York Hospital Patients May Have Been Exposed to Bacteria

WellSpan York Hospital is warning patients who had open-heart surgery at the hospital over a three-and-a-half-year period that they may have been exposed to bacteria.

The issue affects approximately 1,300 patients who had surgery at the hospital between Oct. 1, 2011 and July 24, 2015, according to WellSpan.

Defective air bags being sold online.

Bloomberg News (10/23, Plungis, 2.66M) reports that “an underground market is growing” online for unauthorized replacements for Takata’s recalled air bags. Jennifer Timian, chief of the NHTSA’s recall management division, said that the agency has “learned of defective air bags for sale on EBay Inc,” according to the article. She said that consumers should only buy replacement air bags from authorized dealers. Timian is quoted as saying, “Under no circumstances should a person purchase an air bag off the Internet, or from a salvage yard or any other unauthorized source.” 

Mazda recalling 1.36 million vehicles in the US over ignition switches.

The AP (10/22) reports that Mazda “is recalling 4.9 million older vehicles worldwide, including 1.36 million in the US, because ignition switches could overheat and catch fire.” The recall involved “the 1990-1996 323 and Protégé, the 1993-1998 626, the 1993-1995 929, the 1993-1997 MX-6, the 1989 to 1998 MPV and the 1992-1993 MX-3.” 

Toyota to recall 6.5 million cars over power window issue.

Reuters (10/21, Kim) reports that Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday announced it will recall some 6.5 million vehicles globally over a defect in the power window switch in some models. In the US and North America, 2.7 million such vehicles will be subjected to repairs in a bid to fix the issue concerning the power windows. 

        GM recalls more than 3,000 trucks, SUVs for new ignition switch defect. USA Today (10/17, Gardner, 5.23M) reported online that General Motors announced Friday that it would be recalling “about 3,300 large pickup trucks and SUVs” due to newly discovered ignition switch defects. This comes but “a month after agreeing to pay $900 million to settle criminal charges” related to the earlier faulty switch problems. In this new case, some GM trucks “have ignition lock gears with an outer diameter that is larger than specifications, making them difficult to turn.” 

GM adds vehicles to Takata air bag recall.

USA Today (10/18, Snider, 5.23M) reports in continuing coverage on the addition of 395 General Motors vehicles to the Takata air bag defect recall. The problem, according to the NHTSA is that the air bags “may rupture when deployed, causing possible serious injury or death.”

        The AP (10/18, Krisher) reports that the global issue of “exploding Takata air bag inflators” has now “spread to newer vehicles, this time hitting a small number of 2015 General Motors cars and SUVs.” On Saturday, GM announced the recall of “more than 400 vehicles” due to potentially faulty side bag inflators that can “rupture and send shrapnel into drivers and passengers,” according to documents posted with NHTSA. As the AP points out, the Takata question “continues to widen with no end in sight.” NHTSA’s Gordon Trowbridge comments that “All Takata-made ammonium nitrate inflators are within the scope of our investigation,” adding that the agency “will take action” should it find “that additional recalls are necessary.”

        MLive (MI) (10/18, Al Hajal, 739K) reports that the number of recalled vehicles was “395 vehicles of six different models,” bringing the number of recalled vehicles with Takata airbags to “more than 19 million.”

        WIMS-AM South Shore, IN (10/17) also reported online. 

Medical malpractice rates “essentially flat” in 2015.

Medscape (10/7, Lowes, 232K) reports on a survey of medical malpractice rates by the Medical Liability Monitor finding that rates were “essentially flat” for 2015 in “three bellwether medical specialties” namely, obstetricians/gynecologists (up 0.6 percent), internists (up 0.5 percent), and general surgeons (down 0.2 percent). Rates fell in the Northeast, West, and Midwest, but were up 0.9 percent in southern states, with Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia having 5 percent increases. The report also found that 71 percent of rates were the same in 2015 as in 2014, 12 percent were lower, and 17 percent were increased. Decreases outnumbered increases in every year since 2006 until this year.