The American Academy of Pediatrics, the nation’s largest pediatricians group, is calling for sweeping changes in the way food is designed and labeled to minimize children’s chances for choking. Choking kills more than 100 U.S. children 14 years old or younger each year, and thousands more — 15,000 in 2001 — are treated in emergency…
Hundreds of people taking the diabetes drug Avandia needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend that the drug be removed from the market. The reports, obtained by The New York Times, say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named…
The government is taking steps to curb use of some long-acting asthma drugs taken by millions, issuing safety restrictions to lower an uncommon but potentially life-threatening risk that asthma could worsen suddenly. The warnings cover the drugs Advair, Symbicort, Foradil and Serevent. The FDA said they should be used only by asthmatics who can’t control…
For studying 2010 models, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety added a new roof-strength test to the already-rigorous test it used before. Increasingly, the tests address specific circumstances under which drivers and passengers are injured and killed in collisions. Aimed at protecting passengers in roll-over collisions, the new requirement reduced the number of top-rated vehicles…
Harvard’s varsity hockey team has signed up to wear the new, $120 M11 hockey helmet. Equipment maker Cascade Sports designed the helmet with one purpose in mind: saving brains. A study of former National Football League players, reported by Business Week, shows that players suffer dementia at a rate as much as 19 times higher…
People riding in the back seat of a vehicle are less likely to use a seat belt than front-seat passengers. Ford is hoping to change that with its new inflatable seat belt. Their inflatables will first be offered on the next generation of the Ford Explorer. Sue Cischke, group vice president of sustainability, environmental and…
A new insurance industry study has found that state laws banning the use of handheld devices to make calls or send text messages while driving haven’t resulted in fewer vehicle crashes. The study, released Friday by the Highway Loss Data Institute, examined insurance claims from crashes before and after such bans took effect in California,…
Federal consumer safety regulators announced the recall of “The Princess and The Frog” pendants sold at Wal-Mart stores because of high levels of the toxic metal cadmium. The items, crown pendant and a frog pendant, had been sold at Wal-Mart stores since November. Consumers can return the two recalled items to any Wal-Mart store for…
The problem of a stuck accelerator occasionally besets vehicles of nearly every make and model. Here is what consumer experts advise drivers to do if they find that the gas pedal is stuck: What’s the best defensive course of action for drivers who find themselves in a sudden-acceleration incident? Test-track drivers have found the most…
