Author: Justin Lane

The Justice Department has just officially announced the largest settlement with a single entity in American history. The settlement, between JPMorgan and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will total $13 billion and resolves many outstanding allegations that stood against JPMorgan. The settlement does not relieve the firm from potential criminal charges. “Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown,” said Attorney General Eric Holder in a statement. “While many will hope that this settlement serves as a ‘shot-across-the-bow’ to these investment firms,” commented Peter Mougey, a shareholder with the Levin,...

U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman announced yesterday that Baptist Healthcare has agreed to pay almost $3.7 million to settle allegations that it had submitted false claims for payment to the government. The allegations centered on the failure of the facility to evaluate whether patients had alternative sources of payment that would have relieved Medicare of its responsibility to pay. “Systematic fraud, when an institution makes a practice of cheating the government and, by extension, taxpayers, is no less devastating to the health care economy than that fraud which is enacted in dishonesty,” commented James Kauffman, an attorney with the Levin,...

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that OxyElite Pro products are being recalled for their link to acute liver failure and hepatitis, one such case may have resulted in death and several other cases that may have required liver transplants. Beyond the recall, the manufacturer, USPLabs, is being required to destroy any stocks it has of the product, which is suspected to have a retail value of approximately $22 million. The recall follows investigations into Oxylite, which we reported on previously, after an extremely high number of cases of liver failure were reported in Hawaii...

Since the revelations brought by Edward Snowden and his leaks regarding the NSA spying programs PRISM  and now MUSCULAR, the NSA has seen a dramatic increase in the number of requests that is receiving from private citizens. According to numbers from USA Today, the request have skyrocketed and now individuals are failing to have their requests answered. The type of requests the agency is receiving increased numbers are what is known as an “open-records requests.” These requests are generally tailored, often by necessity, to request that any and all information collected by a government agency regarding an individual be...

A report from the Center for Media and Democracy, the State Policy Network (SPN) is nothing more than a conglomerate of 64 thinktanks that purport themselves to be “free-market” but in-fact only serve to promote radical right-wing positions. The group(s) are responsible for agendas that include denying and opposing climate change legislation, the reduction and denial of labor and worker protections, opposing minimum wage standards, the privatization of education, increased restriction of voters rights and lobbying for the tobacco industry. The report further outlined that the group has an annual budget of $83.2 million which comes primarily from major...