Month: April 2013

(Reuters) – A Nevada jury awarded $500 million in punitive damages in a closely watched case against two affiliates of UnitedHealth Group stemming from a hepatitis C outbreak in the state, according to a spokeswoman for a law firm in the case. The case involves two patients who claimed they became infected with hepatitis C, a disease that attacks the liver, because their gastroenterologist used allegedly unsafe injection practices for an endoscopy. …

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury ordered the state’s largest health management organization on Tuesday to pay $500 million in punitive damages to three plaintiffs in a civil negligence lawsuit stemming from a Las Vegas hepatitis outbreak.

By Greg Roumeliotis and Soyoung Kim NEW YORK (Reuters) – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc made a binding offer for Life Technologies Corp on Tuesday as private equity firms raced to finalize a consortium to take the genetic testing equipment maker private, several people familiar with the matter said. Life Tech, with a current market value of more than $11 billion, has become an attractive target due to its strength in advanced diagnostics and gene sequencing and if Thermo Fisher were to prevail, the deal would make it a major player in the genetic sequencing market. …

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The death toll in China from a new strain of bird flu rose to nine on Tuesday, said state media, who also quoted Chinese authorities saying a vaccine should be ready within months. The latest victim was from Anhui province, the official Xinhua news service reported. The H7N9 strain, which was confirmed in humans for the first time last month, has now infected 28 people, all of them in eastern China, of whom nine have died, according to data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission cited in the Xinhua report. …

BEIJING (AP) — China says two more people have died of a new strain of bird flu, bringing the death toll to nine.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc made a binding offer for Life Technologies Corp on Tuesday as private equity firms raced to finalize a consortium to take the genetic testing equipment maker private, several people familiar with the matter said. Thermo Fisher met a bid deadline on Tuesday but private equity firms working on a joint bid missed it and were working late into the evening to secure the equity required to support an offer, the people said. …

By Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Momentum is building among Republican lawmakers for legislation to prevent a credit default by the United States, suggesting they will fight hard for spending cuts when Congress debates another increase in the nation's debt limit this summer. More than 60 fiscal conservatives in the House of Representatives now support so-called "prioritization" legislation. Prioritization would direct the Treasury to pay the interest and principal on U.S. …

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury has ordered the state’s largest health management organization to pay $500 million in punitive damages to three plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit stemming from a Las Vegas hepatitis outbreak.

By Martinne Geller and Emily Flitter (Reuters) – In a blow to one of the world's largest accounting firms, KPMG said it resigned as auditor of two U.S. corporations amid an FBI investigation into insider trading allegations involving leaked information and a former senior partner. The two California-based companies – nutritional products group Herbalife Ltd and footwear maker Skechers USA Inc – said separately on Tuesday that KPMG had quit as their auditor in connection with the leaks. The FBI's Los Angeles office is investigating the matter, according to a source familiar with the situation. …

By Richard Cowan and John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate will cast its first vote this week on President Barack Obama's proposals to curb gun violence, which face a rough ride in Congress due to opposition from Republicans and gun rights activists. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid scheduled a procedural vote for Thursday to open debate on gun control and Democratic aides said they expect to defeat Republican efforts to block the bill from reaching the Senate floor. …