Current Events

Japan's Takata Corp is set to plead guilty Feb. 27 in federal court in Detroit to a single felony count of wire fraud to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into ruptures of its air bag inflators linked to at least 16 deaths worldwide, according to a court filing Tuesday.

Last month, the auto parts firm agreed to the guilty plea as part of a $1 billion settlement in the world's largest ever recall.
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Maserati is recalling at least 39,381 Quattroporte, Levante and Ghibli vehicles after discovering two separate defects that could lead to fires.

According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, adjusting the front seats could cause the seat writing harness to rub against metal points, leading the seats to malfunction. In rare cases, the malfunction could trigger an electrical short, which could lead to a fire. Maserati expects this recall to begin on March 21.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) - Reno officials got a report on the “nightmare bacteria” in late August.

A Washoe County woman in her 70s had been admitted to a local hospital with a full-body response to an infection. It was carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, a bug resistant to all 26 federally approved antibiotics. The patient, whose identity has not been disclosed, died in early September, reported the Las Vegas Sun.

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For years, Sharissa Derricott, 30, had no idea why her body seemed to be failing. At 21, a surgeon replaced her deteriorated jaw joint. She’s been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition. Her teeth are shedding enamel and cracking.

None of it made sense to her until she discovered a community of women online who describe similar symptoms and have one thing in common: All had taken a drug called Lupron.
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Bitter, tearful testimony by children and health care providers who lost parents and patients to mold- infected medication compounded by a former Framingham drug manufacturer gave federal prosecutors one of their most powerful days yet in the rare medical murder case.

“This is the 21st century. It’s just hard to understand how this could happen in America,” Dr. Kiumarce Kashi of Maryland, his eyes red from crying, said outside U.S.
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General Motors is recalling 214 2016- and 2017-model year Chevrolet Suburban HD SUVs because they were assembled with a convex right-hand outside mirror instead of a non-convex (flat) right-hand outside mirror.

The vehicles fail to comply with all federal safety standards as a result of the problem, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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Chemicals that have been associated with cancer and other health problems have been found in some fast-food packaging, according to a new study. Researchers found the substances, which can leach into food, in sandwich and dessert wrappers and paperboard containers.

“We have more than one reason to try to eat more fresh food, and to reduce our consumption of fast food,” said Laurel Schaider, one of the study’s authors, and a research scientist for the Silent Spring Institute. “This is another reason.”

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Volkswagen has agreed to pay more than $20 billion to settle civil and criminal suits in the United States over its diesel emissions scandal, affecting almost 600,000 cars. This is what that could mean for vehicle owners:

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Invisible toxic chemicals similar to those contaminating groundwater south of Colorado Springs also are showing up in fast-food wrappers, according to a scientific study done with help from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Environmental Working Group study, peer-reviewed and published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, found the perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in grease-resistant wrappers -– including pizza box liners, sandwich and pastry packaging — from chains including Starbucks, Jimmy Johns, Taco Time, Chipotle and Quiznos. The chemicals can leach into food, potentially reaching consumers, the study authors said, urging companies to find safe alternative packaging.

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Rigorous cleaning practices don’t ensure that medical scopes are free of contamination, and many of these reusable devices have scratches and dents that could harbor blood, tissue and bacteria, a new study found.

The seven-month study, published Tuesday in the American Journal of Infection Control, found that 12 of 20 gastroscopes and colonoscopes examined tested positive for bacterial growth, even after being disinfected using the current guidelines or additional measures.

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More than 1,700 residents of Flint, Michigan who say the Environmental Protection Agency mismanaged the water crisis that exposed thousands of children to lead poisoning have sued the U.S. government, seeking class action status for their claims.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S.
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