Researchers have reported seeing cases of the respiratory condition bronchiolitis obliterans in populations all over the country. Unfortunately, many people still believe the illness is unique to the microwave popcorn and flavoring industries.

Bronchiolitis obliterans has quickly become a widespread disease in many industries across the world, law360.com reported. While researchers lengthen the list of industries impacted by the illness, many in the science community are attempting to loosen the diagnostic requirements for this serious disease. To have a full understanding of how to prevent it, businesses need to have basic knowledge of the chemicals in their products that could pose a risk to employees and consumers, according to law360.com

More Bronchiolitis Obliterans Spreading Well Beyond the Popcorn and Flavoring Industries

Sandoz announced that it is recalling two lots of the injectable drug Methotrexate.

The recall was initiated after vials were discovered to contain foreign matter, mobile.in-pharmatechnologist.com reported. The foreign matter was discovered during a routine quality control examination of retention samples at the company’s Unterach plant in Austria. A spokesperson told mobile.in-pharmatechnologist.com that early results suggest that the particles found were made of silicon and cellulose. More Sandoz Recalls Methotrexate Vials for Containing Foreign Matter

Celgene Inc., in cooperation with Health Canada, has announced important new safety information concerning Thalomid that has been added to the drug’s product monograph. Health Canada, in a press release, describes Thalomid as an immunomodulatory agent indicated for the treatment of patients 65 years of age or older with previously untreated multiple myeloma, in combination with melphalan and prednisone (MPT).

The updated safety information informs patients that “second primary malignancies, in particular acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), have been observed in an ongoing clinical trial in patients with previously untreated multiple myeloma receiving the combination” and that “the risk of AML and MDS must be taken into account before initiating treatment with Thalomid in combination with melphalan and prednisone (MPT). Physicians should carefully evaluate patients before and during treatment using standard cancer screening for occurrence of second primary malignancies.” More Important Safety Information Added to Thalomid Label

A federal judge ruled that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics must produce key documents related to its metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implant at the center of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in Texas.

More than 900 cases have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas under Judge Ed Kinkeade, massdevice.com reported. The lawsuits allege that DePuy Orthopaedics is guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation, failure to adequately design, manufacture, and market the Pinnacle system, and negligence, massdevice.com reported.

More DePuy Ordered to Produce Compliance Reports in Texas MDL

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review of the new insomnia drug suvorexant, manufactured by Merck, warns that taking the sleeping pill can seriously impair patients’ ability to function normally.

Daytime drowsiness and suicidal thinking are among the agency’s top concerns about the drug. According to the FDA, company trials showed that patients who take higher doses of the sleep aid experienced an eightfold increase in daytime drowsiness, which sometimes impacted their ability to drive the next morning. Patients taking 20 to 40 milligrams of suvorexant had difficulty staying in their driving lanes when tested by Merck researchers. According to the FDA, four female test subjects had to stop the test due to excessive drowsiness, WIBW.com reported. More New Insomnia Drug Gets Harsh FDA Review Over Next-Day Impairment

A pharmacist pleaded guilty to charges of using a cheaper drug imported from China in place of iron sucrose that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved for use by kidney dialysis patients. The misbranded drug was given to these patients in Kansas over a six-year span.

Robert Harshbarger Jr. of Kingsport, Tenn., pleaded guilty to one count of distributing a misbranded drug and one count of health care fraud, KansasFirstNews.com reported. Harshbarger Jr., 53, was doing business as American Inhalation Medication Specialists Inc. He admitted in his plea that, due to the fraud, kidney dialysis patients treated by Kansas Dialysis Services, L.C., had been given iron sucrose that was not approved by the FDA to meet certain safety and quality standards, KansasFirstNews.com reported.

More Kansas Pharmacist Doles out Counterfeit Drugs to Dialysis Patients

Intuitive Surgical Inc. is about to receive the first indication of how it will likely fare against a host of lawsuits.

Jury deliberations are slated to begin today in the first of at least 26 lawsuits against Intuitive alleging injuries connected to its da Vinci robotic system, Bloomberg.com reported. Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jay Roof handed the case to the jury Tuesday after a trial that lasted five weeks. The family of Fred Taylor seeks $8.45 million in damages against Intuitive based on claims that the company is responsible for the injuries suffered during and after a 2008 robot-assisted removal of his prostate gland. The family claims that Taylor suffered injuries as a result of Intuitive’s inadequate training, which was rushed and compromised by the company’s push to sell robots, Bloomberg.com reported.

More First Intuitive da Vinci Surgical Robot Trial Goes to Jury for Deliberation

Law firms representing retailers and merchants have been filing hundreds of objections to the final approval of a proposed $7.25 billion settlement of a price-fixing case brought against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. concerning credit card transaction fees.

Retailers like the big box giant Wal-Mart and trade associations have been displeased with the settlement, arguing that it gives credit card companies too much freedom to hike future rates. Hundreds of objections have been filed since U.S. District Judge John Gleeson gave his preliminary approval to the settlement last November. More Retailers Object to Visa, MasterCard Transaction Fee Settlement

A South Dakota man has filed a lawsuit against the makers of Actos, claiming the diabetes drug caused his bladder cancer.

According to the lawsuit, the man started taking Actos in January 2009, and developed bladder cancer in May 2011, allegedly due to the side effects of Actos. The lawsuit alleges that the makers of Actos were aware that taking the diabetes drug could lead to an increased risk of bladder cancer, but failed to disclose this information to the man, his doctor and other consumers. The man is suing for extensive pain and suffering, and severe emotional distress.

More South Dakota Man Takes Takeda to Court, Alleging its Diabetes Drug, Actos, Caused his Bladder Cancer

The level of abuse an elderly woman was suffering at the hands of her nurses at an Ontario nursing home was shocking, and probably would not have stopped if not for the hidden camcorder.

The graphic video captured how nurses at St. Joseph’s at Fleming fought with Hellen MacDonald, 85, who suffers from dementia. Nurses were shown shoving a feces-stained rag in her face and blowing their noses on her sheets, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported.

More Video Captures Elderly Woman’s Abuse by her Caregivers at Ontario Nursing Home