India's Infosys U.S. listed shares plunge after whistleblower complaints

U.S.-listed shares of Infosys Ltd fell nearly 16% in premarket trading on Monday after the Indian software services exporter said it had received whistleblower complaints alleging “unethical practices” by the company’s executives.

The company issued a statement after The Economic Times reported here that an anonymous group sent letters to Infosys' board and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that the company was taking "unethical" steps to boost short-term revenue and profit.

The group alleged that Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh was bypassing reviews and approvals for large deals, the ET report said. read more »

Four big drug firms agree $260m opioid payout hours before trial set to begin

Four major pharmaceutical companies have agreed a multimillion-dollar payout over the US opioid epidemic, hours before a federal trial in Ohio in which they were to be accused of a conspiracy to profit off of addiction and death.

Teva Pharmaceuticals, the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world, and three drug distributors, among the biggest corporations in America, have agreed to pay a total of $260m to settle lawsuits by two Ohio counties.

The trial was intended as the first of a series designed to establish whether opioid makers, drug distributors and pharmacy chains are liable to pay out billions to thousands of counties, cities and Native American tribes blighted by an epidemic that has claimed more than 400,000 lives over the past two decades.

The other companies that settled included the drug distributors McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, both among the top 10 revenue-generating companies in the US. read more »

Boeing may face billions more in losses as MAX crisis deepens: analysts

Boeing Co may have to book billions of dollars in additional charges related to its grounded 737 MAX jets, brokerages said on Monday, following reports that call into question the timing of the aircraft’s return to service.

Credit Suisse and UBS downgraded the stock after reports on Friday showed internal messages between two Boeing employees stating that the plane’s anti-stall system behaved erratically during testing before the aircraft entered service.

The new revelations pose fresh challenges for Boeing, which is reeling under pressure after two fatal crashes forced the company to ground the planes and book billions of dollars in losses. read more »

7.1 million to resolve Medicare False Claims Act allegations

Seven former Osteo Relief Institutes (ORIs) and their owners have agreed to pay the United States collectively more than $7.1 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that they knowingly billed Medicare for medically unnecessary viscosupplementation injections and medically unnecessary knee braces, the Justice Department announced today.

The settlement also resolves a lawsuit filed against the ORIs and their owners under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions, which permit private individuals to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery. The Act allows the government to intervene and take over the action, as it did, in part, in this case. The whistleblower in this action will receive $857,550. read more »