Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
After Avoiding Ohio Trial, Drug Firms Turn to Local Government Opioid Lawsuits
Oct 22 2019 // Four large drug companies could resume talks on Tuesday to try to reach a $48 billion settlement of all opioid litigation against them, after agreeing with two Ohio counties to a $260 million deal to avert the first...
UPS Drone Service to Deliver CVS Health Prescriptions to Homes
Oct 22 2019 // United Parcel Service Inc.’s new Flight Forward drone unit will soon start home prescription delivery from CVS Health Corp. The service, which will debut in one or two U.S. cities in the coming weeks, shows how the...
Update on Opioid Lawsuits Against Drugmakers, Distributors
Oct 21 2019 // On Monday, two Ohio counties reached a last-minute settlement with four companies they accused of fueling the nationwide opioid epidemic. The counties were seeking billions of dollars to cover the cost of addiction...
Four Drugmakers Reach $260M Settlement, Ending Opioid Trial Set to Start Today
Oct 21 2019 // Four large drug companies reached a last-minute $260 million legal settlement over their role in the U.S. opioid addiction epidemic, averting the first federal trial that was scheduled to start Monday morning in...
Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Consumer Protection Bureau’s Structure
Oct 21 2019 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a challenge backed by President Donald Trump’s administration to the structure of a federal agency assigned to protect consumers in the financial sector that could...
FTC’s Chopra Tells House Antitrust Panel Big Tech’s Data Practices Threaten Competition
Oct 21 2019 // U.S. technology companies sent tens of thousands of documents to the House committee investigating whether they’re using their dominance to thwart competition, as the panel looks to develop recommendations by next...
How Is Crash Risk Related to Roadway Design? It Depends.
Oct 21 2019 // How dangerous is travel in the United States? It depends on how the question is framed. If it’s risk per kilometer (about 6/10ths of a mile), the U.S. has 6.71 deaths per billion vehicle kilometers of travel compared...
Business Moves
Oct 21 2019 // East The Hilb Group, Damiano Agency, Handy-Apple Valley The Hilb Group LLC has acquired Rhode Island-based Damiano Agency. The transaction became effective July 1, 2019. For more than 30 years, DA has been delivering...
Quarter of U.S. Health Care Spending Is Waste
Oct 21 2019 // Approximately 25% of spending in the U.S. health care system can be characterized as waste. That’s between $760 billion and $935 billion annually. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association...
People & Places
Oct 21 2019 // National Reid French has stepped down as CEO of the insurance agency technology firm Applied Systems, and Cloud Technology Executive Taylor Rhodes has joined Applied as the new CEO. French, who served as CEO for eight...
J&J Recalls Some Baby Powder After FDA Reports Traces of Asbestos
Oct 18 2019 // Johnson & Johnson said on Friday it is recalling around 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the United States after U.S. health regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in samples taken from a bottle purchased...
U.S. to Update Crash Test Standards and Dummies
Oct 18 2019 // U.S. auto safety regulators next year will propose several changes to federal crash testing standards that critics say have failed to keep pace with new vehicle technologies and lag behind other nations. The U.S. New Car...
U.S. Safety Board Wants to Learn Cause of Fatal Uber Autonomous Car Crash
Oct 18 2019 // The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold a Nov. 19 hearing to determine the probable cause of a March 2018 Uber Technologies Inc. self-driving vehicle crash that killed a pedestrian in Arizona. The...
Judge Calls on Big 3 Drug CEOs to Discuss Opioid Settlement
Oct 18 2019 // The chief executives of the three largest U.S. drug distributors and a drugmaker have been summoned to appear before a federal judge to discuss a proposal to resolve thousands of lawsuits alleging they fueled the U.S....
Michigan’s Ban on Flavored E-Cigarettes Blocked by Judge
Oct 17 2019 // A Michigan judge temporarily blocked the state’s weeks-old ban on flavored e-cigarettes Tuesday, saying it may force adults to return to smoking more harmful tobacco products and has irreparably hurt vaping...
Bipartisan Group Calls for Pulling Internet Firms’ Liability Immunity
Oct 17 2019 // A bipartisan group of lawmakers is stepping up efforts to have U.S. trade officials eliminate a legal liability shield that tech companies are pushing to keep in new agreements, including a deal to replace the North...
Formosa Plastics Agrees to Pay $50M to Settle Texas Water Pollution Suit
Oct 16 2019 // Petrochemical manufacturer Formosa Plastics has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit in which a judge ruled the company illegally dumped billions of plastic pellets and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other...
Three Major Drug Distributors Negotiating to Settle Bellwether Opioid Case: WSJ
Oct 16 2019 // Three drug distributors are in talks with state and local governments to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits for $18 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the...
Bayer Anticipates Jump in Cancer Claims Linked to Roundup’s Glyphosate
Oct 16 2019 // Bayer expects the number of claims in the United States related to Roundup herbicide to have surged in the third quarter, as the German drugs and pesticides maker tries to reach a settlement after earlier court rulings...
Cannabis Banking Challenges in Legal States Go Far Beyond Pot
Oct 16 2019 // Kat Merryfield was ready to share her farm-to-home oils, chocolates and creams with the rest of the country. But banks and credit card processors weren’t ready to work with her small business. “We started out...
