Current and former subscribers of Verizon Wireless will be get two vouchers, which include $30 off a new or renewed contract, a $24 credit on an existing contract, 1,500 free text messages and $15 off Verizon merchandise, as part of a settlement approved by a California judge Thursday.
The class-action lawsuit, Campbell v. AirTouch Cellular and […]

The number of U.S. workers suing companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for failing to pay required overtime has tripped since 1997, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Bloomberg News reports that U.S. workers filed 102 overtime class-action lawsuits in 2003, compared with only 31 in 1997. “Groups that sued included managers with few […]

Prices for brand-name prescription drugs used by older Americans have increased three times faster than the rate of inflation in each of the past four years, according to a study released Tuesday by AARP, a nonprofit group that addresses the needs and interests of people 50 and older.
The study, “Trends in Manufacturer Prices of Brand […]

American homes are contaminated with high levels of toxic fire retardants linked to brain and nerve damage, according to the first nationwide study for PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in house dust.
The Study, by the Environmental Working Group, a consumer advocacy group that exposes chemical threats, found high levels of these neurotoxic chemicals in every home […]

Citing poor sells, Bristol-Myers Squibb said Wednesday that it will stop selling its controversial antidepressant drug Serzone in the United States as of June 14. But critics blame the drug’s risk of liver failure, which has brought many lawsuits against the company, for the withdrawal.
Public Citizen, a consumer advocate group, said the company’s action is […]

Public Citizen, a consumer advocate group, has renewed its call for the Food and Drug Administration to ban the anti-cholesterol drug Crestor, citing new cases of patients with life-threatening side effects.
Crestor is the newest drug approved for the treatment of high cholesterol. It is made by the drug maker AstraZeneca and belongs to a group […]

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that states can be sued for money damages for failing to provide adequate access to the courthouse for Americans with disabilities.
“Today’s decision is a huge win at a critical time for millions of Americans with disabilities,” said Ira Burnim, legal director at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health […]

A Texas judge affirmed a jury’s award of more than $1 billion in damages against the pharmaceutical giant Wyeth to the family of a woman who died from lung disease that the plaintiff’s lawyers said was caused by her use of the diet drug Pondimin, also known as Fen-Phen.
Wyeth said it will appeal the verdict.
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Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, has agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $430 million to settle all criminal charges and civil liabilities related to the illegal and fraudulent promotion of unapproved uses for its top selling epilepsy drug Neurontin by Warner-Lambert’s Parke-Davis Division, the Justice Department said in a prepared statement […]

Citigroup, the world’s largest bank, today said it would pay $2.65 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by holders of WorldCom stocks and bonds, who accused it of participating in fraud with WorldCom, the phone company now known as MCI.
Under the terms of the settlement, Citigroup will make a payment o $2.65 billion, […]