General Motors Corp. (GM) is recalling 804,000 full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in 14 northern states because of potential problems with the anti-lock braking system.

Corrosion in the braking system has been blamed for more than 200 low-speed crashes.

A GM spokesman says the problem occurs when salt and other road grime gets into the area covering the antilock braking system sensor near the wheel hub. The problem activates the ABS at speeds much lower than normal, requiring a longer stopping distance.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describers the problem as an unwanted application of the antilock brake system; http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

An ongoing investigation was opened by NHTSA in late April of more than 1.2 million GM pickups and SUVs in 20 states because of questions about the antilock brakes.

ConsumerAffairs.Com has received complaints about the problems with GM antilock brakes since 2002 and GM says there have been 228 crashes reported through the end of May, including 10 minor injuries.

General Motors Corp. (GM) is recalling 804,000 full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in 14 northern states because of potential problems with the anti-lock braking system.

Corrosion in the braking system has been blamed for more than 200 low-speed crashes.

A GM spokesman says the problem occurs when salt and other road grime gets into the area covering the antilock braking system sensor near the wheel hub. The problem activates the ABS at speeds much lower than normal, requiring a longer stopping distance.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describers the problem as an unwanted application of the antilock brake system; http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

An ongoing investigation was opened by NHTSA in late April of more than 1.2 million GM pickups and SUVs in 20 states because of questions about the antilock brakes.

ConsumerAffairs.Com has received complaints about the problems with GM antilock brakes since 2002 and GM says there have been 228 crashes reported through the end of May, including 10 minor injuries.

Ralph Nader has demanded the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) alert vehicle owners to a potential fire hazard in numerous models of Ford and Lincoln SUVs and trucks.

Nader wrote to Jeffrey Runge, head of NHTSA, insisting he issue a public warning about "life-threatening hazards" from a faulty cruise control switch in those vehicles.

The auto manufacturer is currently recalling about 750,000 Ford F-150s, Expeditions, and Lincoln Navigators manufactured in 2000.

While the current recall will replace cruise control switches, which may catch fire in the above mentioned vehicles, the NHTSA is continuing its investigation to determine whether the same fire hazard exists in as many as 3.7 million additional automobiles.

The government investigation, which began in March, involves F-150 pickups manufactured from the 1995 to 1999 and 2001 to 2002 and Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigator models from 1997 to 1999 and 2001 to 2002.
The NHTSA has received more than 550 complaints of engine fires as a result of the cruise control switch in the Ford models.

As previously reported in newsinferno.com, after 911 was called, 74-year-old Darletta Mohlis died in an attempt to escape from her burning house. Her three children and husband, Earl, are suing the Ford Motor Company in a wrongful death action claiming a faulty cruise-control deactivation switch on Mr. Mohlis’s 1996 Ford F-150 pickup truck caused the fatal fire. 

In its ongoing investigation of fires linked to faulty cruise control shut off switches in Ford vehicles, CNN has already reported that despite the fact that Ford is aware of 16 million 1992 to 2003 vehicles at risk, only slightly over one million have been recalled.

The switch (manufactured for Ford by Texas Instruments) costs $20.57 and has already being linked to 559 fires reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Many of these fires have completely destroyed the vehicle. In this case, however, Mrs. Mohlis died when her entire house burned down after the family pickup truck caught fire while parked in the garage.

The fires are spontaneous and often occur when the ignition switch is off and the key removed. This is because Ford designed the switch to remain on or “hot” at all times. When a crack develops in the film (supplied by Dupont) separating the brake fluid from the electrical circuit, the leak will cause a fire.

Since May 1999, Ford has recalled a total of 1,071,000 vehicles in two separate recalls. CNN reports, however, that a document it has obtained shows Ford is aware that it installed a total of 16 million of the switches between 1992 and 2003 in the following vehicles:

•    Mark VII/VIII from 1994-1998
•    Taurus/Sable and Taurus SHO 2.3 L 1993-1995
•    Econoline 1992-2003
•    F-Series 1993-2003
•    Windstar 1994-2003
•    Explorer without IVD 1995-2003
•    Explorer Sport/Sport Trac 2002-2003
•    Expedition 1997-2003
•    Ranger 1995-2003

In March 2005, the NHTSA opened an expanded investigation into more than 3.7 million of these vehicles. Ford, however, has chosen not to recall all of the vehicles arguing that the switch has performed well for years in most vehicle models.

