“Health courts,” medical justice, and the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Law professor Nora Engstrom has written A Dose of Reality for Specialized Courts: Lessons from the VICP. Here is the abstract: The latest in a long line of reform proposals, health courts have been called “the best option for fixing our broken system of medical justice.” And, if health courts’ supporters are to be believed, […]

Judge Upholds Cancellation of Washington Redskins Trademarks

A federal district judge in Virginia on Wednesday rejected the Washington Redskins’ challenge to the cancellation of the football team’s trademarks as disparaging to Native Americans. Judge Gerald Bruce Lee upheld a previous finding by a patent and trademark administrative board that the trademarks violated federal law under the Lanham Act. The judge denied the team’s constitutional […]

FTC’s busy week – debt collection and payday loans

The Federal Trade Commission has had a busy week. Yesterday, the FTC announced that it had stopped a "massive payday loan fraud scheme." The operators of a payday lending scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars from consumers by trapping them into loans they never authorized will be banned from the consumer lending business under […]

Supplement marketers settle FTC deceptive advertising charges

The Federal Trade Commission has announced: The marketers of a dietary supplement called Procera AVH will relinquish $1.4 million under settlements resolving Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceived consumers with claims that the supplement was clinically proven to significantly improve memory, mood, and other cognitive functions. Under the terms of the settlements, the defendants […]

Voters want stronger Wall Street regulation

The Washington Examiner reports: Voters overwhelmingly say they want stronger regulations for banks and less Wall Street influence in Washington even as the financial crisis recedes into the past, according to a new poll released Tuesday by advocates of tougher rules on the financial industry. Seventy-three percent of likely 2016 voters favor the provisions of […]

CFPB, 47 States and D.C. Take Action Against JPMorgan Chase for Selling Bad Credit Card Debt and Robo-Signing Court Documents

From the CFPB press release: Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Attorneys General in 47 states and the District of Columbia took action against JPMorgan Chase for selling bad credit card debt and illegally robo-signing court documents. The CFPB and states found that Chase sold “zombie debts” to third-party debt buyers, which include accounts […]

What does it take to get a gag order in the Southern District of New York?

by Paul Alan Levy Not much, it appears.   Following up on the recent spate of stories about a grand jury subpoena that the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York had issued to Reason Magazine, demanding the identities of the authors over several commenters who called for the execution of […]

Whole Foods tries a Hail Mary

By Stephen Gardner According to a story in Food Navigator, Whole Foods filed a motion to dismiss (Download Motion to Dismiss) a lawsuit over the chicanery of its using the FDA-Disapproved term "Evaporated Cane Juice" instead of calling it what it is, "Sugar," because consumers intuitively understand that evaporated cane juice is sugar. I assume Whole Foods will […]

FTC reaches $54 million settlement over payday loans

The USA Today reports, "The operators of a payday lending scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars from consumers nationwide have agreed to more than $54 million in tentative settlements with the Federal Trade Commission." The scheme, which affected approximately 400,000 consumers, involved a variety of misrepresentations and unauthorized deposits and withdrawals. Read more here.