- Andrew Maykuth
FDA recalls Synthes bone putty
The Food and Drug Administration has recalled bone putty made by Johnson & Johnson's West Chester-based Synthes unit, saying that the product, used to stanch bone bleeding, may catch fire during surgery and potentially cause death or serious injury. Synthes has received one complaint of the Hemostatic Bone Putty igniting after coming in contact with an electrosurgical cautery system, company spokeswoman Lorie Gawreluk said, and no complaints of adverse effects on patients. The FDA said on its website Tuesday that J&J issued a letter in July requesting medical facilities to examine their inventory and stop using certain lots of the putty distributed from Dec. 22 to June 25.
- Bloomberg News
Chesapeake disputes DEP data claim
Chesapeake Energy says that it submitted Marcellus Shale production data to a Pennsylvania database last week when it was due, but state officials still aren't providing details why it didn't appear online or saying whether a biannual report about one of the nation's top natural-gas fields is now complete. On Monday, the Department of Environmental Protection suggested that some drillers were late submitting data. Chesapeake spokesman Rory Sweeny said that the company met regulatory requirements for sharing data, and that it sent an electronic copy separately last week and sought to resolve problems with the state database. Sweeny declined to provide copies of e-mails to the state. A DEP spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
- AP
New York firm buys PSC Info Group
Compass Investment Partners Fund L.P., of New York, says it has acquired Oaks-based consumer-payments systems maker PSC Info Group; the price was not disclosed. Compass has folded PSC, which employs about 300 in the Philadelphia area, into another firm it owns, Wixom, Mich.-based digital-document outsourcing manager Dantom Systems. The new companies will be renamed Revspring, offering "data hygiene and analytics, secure document creation and delivery, multi-channel communications, electronic billing and archival services, and online payment tools," they said in a joint statement. PSC Info founder Joseph J. Greco will be board chairman.
- Joseph N. DiStefano
J&J agrees to hip-case accord
Johnson & Johnson, which faces about 8,000 lawsuits over hip implants it recalled in 2010, has agreed to pay about $600,000 to resolve three cases in the first settlements of the litigation, people familiar with the accords said Tuesday. Earlier this month, officials of J&J's DePuy unit agreed to settle Nevada residents' suits over the company's ASR hip implants, two people familiar with the agreement said. Bill Price, a spokesman for New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, declined to comment on the settlements or to say whether the company intends to settle more cases.
- Bloomberg News
ELSEWHERE
JetBlue helps lift US Airways stock
US Airways Group Inc. shares rose Tuesday, after JetBlue Airways' CEO nixed the idea of a merger with bankrupt American Airlines. US Airways wants to merge with American, although American has said it would consider all strategic options and other partners, including JetBlue. JetBlue chief executive Dave Barger told Bloomberg News on Monday that JetBlue wants to remain independent and has no interest in a merger. US Airways shares, up 125 percent this year on speculation that it might combine with American, closed up 7.8 percent to $11.42, the largest percentage gain since June 8.
- Linda Loyd
CEO eyes GM reorganization
General Motors Co. chief executive officer Dan Akerson is planning a reorganization of the automaker that would move it away from long-entrenched regional authority toward a structure built on global functions, said two people familiar with the planning. Power would shift from regional chiefs to global leaders in areas such as marketing, purchasing and product development, on the premise that global chiefs can make the company more nimble and efficient three years after its government-backed bankruptcy. "Everyone knows that the changes need to be made," said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich. Randy Arickx, a GM spokesman, declined to comment.
- Bloomberg News
AAA: More Labor Day travel planned
Americans plan to hit the road this Labor Day weekend despite rising gas prices. Thirty-three million people will travel 50 miles or more, a 2.9 percent increase from last year, according to AAA, the highest level of travel for Labor Day since the start of the recession in late 2007. The overwhelming majority of travelers, 85 percent, plan to drive to their destination; industry observers say the price of gasoline could rise to about $3.75 per gallon by the holiday weekend.
- AP
ECB to recruit more staff
The European Central Bank says it is recruiting more staff to help keep its 1,600 full-time workers from burning out under the added tasks thrown up by the eurozone's economic problems. The move follows a staff survey by the union representing many ECB employees that showed bank workers were putting in constant overtime. The ECB said it will be adding 40 new positions to help out with complex tasks such as checking whether countries such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland obey the terms of their bailouts.
- AP
Apple-Samsung trial winds down
A U.S. District Court jury could start deliberations Wednesday in San Jose, Calif., in Apple Inc.'s multibillion patent-infringement case against Samsung Electronics Co. Closing arguments were heard Tuesday after last-minute talks between chief executives of the world's biggest smartphone companies failed to resolve the dispute. Apple argues that Samsung should pay it $2.5 billion for ripping off iPhone and iPad technology.
- AP
