Current Events

A federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday blocked most lawsuits against General Motors over a defective ignition switch that is tied to at least 84 deaths, sparing the automaker billions in claims and handing it a momentous victory as it tries to move past its gravest safety crisis.

Judge Robert E. Gerber of the United State Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan ruled that the liability shield included in the 2009 agreement that lifted G.M. from bankruptcy should be allowed to remain in place, even though the company has acknowledged that many employees knew about the defective switch at the time but failed to alert owners of the cars that they might have a potential claim against the company.

Read More.

Reports alerting federal officials that contaminated medical scopes appeared to be spreading deadly superbugs among hospital patients sometimes arrived months late – or not at all, according to federal records and interviews.

Medical device makers are required to file reports to the Food and Drug Administration within 30 days of learning that a product may pose safety risks. But as duodenoscopes were tied to the transmission of drug-resistant bacteria among patients in at least eight U.S. hospitals from 2012-2014, the agency wasn't notified of some outbreaks until long after they occurred, an ongoing USA TODAY investigation finds. And in some cases, the disclosures never were filed.

Read More.

The cardiovascular risk of diabetes drugs made by AstraZeneca Plc and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is acceptable, though the drugs’ labels should include safety information on heart failure, U.S. advisers said.

Most members of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted Tuesday to recommend the agency add data from trials on the heart effects to the labels of AstraZeneca’s Onglyza and Takeda’s Nesina. They also voted that the drugs’ cardiovascular risk is acceptable.

Read More.

(Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc's diabetes drug Onglyza may be associated with an increased rate of death, according to a preliminary review of data by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA's report, posted on the agency's website on Friday, comes ahead of an April 14 meeting of an FDA advisory panel to discuss the safety of Onglyza and a similar drug from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co called Nesina. Onglyza won U.S. approval in 2009 and Nesina in 2013.

Read more.

A little-noticed provision of a bill passed by the House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support would provide doctors new protections against medical malpractice lawsuits.

The bill, which requires the government to measure the quality of care that doctors provide and rate their performance on a scale of zero to 100, protects doctors by stipulating that the quality-of-care standards used in federal health programs — Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act — cannot be used in malpractice cases.

Read more.

Wrinkles happen. And when they do, many women, and some men, start searching store aisles or the Internet for a cure.

While there is no such thing, stores and websites are happy to sell consumers wrinkle creams and other "anti-aging" products that, typically, promise to reduce "the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles."

Lately, some are promising a lot more — and getting into trouble with the Food and Drug Administration.

Read More.

The government’s plea agreement with Austin (Jack) DeCoster, his son Peter, and Quality Egg LLC  leaves it “to the the Court’s discretion whether to impose a sentence of incarceration, home confinement, or probation,” according to a newly available court document.

That disclosure came in the government’s brief filed Monday in advance of next week’s sentencing of the three defendants, who have already pleaded guilty under an agreement with the government.

Read More.

(Reuters) - U.S. safety regulators said they have opened an investigation into an estimated 30,000 Volkswagen AG sedans for a potential electrical defect that could affect the performance of the driver-side air bag and other parts.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary investigation into the affected VW Passat and CC sedans from model year 2012 after receiving nine consumer complaints alleging failure of the steering column control module, affecting the air bag and other steering wheel mounted components, NHTSA said in documents posted online.

Read More.

The stunning $150-million jury verdict in a Georgia case involving a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee is likely to spell more legal trouble for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

The verdict, rendered after a dramatic two-week trial, has already prompted renewed pressure on government regulators to take another look at Jeep SUVs with rear-mounted fuel tanks, which were standard on older model Jeep Libertys and Grand Cherokees. The trial also was closely watched nationally by other plaintiff attorneys and families of similar accidents.

Read More.

BMW of North America is calling back approximately 2,067 2015 BMW 4 Series Convertibles in order to repair a problem with the driver's front air bag. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was the first to report BMW's latest recall.  "Due to a programming error, the driver's front airbag deployment timing may be incorrect," said NHTSA in its recall summary. "If the driver's front airbag deployment timing is incorrect, there is an increased risk of personal injury in the event of a vehicle crash."

Read more.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations said Tuesday it is closing a nearly 5-year-old investigation into 241,000 diesel powered Volkswagen vehicles without demanding a recall.

The agency said it was closing the probe into the 2009-12 Jetta, Golf, Touareg, Audi A3 and Q7 TDI clean diesel vehicles after nearly 800 complaints about high-pressure fuel pump failures causing contamination of the fuel system. VW in 2013 agreed to voluntarily install devices designed to prevent owners from misfueling their diesel vehicles.

Read More.