The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the results of its investigation of drop-side cribs and has concluded that they are not as safe as regular cribs and have caused or contributed to at least 32 deaths since January 2000. [More]
Quality & Safety
Take Your Recalled Drugs To Walgreens, CVS For Refund
By 5.7.10
Got recalled Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl? Want a refund? Don’t want to deal with the online form? CVS and Walgreens have told the media that consumers can bring recalled medicines to their stores for a refund. [More]
Freshway Foods Lettuce Recalled In 23 States Following E. Coli Outbreak
By 5.7.10
Freshway Foods has recalled shredded romaine lettuce distributed in 23 states and the District of Columbia due to possible E. coli contamination. The affected lettuce was packaged for food service, wholesale, and salad bar consumption–not directly to consumers, except in salad kits sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh. [More]
FDA Wants To Know Which Labels You Read When You Shop
By 5.7.10
The Food and Drug Administration is looking into adjusting labeling regulations and wants to know what you’re looking for to ensure a food item’s healthiness when you’re digging through supermarket shelves. [More]
Congress Opens Investigation Into Children's Tylenol Recall
By 5.6.10
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — the same crew behind the Toyota recall hearings — has announced that it has opened an investigation into the recent recall of Children’s Tylenol and several other brands of kids’ medicine. [More]
FDA: McNeil Plant That Made Recalled Tylenol Is A Dirty Stinkpot With No Quality Control
By 5.5.10
One of the implied promises of a brand name, especially when it comes to drugs, is you can expect higher quality, but maybe that doesn’t apply when it comes to McNeil products.The FDA says the plant that produced the recently recalled children’s Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl, was using raw materials that were contaminated with bacteria. The plant also lacked adequate quality-control procedures and was dirty. So far none of the recalled medicine has tested positive for bacterial contamination, but the FDA report suggests that the contaminated material was used to make the recalled lots. The plant has been shut down indefinitely. [More]
Should There Be A National Standard For Teen Drivers' Licenses?
By 5.4.10
Right now, 42 states allow teens under the age of 16 to get their learner’s permit and seven of those offer permits to 14-year-olds. Additionally, many states have differing rules about when a teen driver can obtain his full driving rights. A handful of Senators are hoping to gather support for a law that would do away with these variances and also raise the permit age nationally to 16. [More]
Health Supplement Guru Nearly Dies After Ingesting Own Product
By 5.4.10
Gary Null sells something called Ultimate Power Meal, which he says you’re supposed to eat twice a day every day. He did that for a month and nearly died, so now he’s suing the company that manufactured the product. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Not Taking Refunds On Recalled Tylenol Very Seriously
By 5.3.10
When J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Unit announced a recall of children’s Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl over the weekend, it also provided a toll free number you could call for more info. Ron Lieber at the New York Times called it on Saturday to find out how the refund process would work. What he got was a three minute recording telling him to throw the products in the trash, but nothing else. [More]
Children's Tylenol, Motrin, Other Medications Recalled
By 5.1.10
Head to your medicine cupboards and start checking out the children’s meds you might have there — the Food and Drug Administration announced today Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Unit has begun a voluntary recall of various medicines because of manufacturing discrepancies. [More]
Texting While Driving So Distracting That Meredith Vieira Yells "Oh Shit" On TV
By 4.30.10
Texting while driving is pretty damn distracting. How distracting? Well, it can make a seasoned professional TV anchor yell “Oh shit!” on the air. [More]
Honda Recalls 167,000 Acura TSX Vehicles
By 4.30.10
Yesterday, Honda announced that they are issuing a recall of approximately 167,000 Acura TSX vehicles — model years 2004-2008 — to replace a power steering hose. It is believed that the hose could leak power steering fluid, potentially causing a fire under the vehicle’s hood. [More]
Don't Let Your Manicurist File Down Your Nerve Function
By 4.29.10
Consumer Reports Health medical adviser Orly Avitzur, M.D. has both a medical practice and a lovely set of manicured nails. It’s this combination that gave her unique insight into the possible problems with manicures that are purportedly fancy “gel manicures,” but are actually something else more dangerous entirely. [More]
Over 200,000 Graco, Simplicity Cribs Recalled
By 4.29.10
This morning, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced voluntary recalls of cribs from two different companies — Graco and Simplicity — that encompasses well over 200,000 cribs. Both recalls involve possible suffocation hazards and owners are being advised to discontinue use immediately. [More]
Toyota Recalls 50,000 Sequoia SUVs
By 4.28.10
It seems like it’s almost been two weeks since the last Toyota recall, meaning… yep, it’s time to announce another Toyota recall. This time, the car giant has issued a voluntary safety recall on around 50,000 early-2003 Model-Year Toyota Sequoia SUVs to upgrade program logic in its Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system. [More]
Who Keeps Trying To Kill Our Babies?
By 4.27.10
This “Recalled Baby Products 2009-2010” graphic from the website hugamonkey is massive, and it shows how many types of products were recalled over the past 16 months. You can use it as a reference tool to see if there’s anything in your home on the list, or to remind yourself why you’d rather have a houseplant. [More]
55th Floridian Dies After Being Tased, Should They Be Banned? Tasers, That Is.
By 4.27.10
Derrick Humbert, 38, became the 55th Floridian to die from a Taser. He was riding his bicycle and officers asked him to stop. Instead, he rode around the corner and fled through a yard. The officers in pursuit tased him as he tried to scramble over a fence, shooting 50,000 volts of electricity into his body. 28 minutes later, he was in a coma in the ambulance, and was pronounced dead at the hospital. [More]
New Dry Max Pampers Causing Rash, Burns, Sores, Boils?
By 4.26.10
Pampers new brand of Dry Max diapers causes rashes, burns, sores, and boils on their babies, some parents are alleging in a growing online backlash. But is it really Dry Max, or just typical diaper rash that the parents are incorrectly correlating with the new diaper? [More]
