An Oakland law firm filed two class action lawsuits against Sutter Health, which owns more than 26 hospitals in Northern California, on behalf of patients without health insurance who claim they were overcharged by Sutter and then victimized by “humiliating” and “abusive” debt collection practices.
One lawsuit was filed in Alameda County State Superior Court and [...]

A 10-year federal ban on assault weapons expired Monday making it legal for consumers to purchase AK-47s, the same rifle that is being used to fight against U.S. forces in Iraq, and other high-powered firearms in America.
Ten years ago President Clinton passed “The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994″, which outlawed 19 [...]

DuPont last week agreed to pay more than $300 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 60,000 residents of Ohio and West Virginia who accuse the company of having contaminated their drinking water with the chemical Perflourooctanoic Acid (PFOA), which is used to manufacture some Teflon products.
The settlement, which is pending [...]

A San Francisco law firm last month filed an antitrust lawsuit against 15 of the world’s largest drug makers, alleging they have illegally conspired to inflate U.S. drug prices, The Associated Press reported.
The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County court in Oakland on behalf of nineteen California pharmacies, charges the 15 drug makers with violating California’s [...]

A federal appeals court in Atlanta on Wednesday ruled that a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of 900,000 doctors against eight of the nation’s largest healthcare managed organizations (HMOs) may go to trial, The Associated Press reported.
The doctors accuse the HMOs of engaging in a conspiracy to underpay them by programming their computer systems [...]

A group of attorney generals in June sent a letter to congressional leaders over their opposition to the so-called “Class Action Fairness Act,” saying if enacted would result in far greater harm than good.
The act, which is scheduled for a Senate vote this week, limits the rights of consumers to sue companies for corporate wrongdoing [...]

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), last week introduced the INDUCE Act, which critics say would prohibit so-called peer-to-peer networks like Kaaza, and some consumer electronics devices like the popular Apple iPod.
The bill, Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004, would in the senator’s words, allow creative artists to sue corporations that profit by encouraging children, [...]

IBM on Wednesday settled 50 toxic chemical lawsuits brought by former plant workers who alleged that the company knew they were sick and concealed that information from them.
The terms of the confidential settlement were not disclosed, the Mercury News said.
The plaintiffs contend that exposure to acetone, benzene, trichloroethylene and other toxic chemicals used in manufacturing [...]

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 [...]

Fans of Michael Moore may not get to see his latest documentary, “Fahrenheit 911,” that criticizes President Bush, because The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing the film in North America.
The documentary links the Bush family and prominent Saudi Arabian families-including the family of Osama bin Laden-and criticizes the President’s actions [...]