Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc will pay $54 million to settle civil charges that its Salix unit paid illegal kickbacks to induce doctors to prescribe seven of its products, causing the submission of thousands of fraudulent reimbursement claims to the U.S. government.
A company that frequently finds itself targeted by asbestos attorneys is taking the reins on racketeering claims that allege those lawyers manipulated the system to unfairly drive up the costs of settlements and verdicts.
“This lawsuit involves speech at the very core of the First Amendment,” said ACLU staff attorney Lee Rowland. “No one should have to face a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit just for engaging in heartfelt community advocacy. All Americans have a right to speak out against hazardous substances being dumped in their home towns, and the Constitution prevents companies from using lawsuits to silence their critics.”
The extraordinary order by U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen says Justice Department lawyers intentionally misled him in the course of a lawsuit filed by Texas and 25 other mostly conservative states challenging the Obama administration’s immigration policy.
An annual audit of reports of sexual abuse by members of the U.S. Roman Catholic clergy released on Friday showed sharp increases in the number of new claims and in the value of settlements to victims.
American Medical Systems, a major defendant in litigation over controversial vaginal mesh devices, is accusing "a pyramid of businessmen, doctors and lawyers" of luring women into unwarranted surgeries to remove the implants and inflate their damages claims.
Theranos Inc. defrauded consumers by claiming that its blood tests were accurate and vetted by federal regulators, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court on Wednesday.
Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, has spent about $10 million to help the wrestler Hulk Hogan sue Gawker. “It’s less about revenge and more about specific deterrence,” he said.
