Current Events

In the late 1990s, General Motors got an unexpected and enticing offer. A little-known Japanese supplier, Takata, had designed a much cheaper automotive airbag.

G.M. turned to its airbag supplier — the Swedish-American company Autoliv — and asked it to match the cheaper design or risk losing the automaker’s business, according to Linda Rink, who was a senior scientist at Autoliv assigned to the G.
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The Food and Drug Administration on Friday took steps to safeguard the nation’s blood supply from the Zika virus, calling for all blood banks to screen donations for the infection even in states where the virus is not circulating.

The recommendations are an acknowledgment that sexual transmission may facilitate the spread of Zika even in areas where mosquitoes carrying the virus are not present. Officials also want to prepare for the possibility that clusters of local infection will continue to pop up in parts of the United States for years to come.

“There could be multiple outbreaks of Zika happening outside the known current ones in South Florida, but because we are not actively looking they could be happening silently,” said Dr. Peter J.
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Approximately 20,000 baby strollers have been voluntarily recalled after many were found to have a defect that caused small children to fall out of their seat.

The Safety 1st brand's Step and Go Travel Systems strollers have a defect that allows the tray folding mechanism to disengage while it is supporting the infant car seat that can be attached to the stroller, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Units with the model number TR314, 01451CCYA, 01451CDGI and 01451CDGJ are affected.

The CPSC said there have been 30 reports of the front stroller tray disengaging on one side. Another eight incidents were reported in Canada, according to the Canadian government.

  Automakers have to perform a veritable high-wire act as they balance the burgeoning need to reduce the carbon footprints of their products with their long-standing need to make money.

Like fleet-wide fuel economy standards, the tightrope is steadily rising while the economic winds are blowing the companies asunder, with consumer demand gusting one way, toward gas-guzzling SUVs, and the threat of polluter penalties billowing in the opposite direction. It’s a delicate situation and one that doesn’t seem to be getting easier for the industry, but more on that later.

Let’s start with a bunch of gas-powered vehicles that don’t how to handle their fuel.

Welcome to your Friday Jr.

Carson Block, the renowned short-seller and founder of research firm Muddy Waters LLC, has taken a short position in St. Jude Medical Inc., denouncing the security of its cardiac devices in an effort that could derail the company’s purchase by Abbott Laboratories.

In a report to investors Thursday, Block warned that tens of thousands of Americans are living with ticking time bombs: St. Jude pacemakers and defibrillators that are easily compromised, causing potentially fatal disruptions.
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Volkswagen and 650 of its dealers announced Thursday that they have agreed to settle a court case filed by dealers seeking compensation for losses caused by the carmaker's diesel-emissions scandal.

The auto manufacturer said in a statement that it "has agreed to make cash payments and provide additional benefits to the dealers to resolve alleged past, current and future claims of losses in franchise value." But the full amount of the settlement was not disclosed. Volkswagen said it plans to finalize the deal by September.

The case stems from the manufacturer's 2015 admission that 11 million Volkswagen "clean diesel" vehicles worldwide had software designed to get around emissions tests.
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Pharmaceutical giant Mylan’s first attempt to quell widespread public outcry over the skyrocketing price of the EpiPen has fallen flat with members of Congress.

On Thursday, Mylan announced it will expand a patient assistance program and offer up to $300 in discounts to people whose insurance plans do not fully cover the device — but did not change the price of the EpiPen, which retails at around $600. The price has increased more than 400 percent in recent years.

The move comes after several days of criticism from lawmakers from both parties and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton demanding Mylan lower the price or offer an explanation for the increase and, in some cases, calling for government investigations into the matter.

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Five people in Florida have died this year from an infection linked to eating raw shellfish.

As scalloping season opens across the Gulf Coast, officials are warning people to be careful around popular raw seafoods like scallops, oysters and crabs that carry the Vibrio bacteria, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

The bacteria lives in the creatures and transfers to humans when they are eaten raw. This year, 23 cases of the infection have been reported in Florida, according to the state’s health department.

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Ford Motor said Wednesday that it is issuing recalls to fix more than 113,000 vehicles for various defects, including some for potential fuel pump issues that could cause cars to stall.

The company said it had not identified any accidents or injuries that could be blamed on the defects, but noted that the defects posed potential safety risks.

The recalls:

•About 88,000 units of the 2013 through 2015 model-year Ford Taurus, Flex and Police Interceptor and Lincoln MKS and MKT.
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The White House weighed in on the controversy over the skyrocketing cost of the EpiPen allergy shot, saying unscrupulous pricing practices raise serious moral questions for pharmaceutical companies.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said companies that develop and market life-saving medication "often do real damage to their reputation by being greedy and jacking up prices in a way that victimizes vulnerable Americans."

While he said he wouldn't "specifically second-guess the pricing strategy or the business practices," of any one company, Earnest said the price hike "raises significant questions, even moral questions, in the minds of a lot of people.

A steep increase in the price of the EpiPen, a lifesaving injection device for people with severe allergies, has sparked outrage among consumers and lawmakers who worry that parents won’t be able to afford the pens for children heading back to school.