Monthly Archives: <span>April 2022</span>

Washington Seafood Processing Plant Fined $56K Following COVID Death

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A seafood processing plant has been fined $56,000 in connection with a 2021 COVID outbreak that left one employee dead. The Department of Labor and Industries announced the fine against Shining Ocean Inc. on Monday, Northwest …

Pharmacist Gets 10 Years For $180M Health Care Fraud Scheme

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a former Mississippi pharmacist has been sentenced to the maximum 10 years in prison for a $180 million health insurance fraud scheme involving unnecessary prescriptions for expensive pain creams and other medications. Mitchell …

Amazon Warehouse Collapse Probe Finds Worker Safety Risks

U.S. regulators are calling on Amazon to improve its procedures for dealing with severe weather like hurricanes and tornadoes that could threaten workers at its warehouses dotted across the country. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday sent a …

Added Crews Making Progress on Midwest, Southwest Fires

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Beefed up fire crews made major progress on a large prairie fire burning near the Nebraska-Kansas line on Tuesday and lighter winds allowed firefighters to keep flames from advancing significantly at big fires in the Southwest …

Operator of Sunken Japanese Tour Boat Had Previous Accidents

TOKYO (AP )– The head of the company that operated a tourist boat that sank off northern Japan with 26 people aboard said Wednesday he approved the trip despite a broken communication device and forecasts of rough weather, as officials …

TPA’s Rapid-Fire Work Comp Claim Denials Cost Vermont Insurer $100K

A workers’ compensation insurer must pay $100,000 under an agreement with Vermont state regulators because its claims administrator gave short shrift to claims for post-traumatic stress disorder and other occupational diseases. Acadia Insurance Co. on April 18 reached an agreement …

Exxon Declares Force Majeure on Russian Sakhalin-1 Operations

Exxon Mobil Corp. said on Wednesday that its Russian unit Exxon Neftegas Ltd has declared force majeure for its Sakhalin-1 operations, where it has become increasingly difficult to ship crude due to sanctions on Russia. The Sakhalin-1 project produces Russian …

Identity Check Contractor ID.me Fires Dozens on Fraud Team as Congress Probes

OAKLAND, Calif. –– A major U.S. government contractor of identity verification technology that is under investigation by Congress has fired 39 employees over the past week for inappropriate communications, the company told Reuters. The company, ID.me, gutted about half of …

Walgreens, Drugmakers Blame Others for San Francisco’s Opioid Crisis

Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance and other defendants on Tuesday said they were not to blame for the opioid crisis in San Francisco, and that they acted responsibly when providing legal medications to patients in pain. “Almost all of those …

Blizzard Could Leave North Dakotans Without Power for Days

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A combination of ugly weather has left at least 19,000 people in western North Dakota facing days without power and thousands of residents along the Red River that separates that state from Minnesota dealing with flash …