In New York, federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit accusing Novartis of providing illegal kickbacks to pharmacies. The kickbacks took the form of discounts and rebates and were intended to cause the pharmacies to promote use of one of the company’s drugs. The suit began as a whistle-blower lawsuit that remains under seal, as does the identity of the whistle-blower. The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The Novartis drug involved in the dispute is called Myfortic and is an... 

Across the U.S., one patient in 20 at hospitals picks up an infection, with some being very hard to fight. The infections are ones patients did not have when they checked into the hospital and some are caused by the very dangerous “superbugs” that have become harder and harder to treat. The increase in superbugs as well as the increase in pressure from insurers and the government has cause hospitals to attempt various new approaches to try to stop the spread of the infections. Hospitals have... 

Illinois-based AbbVie announced earnings on Friday that passed Wall Street expectations. The biotech company said it could earn up to $1.5 billion more annually from Humira its popular rheumatoid arthritis drug, which already represents nearly 50% of the company’s overall sales. Officials said that Humira’s sales would increase as new uses for the drug are approved. During the first quarter of 2013, sales for Humira jumped 16% from the same quarter one year ago, which helped the company report... 

In an attempt to gain ground on its competitors, T-Mobile started selling the iPhone to its customers without asking customers to sign-up for long-term service contracts. The new marketing strategy spreads the cost of the device over a two-year period and can be paid off early if customers choose to walk away. However, some do not believe it will be enough to draw customers away from the other major carriers. T-Mobile recently announced they would be offering the iPhone 5 for $100 up front and $20... 

U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Novartis, the huge drug maker based in Switzerland, of giving physicians lavish dinners and trips for fishing and other excursions so the doctors would prescribe medications for medications produced by pharmaceutical giant. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant said the monies were used to pay physicians to speak at different educational programs in the U.S. However, prosecutors said that many of those programs or meetings were held in restaurants such as Hooters. Authorities... 

Danica Patrick, the NASCAR driver, has announced that her divorce has now become finalized. A judge in Arizona signed the consent decree on April 15 between the Go-Daddy NASCAR driver and Paul Hospenthal her husband. The decree was filed just two days after the signing, which ended the seven-year marriage between the couple. Patrick, who is 31, announced last November on via her page on Facebook that she had split from her husband, saying the couple’s marriage had become irretrievably broken. Patrick... 

In Europe, antitrust regulators have received a formal complaint about Google’s Android operating system for mobile devices. Fairsearch Europe, a group of Google’s competitors, filed the complaint against the Android operating system for mobile saying that it was a deceptive way for Google to gain advantages for its main Google apps. Nearly 70 percent of smartphones shipped last year run Google’s Android software. Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s antitrust chief, did not comment on... 

The Baltimore corrections system had 25 members indicted in a major scandal that included 13 prison guards for charges that ranged from drug conspiracy to racketeering to money laundering. The operation was run through a prison gang where inmates virtually were in control of the jail where they had been incarcerated. Officials from federal law enforcement said the defendants either conspired with or had taken bribes from members of the gang Black Guerilla Family, to smuggle cell phones, drugs and... 

Apple has announced a plan to more than double its program to reward shareholders by returning cash to them through stock buybacks and a higher dividend. The technology giant announced that it planned to spend $100 billion on the effort through the end of 2015. Share repurchases will increase from $10 billion to $60 billion. This is the largest such plan in history, the company said. Apple recently announced its first profit decline in a decade. Apple reported that its net income decreased 18 percent... 

A new study ranks poultry and meat, based upon outbreaks of illnesses that are foodborne. In the U.S., the average person consumes about 130 pounds of poultry, beef and pork each year. That amount of meat consumption provides for ample opportunity to contract a foodborne illness during the course of one year. Fortunately, outbreaks of illness linked to poultry and meat have fallen over the past 12 years since regulatory oversight has become much stricter and litigation has made meat producers clean... 

Boeing acknowledged that tests of the lithium-ion batteries on its 787 planes underestimated the risks of fire. Mike Sinnett, Boeing’s chief engineer on the 787, revealed that the calculation that a battery would fail only once every 10 million flight hours only applied to the design of the battery and did not take into account possible flaws in manufacturing. However, the company defended its previous assessment that the hazard was extremely unlikely. The 787 is the first major commercial airplane... 

Tom Cruise returned to lead the box office with the debut of his newest film Oblivion, a sci-fi adventure. The film’s debut helped the veteran actor reaffirm his star power with a weekend take of $38.2 million, which was easily the highest earning film of the weekend. The film cost over $120 million and opened with a very solid weekend. The start was also positive for Cruise, who has not been successful recently at the cinema with underperforming movies such as Rock of Ages, Knight and Day, Valkyrie... 

On Saturday afternoon, five snowboarders lost their lives after an avalanche they apparently triggered in the backcountry at Loveland Pass in Colorado, fell on them. Search crews and rescue personnel recovered the five bodies a number of hours after the avalanche. The slide was over 600 feet wide with snow that was up to eight feet deep, Sheriff Don Krueger of Clear Creek said. Another snowboarder who was caught in the same avalanche survived after digging himself from the snow and calling for assistance.... 