As a result, Ford has limited their recalls to those models “with an increasing fire rate report.” A recent recall notice was clear as to the risk, however.  Ford stopped using the switch last year in favor of a new design.
In the case involving the Mohlis family, inspections of the truck and fire scene have been performed by two experts hired by the family’s attorney, officials from the NHTSA, and inspectors from Ford.

The family’s experts, an electrical engineer and a certified fire investigator, believe the switch caused the fire. Ford claims the fire started elsewhere and spread to the truck and the switch had nothing to do with the fire. The NHTSA has made no public statement as to its investigation or findings.

Mr. Mohlis stated the truck had been parked in the garage and shut off for four days before the fire.

Tobias Allander and Björn Andersson, of the Karolinska Institutet (KI), identified a previously unknown virus called human bocavirus that can cause respiratory illness in children.

The researchers discovered the virus in respiratory tract samples from children at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm utilizing a new method for virus discovery.

Currently, infections of the lower respiratory tract are a significant cause of hospitalization of children. In about 20% of cases, doctors are presently unable to determine the cause of the infection.

Dr. Allander, a scientist at KI’s Centre for Molecular Medicine and Department of Clinical Microbiology and an associate professor at KI’s Centre for Genomics and Bioinformatics along with his colleague Dr. Andersson, pioneered a method that allows for the systematic scanning of samples to detect unidentified viruses.

The Swedish team found bocavirus contributed to at least 3% of serious lower respiratory tract infections.

Dr. Allender commented: "We believe that the most important aspect of our discovery is that it will enable the discovery of many more viruses, and this may help us solve important medical questions. Identifying unknown viruses will probably help in developing diagnostics and treatment for diseases that are currently of unknown origin."

Many scientists believe that as yet unknown viruses may be involved in the development of diseases such as childhood diabetes and multiple sclerosis (MS).

The study can be found in the latest issue of PNAS (the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).

A new study reports that one health benefit of coffee may be as an antioxidant. According to Joe A. Vinson, a chemistry professor at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania (U.S.), Americans actually get most of their antioxidants from coffee.

Vinson states that antioxidants can be good for you in a number of ways including affecting enzymes and genes, though more research is needed, he said. They are also thought to combat damage to cells and DNA.

Vinson’s study considered the antioxidant content of more than 100 different food items, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, oils tea, coffee and coco. Then, using the Agriculture Department’s data on food consumption patterns, calculated the antioxidants Americans get from each food.

The results showed that adults consumed 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants daily from coffee, 294 milligrams from tea, 76 milligrams from bananas, 72 milligrams from dry beans, and 48 milligrams from corn.

Thus, most of the antioxidants taken in came from coffee since, according to the Agriculture Department; American adults drink 1.64 cups a day.

However, the study also concluded Americans are still not getting enough fruits and vegetables, which are, themselves, important sources of antioxidants, vitamins, fiber, and minerals. Good vegetable and fruits sources include dates, cranberries and red grapes.

Recently, Japanese research in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute linked daily coffee consumption of up to four cups to lower risk of liver cancer and research from the Harvard School of Public Health suggested coffee drinking lowered the risk of diabetes.

The Harvard study found men who drank more than six 8-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee per day lowered their risk of Type 2 diabetes by about 50%, and women reduced their risk by nearly 30%.

While these studies suggest a favorable side to America’s coffee consumption habits, excessive coffee drinking has its critics who point out that high caffeine intake makes many people jittery and unable to sleep. It may even raise cholesterol levels. As Vinson remarked as a disclaimer to the findings "We always talk about moderation in anything."

Despite the current energy crisis, the Bush administration is urging automobile manufactures not to produce lighter, smaller and more energy efficient cars because of the potential danger of more accident-related deaths.
Instead, last week, the administration suggested new fuel economy regulations or CAFE standards for sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and vans, which they believe will save 10 billion gallons of gas in the next twenty years.

