Health Highlights: Aug. 31, 2008

Some 900,000 of the 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible bassinets may be in circulation. Their metal bars are spaced farther apart than 2 3/8 inches, which is the maximum allowed by federal law, the agency said. This warning does not cover bassinets produced recently that have fabric permanently attached over the lower bar, the CPSC added.

The agency issued the warning after SFCA, the company that bought now-defunct Simplicity's assets earlier this year, refused to issue a recall, thePostreported. The warning was issued under sweeping new authority granted the agency by a two-week-old law called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

While the agency has the authority to mandate a recall, doing so generally takes some time. As a result, most product recalls are voluntarily issued by the manufacturers or distributors, thePostsaid.

An attorney for SFCA said his company was cooperating with the government. Because it had merely purchased Simplicity's assets, SFCA didn't "take on the legal responsibility for the products," the newspaper reported.

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New York City's HIV Infection Rate 3 Times U.S. Average

People in New York City are contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, at three times the U.S. average, theAssociated Pressreported.

According to the city's health department, nearly 4,800 people in New York acquired HIV in 2006, or about 72 of every 100,000 residents, the wire service said. That compares to a national rate of about 23 per 100,000.

Local health officials cited the city's large populations of gay men, blacks, and other groups that tend to have above-average incidence of HIV infection.