Current Events

3M Co (MMM.N) was found liable on Friday for hearing damage suffered by three U.S. military veterans who accused the company of covering up design defects in its earplugs, a blow to 3M which faces more than 200,000 similar claims.

The jury awarded each of the plaintiffs $2.
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Acella Pharmaceuticals can’t seem to get its thyroid medicine right.

Acella recalled a whopping 35 commercial lots and three sample lots of NP Thyroid medicine, used to treat underactive thyroids, for sub-potency. Testing found these lots had less than 90% of the active ingredients liothyronine (T3) and/or levothyroxine (T4) as claimed on the bottle labels.

If this sounds familiar, Acella recalled certain lots of NP Thyroid for sub-potency in September 2020 and several lots of the drug in late May 2020 for “super potency.”

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The 2020-2021 Kia Soul and the 2021 Kia Seltos are at the heart of a new recall. The Korean brand is recalling 147,249 vehicles as a result of an engine flaw that could lead to a fire.

The recall relates specifically to vehicles fitted with the 2.0-liter Nu MPI engine whose piston oil rings may have been improperly heat-treated, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Inconsistent heating-treating could make the oil rings too hard.
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The Bio-Console 560 Extracorporeal Blood Pumping Console is used to pump and return blood to a person during cardiopulmonary bypass, a procedure that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery. The cardiopulmonary bypass procedure provides both circulatory and breathing support to a person whose heart and lungs are too weak to pump enough blood to the rest of the body.

The Bio-Console 560 can pump blood for up to six hours each time used.

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The perception that self-driving cars can really operate themselves without driver involvement is worrying automotive watchdogs, who say that some Americans have grown dangerously confident in the capabilities of semi-autonomous vehicles.

Their comments come as electric vehicle maker Tesla's so-called Autopilot system is under scrutiny once again following a crash that killed two passengers in the Houston area late Saturday.

"I would start by saying there are no self-driving cars despite what you may read about or what you’ve seen advertised," said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports. "And there's certainly nothing anywhere close to self-driving that is in production right now."

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New York (CNN Business)Peloton shares fell more than 7% Monday following an "urgent warning" from the United States government telling owners of the company's Tread+ to stop using the machine.

On Saturday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said it has become aware of 39 accidents involving the $4,295 treadmill, including "multiple reports of children becoming entrapped, pinned, and pulled under" the machine. The CPSC said it's urging customers with small children and pets to stop using the machine immediately. A child died in March in an incident involving the machine.

That prompted a strongly worded statement from Peloton (PTON), claiming the federal agency's notice is "inaccurate and misleading.
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An infant teething toy sold exclusively at Target has been recalled because it poses a choking hazard, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

According to the agency's warning notice, Battat's B. toys Firefly Frank Infant Teethers, which is shaped like a firefly, could harm a young child because its "plastic wings can detach from the body of the teether.
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For years, the FDA has warned the industry of the risks of improperly cleaned and reusable endoscopes designed to visualize the stomach and intestines. Now, it’s doing the same with urological scopes following the reports of patient deaths from bacterial infections outside the U.S.

The agency said it is investigating “numerous medical device reports” describing contamination issues and the patient-to-patient transfer of pathogens from devices used to view and access the urinary tract, bladder and kidneys, including cystoscopes, ureteroscopes and cystourethroscopes.

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GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine cash cow Shingrix has a new safety warning on its label, although regulators still maintain the shot’s benefits outweigh risks.

Wednesday, the FDA alerted the public that it has added to the “warnings and precautions” section of the shingles vaccine’s label language about an increased risk for a rare neuro autoimmune disorder called Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).

The update came after a post-marketing observational study by federal health agencies noted the risk during the 42 days following vaccination with Shingrix. The FDA stressed that “available evidence is insufficient to establish a causal relationship,” and that the “benefits of vaccination with Shingrix continue to outweigh its risks.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled against Ford Motor Co in a case in which the second-largest U.S. automaker had sought to bar two state courts from hearing product liability suits involving a pair of serious crashes.
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General Motors is recalling certain 2021 model-year Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles with third-row seating.

The problem stems from outboard seat belts that may have been misrouted or trapped behind the folding apparatus for the third-row seats during vehicle assembly. This could result in damaged seat belts that can break during a crash, increasing the risk of injury to the seat occupant.

All of the affected models are from the 2021 model year and were built before Nov. 18, 2020.
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