DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

REUTERS/Lucas JacksonCompanies Smith & Wesson Brands Inc FollowDec 20 (Reuters) - The upstate New York city of Buffalo on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in state court accusing major gun manufacturers of fueling violence through irresponsible marketing and sales practices. Defendants in the lawsuit include Smith & Wesson Brands Inc (SWBI.O), Beretta USA Corp, Bushmaster Firearms Industries Inc, Colt's Manufacturing Co LLC and Glock Inc. The city is seeking an unspecified money award to combat gun violence. The case appeared to be the first time a city has sued major gun companies under a 2021 New York law that allows lawsuits against gun makers and sellers for creating a "public nuisance" through their business practices. Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] Anti-abortion demonstrators celebrate outside the United States Supreme Court as the court rules in the Dobbs v Women's Health Organization abortion case, overturning the landmark Roe v Wade abortion decision in Washington, U.S., June 24, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinDec 20 (Reuters) - Six months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, the state of abortion rights around the country remains unsettled, thanks to a patchwork of lawsuits in state courts and emergency court orders. About half of all states are ultimately expected to adopt new abortion restrictions in the wake of the Supreme Court's June ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health. The litigation has resulted in chaos for abortion providers and patients, according to people involved in the lawsuits and legal experts. In state after state, courts have issued emergency orders blocking the new bans while lawsuits unfold, only to be reversed weeks or even days later on appeal.

Bayer still faces several other state lawsuits over PCBs. The company said in a statement that it did not admit liability as part of the Oregon settlement, and would continued to defend the remaining cases. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum called the settlement a "huge win" that would give the state resources to clean up PCBs. The lawsuits against Bayer stem from PCBs manufactured by U.S. seeds and pesticide company Monsanto, which Bayer acquired for $63 billion in 2018. Some of those cases have gone to trial and resulted in jury verdicts against Bayer totaling $543 million, which the company is appealing.

☆ Republicans seek to sabotage year-end spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

An omnibus spending bill that would avert the closure of the federal government would be one of the last acts of unified Democratic political control of Washington. Democrats, meanwhile, understand that the government spending bill likely represents their last chance to enact Biden’s ambitious domestic plans until the next presidential election. If lawmakers cannot agree on a deal, they will face the possibility of either passing a short-term spending bill to carry the debate into the new Congress or a longer-term continuing resolution that would extend current spending levels. But in a sign of the consuming nature of the spending showdown, Republicans emerged from the meeting complaining that the two secretaries spent time lobbying for an omnibus spending bill over a continuing resolution. He said that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had asked Blinken and Austin to explain why the new spending bill was so necessary.

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Drugmakers GSK Plc (GSK.L), Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday were spared thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, as a judge found the claims were not backed by sound science. A spokesperson for GSK said the company welcomed the decision and Pfizer said it was pleased by the outcome. Originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK, it was later sold successively to Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim and finally Sanofi. Lawsuits began piling up soon after the recalls began from people who said they developed cancer after taking Zantac. State court judges will also have to rule on whether to allow plaintiffs' experts on Zantac's alleged cancer risks before state cases can go to trial.

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Drugmakers GSK Plc (GSK.L), Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday defeated thousands of lawsuits in U.S. federal court claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, as a judge found the claims were not backed by sound science. Zantac, first approved in 1983, became the world's best selling medicine in 1988 and one of the first-ever drugs to top $1 billion in annual sales. Originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK, it was later sold successively to Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim and finally Sanofi. Numerous generic drugmakers also launched versions of the medicine, but are not part of the federal mass tort litigation. Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Stelara accounted for $9.1 billion of J&J's $52 billion in global drug sales last year. The drug is also approved to treat Crohn's disease, the skin condition psoriasis and a related form of arthritis. However, J&J alleges that Amgen failed to follow the legal process required by that law for the companies to litigate any patent disputes. If Amgen launches its drug, J&J said it would infringe J&J's patent on the drug's active ingredient and on its use for treating ulcerative colitis. J&J said in a statement that Janssen is "confident in its intellectual property and has filed suit to protect its rights."

Organizations: & &'

☆ Ron DeSantis just announced he has a memoir coming out soon. Here's what we learned from his first book, a scathing take on Obama
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

DeSantis wrote the book during the Tea Party movement and before he ran for Congress. He did so throughout his 2011 book, "Dreams from Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama." According to NPD BookScan, which tracks retail sales of US print books, "Dreams from Our Founding Fathers" sold 125 copies through July of 2022. In one section of the book, DeSantis wrote that Obama lacked the humility of George Washington, the first US president. Obama, DeSantis wrote, "garnered flattering media coverage by a press thoroughly enamored with his progressive politics."

