Probe Prompts Kansas Inflatables Company to Cancel Jobs

May 7, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Several parents were caught off guard when two Wichita, Kan., companies that provide inflatable rides canceled reservations at the last minute.

Last June, Moonwalks for Fun’s license to provide inflatable rides was suspended for two years because of a five-month gap in liability insurance coverage, but The Wichita Eagle reported on May 3 that it appears the company has continued to rent inflatables to city residents.

Pure Entertainment, an events venue, is allowed to have inflatables at its site, but the rides must be provided by a company licensed to operate in Wichita. The companies started calling customers after the newspaper reported they were being investigated by the city for possible ordinance violations.

Both companies are owned by Duane Zogleman and run on a day-to-day basis by his son, Jesse Zogleman.

In 2010, a 5-year-old Wichita boy died after falling from an inflatable ride and hitting his head on a concrete floor. The ride was provided by Moonwalks for Fun at Pure Entertainment. Late last year, the boy’s mother received a $435,000 settlement in a lawsuit she filed against Moonwalks for Fun.

An hour after the newspaper posted its story about the city’s investigation on its website, the Young family got a call from Moonwalks for Fun, saying their daughter’s 4th birthday party at Pure Entertainment would not include inflatable rides.

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Senate Panel to Probe Ties Between Painkill Drugmakers, Medical Nonprofits

May 10, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsA U.S. Senate panel has launched a probe of possible links between three drugmakers and nonprofit medical groups that advocated for increasing the use of prescription painkillers, now the target of a nationwide law enforcement crackdown.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat, and the panel’s leading Republican, Senator Chuck Grassley, said the drugmakers and allied groups could be behind dubious marketing practices that have coincided with a huge jump in deadly overdoses from painkillers known as opioids.

“These painkillers have an important role in health care when prescribed and used properly, but pushing misinformation on consumers to boost profits is not only wrong, it’s dangerous,” Baucus said in a statement.

Baucus and Grassley said they sent letters to drugmakers Johnson & Johnson, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Purdue Pharma and seven medical groups seeking documents about their financial connections.

Officials at the three companies were not immediately available for comment.

Lawmakers hope to find out if medical groups have promoted misleading information about the risks and benefits of opioid use while receiving financial support from manufacturers.

The Senate investigation comes at a time when federal, state and local law enforcement officials are coming to grips with a national epidemic involving the illicit use of prescription drugs. Their abuse has surpassed heroin and cocaine as a source of fatal overdoses.

Opioids were involved in 14,800 overdose deaths in 2008, more than cocaine and heroin combined, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A crackdown spearheaded by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has included healthcare companies including two Florida pharmacies operated by CVS Caremark Corp. and a distribution facility owned by Cardinal Health Inc..

Privately owned Purdue Pharma is the maker of OxyContin. Endo manufactures Percocet. Both have been linked to addiction and overdoses.

“There is growing evidence pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and market opioids may be responsible, at least in part, for this evidence by promoting misleading information,” Baucus and Grassley said in their letters.

One of the groups, the American Pain Foundation, posted a notice on its Web site saying its board of directors voted May 3 to dissolve the organization because of ongoing financial obligations.

The Senate probe follows an investigation by nonprofit news website ProPublica and the Washington Post, which found that the American Pain Foundation received 90 percent of its funding from the drug and medical device industry in 2010.

At the same time, it produced its guides for patients, policymakers and journalists that played down the risks of opioid painkillers and promoted the benefits.

 

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: National NewsTopics: pain clinics, pain killers, prescription drugsHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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European Commission Approves ING Restructuring; Opens New Probe

May 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsThe European Commission on Friday approved a restructuring plan for Dutch bank and insurer ING made during the financial crisis as compatible with the European Union’s internal market, but also opened an investigation into amendments to the plan.

Friday’s approval followed a court ruling in March that the Commission had failed to show that extra aid granted to the Dutch financial group gave it an advantage over rivals.

The Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe’s second-highest, annulled part of a 2009 decision by the European Commission, which demanded a restructuring plan from ING, including asset sales, before it could approve the aid.

After the original Commission decision, ING said it had had to make hefty concessions, including selling its online bank ING Direct USA in February, no longer being a price leader in some markets and not making acquisitions.

However, the Commission’s approval was based on a restructuring plan submitted in 2009, and since that time, the Dutch state and ING have notified the Commission of amendments to the plan, the Commission said in a statement. The Commission on Friday opened an in-depth investigation into these changes.

“The Commission considers that the complexity of the issues justifies an in-depth analysis,” the EU executive said.

At the same time the Commission said it has appealed the General Court’s judgment to the Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe’s highest court.

The original Commission judgment followed the granting to ING by the Dutch State in the autumn of 2008 recapitalization aid of

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Force-Placed Insurers on Hot Seat as N.Y. Regulators Expand Probe

April 6, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle4 Comments

New York regulators are expanding their investigation into the so-called force-placed insurance that target homeowners in financial distress.

Benjamin Lawsky, the state’s superintendent for the financial services department, said Thursday that he has asked largest licensed force-placed insurers operating in New York to provide a detailed accounting of their expenses, claims payments and profits. Regulators say initial findings from their investigation have raised more concerns.

Regulators Seek More Documents From Insurers

Lawsky said his department has sent formal document requests to several insurers. These companies include: Balboa Insurance Company; QBE Insurance Corporation; QBE Financial Institution Risk Services Inc.; American Security Insurance Company (Assurant); American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida (Assurant); Meritplan Insurance Company; American Modern Home Insurance Company; Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Company; and Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland.

These insurers will now have to provide to regulators extensive information and supporting documentation, including:


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