Last year, 4,720 people in the U.S. died while waiting for kidney transplants. Yet more than 2,600 kidneys recovered from deceased donors were discarded without being transplanted. Many experts agree that large numbers of discarded kidneys — perhaps even half, some believe — could be transplanted if the system for allocating them were overhauled. The current process is hampered, they say, by an outdated computer matching program, stifling government oversight, over-reliance by doctors on inconclusive tests and even laws against age discrimination. “There is no doubt that organs that can help somebody and have a survival benefit are being discarded every day,” one transplant surgeon said. The New York Times
French scientists link Monsanto’s genetically modified corn and top-selling weedkiller to tumors in rats. The researchers said rats fed a diet containing NK603 — a seed variety made tolerant to dousings of Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller — or given water with Roundup at levels permitted in the U.S. died earlier than those on a standard diet. France’s government asked a health watchdog to carry out a probe, possibly leading to a European Union suspension of the modified corn. Yet experts not involved in the study were skeptical, with one accusing the French scientists of going on a “statistical fishing trip” and others describing its methods as well below standard. Reuters, Agence France-Presse
Discipline recommended for 14 officials in botched gun-trafficking investigation. A report by the inspector general of the U.S. Justice Department faulted officials ranging from field agents in Arizona to top managers in Washington involved in the Fast and Furious investigation and the smaller Wide Receiver program. Two of the cited high-ranking officials almost immediately announced they would step down. But the 18-month investigation concluded that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. had no knowledge of the problems with Fast and Furious until the slaying of a U.S. Border Patrol agent brought them to light. It appears to put to bed the central Republican allegation that Holder and the Obama White House were involved. Fast and Furious allowed more than 2,000 illegally purchased firearms to move across the U.S.-Mexico border. Los Angeles Times, USA Today
Ice in the Arctic Ocean melts to a record low. In an indicator of an ever-warming world, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that the ice cap at the North Pole measured 1.32 million square miles as its summer melt came to an end Sunday. That’s 18 percent smaller than the previous record of 1.61 million square miles set in 2007. Records, based on satellite tracking, go back to 1979. In the 1980s, a center scientist pointed out, summer sea ice would cover an area slightly smaller than the Lower 48 states. Now it is about half that. Center scientists said their computer models show an Arctic that would be essentially free of summer ice by 2050, but added that current trends suggest ice is melting even faster. The Associated Press
Industry-financed monitoring group deemed Pakistani apparel factory safe only weeks before deadly fire. Two inspectors working for the monitoring group, Social Accountability International, in August certified Ali Enterprises in Karachi as meeting international standards in such areas as safety as well as child labor and minimum wages requirements. But then a fire swept through the plant on Sept. 12, causing one of the worst industrial disasters ever. Nearly 300 workers died in a building with barred windows and just one open exit. “This demonstrates, more clearly than ever, that corporate-funded monitoring systems … cannot and will not protect workers,” one worker advocate said. The New York Times
Safety regulators cite New York, Delaware firms. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration accused Blade Contracting of Staten Island, N.Y., with seven offenses – including a willful violation, the agency’s most serious charge — for fall hazards at a Jersey City, N.J., work site. OSHA investigated after a worker with the masonry contracting business was injured in a one-story fall from a sixth-floor balcony. The agency proposed penalties of $136,290. Separately, OSHA charged Formosa Plastics Corp. USA with 16 alleged violations at its Delaware City, Del., plant. The alleged offenses included two repeat violations of failing to perform equipment inspections or to prevent PVC dust from accumulating. The proposed penalties total $148,700. OSHA, Staten Island Advance
Recalls: Shorea Wooden Arc Hammock Stands
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein
