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The Food and Drug Administration is looking into reports of at least 775 serious side effects from drugs recalled by McNeil, a division of Johnson & Johnson, according to a source close to a Congressional investigation.

Included in the reports were 30 deaths, nearly all of which were found to not be tied to McNeil’s recall of Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl drugs from Jan. 1, 2008 through April 30, 2010, according to another source close to the investigation.

The FDA is also investigating reports of several hundred serious side effects — or "adverse events" — and seven deaths since May 1, when McNeil recalled 50 children’s versions of these non-prescription medicines because of serious quality and safety concerns.

The FDA’s investigation into the recalls is ongoing and the agency would not comment on the matter.

Adverse event reports are consumer complaints of a serious side effect associated with the use of a medical product, according to the FDA. Adverse events could include death, hospitalization, disability and other health complications.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has scheduled a hearing on May 27 to examine the recall.

Following the most recent recall, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500) has suspended production at McNeil’s facility in Fort Washington, Penn., that manufactured the children’s drugs.

McNeil’s latest recall is its fourth in the past seven months:

• In November 2009, five lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain 100 count with the EZ-open cap were recalled for unusual odor leading to nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
• In December, the recall was expanded to include all product lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain caplet 100 count bottles with the red EZ-open cap.
• In January 2010, the recall was widened to an undisclosed number of Tylenol, Motrin and other over-the-counter drugs after complaints of consumers feeling sick from an odor.

McNeil has maintained that its recall of the children’s drugs was not "undertaken on the basis of adverse medical events" but as a precautionary measure.

"We track all adverse events and thoroughly investigate all serious adverse cases that are reported and, in turn, report these to the FDA, whether or not the event may be caused by our products," McNeil said in a statement Tuesday.

The FDA, which earlier this month issued a scathing 17-page inspection report listing 20 violations at the Fort Washington plant, also maintains that the recalled drugs pose a "remote" potential for serious health problems.

The House panel invited Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive William Weldon to testify but he declined to be present due to health reasons. The Committee said Colleen Goggins, worldwide chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s consumer group will testify at the hearings.

The FDA said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy Commissioner, Deborah Autor, Director of the office of compliance and Michael Chappell, acting commissioner for regulatory affairs, will testify on behalf of the agency. 

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Ready for another government bailout? Taxpayers could be on the hook within the decade if current state pension system isn’t reformed.

Even if they continue to rake in the projected 8% in annual returns, pension funds in at least seven states — Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Hawaii — could dry up by 2020, and 31 states could be in trouble by 2030, according to a recent study by Northwestern University economist Joshua Rauh.

Promised benefit payments are so astronomical that raising taxes would still fall short. The only solution would be to call on the federal government for a bailout, according to the study.

"This is a problem of monumental proportion," said Rauh, an assistant professor of finance at the Kellogg School of Management. "Given that we see the same issue in many states, the total size of a federal rescue plan could exceed the seriousness of the recent economic crisis and potentially cost more than $1 trillion total."

In Illinois, Rauh says the pension funds could be insolvent by 2018 at the current rate cash advance companies. And in the following years, the state will owe government workers $14 billion — more than half of the state’s projected revenue for 2010.

To dodge a bailout, Rauh says the state pension system needs an overhaul that includes allowing states to issue tax-subsidized pension funding bonds for the next 15 years if they consent to other reform measures.

For starters, states must agree to close defined benefit plans to the 1 million new workers who start state jobs annually, and instead offer defined contribution plans and guaranteed access to Social Security, to which only a quarter of public workers currently contribute. Rauh estimates the total cost to the federal government would be about $75 billion.

"Existing pensions would become more secure and new workers would get more than an empty promise, while the country would avoid another massive taxpayer-financed bailout," Rauh said. 

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Comstock Saloon opens today at the junction of North Beach and the Financial District.

The men behind the bar at Hayes Valley's Absinthe, Jeff Hollinger and Jonny Ragin, have teamed with Absinthe owner Bill Russell-Shapiro to open a contemporary take on an old-time saloon. Comstock will have a full menu of classic cocktails, and the bartenders will custom craft drinks to individual tastes.

The bar, at Columbus and Pacific avenues, occupies a building that has been a bar since 1907. That heritage inspired the space's design, which includes many decorative pieces from the last century.

A front "saloon" room contains a 20-foot long bar, five wooden booths and some small tables and chairs.

The adjacent main dining room has banquettes and tables; Carlo Espinas, late of Camino in Oakland, is the chef.

In addition to Comstock Saloon, Russell-Shapiro is also working on plans to expand into the former Citizen Cake location in Hayes Valley.

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The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance fell last week for a fourth straight week, according to a weekly government report released Thursday.

There were 444,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended May 8, down 4,000 from an downwardly revised 448,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report. The number of claims is the lowest since the 442,000 reported in the week ended March 27.

The number of claims was slightly higher than expected. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected new claims to fall to 440,000.

The downward trend in initial claims continues to show general improvement in the economy, and is consistent with monthly reports that show employers are starting to add jobs, said Michael Hanson, senior economist with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The government’s latest monthly jobs report, released Friday, showed employers added 290,000 jobs in April, the best gain in four years.

The four-week moving average for weekly initial claims was 450,500, down 9,000 from the previous week. The Labor Department tracks the four-week moving average of the weekly figures, to smooth out the volatility of the measure.

Initial claims have been stuck in the mid- to upper 400,000s since November, but seem to be hitting some resistance once they drop around 450,000.

While the recent decline in the four-week average is encouraging, economists are really looking for the number to get below 400,000 to spur sustainable job growth, said Tim Quinlan, an economist with Wells Fargo Securities.

