Audi issues recalls over fuel-line leaks.

The AP (12/19) reports, “Audi is recalling more than 52,000 luxury cars in the U.S. and Canada to fix fuel lines that can leak and increase the risk of a fire.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted documents on Tuesday that said the affect vehicles were built from January 25, 2011 to Sept. 13, 2013. The recall includes the A6 and A7 with model year 2012, 2013, and 2014. The company did not report any fires or injuries related to the recall.

        MLive (MI) (12/19, 912K) reports that NHTSA documents stated, “The fuel line was designed with a compression point to assist in installation. Due to manufacturing tolerance issues, this part of the fuel line may weaken and leak over time.” Audi said it will start notifying owners on February 5, 2018. MLive states, “Affected owners are advised to look out for a fuel odor when the fuel line’s compression point begins to weaken.” The NHTSA said the issue first started being discussed in June of 2014.

        The Automotive Fleet (12/19, 62K) reports that “to address the problem, Audi dealers will replace the fuel line at no charge to the customer.” 

Pennsylvania jury orders Bayer, J&J to pay $27.8 million in damages for Xarelto.

Reuters (12/5, Lin) reports a Pennsylvania jury in Philadelphia ordered Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson to pay $1.8 million in compensatory damages and $26 million in punitive damages for Xarelto to Lynn Hartman and her husband. Hartman claims that she was hospitalized with severe gastrointestinal bleeding in June 2014, because she had taken Xarelto for about a year.

        Bloomberg News (12/5, Feeley, Fisk, 3.74M) reports that the two companies have previously won three federal lawsuits concerning Xarelto, but they “still face more than 21,000” lawsuits over the drug, “which has been linked to at least 370 deaths.”