Toyota Recalls 3.8 million Cars over Floor Mats

Toyota is recalling 3.8 million vehicles in the United States due to a removable floor mat that could cause accelerators to get stuck and lead to a crash. This is the largest-ever US recall Toyota has had.

The recall will involve popular models such as the Toyota Camry, the top-selling passenger car in America, and the Toyota Prius, the best-selling gas-electric hybrid.

Toyota is still working on a remedy to fix the problem; however, in the meantime owners should take out the removable floor mat on the driver’s side immediately and not replace it.

If the floor mat were to get stuck under the accelerator pedal, it may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop a vehicle which could cause a crash, serious injury or death.

So far the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received reports of 102 incidents in which the accelerator may have become stuck on the Toyota vehicles involved.

It was unclear how many led to crashes but the inquiry was prompted by a high-speed crash in August. A California family was driving in their Lexus and the vehicle hit speeds of 120 mph because the accelerator was stuck, they had no brakes and they couldn’t stop the car. They called 911, but ended with someone telling people in the car to hold on and pray, followed by a woman’s scream.

NHTSA investigators determined that a rubber all-weather floor mat found in the wreckage was slightly longer than the mat that belonged in the vehicle.

The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

For more information, consumers can contact Toyota at (800) 331-4331 or Lexus at (800) 255-3987.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game: A Boy's Dream Turned into a Nightmare

Luke Holko, 4 years-old was at a Mahoning Valley Scrappers baseball game with his parents, Chad & Nicole Holko, when he was struck by a line-drive foul ball.

Luke's grandmother had given the family of three tickets to the game, and they were thrilled to get to Eastwood Field and see they were sitting on the front row just behind first base.

They settled into their seats and looked toward home plate, only to squint into the setting sun.

A few innings later, the sun was down and so was their guard. A friend took some pictures of their night out. Luke mugged it up for the camera then told his mom he was getting sleepy and wanted to go home.

A minute later, Ben Carlson stepped to the plate. He's a 6-foot-3, 230-pound first baseman, and all that size and strength laid into a pitch.

Nicole never saw the ball. Chad barely did, then he felt his son go limp in his lap.

Chad cradled him and ran to the concourse yelling for help. An ambulance was on site and whisked them all to the hospital. The blow had knocked part of Luke's skull toward his brain. The pressure was building and he was not stable.

Luke's condition has improved from critical to serious but stable. Doctors say he's in a "locked-in" condition, where he has some knowledge of what's going on and has limited response.

Most patients in that condition can only blink their eyes, but Luke is moving his arms and legs. The other day, he squeezed his mother's hand. One can only believe in miracles and hope for Luke to get well soon.

But one can only wonder that there are about 40 foul balls per game. That means the average major league team sends more than 3,000 baseballs into the stands every year.

Multiply that by 30 big-league teams, then 176 minor-league ones. Throw in batting practice and spring training, and you have millions of foul balls every year.

So of all the ballparks and line drives in the world, how did the dark stars align to single out a little 4-year-old boy?

For more information, check out Luke's page which his mother set up for constant updates on his health: www.helpluke.com

Frigidare Top Load Washers Recalled

Frigidaire is recalling to repair top load washers, 3.1 cubic foot front load washers and laundry centers. The drain pump may haven been manufactured improperly and in certain circumstances could create a fire hazard.

If your product is affected, stop using it IMMEDIATELY and call Frigidaire at 1-800-734-4519 or check out their website at www.laundrypumprecall.com to confirm whether your model is affected and to arrange for a service technician to replace the affected pump.

If you purchased your washer at Sears, call Sears at 1-888-549-5870.

Vaccine Helps Prevent HIV Infection

An experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the AIDS virus for the first time ever. The vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in the world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand.

Even though the benefit is modest, it’s the first evidence that there could have a safe and effective preventative vaccine.

Details of the $105 million study will be given later in October.

This is one little step that could lead to a large impact. Every day, 7,500 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV; two million died of AIDS in 2007, UNAIDS estimates.

Walmart Recalls 4.2 million DVD Players

Walmart has recently recalled 4.2 million of its Durabrand DVD players because the circuit boards can overheat and start fires.

