Toyota factory workers in the United States have been warning company executives since 2006 of some major, fundamental threats to car safety, according to a memo obtained by U.S. congressional investigators. The Los Angeles Times obtained the memo over the weekend and broke a story about it Monday, prompting the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to demand Toyota turn it over.

A medical device used to pass catheters through the heart is being recalled by the manufacturer because the tip of the device may break off while the sheath is in the blood vessels, which could lead to serious injury or death. The Food and Drug Administration notified health care professionals this week of the Class 1 recall on Thomas Medical Products Inc., Transseptal Sheath Introducer Kits. Class 1 recalls are the most serious type of recall issued by the FDA and involve situations in which there is reasonable probability that use of the products will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

Prescription medical devices used to treat pediatric and adult patients with kidney failure are being recalled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because the devices may cause serious breathing and heart problems that can result in serious injury or death. The Class 1 recall involves Baxter HomeChoice and HomeChoice PRO Automated Peritoneal Dialysis Systems that have been in distribution since 1994. A Class 1 recall is the most serious type of recall issued by the FDA and involves situations in which there is reasonable probability that use of the products will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

Beasley Allen attorney Graham Esdale has been actively investigating claims of sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) involving Toyota vehicles on behalf of clients for more than two years. He has long alleged the auto manufacturer's problems with SUA are linked to vehicle electrical systems, not to floor mats or sticky accelerator pedals as Toyota has claimed. Beasley Allen helped to sponsor an independent study by Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., released Feb. 5, 2010, which provides evidence linking SUA problems to the vehicles' electrical system.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to drug maker Coviden for a generic version of the painkiller Actiq (fentanyl citrate), made by Cephalon. Coviden plans to start selling six different does of the drug, a powerful painkiller prescribed to cancer patients who have become tolerant to opioids. Barr Pharmaceuticals also makes a generic version of Actiq.

The Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners revoked the license of a family physician with more than 25 years experience for prescribing medication to patients without proper justification. Sidi Yousseff Noor practiced at Holston Medical Group, an urgent care clinic with locations in and around Kingston, Tenn. The order claims Noor prescribed drugs including Actiq, Morphine and Ketamine to approximately 75 patients without proper justification while working at Crescent Medical Center in Morristown.

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced on Friday that he had reviewed documents obtained under subpoena from Dimitrius Billings, a former senior attorney for Toyota who says that from 2004 to 2007 the company "made every effort" to conceal and destroy evidence that would have allowed plaintiffs injured in Toyota vehicles to take their cases to trial.

LifeScan, Inc., and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are notifying health care professionals and consumers of a recall involving eight lots of OneTouch SureStep Test Strips used by people with diabetes to measure their blood glucose levels at home. The test strips may give falsely low glucose results when the glucose level is higher than400 mg/dL.

Now more and more lawsuits are being filed by families who have lost loved ones because of the sudden, unintended acceleration problems at Toyota. Hopefully, the timeline we developed will give our readers some real insight into how both Toyota and NHTSA have been operating over the past several years.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's hearing concluded on Wednesday after several hours of palpably tense Q and A. Throngs of American and Japanese reporters and camera technicians crowded Capitol Hill in preparation for the arrival of Akio Toyoda, global President and CEO of the company his grandfather founded nearly 75 years ago.