Current Events

Bayer AG (BAYRY) said settlements of U.S. lawsuits over claims that its Yasmin line of birth-control pills caused blood clots in women have increased to more than $402 million.

Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, has resolved almost 1,900 cases in which it’s alleged that its Yasmin and Yaz contraceptives caused clots that can lead to heart attacks and strokes, the company said today in a stockholders’ newsletter. Bayer said it has paid $402.6 million in settlements of one category of clot cases, for an average of about $212,000 a case.

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Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)’s Synthes unit, a maker of tools and implants to treat damaged bones, along with its former Norian Corp. subsidiary, was sued by the family of a woman who died during an unapproved trial of a bone cement.

Lois L. Eskind lost her life on Jan. 13, 2003, after a surgeon injected Synthes’s Norian SRS drug into her spine mixed with barium sulfate. Moments after the mixture leaked into her venous system she suffered cardiac arrest, according to the complaint filed July 27 in federal court in Philadelphia by her daughter, Eva Sloan.

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McKesson Corp. (MCK), the largest U.S drug distributor, reached a $151 million settlement with states over claims it caused Medicaid programs to pay too much for prescription drugs.

The agreement resolves allegations that McKesson overbilled states by reporting inflated prices for medications, state attorneys general said today. The deal follows a settlement reached in April with the federal government.

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More than two tons of prepared barbecue chicken salads sold at Trader Joe’s supermarkets have been recalled because they may contain red onions contaminated by a potentially deadly bacteria, USDA officials announced in a statement Friday.

The Huxtable’s Kitchen salads include diced red onions from Gills Onions, a California farm whose produce has been recalled due to a potential listeria bacteria contamination, Huxtable’s president Jason Knight told the Daily News.

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Ford Motor Co. (F) is recalling 484,600 Escape and Maverick sport-utility vehicles because a cruise control defect may cause the throttle to stick, leading to unintended acceleration.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it was investigating the safety defect July 17, based on 99 complaints, including 13 involving crashes, one of which killed a 17-year-old Arizona girl.

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Exeter Hospital says about 3,400 former patients are being asked to get tested for hepatitis C following a recent outbreak, which is far fewer than state officials had indicated.

The state's public health director said Tuesday testing was being recommended for roughly 6,000 people who underwent surgery at the hospital or were admitted to its intensive care unit between April 1, 2011 and May, 25, 2012, when a man suspected of causing the outbreak in the cardiac catheterization lab was employed. But Exeter Hospital said the number is closer to 4,800, and once duplicates and patients who've already been tested are removed, the total is about 3,400.

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North suburban medical products supplier Medline Industries Inc. is facing 18 claims from patients stemming from a counterfeit batch of surgical mesh, a sign of the safety challenges faced by the health care industry.

Medline, with annual revenue of $4.7 billion, bought the mesh, typically used in surgeries like hernia repairs, in 2008-09 from Ram Medical Inc., which said it had been made by Murray Hill, N.J.-based C.R. Bard Inc., a well-known surgical device manufacturer, court records show.

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of 223,000 popular strollers following the death of an infant eight years ago and the near strangulation of another in 2006.

The heads of the two infants became entangled between the tray and seat. But officials didn't link the cases to a specific brand and model of stroller until recently.

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A salmonella outbreak that has sickened 33 people in seven states appears to be linked to recalled ground beef produced by Cargill Meat Solutions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The numbers of illnesses reported in each state are: Maine (1), Massachusetts (3), New Hampshire (2), New York (14), Rhode Island (1), Virginia (2) and Vermont (10). Eleven people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

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The multiple sclerosis drug dalfampridine (Ampyra) can cause seizures in patients who are starting the medicine at normal doses, the FDA warned Monday.

Postmarketing adverse event reporting indicated that most seizures happened in patients with no history of seizures and occurred within days or weeks of starting the drug at its recommended dosage.

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The bulldozer was clearing land outside a day care center in Hapeville, Ga., when it broke open a buried 1-inch pipeline. The escaping gas ignited into a fireball that killed nine people, including seven children settling down for their afternoon naps.

That was 1968. Since then, there have been at least 270 similar accidents across the country that could have been prevented or made less dangerous by a valve that cuts off leaking gas and costs as little as $10-$15 for homes and small businesses and $200-$300 for larger buildings, an Associated Press investigation found.

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