Current Events

Health authorities in China are investigating one of the nation’s biggest vaccine makers after eight infants died in the past two months following injections that were meant to immunize them against hepatitis B.

The government said this week that it had suspended the use of millions of doses of a hepatitis B vaccine produced by the manufacturer, Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products. Government inspectors have been sent to examine the company’s facilities.

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The FDA is warning consumers to immediately stop using a product called Mass Destruction, marketed as a dietary supplement for muscle growth. The product is labeled to contain at least one synthetic anabolic steroid and has been linked to at least one reported serious illness.

The FDA was alerted by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services of a serious injury associated with use of this product. A previously healthy 28-year-old male developed liver failure and requires a liver transplant after just several weeks of product use. Liver injury can happen when using products that contain anabolic steroids and steroid-like substances.

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The owners and insurers of the bankrupt Framingham pharmacy blamed for an outbreak of fungal meningitis that killed dozens of people last year have tentatively agreed to contribute more than $100 million to compensate victims and creditors of the firm.

The proposed settlement, which needs to be finalized and approved by the US Bankruptcy Court, provides hope that people across the country who received tainted steroid injections made by New England Compounding Center could begin receiving initial payments for their pain and medical expenses as early as next year.

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When her 24-year-old daughter Erika was rushed to an emergency room because of extreme shortness of breath in 2011, a doctor asked Karen Langhart, “Was your daughter using birth control?” reports a Vanity Fair article. Told that Erika had been using a contraceptive device called NuvaRing, the doctor said, “I thought so, because she’s having a pulmonary embolism.” The young woman died several days later.

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When Christopher Herrera, 17, walked into the emergency room at Texas Children’s Hospital one morning last year, his chest, face and eyes were bright yellow — “almost highlighter yellow,” recalled Dr. Shreena S. Patel, the pediatric resident who treated him.

Christopher, a high school student from Katy, Tex., suffered severe liver damage after using a concentrated green tea extract he bought at a nutrition store as a “fat burning” supplement. The damage was so extensive that he was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

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Like many pills and powders sold as dietary supplements, Dr. Larry's Tranquility pills were not what they seemed.

And neither was Dr. Larry.

The pills promised insomniacs a great night's sleep with an all-natural blend of ingredients such as figwort root and licorice.

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McALLEN, Texas (AP) - Carnival Cruise Lines knew about the risk of leaks from engine fuel hoses and recommended taking precautions on the ill-fated Carnival Triumph that later caught on fire at sea, according to court documents.

A compliance notice report sent to the Triumph one month before it departed Galveston on Feb. 7 for what was planned as a four-day cruise recommended spray shields be installed on engines' flexible fuel hoses, according to the documents filed Tuesday by Carnival Cruise Lines in federal court in Miami.

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WASHINGTON — For President Obama, the proposed overhaul of the American surveillance state confronts him with a fundamental choice: Will he become the commander in chief many expected in 2008 or remain the one he became in 2009? Or is there a balance in between?

At the heart of the report by a White House advisory group is a challenge to Mr. Obama’s conception of his presidency. A candidate who promised to reverse what he saw as excesses in the war against terrorists wound up preserving and even amplifying many of the policies he inherited. With his last election behind him, he is being challenged to decide if that is still the right approach.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost two-thirds of its employees in the Sept. 11 attacks, revealed a $135 million settlement with American Airlines and insurance carriers on Tuesday to a judge who said it will end the final airplane-focused case resulting from claims of wrongful death and personal injuries.

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Matthew Onyshko went from college football player to educator to firefighter to, at age 32, terminally ill neurological patient.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, he and his wife alleged that concussions sustained on the gridiron led to his crippling ailment -- and that the NCAA should have tried to prevent the injuries.

"I don't know that I've ever seen a case as sad as his situation," said Jason Luckasevic, Mr. Onyshko's attorney, who was also a pioneer in the concussion lawsuits against the NFL. The Onyshkos "have two daughters ages 4 and 1, and Matt is just a complete shadow of himself.

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Eleven former employees of Long Beach Medical Center have filed a class-action lawsuit against the shuttered hospital for vacation time and other benefits they say are owed them.

The hospital has laid off about 670 of its 1,200 employees since the badly flooded hospital closed last October after superstorm Sandy.

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