Posted on June 4, 2012 in Uncategorized
A federal judge in Oregon has granted a preliminary injunction to prevent the implementation of a jail policy that would restrict inmate mail to a postcard: The Columbia County Jail instituted the postcard-only policy in March 2010 for both incoming and outgoing mail. The policy led to the censorship of many magazines and other publications,… read more…
Posted on June 4, 2012 in Uncategorized
Reuters has reported that, according to a study published online in BMJ, the diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) may be linked to an increased risk of bladder cancer. HealthDay has reported that investigators “collected data on nearly 116,000 people treated for diabetes from 1988 to 2009 and listed in the General Practice Research Database, which contains… read more…
Posted on June 1, 2012 in Uncategorized
The Washington Times reports, “The number of employment discrimination lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has nearly doubled in the past five years and seen a sharp increase in recent months, federal court records show, as the definition of ‘disability’ has expanded and what many believe are baseless lawsuits are filed. The increase… read more…
Posted on June 1, 2012 in Uncategorized
The AP reports from Boston, “In its unanimous ruling, the three-judge panel of the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston said the 1996 law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman discriminates against gay couples because it doesn’t give them the same rights and privileges as heterosexual couples…. read more…
Posted on May 31, 2012 in Uncategorized
The Ninth Circuit has ruled that a municipality that shuts down facilities that provide marijuana cannot be held liable for violating Title II of the Americans with Disabilites Act: The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) does not protect the use of medical… read more…
Posted on May 31, 2012 in Uncategorized
The Huffington Post is reporting that “Sikh and Muslim transit workers in New York City are celebrating the settlement of a federal lawsuit that will allow them to wear turbans on the job, in public and without affixing Metropolitan Transit Authority logos to them. They will just have to be the same blue color as… read more…
Posted on May 30, 2012 in Uncategorized
The Los Angeles Times has reported that, “A San Joaquin County woman has brought a class-action suit against Procter & Gamble Co., accusing its Olay Regenerist line of anti-aging products of false advertising and ‘ill-gotten gains.’ In Superior Court in Los Angeles, a complaint from Lorette Perez-Pirio this week said that magazine and Internet ads… read more…
Posted on May 30, 2012 in Uncategorized
The New York Times has reported on companies that have instituted a ban on cellphone use by employees while driving, noting that one year ago, the non-profit National Safety Council queried Fortune 500 companies about their policies. Out of “the 150 or so companies that responded, 20 percent had a full cellphone ban in place,… read more…
Posted on May 3, 2012 in Uncategorized
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, “Accretive Health has accused Minnesota’s Attorney General of releasing confidential documents and negotiating in bad faith in connection with last week’s public report blasting the consulting firm for its debt-collection practices at Fairview hospitals.” The company’s lawyer, in a letter, “said Attorney General Lori Swanson had distorted” Accretive’s “business practices… read more…
Posted on May 3, 2012 in Uncategorized
CNN’s “The Chart” blog reports the nonprofit environmental group HealthyStuff.org “tested nearly 200 common garden products and found two-thirds of them contained significant levels of one or more toxic chemicals they ranked of ‘high concern.’” In gardening products, such as “hoses, gloves, kneeling pads and a variety of tools like shovels and trowels researchers found… read more…