The Chinese-made DVD players were selling for $29 exclusively at Walmart stores nationwide.

If purchased, Walmart is urging customers to return for a full refund immediately.

Taking alli for weight loss? Might want to think again..

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports of liver damage in patients taking alli, the only nonprescription weight loss drug approved by the agency.

The FDA has received over 30 reports of liver damage in patients taking alli and Xenical, the drug’s prescription version. Of those cases, 27 were hospitalized and six suffered liver failure.

The FDA says it has not established a direct relationship between the weight loss treatments and liver injury, and advised patients to continue using the drugs as directed, but to “consult their health care professional if they are experiencing symptoms.” Symptoms of liver failure include fatigue, nausea, fever and vomiting.

Regardless, using alli probably isn’t the best way to slim down. With all the negative side effects (Gas, diarrhea, and abdominal pain), good old-fashioned healthy eating and exercise sounds far more appealing!

Driving while ‘Intexticated’?

It’s illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving in many states, but not texting while driving. Momentum, however, is gathering to stamp out the practice. By January, New York and eight other states will have joined the list when laws awaiting enactment go into effect.

Utah’s legislature has taken one of the toughest stances, passing a law that imposes a penalty of up to 15 years in prison on texting drivers who cause an accident that kills someone.

In New Jersey, text driving is a primary offense for all drivers. But according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, a bill, that would fine drivers $100 if they are caught texting as part of a more serious driving offense, was passed by the Pennsylvania State Senate.

Many states allow drivers to talk on a cell phone as long as they are using headphones or wireless headsets, so it’s not enough for an officer simply to see a driver holding a phone. He or she has to have some way to know that the driver was reading or writing a text, as opposed to using the phone for an allowable reason, like following driving directions, a service commonly available on modern handsets.

One of the difficulties of enforcing the texting while driving law is being able to determine whether someone is texting or dialing a number. The question is, how can one prove if they are texting or dialing a number? It is easy to delete a text message in seconds, or just hit the end key and it will be gone by the time one has been pulled over.

But advocates say that it IS possible to prove that a driver was texting even if officers never saw it. It is a laborious process, by obtaining a subpoena for the driver’s cell phone records to pinpoint the time a message was sent or received.

Numerous localities have text-driving bans, some limited to novice drivers or vehicles passing through school zones. But the practice is prohibited statewide in only 10 states according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, an organization of state highway officials that endorsed nationwide prohibitions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that in 2002, a quarter-million accidents and 955 deaths could be attributed to drivers’ use of cell phones, either texting or talking.

It was not until August that the first large-scale research on sending text messages while behind the wheel appeared. That study, by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, concluded that the risk of an accident was four times greater for a driver typing out a text message than for a driver dialing a cell phone – and more than 23 times greater than for a driver who wasn’t distracted by a phone at all.

Did you know that one in four Americans are sickened by food-borne illnesses, such as E. coli, each year?

Federal Health officials believe 80 people in 31 states are sickened by cookie dough contaminated with a deadly bacteria, E. coli O157:H7.

Linda Rivera, from Las Vegas, Nevada, was eating spoonfuls of the Nestle cookie dough in May 2009 and has been hospitalized since. Her health started to downturn 7 days after eating the cookie dough. Her kidneys shut down and she went into septic shock. The doctors had to remove part of her colon, which has become contaminated. Soon, her gallbladder was inflamed and had to be excised. Shortly after, her liver stopped functioning. Now, Linda cannot speak. It is unclear exactly what is causing her loss of speech, although the toxin produced by the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria can attack the brain.

The impact of the infection has been especially severe for Rivera and nine others who developed a life-threatening complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome. A 4-year old girl from South Carolina had a stroke and is now partially paralyzed.

Last week, packages of the cookie dough returned to supermarkets after a two-month absence as the company scrubbed their production plant, bought new ingredients and started making dough again.

In July, the House approved legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration broad new powers and place new responsibilities on food producers. The bill would speed up the ability of health officials to track down the source of an outbreak and give the government the power to mandate a recall, rather than rely on food producers to voluntarily pull tainted products from the shelves.