Environmentalists balked at the proposals since, "at best, they’re proposing a system that will save a month’s worth of gas," said David Friedman, an analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

John D. Graham, who formerly did academic research financed by the auto industry which found lighter cars lead to fatalities, is a top official at the Office of Management and Budget and was involved in developing the new plan. He claimed that the CAFE standards would save fuel, reduce the unintended safety risks to motorists, and provide an equitable regulatory framework for all vehicle manufacturers.

In 2001, the National Academy of Sciences essentially supported his safety research claiming 1,300 to 2,600 fatalities in 1993 were the result of the fuel-economy regulations.

According to the new plan, auto manufactures would have to meet a fuel economy average of 27.5 miles per gallon (mpg) for cars and 21.2 mpg for light trucks on new models.

CAFE would also subdivide the light-truck group into six subcategories according to a vehicle’s dimensions and requirements for bigger vehicles would be lower.

Currently, the largest SUVs and pickup trucks, such as the Hummer H2, would not be included in the regulations. However, the administration says legislation may still be changed to include large SUVs when the final plan is announced in April 2006.

The plan promotes better technology including hybrid electric systems, more efficient transmissions, and less horsepower as opposed to reducing weight.

While safety clearly should be a priority, the prevalence of SUVs, which guzzle gas, contribute to pollution, and add unnecessarily to congestion in cities, is also a concern.

Consumers have raised this issue, saying that vehicles which are too fat, not too light are also dangerous by citing SUV crash studies.

Critics of the CAFE plan say the legislation may allow automakers to make their SUVs even larger, though soaring gas prices would hinder the marketability of such products and ultimately remove some of the allure enjoyed by SUVs.

Glen Strong, an oyster fisherman of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, claimed that his rare blood cancer (multiple myeloma) was caused by exposure to dioxin from DuPont’s plant located about five miles from his home. A jury agreed and awarded Mr. Strong $14 million in actual damages.

In what is only the first of 1,996 cases filed against this particular DuPont company known as DuPont DeLisle the jury also awarded Strong’s wife, Connie, $1.5 million for her derivative claim for emotional damages.

The DuPont DeLisle plant makes titanium dioxide, a white pigment used in paint, plastics, toothpaste, and other products.

Mr. Strong’s attorney was reported as stating: "This chemical company cares nothing about the people of south Mississippi."

The state Supreme Court decision to uphold sanctions issued by Circuit Judge Billy Joe Landrum excluding nine DuPont witnesses from testifying occurred just hours before the trial and clearly impacted the outcome. 

As a result DuPont was unable to call any witnesses in its defense and had only the testimony of Strong’s doctor, who had testified there is no way to determine the root of multiple myeloma, to rely on.

Judge Landrum had ruled that DuPont "deliberately avoided" depositions of its witnesses by not giving Strong’s attorneys an opportunity to interview them before the trial.
According to a DuPont spokesperson, the company will appeal the decision, claiming an unfair trial, and will continue with its plan to defend each case on its own merits.

DuPont’s position is that the jury was prevented from hearing from real scientists who were ready to testify and prove the company was not responsible for Mr. Strong’s illness.

DuPont’s spokesperson also stated: "We don’t blame the jury, because they only heard half the story."

The jury deliberated for about two hours before arriving at a 9-3 verdict in favor of Strong. They will reconvene on Monday to determine if (and how much) punitive damages should be awarded.

Since the case was filed before Jan. 1, 2003, it is not affected by $20 million “cap” recently adopted by the Mississippi Legislature.

A breakthrough has been announced in the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) which resulted in 774 worldwide deaths (mostly in Asia) in 2002.

The discovery was the result of work done by a team of experts working in China’s Guangdong Province. The lead researchers were: Zhong Nanshan, China’s leading SAR’s expert; Li Baojian, a respected biologist; and Lu Yang, an expert on biological medicine.

After two years of extensive investigations into the disease, the scientists announced that fragments of genetic material, called interfering RNA, were proven to be successful in treating the illness. By slicing specific genes, the small fragments known as siRNA, appear to reduce an existing infection in monkeys and aid in the prevention of new ones.

