Current Events

A Bear man received second-degree burns to his leg and had to undergo skin graft surgery after an electronic cigarette battery exploded in his pocket, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Delaware.

George Ayers was walking from his car to his house with his arms full of groceries when one of the two batteries in his front pants pocket exploded on March 9, according to the lawsuit. His attorney described a chaotic scene in which Ayers' son saw the fire and could smell burning flesh.

"The public needs to be made aware of the danger of this product," his attorney Laura Simon said. "People are using it with no idea an explosion and severe burns can result.
Read more . . .

In an unusual move, Consumer Reports has called Tesla's Autopilot "Too Much Autonomy Too Soon" and called on the automaker to disable the hands-free feature until its safety can be improved. The system has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of a fatal May 7 crash in Florida, which U.S. safety regulators are investigating.

"By marketing their feature as 'Autopilot,' Tesla gives consumers a false sense of security," said Laura MacCleery, vice president of consumer policy and mobilization for Consumer Reports, in the article published Thursday.
Read more . . .

General Motors cannot avoid lawsuits from pre-bankruptcy ignition-switch defect victims, a federal court ruled Wednesday.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a bankruptcy judge's ruling that had protected GM from those lawsuits because of the company's 2009 bankruptcy restructuring.

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to tackle the nation’s opioid crisis, sending to the president’s desk the most sweeping drug legislation in years in a rare instance of consensus in Congress.

The measure, which passed, 92 to 2, would strengthen prevention, treatment and recovery efforts, largely by empowering medical professionals and law enforcement officials with more tools to help drug addicts. It would also expand access to a drug that emergency medical workers could use to help reverse overdoses and improve treatment for the incarcerated. Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, voted against the measure. President Obama is expected to sign the bill.
Read more . . .

Even as federal safety officials step up their investigation of the fatal crash of a driver operating a Tesla car with its Autopilot system engaged, the company continues to defend the self-driving technology as safe when properly used.

The Read more . . .

Suffering from a sore throat or runny nose? For some people, that many mean opting to use antibiotics without seeing a doctor, a practice that health experts say may not help cure the disease and could help aggravate the problem of antibiotic-resistant germs.

A Read more . . .

Juno Therapeutics Inc. plunged by a record 27 percent after three patients died in a trial for its lead cancer therapy and U.S. regulators put the study on hold, raising questions about the risks and tradeoffs of a new and very aggressive approach to treating cancer.

Two adult patients died last week after a chemotherapy drug called fludarabine was added to the treatment regimen for a therapy known as JCAR015, Seattle-based Juno said Thursday in a statement.
Read more . . .

The Justice Department plans to make as much as $40 million available for victims of a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that federal investigators traced to a batch of contaminated steroid injections  after a dispute over whether those affected by the outbreak qualified for such financial assistance was finally resolved, officials said.

While some of the details still need to be worked out, the Office for Victims of Crime has decided to make the money available from its Crime Victims Fund, which is financed by fines and penalties paid by those convicted of crimes, the officials said. That itself is a significant — as there had been some dispute about the victims’ eligibility — though the money is not yet in victims’ or their family members’ hands.

Read more . . .

Researchers have found bacteria resistant to the antibiotic of last resort in a sample from a second patient in the United States, according to a study published Monday. The patient had surgery at a New York hospital last year, researchers said.

The news comes after researchers reported in late May that a patient in Pennsylvania carried a strain of E. coli bacteria that was resistant to the antibiotic colistin, the antibiotic that doctors use to treat patients who have infections that don't respond to other drugs.

Read more . . .

A U.S. judge has slashed a $500 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy unit over allegedly defective metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implants to approximately $151 million.

On Tuesday, U.S.
Read more . . .

If you want to know which headphones will stay in your ears when you go for a run or which books you should bring to the beach, the customer reviews on Amazon.com can offer helpful advice. But if you’d like to know which sunscreens are best equipped to reduce your risk of Read more . . .