The Buzz On Business

NEW GOOGLE HEALTH GIVES USERS ACCESS TO MEDICAL RECORDS: Google Inc. is offering the public electronic access to medical records and other health-related information. The Mountain View-based Web search leader announced the public launch of Google Health during a Webcast on Monday. It lets users import records from care providers and pharmacies. Google tested the service by storing medical records for a few thousand patient volunteers at the nonprofit Cleveland Clinic. "It's a really exciting day for us. We're really happy to be able to offer this service to all our users," Marissa Mayer, the Google executive overseeing the health project, said in the Webcast.

FORD WINDSTAR ENGINE FIRES PROMPT INVESTIGATION: Federal regulators are looking into 130 complaints of fires in the engine compartments of Ford Windstar midsize vans from the 1995-2003 model years. A preliminary investigation shows that 65 of the complaints claim the speed control deactivation switch caused the fires, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In four cases, fires began after the switch possibly leaked brake fluid onto the anti-lock braking system module. Two of those who complained said the fires damaged their homes, the agency said. Ford Motor Co. said it doesn't believe there is an elevated risk of fire in the vehicles and is cooperating with government's investigation, spokeswoman Jennifer Moore said Monday. Moore says the automaker has received no reports of deaths or injuries related to the alleged problems. The automaker said there are 1.7 million of the vans and they are equipped with 3.0- or 3.8-liter V-6 engines.

38 CHARGED IN GLOBAL ID THEFT RING: Thirty-eight people were charged Monday with stealing names, Social Security numbers, credit card data and other personal information from unsuspecting Internet users as part of a global crime ring. The Romanian-based "phishing" scams sought to rip off thousands of consumers and hundreds of financial institutions, according to indictments unsealed in Los Angeles and New Haven, Conn. The two related cases marked the latest example of what the Justice Department describes as a growing worldwide threat posed by organized crime. The practice known as phishing typically involves sending fraudulent e-mails that include links directing recipients to fake Web sites, where they are asked to input sensitive data. Phishers may include attachments that, when clicked, secretly install "spyware" that can capture personal information and send it to third parties over the Internet. More than half of the people charged in Monday's cases are Romanian, although the alleged scam also operated from the United States, Canada, Portugal and Pakistan.

DAIRY CO-OP SUSPECTED OF PRICE MANIPULATION: Federal commodity regulators are investigating a possible price-manipulation scheme by the farmer-owned dairy cooperative that controls about a third of the nation's milk supply, according to a published report. Separately, the Justice Department is preparing to investigate a recently disclosed $1 million transfer to a former director of the Dairy Farmers of America, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people close to the matter. The Kansas City-based dairy cooperative, the nation's largest, also faces antitrust lawsuits by farmers and retailers on accusations of conspiring to suppress prices it paid for raw milk in the Southeast, while raising prices to the region's retailers, according to The Journal.

BEE NEWS SERVICES

Figuratively Speaking

62: Percentage of executives in the United States and Canada who feel that they would benefit from an international etiquette course (that is when and whether one should shake hands, give a kiss on the cheek or bow when greeting an overseas colleague), according to the results of a survey by OfficeTeam

37: Percentage of employees who feel more relaxed than stressed when they are connected to work by a wireless device, according to Yahoo! HotJobs' annual virtual workplace survey

42: Percentage who are altogether indifferent to their wireless device, feeling neither relaxed nor stressed by it

JOHN MacINTYRE, UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE

This story was originally published May 20, 2008 at 5:06 AM with the headline "The Buzz On Business."