☆ DeSantis' scathing book about Obama shows his 'individual freedom' philosophy, his disdain for the media, and how he studies other politicians
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

DeSantis wrote the book during the Tea Party movement and before he ran for Congress. He did so throughout his 2011 book, "Dreams from Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama." DeSantis wrote the book as he was coming of age in politics during the Tea Party movement. In one section of the book, DeSantis wrote that Obama lacked the humility of George Washington, the first US president. Obama, DeSantis wrote, "garnered flattering media coverage by a press thoroughly enamored with his progressive politics."

Nov 23 (Reuters) - Georgia can enforce a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy while the state appeals a lower court order striking it down, the state's highest court ruled on Wednesday. The Supreme Court of Georgia did not give a reason for its unanimous order. The state law, which originally took effect this past summer, has been challenged by Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups. Georgia passed a law banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks, in 2019. He said the state legislature could pass a new law banning abortion now that Roe is overturned.

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) and AbbVie Inc (ABBV.N) have finalized the terms of settlements worth more than $6.6 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits by U.S. state and local governments over the marketing of opioid painkillers, the companies and lawyers for the governments said Tuesday. Under the deals, first announced in July, Israel-based Teva will pay up to $4.25 billion, including a supply of the overdose drug naloxone. AbbVie will pay up to $2.37 billion. The final amounts of the settlements will depend on how many state and local governments opt into them. The sprawling litigation over opioids, which began in 2017, has yielded more than $40 billion in settlements with drugmakers, distributors and pharmacy chains.

The following are major companies that were accused of contributing to the crisis, and settlements or judgments involving those companies. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA)-In November, finalized claims nationwide for $4.25 billion, some of which is to be paid as a supply of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone. AbbVie Inc (ABBV.N)-In November, finalized a $2.37 billion nationwide settlement resolving claims against Allergan, a company it acquired in 2020. Endo International Plc (ENDPQ.PK)-Reached a $450 million settlement with more than 30 states as part of a bankruptcy filing in August. Mallinckrodt Plc (MNK.A)-Reached a $1.7 billion nationwide settlement as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan, approved in February.

The justices rebuffed Glenhaven Healthcare's appeal of a lower court's ruling allowing the family of deceased resident Ricardo Saldana to proceed with the lawsuit in a California state court. Under then-President Donald Trump in January 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, prodded by nursing homes, declared that cases filed in state court involving interpretation of the PREP Act should be moved to federal court. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the Saldana case that some state law claims can remain in state court. Glenhaven has argued that personal injury lawsuits against entities that provide COVID-19 countermeasures belong in federal court. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Hospital Association and the American Health Care Association, a nursing home industry group, weighed in to support its petition to the Supreme Court.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Saturday strenuously denied any involvement in leaking the outcome of a 2014 ruling in a lengthy statement issued in response to a New York Times report. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority that strongly favors religious rights and frequently rules in favor of conservative Christian interests. Gayle Wright told the Times she did not obtain or pass along any information to Schenck, who has since become a supporter of abortion rights. Chief Justice John Roberts announced in May that he had launched an investigation of the leak but there has been no update since. Meanwhile, liberal members of the court have suggested that the court risks undermining its legitimacy by abruptly unraveling decades of precedent.

[1/2] Abortion rights protesters participate in nationwide demonstrations following the leaked Supreme Court opinion suggesting the possibility of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Alyssa PointerNov 15 (Reuters) - A Georgia law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy cannot be enforced, a state judge ruled on Tuesday, handing a victory to Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups that challenged the restriction when it took effect this summer. The law was previously blocked under Roe, but it took effect in July, after the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling gave states the power to restrict abortion. Around a dozen states have enforced near-total abortion bans since the end of Roe v. Wade, many like Georgia in the southeast region of the United States. Solicitor General Stephen Petrany argued at the time that the law was in line with the state's interest to protect "unborn children."

Nov 15 (Reuters) - FTX Trading's new CEO John J. Ray III, a lawyer tapped to lead the collapsed crypto exchange's restructuring, previously oversaw the $23 billion bankruptcy of energy firm Enron Corp and has a reputation for boosting creditor recoveries. Ray, 63, on Monday declined to comment on his initial priorities as FTX's CEO. Serving as Enron's CEO throughout its years-long bankruptcy, Ray's work resulted in major settlements with banks accused of helping Enron deceive investors, including a $1.66 billion settlement with Citigroup in 2008. Mark Lichtenstein, an attorney who worked on Enron's bankruptcy, saw many parallels between FTX and that case. "You’ve got such a meltdown, similar to Enron, sort of a run on the bank," Lichtenstein said.

AbbVie and lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit claims the settlements were so-called "pay for delay" deals that violated competition laws in 30 states and resulted in higher prices. The generic companies previously settled with the health plans for a combined $2 million. Allergan previously reached a $750 million settlement of antitrust allegations brought by direct purchasers of Namenda, such as drug distributors. The case is In re Namenda Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

Nov 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas ruled on Friday that President Joe Biden's administration had wrongly interpreted an Obamacare provision as barring health care providers from discriminating against gay and transgender people. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo ruled that a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2020 holding that a law barring workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees did not apply to the healthcare law. "Title IX's ordinary public meaning remains intact until changed by Congress, or perhaps the Supreme Court," Kacsmaryk wrote. The Obama administration introduced rules in 2016 that made clear that LGBT people would be protected under the healthcare discrimination provision. In June, the Biden administration proposed a rule to once again enshrine such protections.

