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According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one person was injured as a result of ingesting a contaminated Lean Cuisine dinner, although a Nestle spokesman emphasized that no injuries requiring medical attention have been reported out of a total of seven consumer complaints received. The USDA has ranked the recall as class I, the most serious of the three recall categories, indicating a potential for serious injury or death.

The Lean Cuisine products involved in the recall specifically include Cafe Classics Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta, Spa Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean, and Dinnertime Selects Chicken Tuscan. No other Lean Cuisine products are involved. USDA officials stated that the contaminated products were produced between Aug. 18 and Oct. 27 of this year and shipped nationwide.

Customers who wish to check to see if products they have purchased are affected by the recall were instructed to call Lean Cuisine at (800) 993-8625 and compare the UPC barcodes and production codes from the boxes against a list of the recalled products.

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NYSE regulators ruled that ex-Morgan Stanley broker Winitch and colleague John Steigerwald made dozens of unsuitable trades in guardian accounts which had been established for children that had received settlements from medical malpractice lawsuits. Regulators stated that Winitch and Steigerwald apparently targeted the children’s accounts because the firm’s customers were less likely to notice the unauthorized trading; several of the malpractice victims reportedly have single, unemployed mothers with little or no investment experience.

The unauthorized transactions generated over $537,000 in commissions for Morgan Stanley from 2004 to 2005, of which Winitch and Steigerwald personally received nearly $200,000. NYSE regulators permanently barred Steigerwald last year.

In a statement, Morgan Stanley spokesmen said the firm had reimbursed all clients whose accounts were affected by the trading scam and that remedial measures had been put in place to prevent a recurrence. Last year Morgan Stanley paid $500,000 to settle NYSE claims that the firm failed to diligently supervise the affected accounts, without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

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The building was closed Wednesday after a maintenance crew found a substance resembling asbestos in the building’s basement during a regular cleanup. The building was closed at the time of the discovery due to the Veteran’s Day holiday; combined with the closure while testing was being performed, the building was closed for just under 48 hours.

The Oneida County Office Building was officially opened in 1970, a time when asbestos-containing materials were often used in construction as a matter of course, particularly in insulation and fireproofing materials. Approximate $5.5 million has already been spent to remove asbestos from three of the building’s ten floors; county officials estimate another $15.4 million worth of work will be required before work on the building is completed.

A spokesman for the United Public Service Employees Union, which represents Oneida County workers, stated that the union is having its own independent testing of the building performed. The results of the union’s testing are expected next week.

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Proposed Initiative Act No. 1, the Arkansas Adoption and Foster Care Act, was characterized by many of its opponents as a veiled attack on homosexual adoption, though the measure as passed will prevent any unmarried couple, heterosexual or homosexual, from adopting or fostering children. Supporters of the measure pointed to studies stating that cohabiting couples tend to provide less stable family environments and tend to divorce more frequently than couples who have not cohabited prior to marriage.

The measure was proposed in the wake of a 2006 decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court which struck down a policy barring homosexual citizens from acting as foster parents. Prior to the election, the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee gathered approximately 90,000 signatures to place the measure on the ballot.

Exit polling showed a large percentage of those voting to support the ban identified themselves as born-again Christians. Little Rock’s Pulaski County voters offered strong opposition to the measure, voting to reject it by a margin of 15,000 votes, but many of the state’s southwestern counties registered an overwhelming degree of support for the ban.

Previously, only the state of Utah had a similar law banning adoption by unmarried couples.

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St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain reported that Thursday afternoon a girder snapped unexpectedly, sending 10 construction workers into the waters of Lake Pontchartrain along with concrete and other construction materials. Nine of the workers were swiftly rescued and reportedly incurred no injuries more serious than broken bones. However, Eric Blackmon, 44, was reportedly tethered to the girder by a lifeline when it fell, causing him to become trapped underneath.

Efforts to locate Blackmon were initially unsuccessful. Once located, a crane was used to remove the girder and retrieve his body from the lake Thursday evening. Blackmon and the other nine men involved in the accident were all employed by New Orleans-based Boh Bros. Construction Co.

The causes of the accident were not immediately known. Representatives of Boh Bros. are currently looking into the accident along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; all work on the project has been halted until the investigations have been completed. The new bridge, scheduled for completion in 2011, is intended to replace the old Twin Span bridge, which sustained major structural damage due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and is scheduled to be dismantled.

