Four former Halliburton employees filed a securities class action lawsuit against Halliburton Company on behalf of shareholders claiming that fraudulent accounting practices occurred at the company from 1998 to 2001.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Dallas, claims that Kellogg Brown & Root, Halliburton’s engineering and construction unit, inflated its financial results […]

Halliburton on Tuesday said it agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle and a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation involving its 1998 to 1999 disclosure of an accounting for the recognition of revenue from unapproved claims on long-term construction projects, Halliburton said in a statement.
“We are pleased to bring closure to this matter,” said Dave […]

Florida Medicaid’s new policy will no longer pay for Neurontin, Zyprexa and so-called COX II pain relievers Celebrex, Vioxx and Bextra unless they are prescribed as listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration label, the Sun Sentinel reports.
The new policy ends coverage for many “off-label” uses, uses not approved by the FDA, forcing thousands […]

Public Citizen today called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate Europe’s second-largest drug company AstraZeneca for “illegally delaying the submission of reports of serious adverse reactions to the anti-cholesterol drug Crestor,” the group said in a statement.
“The company delayed the submission to the FDA of 23 such reports, with some delays being […]

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich last week signed the Common Sense Consumption Act that bans obesity lawsuits against the food industry including fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s.
“Obesity is a serious problem in Illinois. But, blaming a restaurant for weight gain is not the answer,” said Gov. Blagojevich said in a statement. “By signing this law, we are […]

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. agreed to pay $300 million to settle a securities class action lawsuit related to wholesaler inventory and accounting practices and its investment in and relationship with ImClone Systems Inc.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, was brought against Bristol-Myers Squibb on behalf of purchasers […]

Schering-Plough Corp., the maker of Claritin allergy medicine, agreed to pay $345.5 million in fines and plead guilty to a single federal criminal charge concerning a payment (kickback) to a managed care customer.
The settlement resolves Schering-Plough’s civil liabilities in connections with its illegal and fraudulent pricing of its blockbuster drug, Claritin, U.S. attorney Patrick L. […]