Recently in Product Liability / Recalls in Boston:

Patrick Fortuna, a 24-year-old Hyde Park man, was killed in a car crash early this morning, reports The Boston Globe.

An early investigation shows that a 2003 Honda Civic driven by Fortuna was going South on Hyde Park Avenue when it crossed the center line and hit a 2008 Honda Civic traveling north. The two-vehicle crash occurred near the Milton Street Bridge.

The passengers in the other vehicle, three women and a man, who were being driven by a 24-year-old, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

At the current time, no charges have been filed.

Johnson & Johnson suffered more than three billion in losses due to a recall of artificial hips, reports The New York Times.

The J&J artificial hip recall came from DePuy Orthopaedics Unit, which made the “metal-on-metal” (not Lollapallooza’s new name) hip that that shed metal fragments.

Beyond the financial losses and the hit the hips took in terms of reputation, was also the matter of the hip replacement lawsuits going through the court system, reports Bloomberg.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is requiring nearly 90,000 Mini Coopers be recalled, reports The New York Times. The problem is that the turbocharged edition, the S, might catch fire when the engine is off (um, ok).

For the gearheads, the real problem is that "auxiliary water pump designed to dissipate heat from the turbocharger was the cause of the hazard." After this, the water pump may fail. In other words, the car catches fire because it gets too hot and there is no water to put out the fire, i.e. a mini-history of human failure.

The victims of a Cape Cod plane crash have been identified, reports the Boston Globe.

The men, Oulton Hues, 73, of Norwood, and Robert Walker, 68, of East Falmouth, both died when the single-engine Piper Comanche went down. Both men were certified pilots, reports the Globe.

Oulton Hues had worked for Raytheon and served in the Navy from 1957 to 1961.

Ford, the Detroit auto-maker, will be recalling nearly half a million vehicles because of mechanical issues, reports the Boston Globe.

The Ford recall is for both Minivans and SUV's, specifically, the 2004 and 2005 Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans, and the 2001 and 2002 Ford Escape SUV's. The Ford recall minivans apparently have a problem with their torque converter output shaft and that can cause a loss of power.

As for the Ford recall SUV's, they have a leaky brake fluid cap which can result in fire if the fluid leaks and damages the electrical connector.

It’s all about pee in a new Harvard study. Many of you may have heard of a canned food BPA link, but the new study showed just how dramatic eating canned food for even five days can be to our bodies.

So as Thanksgiving rolls around, you may want to think twice before buying canned cranberry sauce, soup, or even SPAM at the grocery store.

As the holiday season approaches, you'll probably be shopping for kid's gifts. While it's important to find that perfect gift your children will love, it's equally important to find a gift that isn't potentially hazardous to your loved ones.

So the Boston nonprofit, World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH), released a list of the ten most dangerous toys. Take a look.

Toyota announced another major recall. Just two years after recalling millions of vehicles due to acceleration problems, the Toyota recall 2011 is estimated to affect about half a million vehicles worldwide.

The most recent problem reportedly involves the car’s crankshaft pulley, reports The Associated Press. For those that do not know what a crankshaft pulley is, the problem apparently makes the cars difficult to steer.

In the movie A Civil Action, John Travolta successfully wins a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Beatrice Foods and other companies for contaminating the water supplies of Woburn.

Now a half hour away in Framingham, another toxic tort claim may be brewing.

A recent snowstorm shut down power for many Massachusetts residents. As a result, people looked for alternative ways to warm up including the use of stand alone heating devices.

However, if you are not careful or use a device improperly, you could fall victim to carbon monoxide poisoning.

In Hampden County, two people died from the odorless gas. They are the second and third carbon monoxide deaths this week. Fire officials say that the deadly poison came from an "alternative heating device" being used because of the snowstorm, reports The Boston Globe.