Claims Journal

U.S. Peach Grower Awarded $265 M From Bayer, BASF in Weedkiller Lawsuit
U.S. Peach Grower Awarded $265 M From Bayer, BASF in Weedkiller Lawsuit

A Missouri jury’s $265 million award to peach grower Bill Bader in his lawsuit against herbicide providers Bayer and BASF has raised the stakes for the two companies as at least 140 similar cases head to U.S. courts later this …

Posted: Feb 19, 2020

Ransomware Shuts Gas Compressor for Two Days in Latest Attack
Ransomware Shuts Gas Compressor for Two Days in Latest Attack

A recent ransomware attack caused a U.S. natural gas compressor facility to shut for two days, the latest in a string of attacks targeting the country’s energy infrastructure over the past few years. Hackers sent emails with a malicious link …

Posted: Feb 19, 2020

Electrical Tape on Sign Tricked a Tesla Into Speeding in a Test
Electrical Tape on Sign Tricked a Tesla Into Speeding in a Test

Researchers were able to trick a Tesla Inc. vehicle into speeding by putting a strip of electrical tape over a speed limit sign, spotlighting the kinds of potential vulnerabilities facing automated driving systems. Technicians at McAfee Inc. placed t...

Posted: Feb 19, 2020

Barr Takes Aim at Legal Shield Enjoyed by Google, Facebook
Barr Takes Aim at Legal Shield Enjoyed by Google, Facebook

Attorney General William Barr is taking aim at a legal shield enjoyed by companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. as the provision comes under increasing fire from both liberals and conservatives. Barr has accused social media compa...

Posted: Feb 19, 2020

Amazon Accused by Activist of Not Providing Basic Email Security
Amazon Accused by Activist of Not Providing Basic Email Security

Amazon.com Inc. doesn’t provide enough data security for sellers sending emails on its marketplace platform, according to a complaint filed by Noyb, a group created by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems. Emails are routed through Amazon servers th...

Posted: Feb 19, 2020

Court Rejects Deadline Asserted by Insurer in Secondary Payer Act Dispute
Court Rejects Deadline Asserted by Insurer in Secondary Payer Act Dispute

Insurers cannot rely on an apparent three-year deadline within the Secondary Payer Act to protect themselves from litigation if they don’t reimburse Medicare for all expenses paid on behalf of a beneficiary, a federal appellate court in Atlanta ruled...

Posted: Feb 19, 2020

Boeing Inspects 737 Max for Fuel-Tank Debris in New Setback
Boeing Inspects 737 Max for Fuel-Tank Debris in New Setback

Boeing Co. is inspecting more than 400 stored 737 Max jets after discovering debris such as tools or rags left in the fuel tanks of several newly built but undelivered aircraft. The checks aren’t likely to create a new delay …

Posted: Feb 19, 2020

Oregon Wrestles With Building Facilities in Tsunami Zones
Oregon Wrestles With Building Facilities in Tsunami Zones

SALEM, Ore. — Experts say the big one is coming to the Pacific Northwest: a massive earthquake that will cause buildings and bridges to collapse and unleash a tsunami that will devastate the coast. But, doubling down on its decision …

Posted: Feb 18, 2020

Floods Put Mississippi Capital in ‘Precarious Situation’
Floods Put Mississippi Capital in ‘Precarious Situation’

JACKSON, Miss. — With the waters in the Pearl River continuing to rise in and around Mississippi’s capital city and more rain on the way this week, the governor warned residents that it would be days before flood waters start …

Posted: Feb 18, 2020

Trial to Begin Over Arkema Chemical Plant Fire During Harvey
Trial to Begin Over Arkema Chemical Plant Fire During Harvey

HOUSTON — Hurricane Harvey’s historic flooding in 2017 overwhelmed power systems at Arkema Inc.’s chemical plant in suburban Houston, eventually causing organic peroxides made at the facility to catch fire and explode, sending noxious black smoke int...

Posted: Feb 18, 2020

What’s Up With All the Pipe Breaks in Fort Lauderdale?
What’s Up With All the Pipe Breaks in Fort Lauderdale?

