Current Events

WASHINGTON — In 2009 and early 2010, a telephone company raised questions about the legality of the then-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting records of Americans’ calling habits, according to court documents declassified on Wednesday.

The disclosure reveals for the first time that a phone company pushed back against the bulk collection of its customers’ calling records, adding a new chapter in public understanding of the secret history of the program.

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The parents of a Georgia woman who died in a 2010 crash — and who settled a lawsuit with General Motors Co. last year — have filed a new lawsuit against GM. They claim the automaker fraudulently concealed evidence and says its corporate representative committed perjury in the original case.

An attorney said Monday he hopes to depose GM CEO Mary Barra in the new suit, plus Jim Federico, GM’s recently retired executive director of global vehicle integration who has taken a high-level job at Harley-Davidson. Attorney Lance Cooper of the Cooper Firm in Marietta, Ga., said he also wants to re-depose most of the dozen or so GM engineers who testified as part the lawsuit.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio-- The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that the weight loss supplement Asset Bee Pollen, sold as a natural "energy booster,"  actually contains a dangerous weight loss drug that was withdrawn from the market for safety reasons.

Asset Bee Pollen is sold online at various web sites, and in some retail stores. The FDA is advising consumers not to buy or use the product, after agency testing revealed the presence of the weight loss drug sibutramine.

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Three Long Island doctors selected to lead a committee that recommends the drugs two Suffolk hospitals stock for patients accepted tens of thousands of dollars from pharmaceutical companies while serving on the advisory panel.

The doctors -- affiliated with John T. Mather Memorial and St. Charles hospitals in Port Jefferson -- accepted about $125,000 from drugmakers between 2009 and 2013, company records show.

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May 9 (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chrysler unit said on Friday it was recalling an estimated 780,477 minivans after reports of overheating, including some fires, in third-row power window vent switches.

The company said it would replace the window vent switches. It said there were no reports of accidents or injuries related to the issue, but 36 incidents of overheating and an undisclosed number of fires.

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In two actions, Ford is recalling nearly 1.4 million vehicles from the 2013-14 model years for an air bag malfunction and door handles that may not latch properly, the automaker said Friday. The air bag issue covers about 692,500 Escape and C-Max models, including 591,000 in the United States, about 78,000 in Canada and almost 19,700 in Mexico.

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Federal transportation officials won't order General Motors to insist that owners of 2.6 million recalled small cars park them and not drive them until their ignition switches have been replaced.

"Such an action is not necessary at this time," either by GM or federal safety officials, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in letters to Senators Edward Markey (D., Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.). The two had asked last month for that warning.

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Medtronic said it will pay $22 million to settle about 1,000 legal claims related to its spine surgery product known as Infuse, and it is setting aside up to $140 million for an even larger number of expected claims.

The payment announced Tuesday is the latest chapter in a medical saga played out over more than a decade that became a symbol of how conflicts of interest in medicine can adversely affect the health of patients.

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The owners of New England Compounding Pharmacy Inc., the drug supplier blamed for a nationwide meningitis outbreak that killed 64, agreed to a settlement providing $100 million toward compensation for victims.

The settlement, which includes money from insurers, will be implemented as part of a Chapter 11 plan, according to a filing by a trustee seeking approval of the accord in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston. Criminal investigations involving company insiders, 322 lawsuits against the pharmacy and 3,300 claims from injury are continuing, according to the filing.

The pharmacy’s tainted drugs, including a steroid administered by spinal injection, caused 64 deaths and 700 cases of meningitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2012 as a result of the lawsuits.

Aspirin generally shouldn’t be used to prevent heart attacks or stroke for patients with no history of the disease, U.S. regulators said today.

The use of the medicine raises serious risks of bleeding in the stomach and brain, the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. While evidence shows that aspirin’s benefits for people who have already had a cardiovascular event outweigh the increased risk of bleeding, the data doesn’t support using the drug to help people prevent a first attack, the agency said.

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An Orem family is mourning the death of their young daughter after she was strangled by cords on window blinds last week.

One Utah mother in Plain City knows all too well what this family is going through.

“It puts me back into the day it happened to us,” Leslie Wentz said. “You feel for the family. You know exactly what they’re going through.”

Wentz wants families to know just how deadly this common household item can be, and she's pushing for change. She now sits on the board of the nonprofit organization Parents for Window Blind Safety.

Wentz lost her daughter Abbigale in September 2006. The 18-month-old was rambunctious and got into everything like any toddler would, Wentz said. She died at day care.

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