| | Meningitis Victims Try to Freeze Nearly $500M in Assets | |  | | A federal judge in Boston on Tuesday is expected to hear arguments on whether to freeze nearly $500 million in assets, including luxury homes, related to New England Compounding Center, the pharmacy linked to a deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak. U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor has ordered an expedited hearing to determine whether to freeze at least $461 million in assets belonging to NECC, its owners and two related companies, court records show. Saylor granted the request after plaintiffs' attorneys argued that NECC and its owners could conceal assets in order to avoid judgment in a growing number of cases being filed in the federal court system.
Tim McLaughlin, Reuters, Yahoo News 11/20/2012    | | Read Article: Yahoo News | | Veteran Wounded in West Texas Train Crash Plans Lawsuit | | | | Attorneys representing one of the U.S. military veterans injured last week when a freight train collided with a parade float in West Texas said on Monday they are preparing to file a lawsuit, probably against Union Pacific, the operator of the train. Four veterans died in the crash.
Matthew Waller, Reuters, Chicago Tribune 11/20/2012 | | Read Article: Chicago Tribune | | Suit Filed Against Building after Hurricane Sandy | | | | A New York man has filed a lawsuit against the board of his condominium and the company that manages his building after his home was devastated by Hurricane Sandy. The suit claims the building owners have "refused to pursue insurance claims on behalf of the owners for damages to the building’s common areas" and that nothing was done to prepare the building for the storm. The man said he has been told it could be up to six months before residents can return to their homes.
Barbara Ross , New York Daily News 11/19/2012 | | Read Article: New York Daily News | | As Pharmacies Face Scrutiny, State’s Oversight Drops | | | | In 2008, the Texas State Board of Pharmacy warned that there needed to be more testing of compounded drugs — prescription medications mixed and prepared by individual pharmacies, typically with much less oversight than government regulators demand of drug manufacturers. A year earlier Texas legislators had for the first time given the agency $50,000 a year to pay for random testing, which it had begun. But “we believe that the agency should be conducting more tests,” the board’s administrators wrote in the request for their 2010-2011 budget. “Any problem with these products could have dramatic and potentially life-threatening effects on the patient.” Instead, thanks to budget cuts, over the past three years the number of pharmacies whose products the state tests for contamination, sterility and potency to ensure patient safety has plummeted.
Eric Dexheimer, Austin American Statesman 11/20/2012 | | Read Article: Austin American Statesman | | Federal Regulators Probe Mortgage Ads That May Mislead consumers | | | | Federal regulators have opened investigations into 19 financial companies for possible violations of new mortgage advertising rules designed to keep firms from misleading consumers about reverse mortgages and other products. In addition, the regulators have sent letters to 32 other firms warning them about advertisements that falsely imply a connection to a government program or provide other potentially misleading information. The actions, announced Monday, came after a review by the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of about 800 ads by mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers and other firms outside the conventional banking system.
Jim Puzzanghera, LA Times 11/20/2012 | | Read Article: LA Times | | $123 Million Settlement Reached in Sex Abuse Suit | | | | A federal judge has approved a $123 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit against a pediatrician convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of children. The Delaware doctor has been sentenced to 14 life terms plus 164 years, according to reports. The settlement will be distributed among victims from the more than 900 complaints filed.
Staff Report, United Press International 11/20/2012 | | Read Article: United Press International | | |
