter said. "The pain was excruciating." Potter, who was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 48, had been taking the popular osteoporosis drug Fosamax for eight years before breaking her femur. Fosamax, one in a class of drugs called bisphosphonates, is supposed to make bones stronger, and for many women, it is safe and effective. But now there's mounting evidence that, for some women, taking these medications for more than five years could cause spontaneous fractures. ... << MORE >>

02/22/2010 - Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Toyota's safety troubles, the Japanese automaker confirmed Monday, as the company's leadership braces for tough questions in congressional hearings this week about its recent spate of recalls. Toyota officials said the company on Feb. 8 received a subpoena from a federal grand jury in New York requesting documents related to unintended acceleration of some Toyota vehicles and the braking system of its popular Prius hybrid. Toyota said it also received a subpoena and a voluntary request on Friday from the Los Angeles office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking documents related to the unintended acceleration of certain Toyota models as well as the company's disclosure policies and practices. << MORE >>

02/22/2010 - In the first Paxil birth defect trial that resulted in a $2.5 million verdict against GlaxoSmithKline in October 2009, the infant, Lyam Kilker, was born with three heart defects; an atrial septal defect, a ventricular septal defect, and an interrupted aortic arch, after his mother took Paxil while pregnant. Pregnant women cannot participate in clinical trials on drugs due to the risk of harm to the fetus. But after a drug has been on the market for a while, epidemiology studies can review the medical records of women who have taken a new drug while pregnant and the records of women who were not exposed to the drug while pregnant and compare the outcomes of the infants. << MORE >>

02/22/2010 - Confidential studies by Food and Drug Administration officials recommend that GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia, a diabetes medicine, get pulled from the market because it is linked to heart attacks. The studies, released as part of a report on Avandia by staff of Senate Finance Committee members Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Max Baucus (D., Mont.), also say any head-to-head trial where patients get Avandia and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s diabetes medicine Actos would be "unethical and exploitative." GlaxoSmithKline is currently sponsoring a study, called TIDE, where patients get either Avandia, Actos or other medicines. GlaxoSmithKline said in a prepared statement that it has extensively studied Avandia in more than 52,000 patients and none of its reports shows a statistically significant association between Avandia and heart attacks. << MORE >>

02/16/2010 - Roche Holding AG, the Swiss drugmaker, must pay $25.16 million in damages to a former user of its Accutane drug who blamed the acne medicine for his inflammatory bowel disease, a New Jersey jury ruled. Andrew McCarrell, 38, won the verdict today at a retrial in Atlantic City, New Jersey. An appeals court ordered the new trial after overturning a $2.62 million award he won in May 2007. McCarrell, a computer technician from Birmingham, Alabama, testified he got sick after taking the drug for acne in 1995. He needed five surgeries, including one to remove his colon. << MORE >>

02/15/2010 - The family of an Apopka boy is in the process of filing suit against the maker of the prescription drug, Accutane. It's a medication that treats severe acne. Accutane has been involved in hundreds of lawsuits because of its sometimes deadly side effects. One 17-year-old boy says the drug made him so sick for so long that he can't attend school. Zachary MacLoed says he's been dealing with acne for several years. His dermatologist prescribed several different medications, but nothing seemed to work so he started taking Accutane. “After a couple of months I started having more side effects like that and I started having problems in the bathroom; having to go the bathroom much more frequently,” he said. MacLoed estimates he was on the acne medication for about six months and now, one year later, he was diagnosed with an inflammatory bowel disease also known as IBD. << MORE >>

02/11/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp.'s massive recalls for acceleration and braking problems are creating a huge legal liability for the company -- and Toyota owners may share in the pain. The Japanese automaker faces dozens of lawsuits over injuries and deaths attributed to safety problems, with many more suits expected. Lawyers and legal experts said the lawsuits could be particularly expensive for the automaker if plaintiffs prove that Toyota was aware of problems but failed to correct them. On top of that, there are at least 30 lawsuits seeking class-action status to recover damages for the reduced value of the cars and the lost use of vehicles during repairs. "This has the potential to be the biggest product liability case in the automotive industry," said Richard Cupp, a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law. << MORE >>

02/11/2010 - Many women have relied on contraceptives to prevent unplanned pregnancy for more than half a century. And in 2006, one pill claimed to be “beyond birth control,” promising to treat acne and premenstrual syndrome, thus enticing more women to choose this pill instead of others on the market. But a recently filed lawsuits and a $20 million corrective ad campaign for misleading commercials have raised questions about the safety of this pill. Yaz, a daily oral contraceptive, was introduced in the U.S. nearly four years ago from Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, also the maker of Yasmin and Minera birth control. Since then, Yaz has become the top-selling contraceptive among women, earning nearly $616 million in 2008, according to the British Medical Journal. << MORE >>