Scientists conducted the tests with 20 monkeys in five groups. All the monkeys were infected with the SARS virus and some of them were treated with siRNA.

All the infected animals showed symptoms of the virus, but those with siRNA treatment suffered from less lung damage and had less severe symptoms overall.

Scientists project that this research may have implications for the study of other serious viruses and diseases including AIDS, hepatitis, and tumors.

California’s crusading Attorney General, Bill Lockyer, has sued nine fast food chains and potato chip manufactures pursuant to that state’s law requiring companies to warn consumers if a product contains a potentially dangerous substance.  Known carcinogens would fall into that category.

Lockyer claims that the law applies to potato chips and fries since they may cause cancer due to the presence of the chemical acrylamide which has been on California’s list of carcinogens since 1990 and has been associated with cancer of reproductive organs in laboratory animals exposed to high levels.

Acrylamide was initially considered an industrial agent and was used both in food packaging and to treat sewage.  The substance was discovered in food in 2002 by Swedish scientists who identified it in starchy foods cooked at high temperatures.

Recent research has supported a connection between fried potatoes and cancer in a study earlier this month suggesting women who ate a lot of French fries as children had an increased risk of developing cancer later in life.

Lockyer claims that according to proposition 65 (an initiative passed by voters in 1986 to insure proper warnings on dangerous substances) companies including Burger King Corporation, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Inc., Lance, Inc., Frito-Lay, Inc., Ore-Ida frozen potato products, KFC Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation, and Wendy’s International, Inc. should be required to place warning labels on their food products alerting consumers to potentially harmful levels of acrylamide.

Although Lockyer stated: "I am not telling people to stop eating potato chips and French fries. I know from personal experience that, while these snacks may not be a necessary part of a healthy diet, they sure taste good."

The food industry has expressed its unhappiness concerning the warnings and believes the proposed labels will cause unnecessary alarm and concern among consumers.

The attorney for several of the defendants said: "No one buys a potato to eat it raw. People will think if they make [French fries] on their own they will not have problems." A spokeswoman for Frito-Lay said the snacks are absolutely safe.

Lockyer argues that after the 2002 acrylamide reports, the products involved in the case were subjected to many tests to establish that they were subject to a proposition 65 warning label.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently determining the presence of the chemical in food, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has estimated French fries have as much as 125 times the amount of acrylamide for which a warning is required under state law. Consumers of potato chips receive as much as 75 times the level requiring a warning.

Lockyer’s case follows several others that sought to take action against these foods. In 2002 the Committee for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT) filed a private suit against McDonald’s and Burger King. Currently it is pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Two additional private suits were filed on August 3, 2005 by Environmental World Watch, Inc. (EWW) and by the Environmental Law Foundation on August 25 against the same companies targeted by Lockyer.

Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, faces 1,000 separate lawsuits from people who claim they became addicted to the drug.

Although OxyContin was approved in 1995 to teat patients with terminal cancer or chronic pain, it has now become a “street drug” that is widely abused for the purpose of obtaining a quick, heroin-like high.

The plaintiffs, according to their attorney, claim Purdue was deceptive in their marketing for not telling doctors, pharmacists, and patients about the drug’s highly addictive potential.

A New York State Supreme Court judge on Staten Island (a county within New York City), where the cases were filed, had previously decided against certifying a class-action suit, stating that the cases involved different issues and injury claims. As a result, a coordinating Supreme Court judge has been assigned to each individual case.
Although Purdue faces similar suits across the country, it claims it will defend each case and expects to win every one.

"Over the last four years, Purdue Pharma has never lost an OxyContin personal-injury lawsuit. On the contrary, 365 personal-injury lawsuits involving well over 1,000 plaintiffs, including many cases brought by these same personal-injury lawyers, have ended in Purdue’s favor. We expect these new cases will be no different" said spokesman Timothy Bannon.”

All the cases Bannon cited were either dismissed by the court or withdrawn by the plaintiffs. In November 2004, however, the company settled out of court with the West Virginia state attorney general’s office over a 2001 lawsuit.