A Florida man who was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud was sentenced to serve 27 months in prison today in federal court in Tampa, Florida

The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced a settlement to resolve allegations that GE Capital Retail Bank, known as of this month as Synchrony Bank, engaged in a nationwide pattern or practice of discrimination by excluding Hispanic borrowers from two of its credit card debt-repayment programs

The settlement resolves claims that the bank discriminated against Hispanic borrowers by excluding them from two credit card debt-repayment programs. It is the federal government’s largest credit card discrimination settlement in history.

Earlier today, William S. Gazafi, age 44, of Lusby, Maryland, was sentenced to 120 years in prison, for six counts of sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography

Roderic J. Smith, 50, the co-founder and former president of a government contracting company, was sentenced yesterday to 48 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for conspiracy to bribe public officials. Smith was ordered to forfeit $175,000

Dwayne A. Hardman, 44, co-founder of two government contracting companies that sought business from the United States Navy Military Sealift Command (MSC), and Adam C. White, 40, former vice president and co-owner of one of Hardman’s government contracting companies, were sentenced for bribery and conspiracy. On July 9, 2014, Hardman was sentenced to 96 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release

A Crozet, Virginia man who previously pleaded guilty to child pornography charges was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville for distribution and possession of child pornography

Two West Bloomfield, Michigan, residents pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan today, announced the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

“If an institution is unwilling to admit its wrongful conduct in a statement of facts; or balks at paying a substantial penalty that reflects that conduct; or refuses to do right by those affected, then we will not shrink from litigating as long as we must to fulfill our law enforcement mandate.”

Robert Eugene Revay, 79, of Oakland Park, Florida, was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison for conspiring to produce child pornography and for possession of child pornography

Attorney General Eric Holder today released the following statement regarding the U.S. Sentencing Commission vote approving retroactivity of sentence reductions for drug offenses

Three federal indictments were unsealed today in the Northern District of Georgia charging six members of three different piracy groups – Appbucket, Applanet and SnappzMarket – for their roles in the illegal distribution of copies of copyrighted Android mobile device applications, or “apps,” announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates of the Northern District of Georgia, and Special Agent in Charge J. Britt Johnson of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office

"Because if a government of, by and for the people means anything at all, it means that a ballot has the power to give equal voice to the high and the low; the weak and the strong; those at the bottom as well as the top. It means that in the polling place, the line is just as long for the richest among us as it is for those who often work the hardest but have the least."

A 65-year-old registered sex offender, with two prior convictions relating to possession of child pornography and attempted sexual conduct with minors, was found guilty today of attempting to produce child pornography, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, transporting child pornography, possessing child pornography and offense by a registered sex offender

Mr. Chairperson, distinguished Members of the committee, and representatives of civil society. My name is Mark Kappelhoff and I serve as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. It is an honor to be a member of the U.S. delegation and to share with you some of the Justice Department’s work to address racial discrimination and to fulfill our obligations under the convention.

The Justice Department announced today that the owners and operators of the Alger Meadows Apartments in Grand Rapids, Michigan, have agreed to pay $550,000 in damages and civil penalties and to terminate property manager Dale VanderVennen’s role in managing the complex to settle a lawsuit alleging that VanderVennen sexually harassed female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA).

Today, the United States won court approval of a settlement agreement to reform the ways in which the Portland Oregon Police Bureau (“PPB”) interacts with individuals with actual or perceived mental illness. The agreement was entered jointly by the United States and the city of Portland, Oregon, with the approval of the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform (“AMA Coalition”) and Portland Police Association (“PPA”). The agreement addresses constitutional claims in a civil action filed by the United States pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. In today’s order, the court approved the agreement with the requirement that the parties appear for periodic hearings to provide the court progress on implementation of the agreement.

A Colombian man extradited to the Eastern District of Virginia pleaded guilty today for his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent James Terry Watson in Bogotá, Colombia, on June 20, 2013.

Life Care Services LLC, a manager of skilled nursing facilities based in Des Moines, Iowa, and CoreCare V LLP, doing business as ParkVista, a skilled nursing facility in Fullerton, California, have agreed to pay a total of $3.75 million to the government for causing the submission of false claims to Medicare for unreasonable or unnecessary rehabilitation therapy purportedly provided by RehabCare Group East Inc., a subsidiary of Kindred Healthcare Inc.

Episcopal Ministries to the Aging Inc., a Maryland not-for-profit corporation that owns skilled nursing facilities, has agreed to pay $1.3 million to the government for submitting false claims to Medicare for unreasonable or unnecessary rehabilitation therapy purportedly provided by RehabCare Group East Inc., a subsidiary of Kindred Healthcare Inc.