02/11/2010 -Yaz and Yasmin Lawsuits have been filed in Indianapolis against Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Women across the country claim that the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin caused serious health effects. One of those women is Gina Miller, the chief financial officer at a downtown Indianapolis company. She's a wife and mother of three young children, and as if all that weren't enough to keep her busy, she also runs up to 35 miles a week. To maintain this schedule, you have to be pretty healthy, and Miller was until she began taking Yaz, a contraceptive. << MORE >>

02/10/2010 - Lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, will push the cost of recalls linked to sudden acceleration past a $2 billion company estimate for warranty payments and lost sales, customers’ lawyers say. People who purchased Toyota vehicles in the U.S. have filed at least 41 class action lawsuits against Toyota, seeking damages that range from loss of car value to a return of profits. Toyota faces at least 13 individual lawsuits claiming deaths or injuries caused by unwanted acceleration of vehicles. Customer lawyers said they’re considering filing dozens more. In similar class actions against carmakers, some customers settled claims by taking discount coupons for future purchases, most of which were never used. Toyota customers will demand cash, said one attorney who has filed two such suits in California. The Kelley Blue Book, the used-auto pricing service used as a guide in private-party ... << MORE >>

02/10/2010 - A U.S. congressional committee postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday to examine recent vehicle recalls and how Toyota Motor Co and regulators responded to reports of safety problems with big-selling cars. Separately, safety regulators said they will continue their probe of brake problems with the 2010 hybrid Prius even though Toyota announced a recall and a remedy. The regulators also said they are reviewing dozens of complaints of steering problems in newer Toyota Corollas. << MORE >>

02/09/2010 - Toyota on Tuesday announced another global recall -- this time involving more than 400,000 Priuses and other hybrid cars with braking problems -- on the same day that the U.S. Transportation Department said it is reviewing driver complaints about hard-to-handle steering on the 2009-10 Toyota Corolla. The one-two punch is only the latest bad news for the Japanese auto giant, which built its global reputation on reliability. Toyota President Akio Toyoda used extraordinary language at a news conference in Tokyo to apologize for quality and safety issues that have led to the recall of more than 7 million vehicles in recent months. << MORE >>

02/01/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp said on Monday it had begun shipping replacement parts to dealers to repair some 4.5 million vehicles equipped with faulty accelerators in North America and Europe. The steps were part of Toyota's response to a sweeping safety recall that has hurt its reputation and sales in key markets. Following are key facts about Toyota's safety recalls and the automaker's response: << MORE >>

02/01/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, faces at least 12 lawsuits seeking class- action status in the U.S. and Canada connected to the company’s recalls over sudden acceleration of its vehicles. A suit was filed on behalf of all Canadian owners, operators, lessors and passengers of Toyota vehicles with an electronic throttle system called ETCS-i, a Toronto law firm said today in a statement. Consumers in Texas sued on Jan. 29 on behalf of all owners of Toyota and Lexus models equipped with the throttle system in that state. “ Toyota has long known about the defect with their throttle control and has done too little, too late to correct it,” the attorney who represents Sylvia and Albert Pena in the Texas suit in federal court in Corpus Christi, said in a statement. << MORE >>

02/01/2010 - The 911 call came at 6:35 p.m. on Aug. 28 from a car that was speeding out of control on Highway 125 near San Diego. The caller, a male voice, was panic-stricken: “We’re in a Lexus ... we’re going north on 125 and our accelerator is stuck ... we’re in trouble ... there’s no brakes ... we’re approaching the intersection ... hold on ... hold on and pray ... pray ...” The call ended with the sound of a crash. The Lexus ES 350 sedan, made by Toyota , had hit a sport utility vehicle, careened through a fence, rolled over and burst into flames. All four people inside were killed: the driver, Mark Saylor, an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, and his wife, daughter and brother-in-law. It was the tragedy that forced Toyota, which had received more than 2,000 complaints of unintended acceleration, to step up its own inquiry, after going through multiple government investigations since 2002. << MORE >>

01/28/2010 - Ennis & Ennis, P.A. is now offering free legal consultations (http://www.ennislaw.com/) for Toyota/Lexus users nationwide who have experienced sudden unintended acceleration (http://www.ennislaw.com/toyota-recall-sudden-acceleration-lawsuit.html) (SUA). On January 27, 2010 Toyota issued a fourth recall for an additional 1.09 million vehicles in the United States over problems with gas pedals and floor mats — a fresh blow to the world's top automaker as it struggles to salvage its safety reputation. The new recall affects five models — 2008-2010 Highlander, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Venza, 2009-2010 Matrix, and 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe which is a sister of the Toyota Matrix. << MORE >>

