Not until the highly publicized deaths last August of California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor and three of his family members in a runaway Lexus ES 350 did Toyota consider installing electronic controls that would favor the brakes over the throttle in a sudden unintended acceleration incident and allow the vehicle to stop. Even then, however, Toyota was only responding to renewed pressure by federal safety regulators.

Toyota started by offering to retrofit only its high-end Camry, Avalon and Lexus vehicles with the safety repair. As new sudden acceleration incidents occurred throughout the country, Toyota eventually agreed to retrofit all appropriate vehicles with the brake override system.

Sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been blamed for 56 deaths and hundreds of injuries nationwide in the last 10 years, triggering federal safety and criminal investigations.

Internal Toyota documents obtained by Congress reveal that NHTSA authorities discussed brake override technology with Toyota executives in August 2007, two years before the fatal Saylor crash. Records also show that Toyota conducted a feasibility study to determine whether to install the technology in its vehicles.

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's investigations panel, issued strong words for Toyota upon disclosing the evidence that the company failed to act.

"These documents raise some questions about whether Toyota was doing enough to deal with" sudden acceleration, Braley said. "It's obvious that other manufacturers were doing something. Maybe more than Toyota is doing even now."

One Toyota executive who used to work for the NHTSA said in a 2007 email that there were no requirements for Toyota to implement the brake override system. Because NHTSA couldn't find an actual defect, investigations were closed. This outcome was celebrated by Toyota in a memo that stated Toyota execs successfully negotiated a favorable outcome in the sudden acceleration investigation that saved the company $100 million.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Site: Beasley Allen

Site: Beasley Allen

Studies suggest that as many as two-thirds of patients with chronic pain from cancer who receive around-the-clock opioids develop a tolerance to opioids and experience intermittent pain that breaks through their medication. To treat these episodes of breakthrough pain, drug companies have introduced powerful narcotics, such as Cephalon's Actiq (fentanyl citrate) and the more potent opioid, Fentora.

In 2006, Actiq became open for generics, paving the way for drug companies like Coviden to introduce its Fentanyl Citrate to the distributors. Both Actiq and its generic version are lollypop lozenges that are administered orally.

Fentanyl citrate is only indicated for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients who are already receiving and are tolerant to around-the-clock opioid therapy for their cancer-related pain. Patients who have not already developed a tolerance to the drug are at risk of life-threatening respiratory depression. Yet, as many as 90 percent of prescriptions for the drug are written for the off-label treatment of migraines and backaches.

To date, 127 deaths and 91 incidents of severe side effects have been associated with use of fentanyl citrate.

Site: Beasley Allen

This map lists sudden acceleration complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that involve cars and trucks produced by Toyota and are reported to have resulted in at least one fatality.

SOURCE: NHTSA, USA Today, NPR News
Updated: March 15, 2010 @ 1:56pm

Click here to view Toyota SUA Map in full window.

Learn more about Toyota Sudden Unintended Acceleration.

Site: Beasley Allen

Plavix is a medication given to reduce the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, stroke, and cardiovascular death in patients with cardiovascular disease. Plavix works by decreasing the activity of blood cells called platelets, making platelets less likely to form blood clots. Patients identified as poor metabolizers of Plavix do not convert the drug to its active form, thus it has less effect on platelets, and therefore less ability to prevent the serious conditions for which it is prescribed.

The boxed warning informs healthcare professionals that tests are available to identify genetic differences in CYP2C19 function. Health care professionals with patients identified as poor metabolizers of Plavix should consider use of other anti-platlet medications or alternative dosing strategies.

Patients are advised not to stop taking Plavix unless told to do so by their healthcare professionals. Those with concerns should discuss their situation with their doctors.  Any adverse events associated with this or any other medication should be reported to the FDA MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program at www.FDA.gov/MedWatch.

Site: Beasley Allen

The McCormick & Co. products under the recall include

• Onion gravy with the "best by" dates ranging from Oct. 7 to Feb. 13, 2012
• Vegetable dip with the "best by" dates ranging from June 8, 2011 to July 28, 2011
• French onion dip mix from Oct. 6, 2011 through Jan. 23 2010, and
• Corn bread stuffing with the product code 4520AH.

Salmonella can cause a common bacterial food borne illness, which can be life threatening, especially to those with weak immune systems such as infants, the elderly, and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy. Symptoms of salmonella generally involve diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 72 hours of consumption. Additional symptoms that may develop include chills, headache, nausea, and vomiting that can last up to seven days.

To date, no illnesses have been reported. The latest recall due to possible contamination of HPV brings the total of products involved to 150. Consumers with questions can call McCormick & Co. at 800-632-5847 for replacement products or refunds. 

Site: Beasley Allen

The investigation was a result of a study into how the drug company's painkiller Actiq was used. The drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of breakthrough pain in cancer patients who are on around-the-clock morphine-based drugs. Actiq is given as a lozenge on a stick that resembles a lollipop.

However, the study found that the drug was prescribed for off-label use as much as 90 percent of the time. This unapproved use included prescribing Actiq for the treatment of backaches, migraines and even injuries. Another study also showed that Cephalon's other painkiller, Fentora, a painkiller considered even more powerful that Actiq, was also prescribed predominantly for off-label use.

Use of Actiq and Fentora in patients who have not already built up a tolerance to opioids like morphine proved fatal for some. Severe side effects with Actiq, including respiratory complications, were reported 91 times to the FDA. More than 100 fatalities have been associated with off-label use of the drug.

An investigation by the FDA and the Attorney General's office found that Cephalon had actually paid nearly 1,000 doctors and other health care professionals to speak about the off-label benefits of the drug. Unfortunately, Cephalon isn't the only drug company paying professionals to convince doctors to prescribe drugs for uses for which they are not approved. Last year, Eli Lilly was found guilty of illegally marketing Zyprexa, a medication approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar, as a medication to treat sleep disorders in elderly patients. That investigation led to a $1.4 billion fine for Eli Lilly.

Source: Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel 

Site: Beasley Allen

The recall includes approximately 1.7 million pounds of ready-to-eat beef taquito and chicken quesadilla products produced by Windsor Foods of Lampasas, Texas, and Oakland, Miss. An additional 115,700 pounds of ready-to-eat beef products made by Ruiz Foods in Denison, Texas are also being recalled. The packages of meat products from both companies contain an ingredient, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) that was previously recalled by FSIS.

FSIS first announced a recall of the HVP product on March 4, 2010. The subsequent recall was initiated on the Windsor Foods and Ruiz Foods products because the HVP ingredient was added after salmonella prevention steps were applied.

Salmonella can cause a common bacterial food borne illness, which can be life threatening, especially to those with weak immune systems such as infants, the elderly, and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy. Symptoms of salmonella generally involve diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 72 hours of consumption. Additional symptoms that may develop include chills, headache, nausea, and vomiting that can last up to seven days.

For a full list of recalled products, visit the FSIS Web site. 

Site: Beasley Allen

Site: Beasley Allen

Reports have surfaced today that Toyota officials were forced to turn over a memo produced by its own factory workers in 2006, which raised their fears about safety issues in the manufacturing process. According to the TimesOnline, the memo is a "smoking gun" that proves management was made aware of a looming disaster due to an emphasis on profits over production standards.

The TimesOnline reports the 2-page memo was written by longtime employees and sent directly to Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe. The workers warned that they were witnessing a decline in craftsmanship and a rush in production that prevented adequate safety standards. They warned that increasing problems were piling up not only at the manufacturing level, but in the planning stages for new vehicles, according to the report.

MotorCrave reported yesterday that Congress had demanded access to the memo, which it reports was uncovered by the Los Angeles Times over the weekend.

The October 3, 2006 memo was sent by Tadao Wakatsuki, chairman of the All Toyota Labour Union, to Katsuaki Watanabe, president of Toyota Motor.

Written in Japanese, here are translated highlights:

• Between 2000 to 2005 Toyota was forced to recall more than million cars, a higher proportion of total vehicle recalls than other carmakers.
• Toyota faces a serious problem that could threaten the survival of the company if it is not more thorough in identifying problems and their origins.
• The company is threatened by: combining vehicle platforms, the sharing of parts between models, the outsourcing of planning, a shortage of experimental data on prototypes because of shortened development time, a shortage of experienced specialists and an increase in working hours for employees.
• We are worried about the processes that are vital for manufacturing safe cars, but that ultimately may be ignored … in the name of competition.
• Requests: a priority on safety, a review of cost-reduction measures, better training for contract workers, a return to craftsmanship.

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