Boston 325 articles

Columbia Gas and its parent company NiSource expect to pay about $1.3 billion for damages related to a series of natural gas explosions that destroyed parts of three Massachusetts towns in September. The company said that those costs don’t include expenses related to restoration efforts, such as replacing pipeline and modernizing its infrastructure to prevent a similar event from happening in the future. According to the Associated Press, the NiSource’s latest financial reports show the company allocated $757 million to third-party claims filed against the utility, including property damage. The utility incurred an additional $266 million for other expenses related ... Read More

Boston Market is recalling about 86 tons of its boneless pork rib patties because they may be contaminated with bits of glass or hard plastic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a news release. The patties were distributed by Bellsio Foods and were part of the Boston Market Home Style Meals labeled as Boneless Pork Rib Shaped Patty with BBQ Sauce & Mashed Potatoes. Affected packages have the “Best By” dates of 12/07/2019 and lot code 8341; 01/04/2020 and lot code 9004; 1/24/2020 and lot code 9024; and 02/15/2020 and lot code 9046. ... Read More

In 2015, executives from Insys Therapeutics played a parody video during the company’s national sales meeting. Employees rapped to the tune of A$AP Rocky’s “F**kin’ Problems” and encouraged sales staff to boost sales of its potent fentanyl spray Subsys. Toward the end of the video, the company’s former head of sales appeared dressed as a 1,600-microgram bottle of Subsys – the highest dosage available. In retrospect, it probably wasn’t a great idea. The video became evidence this week in a racketeering trial against five former Insys executives, including the Subsys suit-wearing sales manager Alec Burlakoff. Former Insys CEO Michael Babich ... Read More

A Massachusetts federal judge nixed Boeing’s request for a retrial in a case involving a woman who won a $2.2 million verdict against the company, finding it was clear from expert testimony that the woman suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder following a nail-biting flight in 2010. Adriana Guzman, a resident of Costa Rica, had flown aboard a Boeing aircraft in 2010 from Miami to Boston along with about 155 other passengers and crew, when at 32,000 feet in the air, an explosion-like noise erupted from the plane. An 18-inch-by-7-inch hole had torn through the 757’s fuselage, ... Read More

Insys Therapeutics Inc.’s founder and four of its executives stooped to new lows to entice doctors to prescribe their pricey opioid spray Subsys, treating them to lavish dinners, putting them on its payroll, and even giving one top prescriber of the drug a lap dance, Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Lazarus told a federal jury in Boston in the trial of former Insys chairman and founder John Kapoor. Kapoor, along with other company executives, is facing charges of using bribes and kickbacks to increase sales of Subsys, a highly addictive spray version of the opioid fentanyl. “This is a case ... Read More

Five former employees of the New England Compounding Center (NECC) blamed for manufacturing and distributing contaminated steroid injections to medical facilities across the country, which led to the 2012 outbreak of fungal infections and meningitis that sickened nearly 800 and killed 64, were found guilty Thursday morning by a Boston federal jury. A sixth employee who was also tried was found not guilty. The seven-week trial resulted in the convictions of mail fraud; conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, for the employees, according to Law360. Cleanroom pharmacist Gene ... Read More

A lithium-ion battery for an e-cigarette overheated inside a checked bag at Boston Logan International Airport, prompting an evacuation of a section of the busy airport and reminders from federal security agents that the batteries are prohibited in checked luggage. The smoldering e-cigarette battery was discovered on a busy Saturday morning after Thanksgiving when smoke began pouring from a suitcase inside the baggage screening room. According to NBC 10 Boston, the smoldering bag was discovered moments before it was loaded onto an airplane. Transportation Security Agents evacuated the baggage screening area and called in Massport Fire & Rescue and a ... Read More

A half dozen veterans’ groups representing nearly 5 million members asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve the care at its nursing homes after an investigative report by USA TODAY and the Boston Globe revealed “blatant disregard for veteran safety” at a VA nursing home in Massachusetts. A whistleblower had alerted officials of about possible signs of nursing home neglect at the Brockton VA facility, such as bedside urinals left unemptied and patients being regularly left unchecked. The home knew health officials would be following up on those claims by inspecting the facility for potential signs of neglect. But ... Read More

Three psychology professors at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, are facing charges of sexual misconduct by a group of female students who allege the men made inappropriate advances toward them, publicly groped them, and even coerced them into engaging in sexual relations, according to a lawsuit filed against the college. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is also conducting a criminal investigation into the alleged sexual misconduct by professors Todd Heatherton, Paul Whalen and Bill Kelley. The men were put on paid leave and had their access to campus restricted by the college during the investigation. The complaint describes ... Read More

A second class action lawsuit was filed against manufacturers and distributors of a high blood pressure drug that was found to be contaminated with a probable cancer-causing impurity. The lawsuit was filed in Boston federal court against New Jersey-based Camber Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Hetero Drugs Ltd. Hetero is based in India but makes the drug ingredient, valsartan, with its partner, Hetero USA Inc., also based in New Jersey. The lawsuit claims poor safety procedures at the India plant should have tipped the companies off years ago that the drugs could be contaminated. Instead, the companies “willfully ignored warning signs.” In ... Read More