01/27/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. told federal officials late Wednesday it was recalling another 1.1 million vehicles connected to pedal entrapment problems. The move significantly expands Toyota's largest recall ever and comes just one day after the Japanese automaker decided to stop selling eight models that account for 60 percent of its sales volume until it comes up with a fix. The Detroit News has learned that Toyota expanded its Nov. 25 recall of 4.26 million vehicles by 1.1 million as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was preparing to open an expanded investigation over issues of pedal entrapment. << MORE >>

01/27/2010 - Last week Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles, some of them among America's most popular cars, and this week announced it will stop making those models while it works to find a fix for the problem. But if you already own one of these cars, the automaker says you could safely continue to drive it, as long as you aren't noticing any problems. To make matters even more confusing, most cars involved in this recall were already involved in an earlier, unrelated recall involving gas pedals sticking on floor mats. If you think your car might be subject to the latest recall, here's what you need to know. << MORE >>

01/27/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. has taken the unprecedented step of halting sales and production of eight models -- including its top-selling Camry and Corolla -- saying their gas pedals can get stuck and cause runaway acceleration. Industry experts could not recall any time in recent history when a carmaker had stopped both production and sales of so many models at once. Tuesday's move follows two recent recalls aimed at preventing Toyota-made vehicles from surging out of control, which has been blamed in at least 19 deaths and scores of injuries over the last decade, more than for all other automakers combined. Toyota could pay dearly for the problem, industry analysts said. << MORE >>

01/26/2010 - Toyota, which launched the largest auto recall in U.S. history last fall after incidents of random acceleration resulting in fatalities, has just announced an additional recall of 2.3 million vehicles to correct sticking accelerator pedals. The recall was announced late Thursday afternoon, after ABC News informed the company that the latest in a long series of ABC News investigative reports into sudden unexplained acceleration in Toyotas was about to air. Safety expert Sean Kane tells ABC News that since last fall, when Toyota said it had solved the acceleration problem with proposed changes to gas pedals and a recall of 4.2 million cars with suspect floor mats, more than 60 new cases of runaway Toyotas have been reported. He believes this latest recall may still not be a complete fix of a problem that continues to be linked with serious accidents and deaths. ... << MORE >>

01/26/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. is temporarily halting sales and production of eight models, including the top-selling Camry and Corolla, that it has recalled because the accelerator pedal can stick and cause unwanted acceleration. The automaker announced the recall of 2.3 million cars and trucks late last week. That came just months after Toyota launched its largest-ever recall -- 4.3 million vehicles -- because floor mats could trap the gas pedal and also cause sudden acceleration. Today, Toyota informed its roughly 1,200 U.S. dealers to immediately halt sales of both new and used models of the affected vehicles: the 2009 to 2010 RAV4, 2009 to 2010 Corolla, 2009 to 2010 Matrix, 2005 to 2010 Avalon, 2010 Highlander, 2007 to 2010 Tundra and 2008 to 2010 Sequoia. It also is halting sales of certain 2007 to 2010 Camry sedans, depending on where those vehicles were manufactured. << MORE >>

01/21/2010 - About 1.5 million Graco strollers have been recalled because they could pose a risk of fingertip amputations and lacerations to children, federal safety officials announced Wednesday. The recall includes certain models of strollers and travel systems made by Graco Children's Products, including the Graco Passage, Alano and Spree Strollers and travel systems, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The hinges on the product's canopy pose a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is opening or closing the canopy, the CPSC said. << MORE >>

01/22/2010 - GE Healthcare, a British subsidiary of multinational giant General Electric, is suing Henrik Thomsen, a senior radiologist and professor of radiology, for sounding the alarm about the dangers of the company's medical imaging drug, Omniscan. After witnessing kidney patients who had received the drug develop potentially fatal conditions, Thomsen publicly exposed the drug's dangers which caused a firestorm of controversy. In an effort to muzzle Thomsen, GE Healthcare has already spent more than 380,000 British pounds, or about $610,000, in legal fees pursuing litigation against him. Utilizing loopholes in Britain's libel laws, the company is alleging that Thomsen falsely accused GE of suppressing sensitive information about the drug's risks at an Oxford scientific congress presentation in 2007. << MORE >>

01/22/2010 - Toyota Motor Corp. will recall about 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. to fix sticking accelerator pedals, following its biggest recall in the country last year for a similar danger. The automaker, which said in November it would notify owners of 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles of a defect that may cause floor mats to jam the pedals, said in a statement yesterday that about 1.7 million autos are subject to both voluntary recalls. << MORE >>

