U.S. FTC accuses Ovation Pharma of price-gouging

December 18, 2008

The Federal Trade Commission sued Ovation Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday, accusing the private company of price-gouging for the only drugs used to close holes in the hearts of premature babies. he commission accused Ovation of charging inflated prices for the two drugs — Indocin and NeoProfen — used to treat premature babies with a common heart defect called patent ductus arteriosus.

 

Ovation bought the rights to Indocin in 2005 and NeoProfen in January 2006.

“After ensuring that it would not face competition from NeoProfen, Ovation promptly raised the price of Indocin nearly 1,300 percent, from $36 to nearly $500 a vial. When it launched NeoProfen in July 2006, Ovation set a similarly inflated price,” the commission said in a statement.

 

The heart defect affects about 3,000 babies in the United States each year, Dr. Alan Goldbloom, president of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, said in comments in Congress last summer.

 

Ovation had no immediate comment.

 

Read Article: Reuters

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Judge approves settlement in AIG shareholder suit

A Chancery Court judge on Wednesday approved a $115 million settlement in a shareholder lawsuit against former executives of insurance company American International Group Inc.

 

The settlement approved by Vice Chancellor Leo Strine Jr. was reached in September, just days before trial was to begin in a 2002 lawsuit challenging hundreds of millions of dollars in commissions paid by AIG to C.V. Starr & Co., a privately held affiliate controlled by former AIG Chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and other AIG directors.

Attorneys representing the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana alleged that New York-based AIG could have done the work for which it paid Starr, and that the commissions were simply a mechanism for Greenberg and other Starr directors to line their pockets.

 

The settlement calls for $85.5 million to be paid by insurance carriers, with Starr responsible for $28.25 million, and the remaining $1.25 million to be paid by former AIG Vice Chairman of Insurance Thomas Tizzio.

 

Read Article: Forbes

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Settlement reached over Victoria bus crash

A $10 million settlement has been reached involving personal injury claims filed over a Jan. 2 charter bus crash that killed one person and injured dozens more near Victoria.

The settlement the family of the man who died and 44 passengers reached with the driver, owners and managers of the bus company was filed Dec. 11 in the 165th Judicial District Court and made public Wednesday, the Victoria Advocate reported for its online edition.

 

Pedro Mendez, a 55-year-old Houston man, died when the bus traveling from Monterrey, Mexico, to Houston veered off U.S. 59 near Victoria and flipped on its side. Dozens were injured, including Houston’s Bernarda Pena, who lost her right arm. Forty-four of the passengers filed personal injury claims.

 

“This settlement represents all of the insurance proceeds available to date to settle the claims arising out of this tragic accident,” said Houston attorney Richard Mithoff, who represents Mendez’ family.

 

Read Article: Houston Chronicle

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

UVM settles wrongful-death lawsuit

Relatives of Kevin Baker, 44, of Coventry claimed a UVM research team was negligent in allowing a participant in a drug study to drive home after taking a dose. The driver fell asleep in Johnson, drifted across the center of Vermont 15 and slammed into an oncoming car, killing Baker and two other men.

 

The case garnered attention because of the tragedy’s magnitude and its connection to a substantial public-health and law-enforcement concern in Vermont: heroin addiction. The drug at the center of the study, buprenorphine, is an alternative to methadone and helps people overcome addictions to “opioid” narcotics such as heroin or the painkiller oxycodone.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Read Article: Burlington Free Press

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Veterans With PTSD Sue Federal Government Over Disability Benefits

A group of military veterans filed a class action against the federal government Wednesday, alleging that they were illegally denied disability benefits despite being diagnosed with severe cases of post-traumatic stress disorder that should have qualified them for free care.

 

The five soldiers, all veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, were discharged by the Army after it determined that their damaged mental health left them unfit to serve, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Once released, they were assigned disability ratings well below the 50 percent figure needed to qualify for lifetime health care benefits.

 

The complaint alleges that starting in 2002, the Army “systematically” ignored rules requiring that all servicemen diagnosed with PTSD receive an automatic 50 percent rating. Just this past October, the Defense Department ordered the Army to stop deflating PTSD victims disability ratings.

 

Read Article: Law.com

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

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