Congresswoman Mary Bono introduced the Safe Guard Against Privacy Invasions Act to protect Internet users from downloading unwanted spyware. The bill would force companies to get customer permission before installing the invasive software on their systems.
Spyware is software that companies secretly install to monitor people’s Internet activities and gather personally identifiable information.
“Companies that utilize spyware […]

Some cigarette brands contain higher amounts of super-addictive “freebase” nicotine than others, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon Health and Science University.
“We believe that this study is a major step forward in understanding how addictive nicotine is delivered by tobacco smoke,” said James F. Pankow, Ph.D., professor of environmental and biomolecular systems […]

Many people who used ephedra within the recommended guidelines still reported health problems, the General Accounting Office said in a hearing on dietary supplements before the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee.
Marcia Crosse, the GAO’s acting director of heath care-public health and science issues, said the health problems reported to Metabolite “are consistent with the […]

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals approved certification of a Rezulin class-action lawsuit against Pfizer, reversing a lower court’s November 2001 decision. The ruling also orders the lawsuit returned to trial court for further proceedings as a class action.
The Rezulin class-action lawsuit was brought on behalf of 5,000 West Virginians who seek to recover […]

United Parcel Service will pay $10 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by more than 1,000 current and former deaf employees. In the settlement UPS also promised to provide deaf workers with interpreters, for interviews, orientation, training, safety meetings and disciplinary sessions.
“This settlement is precedent-setting,” said Caroline Jacobs, a lawyer with Disability Rights Advocates, […]

The Recording Industry Association of America said it sent out subpoenas to Internet service providers as it prepares to go after people who illegally distribute music over the Internet.
“This should not come as a surprise to anyone,” said Amy Weiss, the RIAA’s senior vice president of communications. “Filing information subpoenas is part of the […]

Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.) have introduced a bill in Congress that makes illegal file swapping a felony. The bill carries penalties of up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The bill also makes filming a movie in a theater without authorization a federal offense.
The bill, […]

Purdue Pharma faces its first OxyContin class-action lawsuit after an Ohio District Court of Appeals affirmed certification of a lawsuit brought by more than 1,000 Ohioans that claim they were injured by the drug maker’s highly addictive painkiller.
The lawsuit accuses Purdue Pharma and Abbott Laboratories of irresponsibly marketing the controversial painkiller to Ohioans for wide […]

Carolyn Baker has filed a lawsuit against Merck & Company claiming she suffered serious side effects after taking the drug maker’s arthritis painkiller, Vioxx. Baker is seeking unspecified damages and compensation to enabler her “to treat and monitor the dangerous, severe and life-threatening side effects” caused by Vioxx, the court papers said.
The side effects are […]

An effort to consolidate dozens of federal lawsuits against Purdue Pharma, the maker of the controversial painkiller OxyContin, is dead after plaintiffs withdrew their request for multidistrict litigation. The lawsuits accuse Purdue Pharma of over-promoting OxyContin while playing down its potential for abuse or fatal side effects.
OxyContin is a form of synthetic morphine that is […]