Legal Issues

Inspectors ignored complaints at building collapse site

For three weeks, Philadelphia city inspectors failed to look into reports of shoddy demolition work at the site of a deadly building collapse, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

A four-story brick wall at 22nd and Market streets fell into an adjoining Salvation Army store on June 5, killing six people and injuring 14.

The Griffin Campbell Construction Co., the company carrying out the project, ignored Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards that ...

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More states pursuing legal action against drug companies

The Wall Street Journal reports on increasingly aggressive efforts by attorneys general in several U.S. states to pursue legal actions against drug companies for deceptive marketing.

Using consumer protection laws as a basis, state officials have gone after some major pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

The story notes that potential payouts are high. Last year, for example, Johnson & Johnson agreed to ...

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Flame retardants may pose hazards

A story in the Washington Post says chemical flame retardants added to consumer products to meet federal and state flammability standards may pose health and environmental hazards, while failing to actually reduce the products’ flammability.

Flame retardants make use of chemical reactions to counteract or inhibit the flammability of treated products, including textiles, foam in couches and baby products, building insulation, carpets, drapes, personal computers, TV sets, car dashboards, ...

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Fresenius Dialysis center investigated after deaths

A report on CBS 42 out of Birmingham says the Alabama Department of Health is investigating deaths and illnesses at a kidney dialysis center in the city of Bessemer.

The report says the clinic was closed on May 8, after two patients died and several others were hospitalized.

The clinic is owned by German company Fresenius, which operates about a third of all U.S. dialysis centers for patients with kidney failure. The ...

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Building collapse kills at least 6, injures 13 in Philadelphia

A building slated for demolition collapsed in Center City Philadelphia on Wednesday. As of June 6, six people were reported dead and 13 were reported injured, according to CNN.

Though the technical investigation into the cause is ongoing, those with intimate knowledge of the structure and its condition are less than surprised, the Washington Post reported.

Witness reports are damning. One witness related: “For weeks they’ve been standing on the edge, knocking bricks off. You could just see it was ready to ...

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FDA official wants stronger warnings for blood pressure drugs

A senior regulator at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is trying to get the agency to issue stronger warnings about the class of blood pressure medications that includes Benicar, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The article says a 2010 study published in Lancet Oncology found that people taking angiotensin receptor blockers, or ARBs, had an 11 percent greater risk of new cancer overall and a 25 percent greater ...

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