In Guatemala City, on Friday, uncertainty was apparent in the courtroom at the Efrain Rios Montt genocide trial. Rios Montt is a former army general and congressman, who was a dictator in Guatemala as well. Judges argued over what judge should be presiding over the case following an order that was given on Thursday to annul close to 18 months worth of court and legal proceedings. The Thursday order of annulment was made by Judge Patricia Flores. Judge Flores presided over the case originally. She... 

The Professional Football Association in England has released its shortlist of six men for the Player of the Year trophy. The most controversial player on the list is Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan has been one of the English Premier Leagues’ most effective players. However, he has had his reputation damaged by the ban of eight matches he received last season for racial abuse against Manchester United’s Patrice Evra and claims he like to take dives to draw yellow cards and penalties... 

Authorities in Russia have put the most vocal critic of Vladimir Putin, the country’s president, on trial in what many experts believe to be a risky attempt to shut out the country’s biggest and most charismatic opposition leader, from politics. Alexei Navalny, the most well known campaigner for anti-corruption in Russia, led huge protests against Putin last year. Navalny was charged by Russian authorities with embezzlement and if found guilty, could face 10 years behind bars. On Wednesday, the... 

On Wednesday, Toyota Motors announced it reached the five million sales mark for its autos that are hybrid. The giant automaker from Japan produces the Prius Hybrid and announced that more than 5.125 million of its hybrid vehicles have been sold since the first Prius was launched back in 1997. The hybrid gives users the ability to switch between an electric engine and a standard gasoline engine in accordance with driving conditions and the availability of resources such as electrical recharging facilities. Many... 

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs reported its first quarter earnings that were better that what Wall Street had expected. Earnings were $2.26 billion from revenue that reached $10.1 billion, which beat estimates of just over $1.97 billion for earnings and $9.65 billion for revenue. The company had per share adjusted earnings of $4.29, which surpassed the estimate per share value of $3.86. Goldman Sachs was up in pre-market trading by about 1% to $147.40. Earnings at the top stand-alone investment bank in... 

Yahoo’s first-quarter earnings beat analysts’ expectations. Net income in the first quarter increased 36 percent to $390 million, or 35 cents a share, from the same quarter a year ago. Wall Street analysts had expected net income of 24 cents a share. Its first quarter operating income was $186 million. Revenue decreased to $1.14 billion, down 7 percent from the year-ago quarter. Revenue was flat at $1.07 billion when traffic acquisition costs were excluded. Yahoo’s display ad business fell... 

A new study says that a treatment, which is minimally invasive and uses a small frozen ball, can treat chronic pain effectively. The treatment is cyroneurolysis and uses a small probe with a temperature of between minus 10 and minus 16 degrees Celsius. This probe effectively stops the nerves from emitting pain signals through burning the outer layer of the nerve that is damaged and not allowing pain signals to be emitted back to the brain. The condition that millions suffer from is called neuralgia... 

Comic actor Jonathan Winters who starred in movies and on television, died this past week at 87. Winters was one of the most talented improvisational actors and comics in the industry. He starred in his own show The Jonathan Winters Show, the well-known television show Mork and Mindy and the hilariously funny movie It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World. Winters was the godfather of improv comedians such as Jim Carrey and Robin Williams, but revered as a comic by the likes of Billy Crystal and Lily Tomlin. Bill... 

The U.S. Department of Treasury has said that valuation currency policy must be geared toward growth instead of giving a country a competitive advantage. The Obama administration this week used new and harsh language in warning Japan that it should not hold the value of its yen down in order to gain an advantage in the world’s markets, as the new government in Tokyo follows a path of aggressive policy with a goal at helping growth in its country. The Treasury, in its semi-annual report on global... 

Controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County Arizona had a package addressed to him containing explosive materials that was found at a post office in Flagstaff, both federal and local authorities said. Investigators said they believe the package had been picked up at a rural P.O. Box on Thursday and arrived in Flagstaff at the post office late in the afternoon the same day. The package was addressed to the headquarters of Sheriff Arpaio in Phoenix’s downtown area. A worker at the post office... 

Microsoft has published reports of recent requests for data made by government law enforcement agencies. They are joining companies like Google and Twitter that publish these reports to provide transparency to their millions of customers. According to announced plans, the Microsoft report will be updated every six months and will show the number of request made by government agencies to obtain information about the users who use their services. The first report showed that five countries, including... 

A man from Oregon says his two teenage daughters are the reason he is still alive today. He said they saved him last weekend after they were able to lift a tractor that weighed 3,000 off him. The man’s boot slipped off the clutch of the tractor causing the tractor to flip, pinning to the ground. Jeff Smith was busy tending to his yard when the accident took place and he became pinned beneath the tractor’s steering wheel. He immediately had a hard time breathing and each time he called for help...