Indiana's Republican-controlled legislature passed the law in May, overriding the veto of the state's Republican governor, Eric Holcomb, who had said it was unnecessary. Proponents of the law say that allowing transgender girls to play on girls' teams is unfair because they have a biological advantage. The mother of a 10-year-old transgender girl attending public school in Indianapolis then sued the school district in Indianapolis federal court, seeking to stop it from enforcing the law against her. The Indianapolis school district itself did not oppose the injunction, but the state of Indiana intervened to defend its law. A group of 19 Republican-led states filed their own brief supporting Indiana in September.

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar is the winner in Texas' 28th Congressional District, NBC News projects, returning to Congress for a 10th term. With 77% of the vote, Cuellar had 56.9% and Republican Cassy Garcia had 43.1%, according to the NBC News Decision Desk. Garcia was one of three Republican Latinas running in South Texas congressional races hoping to cut into the region’s Latino support for Democrats. Cuellar survived a close Democratic primary after the FBI raided his home and after he cast the lone Democratic vote against legislation that would codify federal protection for access to abortion. He has criticized Biden administration policies on immigration and criticized Garcia for her past criticisms of President Barack Obama's health care law, known as Obamacare.

☆ Republican takeover of U.S. Congress would mean tax fights are back
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( David Lawder | Gram Slattery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Congressional Republicans' tax strategies and a Democratic White House could ultimately mean a status quo on rates, deductions and credits for the next two years, tax professionals and analysts say. TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT"We want to make the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, which will strengthen the economy," a senior House Republican aide told Reuters. That 2017 Republican-passed tax law slashed top-line tax rates on corporations, a permanent feature that Democrats failed to reverse with control of Congress over the last two years. AIMING AT THE IRSOther targets for Republican tax legislation include rolling back a new 15% domestic corporate minimum tax for large companies and $80 billion in new funding for the Internal Revenue Service in Biden's climate and healthcare law. It will be used to fill thousands of IRS positions coming empty due to retirements and budget cuts; Republicans have described the hires as an 'army' aimed at harassing taxpayers.

Walmart has agreed to pay $3.1 billion, mostly up front, according to two people familiar with the matter. The proposed settlement, which would be the first nationwide deal with retail pharmacy companies, follows nationwide opioid settlements with drugmakers and distributors totaling more than $33 billion. CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are the three largest retail pharmacies in the country by market share. The agency has attributed much of the recent rise in overdose cases to illegally manufactured fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. A congressional report last month put the economic toll of the opioid crisis in 2020 alone at $1.5 trillion.

The proposed settlement calls for CVS to pay $5 billion over 10 years, Walgreens to pay $5.7 billion over 15 years and Walmart to pay $3.1 billion, mostly up front, according to the people. Walgreens and CVS declined to comment. Walmart and a spokesperson for the plaintiffs' attorneys in the litigation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The proposed settlement, which would be the first nationwide deal with retail pharmacy companies, follows nationwide opioid settlements with drugmakers and distributors totaling more than $33 billion. CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are the three largest retail pharmacies in the country by market share.

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Leading consulting firm McKinsey & Co has agreed to settle claims by hundreds of U.S. local governments and school districts around the country that it fueled an epidemic of opioid addiction through its work for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP and other drug companies. The deal was disclosed in a court filing Wednesday evening in San Francisco federal court. Its terms were not made public, and McKinsey and a lawyer for the settling plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. McKinsey previously agreed to pay more than $600 million to settle opioid claims brought by all U.S. states and territories, and had argued that those settlements should shield it from local governments' and school districts' lawsuits. Purdue is in bankruptcy and is seeking to resolve opioid claims against it through a proposed $6 billion settlement funded by members of its founding Sackler family.

Oct 26 (Reuters) - TikTok Inc won dismissal of a lawsuit accusing it of causing the death of a 10-year-old girl by promoting a deadly "blackout challenge" that encouraged people to choke themselves on its video-based social media platform. U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond in Philadelphia ruled Tuesday that the company was immune from the lawsuit under a part of the federal Communications Decency Act that shields publishers of others' work. Jeffrey Goodman, a lawyer for the girl's mother, Tawainna Anderson, said in a statement that the family would "continue to fight to make social media safe so that no other child is killed by the reckless behavior of the social media industry." Anderson sued TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance Inc in May, saying the company's algorithm showed her daughter, Nylah Anderson, a video suggesting the blackout challenge. In December 2021, Nylah attempted the blackout challenge using a purse strap hung in her mother's closet, losing consciousness and suffering severe injuries, according to the lawsuit.

Search resuls for: "Care Law"

25 mentions found