Quinlan said he expects to see gradual improvement in payrolls through the course of the year, but no dramatic increases in job growth until initial claims fall below 400,000.

Also showing some resistance, instead of a consistent trend, are continuing claims, the number tracking people who file for unemployment benefits for two weeks or more. The government said 4,627,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended May 1, the most recent data available. That was up 12,000 from the preceding week, but overall is still much improved over the 6,389,000 continuing claims reported in the comparable week last year.

"If you just got laid off and trying to find a job, it’s still a really difficult environment, and the climb in continuing claims tells us it’s taking people a while to land their feet in a job," Quinlan said.

Standard unemployment benefits usually last 26 weeks. The continuing claims number does not include those who have moved into state or federal extensions, or people whose benefits have expired.  

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Calorie-burning drink maker Celsius Holdings fattened up on higher sales, but its losses also bulged.

The Delray Beach-based maker of Celsius lost $5.9 million, or 40 cents a share, on revenue of $2.3 million in the first quarter. In the same quarter last year, it lost $1.2 million, or 16 cents a share, on revenue of $971,000.

Celsius Holdings had $10.2 million in cash and equivalents as of March 31, up from $607,000 as of Dec. 31. That was due to a $13.1 million secondary offering and a $5.1 million conversion of debt to equity completed during the first quarter.

Although sales increased, they were partially offset by coupon redemptions and promotions.

“We also learned that it took longer than expected for the initial pipeline of products that we shipped in the fourth quarter of 2009 to get on retailers' shelves and accordingly, first quarter 2010 refill orders were not received from some customers to the extent we anticipated,” Celsius Holdings Chairman and CEO Stephen C. Haley said in a news release. “While our pace is picking up rapidly, as a conservative measure, we've decided to take these factors into account and adjust our sales guidance for the year to a range of $18 million to $22 million.”

Haley said the company would launch a national advertising campaign, including TV, radio and print.

Celsius shares were down 49 cents, or 15 percent, to $2.76 in morning trading. The 52-week high was $14 on July 21. The 52-week low was 22 cents on Dec. 23.

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The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance fell for the third straight week, according to weekly government data released Thursday.

There were 444,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended May 1, down 7,000 from a revised 451,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected new claims to fall to 440,000 in the latest week. The number of new claims was the lowest since the 442,000 reported in the week ended March 27.

The Labor Department also tracks the four-week moving average of initial claims, which smoothes out volatility in the measure. That number was 458,500 for the week, down 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 463,250.

"Things are lining up for recovery, but it’s slower in its evolution than we expected," said Carl Riccadonna, U.S. economist for Deutsche Bank in New York.

A lack of economic confidence could be keeping hiring managers on the sidelines, according to Riccadonna. Jobless claims at or below 400,000 could help to boost morale.

"It’s not helped when you look on TV and see developments in Europe and people worried about the impact of trans-Atlantic contagion," he said.

The number of people filing continuing claims totaled 4,594,000 in the week ended April 24, the most recent data available. That figure was down 59,000 from the preceding week’s revised 4,653,000 claims, and slightly below the 4,600,000 economists expected, according to Briefing.com. Continuing claims were down for the fifth straight week.

The four-week moving average for continuing claims totaled 4,649,000, up 8,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,641,000.

Continuing claims data exclude people whose benefits expired or those who have moved to state or federal extensions. It reflects those filing each week after their initial claim until the end of their standard benefits, which usually last 26 weeks.

In April, lawmakers in the House and Senate approved an extension of unemployment insurance until June 2. The move followed a number of tax breaks andother measures designed to spur job growth and help push the current 9.7% unemployment rate lower.

Although many economists say the measures are slowly working, states are still feeling the pinch and jobless claims would have to fall further, faster, before the national unemployment rate ticks lower no fax pay day loan.

There has been increasing debate over whether the decline in continuing claims is due to real job creation or people exhausting their benefits. Riccadonna says there’s no easy way to tell, but that "if the pace of job creation continues to accelerate, we can be increasingly confident that the drop in continuing claims is people finding jobs and not just rolling off the books."

Jobless claims fell the most in Florida, with a dip of 2,766 in the week ended April 24, primarily due to fewer layoffs in the construction, service, and manufacturing industries.

North Carolina and New York also saw dips in the 2,600 range. California, Massachusetts and Oregon topped the list of states with the largest increases in initial claims.

The report follows a spate of upbeat economic data in recent weeks. But that has been overshadowed by fears that Greece’s debt crisis could spread throughout Europe.

Riccadonna said that he is not overly concerned about the impact on the United States in the short term, beyond some "exchange rate effect." However, a significant decline in the euro to $1.15 could hurt the competitiveness of U.S. exports, which he says has been a key driver in the recovery so far.

Three separate reports on Wednesday pointed to strong signs of jobs growth when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its official read of the unemployment situation on Friday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that the U.S. added 187,000 jobs in April, compared to a gain of 162,000 in the prior month.

Still, total hiring would need to be 200,000 or more a month to push the rate down significantly, he said. Given recent economic data, he thinks the "big one" could come as early as May.

Although the nation is expected to have added jobs last month, many economists forecast the unemployment rate, also due Friday, to remain unchanged at 9.7%. Riccadonna is a bit more optimistic, forecasting a slight tick down to 9.6%.

"Really substantial gains in excess of 300,000 should be sufficiently jarring enough to wake up hiring managers and also the financial markets," said Riccadonna. "We’re turning the corner. The question is how fast?"  

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AirTran Airways launched daily nonstop service May 4 from Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Mich., to Orlando International Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Orlando-based AirTran will also initiate service from Fort Myers and Tampa to Grand Rapids in June.

AirTran Airways is a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI).

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