Carrier has recalled certain models of AIRV ceiling heating and cooling assemblies due to defective heater elements that may break and cause smoke, sparking, and fire that can result in injury, property damage, property loss, and death. These units are installed as original equipment on various recreational vehicles and is also sold as aftermarket equipment. Models Included In Recall: Carrier is voluntarily recalling its AirV ceiling units with heater assemblies manufactured between 2007 and 2009, with the first 5 digits of the serial numbers ranging from 1807Y (18th week of 2007) through 3009Y (30th week of 2009). The following models are included in the recall:<< MORE >>

01/12/2010 - The federal courthouse in East St. Louis, Ill., will hold pretrial proceedings for as many as 25,000 lawsuits involving a popular contraceptive, officials say. The lawsuits against Bayer Corp., makers of the contraceptive pill Yaz, have been filed all over the country, but will be handled by U.S. District Chief Judge David Herndon as a multidistrict litigation assignment, the Belleville News-Democrat reported Monday. Civil cases involving common facts filed in different federal districts are often moved to one district to avoid duplication in fact-finding efforts and inconsistent pretrial rulings, the newspaper said. << MORE >>

01/11/2010 - A woman says Roche Laboratories' acne drug Accutane and its generic form Claravis gave her such a bad case of inflammatory bowel disease she had to have her colon removed. Roche pulled the drug from the market in June 2009, but it was too late for her, Nazeena Gangji claims in Essex County Court. Gangji says took the drug from 2006 until June 2009, when she was rushed to the hospital with inflammatory bowel disease so sever it required her to have her colon removed. She sued Roche Laboratories, Barr Laboratories and Hoffmann-La Roche. Barr sold a generic form of the drug under the name Claravis, according to the complaint. Also known as Isotretinoin, it is a synthetic relative of vitamin A, and was developed by Hoffman-La Roche. Gangji claims that until this day, Hoffman has "denied that there is sufficient scientific and medical knowledge to ascertain that the taking of Accutane caused plaintiff to develop inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), leading to the removal of her colon and other serious medical complications." She adds that Roche still denies that any studies have shown that Accutane causes the disease. << MORE >>

01/11/2010 - Rhonda Renata is in no doubt about what caused the death of her daughter Jasmine. The 18-year-old died last September 22 at her family home in Upper Hutt, apparently in her sleep. It was six months since she had received the last of the three injections of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil. Her grieving mother is still waiting for official answers on what happened to Jasmine but she doubts the medical investigations will provide them. Her own inquiries have led her to cases overseas which she considers similar to Jasmine's clutch of symptoms before she died. In the United States, it has been alleged more than 10 deaths are linked to Gardasil. Several Gardasil lawsuits have been filed relating to Gardasil paralysis of teenage girls, one of whom died. << MORE >>

01/11/2010 -A federal appeals court said Friday that patients may sue generic drugmakers under state law for failing to provide adequate warnings about their medications potential side effects, extending a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling governing makers of name-brand drugs. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Firth Circuit rejected the argument by a generic drug maker that federal law preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim filed by a user of their generic Reglan, who developed a rare neurological disorder known as Tardive Dyskinesia. The appeal involved a lawsuit filed by Julie Demahy against Actavis, Inc., which marketed a generic version of the brand name drug Reglan (metoclopramide) for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. Demahy claimed that side effects of generic Reglan caused her to develop Tardive Dyskinesia. << MORE >>

01/11/2010 - A woman claims she lost her sense of smell and taste after using a nasal spray. Jennifer Glisson filed a lawsuit Dec. 31 in Madison County Circuit Court against Matrixx Initiatives also known as Zicam. Glisson claims she used a drug called Zicam nasal gel manufactured by the defendants in the spring of 2008. But her use of the gel resulted in Glisson's permanent loss of her taste and smell, according to the complaint. "That at the time of Plaintiff's usage of said nasal gel, said nasal gel was in the same condition as it was when it left the possession and control of the Defendant," the suit states. "That when Plaintiff used said nasal gel it was in an unreasonably dangerous condition in that said nasal gel could cause loss of smell and/or taste." << MORE >>

01/05/2009 - For the first time in Toyota’s proud history, the company has led all others in the United States for recalls. According to the Detroit Free Press, safety recalls were up across the board for the auto industry in 2009. 8.6 million vehicles were recalled in 2008, but in 2009 15.2 million were recalled. Toyota’s sudden lead in safety recalls has been in thanks to 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus models recalled a short while ago for sudden, uncontrollable acceleration. Toyota blamed the problem on faulty floor mats, which apparently were causing accelerators to stick. Toyota has plans to install brake override systems in the defective models, a move that has been criticized by auto experts as dangerous. << MORE >>