7/6/2015 GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the biggest of the Big Pharma in the U.K., is trying to break its habit of buying doctors in the wake of a $3B settlement over its sales and marketing practices. Yet despite its sincere efforts, the company still paid U.S. doctors around $15M to learn about and promote its drugs in
7/5/2015 For the first time in nearly three years, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a public hearing on Thursday, July 2nd. In the hearing, the agency scrutinized Fiat-Chrysler’s handling of 23 recalls involving 11 million vehicles. Acting director of the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), Jennifer Timian, began the hearing by
7/5/2015 The Justice Department announced last week that it is undergoing a probe into whether or not several major airlines are colluding to control expansion, limiting routes and seating in order to keep ticket prices high. Although refusing to name specific airlines, Department of Justice Spokesperson Emily Pierce confirmed that the department was investigating “possible
7/3/2015 Following last week’s landmark Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, two leading health insurers will be combining to form the second largest company in the industry. Aetna, the third-largest insurer will acquire Humana, the country’s fourth largest health plan provider. Aetna will pay a cash and stock equivalent to
7/3/2015 In a joint press conference, the attorneys general for Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi announced that it has agreed to settle the penalty phase regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The spill occurred on April 20th, 2010, when the aforementioned oil rig caught fire, killing 11 people and sent over 3 million barrels of
7/2/2015 In what may be the largest whistleblower lawsuit ever, the Justice Department, along with 11 states, are accusing Swiss pharmaceutical titan, Novartis, of running a massive kickback scheme through the U.S. Medicare and Medicaid programs. Specifically, the U.S. is accusing the drugmaker of referring patients to a handful of specialty pharmacies who sent in
7/1/2015 In a press release on Monday, Massachusetts-based medical device manufacturer, Abiomed, notified the public that the U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its investigation of the company’s Impella 2.5 heart pump. In the press release, Company CEO, Michael Minogue said, “We are pleased that the Department of Justice has chosen to close its investigation
7/1/2015 President Barack Obama will be speaking in La Crosse Wisconsin on Thursday to highlight a change in federal overtime law that he announced in a Monday night Op-Ed in the Huffington Post. Writing that, “In this country, a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay,” the president announced that the rule change will
6/30/2015 It seems every few years or so, the specter of tort reform appears in the halls of Congress to test the political winds. Last week, while the winds of freedom emanated from the Supreme Court steps and the air from dozens of collective exhales from the White House over the ACA, the ghost of
6/30/2015 After a nearly seven-year research process, the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released a damning findings statement on hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. The statement was the official document needed in order to ban the practice in the state. In a prepared statement, DEC chief, Joe Martens said, “Prohibiting high-volume