The deaths of three children have prompted six companies to recall millions of window blinds and shades, federal safety officials have announced. The recall covers 4.2 million roll-up blinds with plastic slats made by Lewis Hyman Inc.; 600,000 Woolrich Roman shades; blinds and shades made by Vertical Land Inc. of Panama City Beach, Fla.; Roman shades by Pottery Barn Kids/Williams-Sonoma Inc.; 245,000 Lutron Shading Solutions fabric roller shades; and 163,000 Roman shades by Victoria Classics.

Attorneys for a group of black firefighters deposed Mayor Michael Bloomberg Wednesday as part of a lawsuit over alleged discriminatory practices in New York City fire departments, the New York Times reports. According to attorneys for the firefighters’ association, Bloomberg said he did not recall a 2003 report detailing potential problems with the fire department entrance exam. A federal judge ruled earlier this year that the exam given to candidates between 1999 and 2002 discriminated against blacks and Hispanics.

The family of a man killed in a 2006 accident in a construction zone should receive more than $4 million in damages, a Utah jury has ruled. According to the lawsuit, the Utah Department of Transportation and subcontractor Staker & Parson Cos. failed to adequately warn motorists about potential traffic delays. Richard Kunzler died after cresting a hill and swerving to avoid stopped traffic.

A jury has ruled against Exxon Mobil Corp. in the second phase of a trial over whether the company allowed a gasoline additive to contaminate well water in New York City. In the verdict jurors found that the additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, will remain in affected wells until at least 2033. Jurors will next decide whether Exxon must pay damages for contaminating the wells.

An alarming number of nurses say hospitals are not as safe or sanitary as they should be, a new survey by Consumer Reports’ has concluded. Among the survey’s findings: about 28 percent of nurses saw problems with hospital cleanliness; about 38 percent of nurses report problems with patient care; and about 26 percent of nurses said hospital staff members sometime did not wash their hands.

School officials failed to call 911 after a student suffered second- and third-degree burns during a science experiment, a lawsuit filed in Tennessee claims. According to the suit, no nurse was on duty at the school and the teacher instead had the fourth grade girl place a cold compress on the burns. The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for medical expenses and other damages.

A jury has awarded $3.8 million to the family of a former Alabama State University football player who died after an incident at a hotel swimming pool. The lawsuit alleged that employees at the Rodeway Inn in Montgomery allowed 19-year-old Derrick Marshall to use the pool even though it had been shut down by the county health department. It took more than 10 minutes to find Marshall after he began drowning in the cloudy water, family members said. Marshall was left in a vegetative state and died several months later.

Two Dallas Cowboys staff members injured in the collapse of a training facility earlier this year have filed lawsuits against the maker of the tent-like structure. According to the lawsuits, Pennsylvania-based Summit Structures and others failed to disclose potential structural problems that could cause the building to collapse in high winds. The plaintiffs seek undisclosed damages for pain and suffering, in addition to punitive damages.

Federal safety officials are warning the owners and operators of lighted outdoor fields to inspect light poles following the failure of more than a dozen poles designed by a Texas company. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said its investigation into poles designed and sold by Whitco Co. LP is not yet complete but felt it necessary to issue a nationwide alert. Incidents of Whitco-manufactured poles falling have been reported in Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, Mississippi and Massachusetts.

Two popular weight loss drugs may cause serious liver damage, federal health officials said Monday. According to the Food and Drug Administration, at least 32 cases of serious liver injury have been linked to the Roche Holding AG’s prescription drug Xenical or the over-the-counter version sold by GlaxoSmithKline. The agency noted that a definite causal connection between the drugs and liver injury has not been established and that all of but two of the cases occurred outside the United States.