WASHINGTON — U.S. Congress Tuesday passed the “Terrorism Insurance” bill that guarantees U.S. government backing for insurance companies in the aftermath of another attack like that on Sept. 11, 2001. President Bush said he would sign the legislation.
“Terrorism insurance will help get America’s hard hats back on the job, create new jobs for America’s [...]

CALIFORNIA — Northern District Judge James Larson upheld a $7.67 million jury verdict awarded to a chiropractor whose long-term disability benefits were cut off by UnumProvident Corp., the nation’s largest disability insurer. The ruling by Judge Larson is the first to find that the company engages in unfair business practices. The verdict includes $5 million [...]

CALIFORNIA — Williams Companies, one of the nation’s biggest suppliers of electricity and natural gas, agreed yesterday to pay more than $400 million to settle accusations that it helped drive up prices and overcharged customers during the California’s electric power crisis. As part of the settlement California said it would not seek customer refunds.
Williams [...]

CHARLESTON, W. VA — West Virginia authorities on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Merck-Medco, a subsidiary of drug giant Merck, accusing it of pocketing more than $6 million. State Attorney General Darrell McGraw said the suit alleges fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.
According to the suit, Merck-Medco cost the state millions more by steering [...]

Dozens of claims filed with the $4.75 billion fen phen settlement trust do not have to be paid because they were “medically unreasonable,” said U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle. Hundreds of additional claims will be reviewed in effort to prevent the settlement fund from running out of money, according to the ruling by Judge [...]

MIAMI, FL — Three South Florida attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against the makers of Skoal, Copenhagen and other smokeless tobacco products. The suit was filed on behalf of six plaintiffs and all other Florida residents who have suffered harm as a result of using chewing tobacco. The charges include negligence, [...]

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration Friday issued a nationwide alert warning health workers and pain clinics to quit using all injectable drugs made by Urgent Care Pharmacy, after one of their drugs was linked to deadly meningitis.
The FDA told health workers to avoid using any of the following injected drugs made by [...]

MANHATTAN, NY — Southern District Judge Richard M. Berman Tuesday ruled a state law banning the direct shipment of out-of-state wines to consumers in New York unconstitutional. The New York law, similar to those in 29 other states, requires all alcoholic beverages shipped into the state be consigned to licensed distributors. Licensed wineries within the [...]

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices questioned Wednesday the fairness of “Megan’s Law” as they heard arguments in two cases, at issue are whether such laws amount to a second punishment for those already convicted for their crimes, and whether the laws violate an offender’s due process rights.
“Megan’s law” requires Sex offenders and certain other types [...]

LOS ANGELES, CA — A complaint filed yesterday by California State Teachers’ Retirement System adds AOL Time Warner and several other companies as defendants to a previously filed suit against Homestore Inc. The complaint contends that executives of Homestore and AOL Time Warner invented schemes to inflate revenue of both companies without detection by creating [...]