A new study from the Women’s Health Initiative has found that hormone replacement therapy for menopause does not affect quality of life.
Many women reported that the drugs helped them feel more energetic, or have more sexual pleasure or even more restful sleep. But researchers said the benefits did not outweigh the increased risk of […]

Morgan Stanley has backed out of a potential settlement of a federal lawsuit accusing it of engaging in a discrimination pattern that prevented most women employees from advancing, a lawyer for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Thursday.
The suit, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, was filed by the EEOC in September 2001 on […]

Federal securities-fraud lawsuits rose 31% to 224 filing in 2002 from 2001, according to a report by Stanford Law School and Cornerstone Research, a financial and legal research firm in Boston. The rise in securities-fraud lawsuits is linked to the growing number of companies restating their earnings because of accounting problems.
“Financial restatements are the […]

The House passed a bill sets caps for medical malpractice awards, such as compensation for loss of a limb or sight, at $250,000. The bill also sets caps on punitive damages - those that punish a physician for serious mistakes - would be limited to twice the amount of economic damages awarded or $250,000, whichever […]

U.S. shareholders of Bayer AG filed a lawsuit in a federal district court of New York, accusing the company of covering up information about anti-cholesterol drug Baycol, which has been linked to more than 100 deaths. Bayer is already facing more than 7,000 lawsuits worldwide for damages from Baycol patients claiming they suffered severe side […]

Rexall Sundown Inc., a leading manufacturer of vitamins and dietary supplements, agreed to pay up to $12 million to settle a federal suit that accused it of making exaggerated claims about Cellasene, a product the company said substantially reduced cellulite.
“Hundreds of thousands of consumers were misled by claims for this product,” said Howard Beales, director […]

Cytodyne Technologies, maker of the dietary supplement Xenadrine, faces lawsuits from eight California counties and one city, who accuse the company of false and misleading advertising that does not mention possible health risks associated with ephedra. The counties are seeking restitution for California customers and civil penalities.
“There is a known association between ephedra products and […]

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced a series of actions designed to protect Americans from potentially serious risks of dietary supplement products containing ephedra.
The results of a RAND Corporation study commissioned by the National Institutes of Health, as well as other recent studies, provide additional evidence that ephedra may be […]

Weapons watchdogs claim U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf are armed with bombs and missiles made of radioactive material. The Pentagon has refused to identify the composition of the “Bunker-Busters” bombs and missiles.
British research Dai Williams cites that patents for the guided bomb unit, or GBU, series of laser-guided bunker-busters refers to penetrating bodies […]

Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen submitted a petition to the US Food and Drug Administration urging the agency to remove from the market the popular antidepressant Serzone (nefazodone), manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Public Citizen argues that based on adverse reaction reports to the FDA, Serzone, was associated with at least 53 cases of liver injury including […]