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Fort Lauderdale, a city with water and sewer lines old enough to crack and crumble, has been dealing with a slew of back-to-back pipe breaks of late — and people want to know why. Why are …

Posted: Feb 18, 2020

U.K. Storm Prompts Rare Rainfall Red Alert as 3rd Man Dies
U.K. Storm Prompts Rare Rainfall Red Alert as 3rd Man Dies

U.K. weather forecasters issued the country’s first red warning for rainfall in almost two years as downpours from Storm Dennis fell onto ground left waterlogged by an earlier Atlantic cyclone. The red alert, issued by the Met Office early Sunday …

Posted: Feb 18, 2020

Sex Abuse Claims Drive Boy Scouts of America to Bankruptcy
Sex Abuse Claims Drive Boy Scouts of America to Bankruptcy

The Boy Scouts of America sought bankruptcy protection to cope with a rising tide of claims tied to sexual abuse of children in its ranks. The group filed in Delaware early Tuesday under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, …

Posted: Feb 18, 2020

Litigation Funding Bills Crop Up in State Houses Across the Country
Litigation Funding Bills Crop Up in State Houses Across the Country

Lawmakers in three states and in Congress have introduced bills to impose more controls on litigation funding companies, which insurers contend are one of the factors leading to an increase in “nuclear verdicts” that have pushed up claims costs and …

Posted: Feb 18, 2020

The Case of the Fancy Diamond: Viewpoint
The Case of the Fancy Diamond: Viewpoint

A brief history of Fancy diamonds Diamonds are considered the most desirable gemstone available in the jewelry market today – they come in all shapes and sizes, and are traditionally given for engagements, anniversaries, and special occasions. When y...

Posted: Feb 18, 2020

Costs of Obesity in Workplace Highest for Government Workers
Costs of Obesity in Workplace Highest for Government Workers

Although obese employees incur higher direct and indirect costs, the extent of obesity-related costs tends to be lower in some industrial sectors than others— including healthcare, reports a study in the February Journal of Occupational and Environme...

Posted: Feb 14, 2020

64 US Vehicles Get Insurance Group’s Top Safety Rating
64 US Vehicles Get Insurance Group’s Top Safety Rating

DETROIT — Sixty-four cars and SUVs sold in the U.S. earned Top Safety Pick awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The 2020 model year vehicles perform well in crash tests and have headlights available that are rated “good” …

Posted: Feb 14, 2020

Arrest Made After Fire Guts California Apartment Building
Arrest Made After Fire Guts California Apartment Building

TUSTIN, Calif. — Authorities Wednesday arrested a man on suspicion of setting a fire that tore through a Southern California apartment building, gutting dozens of apartments, collapsing the roof and displacing about 100 tenants. Patrick Andrew Cenice...

Posted: Feb 14, 2020

Red Cross: Smoke Alarm Program Reaches Life-Saving Milestone
Red Cross: Smoke Alarm Program Reaches Life-Saving Milestone

ROCK SPRING, Ga. — The American Red Cross of Georgia is celebrating the most lives saved in a single month from its ongoing effort to install free smoke alarms. The agency plans a Thursday ceremony in Rock Spring, Georgia, to …

Posted: Feb 14, 2020

Cruise Industry Gives Asia a Wide Berth as it Seeks to Limit Coronavirus Risks
Cruise Industry Gives Asia a Wide Berth as it Seeks to Limit Coronavirus Risks

BANGKOK –The plight of the cruise ship off Japan with more than 200 coronavirus infections and the shunning of another luxury liner by five ports despite no known cases has led to a sharp change in tack for an industry …

Posted: Feb 14, 2020

Cancer Risk Forces Recall of Weight-Loss Drug Belviq
Cancer Risk Forces Recall of Weight-Loss Drug Belviq

Weight-loss drug Belviq will be withdrawn from the U.S. market at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, after research tied it to increased rates of cancer. Belviq came on the market in the U.S. in 2012 and is …

Posted: Feb 14, 2020

Business News: CWCI, Cowbell Cyber and Chubb
Business News: CWCI, Cowbell Cyber and Chubb

Fee Schedule Change Shifted Spending to Primary Care California’s conversion of its fee schedule to the system used by Medicare increased the share of dollars spent on primary care while reducing the share spent on specialists, meeting a key goal …

Posted: Feb 14, 2020

Viewpoint: The Role of Driver-Assistance Technology in Accident Reconstruction
Viewpoint: The Role of Driver-Assistance Technology in Accident Reconstruction

Self-driving cars aren’t here yet, but Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) are widespread. These systems can independently warn drivers of potential risks, steer, brake and accelerate. f can already see the influence of ADAS in the crash data downl...

Posted: Feb 14, 2020

New RIMS Leader: Understanding Risks Around Technology is Imperative
New RIMS Leader: Understanding Risks Around Technology is Imperative

The culture at technology startups like Uber, Airbnb and PayPal is all about risk-taking. They start by offering a unique, untested or reimagined product or service or by disrupting an industry’s established production, distribution or sales methods....

Posted: Feb 13, 2020

CDC Cites Label Error in Mixup Involving Coronavirus Patient
CDC Cites Label Error in Mixup Involving Coronavirus Patient

SAN DIEGO — A labeling error caused a woman infected with the novel coronavirus to be mistakenly released from a hospital but the oversight was noticed as she was returning to a San Diego military base where more than 200 …

Posted: Feb 13, 2020