Current Events

Even as federal safety officials step up their investigation of the fatal crash of a driver operating a Tesla car with its Autopilot system engaged, the company continues to defend the self-driving technology as safe when properly used.

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Suffering from a sore throat or runny nose? For some people, that many mean opting to use antibiotics without seeing a doctor, a practice that health experts say may not help cure the disease and could help aggravate the problem of antibiotic-resistant germs.

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Juno Therapeutics Inc. plunged by a record 27 percent after three patients died in a trial for its lead cancer therapy and U.S. regulators put the study on hold, raising questions about the risks and tradeoffs of a new and very aggressive approach to treating cancer.

Two adult patients died last week after a chemotherapy drug called fludarabine was added to the treatment regimen for a therapy known as JCAR015, Seattle-based Juno said Thursday in a statement.
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The Justice Department plans to make as much as $40 million available for victims of a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that federal investigators traced to a batch of contaminated steroid injections  after a dispute over whether those affected by the outbreak qualified for such financial assistance was finally resolved, officials said.

While some of the details still need to be worked out, the Office for Victims of Crime has decided to make the money available from its Crime Victims Fund, which is financed by fines and penalties paid by those convicted of crimes, the officials said. That itself is a significant — as there had been some dispute about the victims’ eligibility — though the money is not yet in victims’ or their family members’ hands.

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Researchers have found bacteria resistant to the antibiotic of last resort in a sample from a second patient in the United States, according to a study published Monday. The patient had surgery at a New York hospital last year, researchers said.

The news comes after researchers reported in late May that a patient in Pennsylvania carried a strain of E. coli bacteria that was resistant to the antibiotic colistin, the antibiotic that doctors use to treat patients who have infections that don't respond to other drugs.

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A U.S. judge has slashed a $500 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy unit over allegedly defective metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implants to approximately $151 million.

On Tuesday, U.S.
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If you want to know which headphones will stay in your ears when you go for a run or which books you should bring to the beach, the customer reviews on Amazon.com can offer helpful advice. But if you’d like to know which sunscreens are best equipped to reduce your risk of Read more . . .

The nation’s top auto safety regulator said on Wednesday that it had begun an investigation of a second crash involving a Tesla Motors car equipped with Autopilot technology, a system designed to let vehicles drive themselves for brief periods.

In the nonfatal crash, a Tesla sport utility vehicle rolled over last Friday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike after hitting barriers on both sides of the highway.
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The crash in Florida that killed a driver who was using his Tesla's Autopilot feature is raising questions about whether stronger federal regulation will make sure self-driving technology is thoroughly tested before going into cars.

"It wasn't ready to go out on the road," said Rosemary Shahan, president of the advocacy group
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety about Tesla's Autopilot. "If you have a system called Autopilot that cannot distinguish between the side of a truck and the open sky, it's not ready."

The crash that killed Joshua Brown, 40, of Ohio as he was driving near Williston, Fla., on May 7 comes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is believed to be formulating guidelines around the development of self-driving cars.
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Pfizer, the world’s second- ­largest drug company, has agreed to a written code of conduct for the marketing of opioids that some officials hope will set a standard for manufacturers of narcotics and help curb the use of the addictive painkillers.

Though Pfizer does not sell many opioids compared with other industry leaders, its action sets it apart from companies that have been accused of fueling an epidemic of opioid misuse through aggressive marketing of their products.

Pfizer has agreed to disclose in its promotional material that narcotic painkillers carry serious risk of addiction — even when used properly — and promised not to promote opioids for unapproved, “off-label” uses such as long-term back pain. The company also will acknowledge there is no good research on opioids’ effectiveness beyond 12 weeks.

The terms of the agreement were reached with the city of Chicago, which two years ago sued five other opioid manufacturers over alleged misleading marketing of opioids.
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Some have caused serious injuries

Electronic cigarettes are seen by some as a safer alternative to traditional forms of smoking, though the jury is still largely out on their long-term health effects. Now, the so-called “e-cigs” are facing another safety issue, as multiple users have filed lawsuits alleging their battery-powered devices exploded and, in some cases, caused serious injuries.

Dozens of such suits have been filed in New York, Florida, and California, among other states, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Journal features one affected user in particular: Rachel Berven, who says her e-cigarette exploded in February after she had changed the battery, spilling battery acid across her body and causing burns and dental damage.

E-cigarette models mentioned in lawsuits include those made by Chinese companies Sigelei, iPV Technology Co.
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