News in Brief April 12 – Tesla, GNC and More

Mars Accused of Skimping on M&M’s Minis

Mars Inc. has been hit with a class action claiming that its M&M’s Minis tubes have too much empty space and make candy lovers think they’re getting more than they actually are. The lawsuit says that the Minis tubes contain 14-22% empty room, which serves no purpose other than to potentially mislead consumers. The plaintiff alleges that Mars’ slack-filling practices violate New York deceptive trade practices law.

Catheters Recalled Over Breakage Risk

Boston Scientific is recalling more than 21,000 Fetch 2 Aspiration Catheters, which are used to remove blood clots during surgeries. According to the recall, the catheters have the potential to break during surgery and cause unwanted complications. The FDA announced that this is a Class 1 recall, a type of recall meant only for products that pose the most serious risks. No injuries have been reported so far.

GNC Settles Labor and Wage Violation Claims

GNC has agreed to pay $9 million to settle claims that it violated federal labor laws when it failed to pay its employees for all hours worked – even allowing workers to punch out and continue working. The settlement looks to cover a class of close to 8,000 current and former GNC employees.

Body Part Harvesting Lawsuit Dismissed

Yesterday, a New York federal judge found that the tissue bank Regeneration Technologies Inc. (RTI) couldn’t be held responsible for accepting human remains that had been illegally harvested, putting an end to a class action filed by family members of the deceased. Judge David G. Larimer granted summary judgment to RTI because the relatives of the deceased could not prove that the company knew or should have known that the body parts they received were obtained after human tissue retrieval company Biomedical Tissue Services Ltd. falsified consent forms.

Tesla Recalls Model X SUVs

Tesla has announced a recall for more than 2,700 Model X SUVs due to a safety concern with the third-row seats. Reportedly, the seats have to potential to fold forward during a crash, putting those in the seats at risk for injury. The problem was discovered during testing by safety regulators in Europe, but similar tests in the U.S. didn’t have the same result. Tesla stated that it will proceed with the recall as a precaution.