Uncategorized 55 articles

“Disturbingly” high levels of heavy metals that can be harmful to humans, like lead and nickel, have been found in more than two dozen different kratom products, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned. “While the levels of the specific products we’ve tested so far are not likely to result in immediate acute heavy metal poisoning from a single use, some of these products included levels that, with chronic use, could cause some people to suffer heavy metal poisoning,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., said in a statement. The agency tested 26 different kratom products, and is concerned that there ... Read More

A worker’s accidental finger amputation on the job has prompted federal officials to fine an Ohio pallet manufacturer nearly $200,000 for serious safety violations that contributed to the accident. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Buckeye Diamond Logistics Inc. which operates as BDL Supply, will have to pay fines of $191,794 or contest the proposed fines within 15 business days of receiving notice of the penalties. OSHA said the injured employee suffered a finger amputation while working with an electrical pallet stack machine, but didn’t offer details about how the accident occurred other than to say the ... Read More

More than 132,600 pounds of ground beef products made from the chuck portion of the carcass are being recalled because the meat may be contaminated with Escherichia coli O26 (E. coli), a bacteria that can cause potentially life threatening illness in some humans. At least 17 people have been sickened and one person has died between July 5 and July 25, 2018, after eating the meat. The recall was initiated by Cargill Meat Solutions, a Fort Morgan, Colorado-based establishment. Affected ground beef products were produced and packaged on June 21, 2018, and bear the establishment number “EST. 86R” inside the ... Read More

An Oregon family that survived a July 31 Aeromexico airplane crash is taking the airline and its partner Delta Air Lines to court, alleging they were negligent in decisions pilots made that day. Colleen McCormick, her husband Donald Hudson, and their four children were on Aeromexico Flight 2431 from Durango to Mexico City when a storm moved into the area. Angel Hudson, who was on the Aeromexico flight with her dad, stepmom, and siblings, told Portland, Oregon’s KOIN News that the plane taxied on the runway and stopped. Ms. Hudson said she thought the plane was going to wait out ... Read More

At least seven people are dead and several others injured after a tractor-trailer plowed into a Greyhound bus head-on on I-40 in western New Mexico Thursday morning. The deadly collision occurred in the westbound lanes of I-40 near the town of Thoreau, New Mexico, about 100 miles west of Albuquerque and near the Arizona border. New Mexico authorities investigating the crash said that a tractor-trailer traveling eastbound crossed the median and collided with the bus head-on. They said it appears the driver of the tractor-trailer lost control of the vehicle after a tire blowout. Aerial footage of the crash site ... Read More

Federal investigators said a FedEx plane accident at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in October 2016 was caused by corrosion and fatigue in the landing gear but that the company’s maintenance policies and failures were contributing factors. In its final report of the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the incident stemmed from problems in the FedEx plane’s landing gear, which collapsed when the aircraft landed on the runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport. The two-person flight crew aboard the FedEx MD-10-10F wide-body cargo jet reported hearing a bang as the brakes were applied. The plane then yawed to the ... Read More

Two construction workers fell six stories to their deaths early Wednesday morning after the scaffolding they were standing on collapsed. The workers were pouring concrete for a new hotel near Orlando, Florida, just outside Disney World. A third man survived by hanging onto part of the scaffold and pulling himself to safety. The men were working on the $282 million JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort, scheduled to open in 2019. It is owned and developed by private equity group DCS Investment Holdings, which is owned by Dwight C. Schar, co-owner of the Washington Redskins. The construction project is still ... Read More

Federal officials have ordered a Massachusetts-based emergency medical air transport company to compensate and reinstate a pilot whistleblower who was fired after reporting concerns about safety violations to federal regulators. While stationed at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts, in December 2015, the helicopter pilot voiced his apprehension to his employer, Boston MedFlight, about whether a new scheduling policy provided pilots with the required rest time as mandated by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. The following month, the pilot contacted the FAA to register his concerns about the scheduling. Boston MedFlight fired the pilot in March 2016 after he ... Read More

After nearly two years rife with rejections and requests for more information, Portola Pharmaceuticals’ AndexXa has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as the only antidote to reverse the blood thinning effects of the Factor Xa inhibitor anticoagulants Xarelto and Eliquis, in cases of life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding. Xarelto and Eliquis work by inhibiting a protein involved in the formation of blood clots. They are used to prevent strokes in patients with the common heart rhythm abnormality atrial fibrillation, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and to prevent blood clots in patients who ... Read More

The biggest index used by Wall Street to gauge stock market volatility, known as the Cboe Volatility Index or VIX, is being manipulated, causing wild market swings and costing investors hundreds of millions of dollars a month, an anonymous whistleblower has warned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The whistleblower, a senior executive who worked at many of the largest investment firms in the world, made the allegations in a letter to the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sent by a Washington D.C. law firm. According to USA Today, the whistleblower alleges that the market manipulators are ... Read More