Current Events

The Wall Street Journal recently published the results of a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins who found that diagnostic errors accounted for a major and costly portion of the overall medical errors that take place in the U.S. each year.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety, involved researchers examining 350,000 medical malpractice claims that have been filed over the past 25 years. The results were clear that the most common, most expensive and, ultimately, the most dangerous errors were in misdiagnosing patients. The study estimated that such misdiagnosis leads to permanent injury or death in as many as 160,000 people each year.

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The orthopedic unit of Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that it was phasing out production of all-metal replacement hips, a move reflecting an industrywide trend to abandon the once widely used implants because of high early failure rates.

In 2010, the company, DePuy Orthopaedics, recalled an all-metal model known as the Articular Surface Replacement, or A.S.R., because it was failing just a few years after implant. Typically, artificial hips made from materials like plastic and metal last 15 years or more before they wear out and need to be replaced.

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The Food and Drug Administration approved label changes incorporating lower dosages for sleep medications containing zolpidem, a drug that can continue to affect patients' mental alertness even a day after its use.

The regulator approved changes to the labels of Sanofi SA's Ambien, Ambien CR and Meda AB's Edluar on Tuesday.

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Subaru is recalling 5,379 Legacy and Outback cars in the United States because of a problem that could cause them to lose steering control.

Steering shafts in the cars, all from the 2013 model year, could become disengaged, causing a loss of steering. The steering shaft on the cars is made from two pieces -- an inner and an outer shaft -- which, in the vehicles involved, can become separated. If that happens, the driver can lose the ability to steer the car.

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GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK)’s Avandia, the best-selling diabetes pill that was pulled off the market in Europe and tightly restricted in the U.S. because of its heart risks, will undergo another regulatory review.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans a June meeting to discuss a re-analysis of a 2009 study, known as Record, that found Avandia more than doubled the risk of heart failure, without increasing hospital stays or death from cardiovascular disease. The re-analysis was requested by a previous advisory panel that found the drug should remain available in the U.S.

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Federal inspectors have found dozens of potentially dangerous safety problems at 30 specialized pharmacies, months after tainted steroid shots made by a Massachusetts pharmacy triggered the worst drug disaster in decades.

At a Florida company, Food and Drug Administration inspectors discovered “black particles of unknown origin” in seven vials of an injectable medicine. At other facilities, they found rust and mold in “clean rooms,” inadequate microbial testing and tears in gloves worn by technicians — lapses that raise the risk of possible lethal contamination.

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Analysis of commercially available rice imported into the US has revealed it contains levels of lead far higher than regulations suggest are safe.

Some samples exceeded the "provisional total tolerable intake" (PTTI) set by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by a factor of 120.

The report at the American Chemical Society Meeting adds to the already well-known issue of arsenic in rice.

The FDA told the BBC it would review the research.

Lead is known to be harmful to many organs and the central nervous system.

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TOKYO — Toyota, Honda and Nissan are recalling more than 3 million vehicles globally for an identical problem with air bags on the passenger side whose inflator may burst, sending plastic pieces flying.

No injuries have been reported related to the problem.

The recall for air bags made by Japan's Takata Corp. affects other automakers including non-Japanese manufacturers, Takata spokeswoman Akiko Watanabe said Thursday. She declined to give details.

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Chrysler Group announced a stunning six recalls today, including roughly 139,000 full-size sedans because their air bag warning lights can illuminate for no reason.

It's unclear whether six announced in one day is a record, but "it certainly is an anomaly," says Eric Mayne, a Chrysler spokesman.

"There's no link. It's just the way the stars lined up," he said, adding that the total number of vehicles recalled is modest and that no injuries have been reported as a result of the potential flaws.

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Toyota has settled one of the last remaining cases brought on behalf of consumers over sudden acceleration defects. Under the settlement, Toyota will pay $16 million — half to the Orange County, Calif., District Attorney's office and half to a local gang prevention program.

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A malfunction in a device from HeartWare International Inc. (HTWR) used to take over the heart’s beating action led to a patient death, U.S. regulators said. The company’s shares declined.

After the patient changed the battery in the left ventricular assist device, power dropped and blood flow fell, setting off a controller fault alarm, the report posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website said. A family member found the woman unresponsive at her house, with the alarm blaring. The problem had persisted for at least three hours before it was addressed, according to a preliminary analysis.

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