A Detroit-area hematologist-oncologist pleaded guilty today for his role in a health care fraud scheme, admitting that he administered unnecessary chemotherapy to fraudulently bill the Medicare program and private insurance companies. According to court records, the scheme enabled the doctor to submit approximately $225 million in claims to Medicare over six years.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Philip R

By Alice Li, MD, MSc, RAC (CAN), Regulatory Scientist, Cato Research FDA issued “The Abbreviated 510(k) Program – Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff” on 13 September 2019. The content of this guidance supersedes the content from 1998 guidance “The New 510(k) Paradigm – Alternate Approaches to Demonstrating Substantial Equivalence in Premarket …

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By Ashley Henderson, PhD, CATO SMS Scientist 1.0 INTRODUCTION The COVID‑19 pandemic has added an unprecedented set of challenges to the conduct of clinical trials including quarantines, travel limitations, site closures, and interruptions in the supply chain of investigational products. In acknowledgement of these challenges, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes that protocol modifications …

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By Zachary Swan, PhD, RAC, Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs at CATO SMS    Special Interest Guidances/Information Date Posted Exemption and Exclusion from Certain Requirements of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Guidance for Industry – Final Guidance 30 April 2020 FDA Deems Certain Tobacco Products Subject to FDA Authority, …

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new high-pressure ventilator developed by NASA to treat coronavirus or COVID-19 patients. The space agency is offering the designs for licensing on a royalty-free basis during the time of the pandemic, hoping to increase the availability of life-saving medical devices.

Axsome Therapeutics Inc.'s (AXSM) phase II/III trial of investigational drug AXS-05 in Alzheimer's disease agitation has met the primary endpoint.

Shares of Relmada Therapeutics Inc. (RLMD) have gained 19 percent so far this year and trade around $37.

Today's Daily Dose brings you news about the acquisition of Portola by Alexion; encouraging results from TG Therapeutics' chronic lymphocytic leukemia trial; Akebia's INNO2VATE trial results; and Vapotherm's Q1 financial results.

These are exciting times for Vapotherm Inc. (VAPO) whose share price has almost doubled in value since the beginning of this year.

Communities and policymakers working to meet the challenges of a global pandemic may need to take a range of targeted actions, such as building awareness, launching preventive measures, boosting health care infrastructure, or allocating emergency funding. These decisions, which can influence health outcomes significantly, highlight the importance of having the information needed to evaluate...

More than 56 million people in the United States live in areas with dentist shortages. Dental therapy is a proven solution that has helped increase access to care. Dental therapists are midlevel providers who deliver preventive and routine restorative treatment at schools, nursing homes, and veterans homes to people who would otherwise struggle to get access to care.

Testing for the novel coronavirus in the United States has not kept pace with the enormous demand despite national efforts to ramp up capacity.

Neuroscience has had a tough run of news lately. With Amgen deprioritizing neuro this year, Pfizer doing the same last year, and others like BMS, GSK, and AZ cutting back on CNS a few years earlier, it would seem dark

The post The Promise Of Precision Neuroscience And Launch Of Arkuda Therapeutics appeared first on LifeSciVC.

Today Alkermes announced its acquisition of Rodin Therapeutics, a leader in the field of synaptic dysfunction and neuronal epigenetics. Alkermes extensive experience in CNS diseases made them an ideal partner for Rodin, and this acquisition helps expand Alkermes’ efforts into

The post Thinking Boldly: Alkermes Acquires Rodin Therapeutics appeared first on LifeSciVC.

This blog was written by Aoife Brennan, CEO of Synlogic, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. I have never participated in trench warfare and I am sure it was pretty grim for those who lived and

The post Coming Together While Staying Apart appeared first on LifeSciVC.

This blog post was written by Deanna Petersen, CBO of AVROBIO, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. When AVROBIO went public in June 2018, I found myself on the steep end of an unexpected but interesting

The post Recipe For Managing Data Disclosure Successfully With Academic Partners: A Public Gene Therapy Company Perspective appeared first on LifeSciVC.

This blog was written by Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.  If CEOs have empowered their teams effectively, they have three roles during times of rapid change: Motivator in chief

The post The Balancing Act: Taking A Systematic Approach To Hard Decisions In Times Of Rapid Change appeared first on LifeSciVC.

The Organic Trade Association and The Organic Center on Thursday applauded Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) for introducing The Organic Agriculture Research Act of 2018.

Alkemist Labs is pleased to announce a move to a new facility with over four times more space to expand capacity and accommodate continued growth.

From access to capital to dispute resolution.

In scenic Puerto Varas, APEC delegates engaged in constructive dialogue about how to adopt to a changing world.

Ministers convened this week in Concepcion to talk about one of the most underrepresented but vital business sectors of the region.

Ministers in charge of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the APEC region issued a statement following their meeting in Concepcion, Chile, on 5-6 September 2019.

We need it for inclusive policymaking

APEC continues to bolster ethics in the healthcare sector in support of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and patients, as Chile launches a consensus framework to improve ethical interactions in its healthcare system.

APEC economies, data privacy regulators, and other stakeholders are exploring ways to bolster the Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system.

Equal pay, migrant workers, and maternal health are the issues highlighted by the finalists of the inaugural APEC Healthy Women, Healthy Economies Research Prize.

APEC officials announced this year’s winners for the annual APEC Business Efficiency and Success Target Awards, or BEST Awards - a collection of some of the best women-led businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.

Policies impacting women’s economic advancement have improved in some areas, but more reforms are needed to enable women to fully thrive, reports the newly updated APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard 2019.