All news posts from February 01, 2010 to February 28, 2010

Arctic Cat voluntary recall addresses 1,300 snowmobiles that have the potential to leak and cause fires.

Mr. Toyoda and his COO, testifying before a Congressional committee about the troubled Toyota Motor Company, appeared to lean toward a mechanical explaination for accelerating Toyotas, not electrical.

Mr. Akio Toyoda is facing lawmakers in Washington D.C. to answer questions about the problematic company he inherited from his grandfather in July. He apologized to families who have been affected and promised changes are ahead.

Hill jumping involves taking passenger cars and driving fast off a hil crest to make the car airborne. Innocent motorists have been injured by the sport, which largely involves teens who take videos and post them on YouTube and Facebook.

Toyota hearings are underway. Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee just heard from Rhonda Smith who says she nearly died in a runaway Lexus in 2006.

A new study finds that about 48,000 Americans die from infections acquired in the hospital, and that raises the cost of health care by billions of dollars. These are not infections that individuals would have caught had they not been hospitalized, says the study from Resources for the Future, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

The SEC and a U.S. federal grand jury have both asked Toyota to produce company documents concerning the sudden acceleration problems with Toyotas. Beyond class-action lawsuits, the automaker could be facing civil and criminal penalties. Meanwhile the automaker faces lawmakers Tuesday.

A storm is brewing over the diabetes medication, Avandia, and how much GlaxoSmithKline knew about its link to heart attacks. Some FDA reviewers say it should be pulled from the market.

A poll of 1,200 Americans finds the majority do not favor the U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives corporations the same Free Speech rights as individuals to contribute to elections.

The president of WellPoint Insurance faced Indiana lawmakers to answer why some individual premiums rose up to 38 percent at a time of record profits and executive bonuses.

Consumers are confusing their Maalox formulas and five adverse events have been reported to the FDA. Novartis is cooperating with the FDA in changing the label of one formulation.

A surge of hundreds of reports of accidents concerning Toyota have been flooding into federal regulators, including, now what's believed to be 34 deaths. Some of the problematic vehicles resulting in fatalities, are not even included in the latest Toyota recalls.

Liseria found in the Atlanta plant that makes Kellogg's Eggo Waffles, has not been adequately addressed, the FDA says to the company in a letter it made public today.

Billy Tauzin who represented the pharmaceutical industry lobby, PhRMA, will be stepping down soon from his $2 million a year job. Tauzin made friends with the White House on health care reform which angered some Republicans.

Toyota is opening up its wallet to lure new customers back even as its top executive prepares to face off with Congress.

Washington wants to know why the five largest health insurance companies racked up record profits last year - $12.2 billion – up 56 percent over 2008 numbers.

About 40 percent of Americans polled said it would be good if health care reforms proposed by President Obama never materialize.

Texas nurse, Anne Mitchell was acquitted by a jury this afternoon in her whistleblower case against a doctor she claimed was threatening patient safety. She and another nurse have filed a civil suit after losing their jobs and draining their savings defending themselves.

Multiple CT scans deliver a cumulative dose of radiation and currently it is up to the patient to talk to their doctor to determine if the image is necessary. The FDA is addressing at least part of the concern.

Looking at collision data in three states and the District of Columbia after hand-held phone bans were put into place, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety finds no difference in the crash rate. The results are perplexing in that other studies have shown distracted driving presents a four-fold increase in the risk of collision and injuries.

437,000 Prius and some models of Lexus worldwide are being recalled because of a braking problem. Toyota's executives apologize, but say the recall is unecessary because the vehicles are safe.

In a major compromise with the cattle industry, the Obama administratin is abandoning a plan to trace diseased livestock and says it will take another two years to find a workable national system that does not put the burden and cost on ranchers.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, a man who doesn't own a car, blames a lack of U.S. leadership, full disclosure by Toyota, and computer electronics for the problems plaguing the world's largest car company, and ultimately consumers.

Dimitrios Biller used to work for Toyota as a corporate attorney. His is sitting on thousands of pages of documents he says will show that the company has a pattern of fraud and secrecy.

Stop driving your recalled Toyotas says Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood after testifying before House Appropriations panel over the recalled Toyotas. Owners of Prius vehicles, not included in the recall, have lodged 96 complaints over sudden acceleration too.

The final report on the crash of Flight 3407, a Continental regional carrier, concludes that pilot fatigue and lack of attention and training contributed to the accident, which killed 50. The report comes as regional carriers dominate air travel in some regions.

Increasingly hospitals are turning to risk calculators, based on thousands of procedures nationally, to inform consumers the risk of their procedure and complications.

Toyota has announced a fix to the sudden acceleration which many believe does not pinpoint the problem and will not work. Meanwhile, at least 12 lawsuits seeking class-action status have been filed and 19 deaths attributed to sudden acceleration are cited.

Four of five new drugs are awaiting approval by the FDA and hope to become blockbusters for their pharmaceutical drugmakers and inject new life into profits.

Toyota is beginning the big fix over concerns it may not fully understand what the big fix involves. Not only sudden acceleration, but brake pedal reconfiguration will be addressed in 2.3 million vehicles.