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SRT1720, a chemical cousin of red wine extract resveratrol, was tested on mice over a 10-week period. In low doses, the mice were partially protected from weight gain when fed a high-fat diet; in higher doses, the drug completely blocked weight gain. Additionally, the mice involved in the tests also demonstrated heightened athletic ability along with improved blood sugar tolerance and insulin sensitivity — crucial factors for preventing the onset of diabetes. No side effects were noted.

SRT1720, which functions by shifting the body to a fat-burning mode which is generally used only when energy is low, was developed after reservatrol tests on mice showed some fat-burning effects via the protein SIRT1, although humans would have to consume gallons of red wine to achieve similar results. SRT1720 was created to specifically target the SIRT1 protein; many other drug companies are also said to be developing similar SIRT1-activator weight loss drugs.

The scientists involved in the study noted that more study of SRT1720 is needed before the drug is tested for use on humans.

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The case, Wyeth v. Levine, No. 06-1249, involves Vermont guitarist Diana Levine, who lost part of her right arm due to an improperly administered dosage of an anti-nausea drug called Phenergan, manufactured by Wyeth. A Vermont court awarded Levine nearly $7 million from Wyeth, saying the manufacturer should have placed stronger warnings on the drug’s label.

Lawyers for Wyeth argue that the company fully complied with U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeling requirements. At issue in the case is whether pharmaceutical companies should be liable for injuries caused by drugs which carry warnings approved by the FDA. However, the case may have implications far beyond drug liability cases due to the court’s assessment of the implied doctrine of pre-emption based on federal approval. Should the court broadly endorse implied pre-emption based on regulators’ actions rather than on Congressionally-enacted laws, the decision could affect thousands of currently pending personal injury lawsuits, including those involving not only drugs but also motor vehicles, consumer products, and household chemicals.

A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.

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The study’s lead author, Cornell University economist Michael Waldman, was prompted to investigate a possible link between precipitation levels and incidence of autism by a 2003 U.S. Department of Education survey which showed Massachusetts, Minnesota, Indiana, Maine, and Oregon had the highest autism rates.

The new study gathered data from Washington, Oregon, and California and plotted autism rates from 1987 to 1999 against precipitation reports for the same period. The data analysis suggested that counties in each of the three states with higher precipitation levels also had higher rates of autism.

Waldman and other scientists involved with the study speculated that the correlation may possibly be due to environmental pollutants carried within the precipitation triggering autism in genetically susceptible children. Other potential explanations include the possibility that activities common during rainy periods such as watching television may contribute to the development of autism, or that factors such as increased exposure to household chemicals or decreased levels of vitamin D may trigger the condition.

According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, approximately one in every 150 children has been diagnosed with autism or autism-related disorders.

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The seven states involved include the six New England states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont — along with New York, working in conjunction with the nonprofit New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC).

In the 237-page petition filed Tuesday with the EPA, the states requested that the EPA take measures to reduce the amounts of mercury deposited in the Northeast from sources outside the region, in accordance with the results of studies which have demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of mercury deposited in the states’ waters originates from out-of-region sources, such as coal-fired power plants.

High levels of mercury such as can be found in contaminated freshwater fish can cause a wide range of medical issues when consumed by humans, from impaired cognition and sleep disturbances to severe nervous system impairment including psychotic reactions, hallucinations, and suicidal tendencies.

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The bridge’s support structure reportedly gave out unexpectedly around 1:15 PM, causing debris to crash to the ground and possibly shifting support footings for other bridge sections. Although several construction workers, all employed by Graham Construction and Management of Spokane, Washington, fell as much as 30 feet during the incident, none of the injured 14 were seriously hurt, suffering primarily from lacerations and broken bones. The injured workers were taken to area hospitals Mercy Medical Center in Nampa, St. Luke’s in Meridian, and St. Alphonsus in Boise.

The construction is part of a project to replace two bridges, the Black Cat Road and Robinson Boulevard overpasses, and widen sections of Interstate 84 from Meridian to Nampa. The bridge portion that collapsed was part of the new Robinson Boulevard Overpass.

A spokesperson for the Idaho Transportation Department stated that work at the site has been postponed indefinitely. ITD engineers and OSHA investigators are currently looking into the causes of the accident.

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