"Gilead developed a complex, anticompetitive scheme," Healthcare Foundation said. "Gilead should not be able to artificially inflate drug prices by illegally manipulating the patent system such that the option is between access to life-saving drugs or an increased tax burden on Americans. The average taxpayer should not be forced to line the pockets of Gilead to ensure access to drugs for the most vulnerable patients suffering from HIV/AIDS."   read more

Saying free-speech rights cannot outweigh the need to preserve judicial integrity, the en banc Ninth Circuit on Wednesday upheld an Arizona law banning judges from soliciting donations or stumping for colleagues. The 21-page lead opinion affirms five provisions in Arizona judicial code, which restrict judicial candidates from in-person solicitation or endorsing and campaigning for other candidates publicly, under the First Amendment.   read more

The poll shows 61% of Americans support the plan to relax immigration policy for some undocumented people. Republican front-runners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have called for a crackdown on illegal immigration, with Trump promising to build a wall along southern U.S. border with Mexico. But Hispanic voters are an increasingly powerful voting bloc, and the debate over Obama's immigration action could hurt Republican attempts to make inroads into the important demographic.   read more

In rejecting the government's reliance on the "possible presence" of harm, Moss pointed to recent Supreme Court precedent warning "against permitting even substantial policy considerations to trump the plain language of the FOIA." "There may be compelling reasons to authorize the FBI to withhold search slips and similar processing records," Moss wrote. "But the FOIA itself does not do so, and the FBI cannot act on the basis of an exemption ... that Congress has not provided."   read more

McPadden claimed that Wal-Mart used her loss of a pharmacy key as a pretext for firing her after more than 13 years at the retailer. McPadden said she was fired in retaliation for her raising concerns that customers where she worked were getting prescriptions filled improperly because of inadequate staff training. McPadden also said her gender played a role, alleging that Wal-Mart later disciplined but stopped short of firing a male pharmacist in New Hampshire who also lost his pharmacy key.   read more

The FTC said DeVry would define a student as working in a chosen field when the individual was, in fact, working as a restaurant server. In another instance, a graduate with a business degree with a healthcare management focus was listed as working in his field when he was selling cars. "Educational institutions like DeVry owe prospective students the truth about their graduates' success finding employment in their field of study and the income they can earn," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.   read more

Friday's move was prompted in part by the death of the driver of a Ford Motor Co pickup truck last month, as well as new tests conducted on suspected faulty air bags. The Dec. 22 death of a Georgia man in South Carolina was the 10th worldwide linked with Takata's air bag inflators. NHTSA in November said tens of millions of additional vehicles with inflators containing ammonium nitrate will be recalled by 2018 unless Takata can prove that they are safe.   read more

U.S. District Judge John deGravelles granted a preliminary injunction sought by abortion providers, finding that the law violated women's rights to obtain an abortion. "Without an injunction, Louisiana women will suffer significantly reduced access to constitutionally protected abortion services, which will likely have serious health consequences," he wrote in the 112-page opinion. The Louisiana law was enacted under the state's former Republican governor, Bobby Jindal.   read more

Obama cited the story of Kalief Browder, a black 16-year-old who was arrested in 2010 and spent almost two years in solitary confinement in New York City's Rikers Island jail before his release in 2013 and eventual suicide two years later. Obama said research suggests solitary confinement has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior.   read more

The fine imposed on Oklahoma University was for incidents that included hosing down baby baboons, failure to monitor baboons during surgery, and allowing guinea pigs to bleed to death. University president David Boren said the school's baboon breeding and research would end within four years after federal officials had found more than 50 baboons died under the OU lab's care. USDA investigations found 11 incidents of suspected animal mistreatment at the labs in 2014 and 2015.   read more

After the 2013 Supreme Court ruling, members of the Shelby County legal team argued they should qualify for fees because they vindicated constitutional equality guarantees. The appeals court had said the fee request "defies common sense" because the lawsuit was not seeking to advance the Voting Rights Act's anti-discrimination purpose. The Shelby County case was initiated by conservative activist Edward Blum, whose group regularly challenges race-based policies.   read more

Cigna had "widespread and systemic failures" that prevented patients from accessing medical services. and it didn't handle complaints and grievances properly from patients who had been denied coverage, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Officials also found Cigna didn't handle its requests for prior authorization and exceptions as it should have. These deficiencies posed "a serious threat to the health and safety of Medicare beneficiaries" and followed years of noncompliance.   read more

Many managers and staff dealing with emissions problems in the department knew of or were involved in developing the "defeat devices." A culture of collective secrecy prevailed, where the installation of the defeat software that would cause the carmaker's biggest ever corporate crisis was openly discussed as long ago as 2006. VW has said it is not aware of any involvement by top management in the affair, which toppled its chief executive last year and is likely to cost billions of dollars.   read more

Susan Hedman, the second official to resign over the crisis, had played down an EPA memo that said tests had shown high levels of lead in the city's water, telling Flint and Michigan administrators it was only a draft report. "Our strength can become a weakness if we interpret our responsibility as ending with simple technical compliance," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. The White House said President Obama will ensure officials will be held accountable if any wrongdoing is found.   read more

"As the role of the Internet in the daily lives of consumers increases, this means an increased potential for surveillance," said the letter to FCC chairman Wheeler. Critics say providers are already harvesting huge amounts of consumer data for use in targeted advertising. "This can create a chilling effect on speech and increase the potential for discriminatory practices derived from data use," the letter said. Wheeler said providers must make sure data they collect about consumers is secure.   read more

The justices will consider whether Obama violated the Constitution, raising the possibility that the court could limit the reach of a president’s executive authority. In 2008, Obama ran for president criticizing President George W. Bush’s expansive use of executive power, which included a warrantless wiretapping program and indefinite detention of terror suspects. Once in office, Obama continued many of Bush’s counterterrorism policies and has zealously guarded presidential power.   read more