The A to Z of US litigation

I see that AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $198m to 17,500 US claimants to settle part of a dispute over its anti-psychosis drug, Seroquel. They've been complaining that while the pharmaceuticals group warned them that taking the drug could cause obesity, they were not told that it could also cause diabetes (an obvious knock-on effect of being a fatso). So that's $198m for exactly the same side effects you're at risk from if you happen to be an, er, American. Sounds quite generous to me.

Wicked whisper...

A week of orgasmic results in the banking sector, but which executive of a bailed-out bank is currently enjoying a cheeky bonus by shagging his secretary?

How the online media works...

The Times gets an exclusive story and publishes it on its new "paid-for" website, no doubt expecting to pick up some additional revenue via new subscribers paying to read their scoop.
The Guardian follows the Times's tale and (unusually) leaves the second hand post on the front page of their website all day - purely in an effort to take some of the Times's traffic from Google searches and stop new subscribers.

Sindy Column...

The intriguing tale of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, failed property developer Paul Kemsley, Ernst & Young and a couple of libel suits.... For this week's column, click here.

Gross Gross

Does Bill Gross, managing director of investment management giant Pimco, suddenly fancy himself as a comic? The introduction to his monthly investment outlook is devoted exclusively to a monologue, in which he rues the demise of the manual flusher on public toilets (they still exist, Bill).

He writes: “I don’t know where it is located exactly, but there’s an electronic eye in the plumbing of public toilets these days that can sense when you get up and down and are finally finished with your ‘business’. My doctor says a proctology exam is a necessary evil but cameras in toilets? Never having seen myself from this particular angle, it is particularly embarrassing to turn over the assignment to a camera and in effect say, ‘Snap away – see anything that doesn’t look right?’.”

Hmm. Stick with the day job for a while yet, old boy.

Virgin (in)Active

Much talk about a potential sale of Virgin Active to private equity. But is it really likely?

Potential bidders seem baffled by the stories and suggest that ubiquitous adviser Goldman Sachs - fresh from its Ocado triumph - is leaking the stories in a desperate effort to stuff another over-priced offer down investors' throats. Developing...

(Yet) another Kleinkman inclusive...

"The board of BP is considering announcing as soon as next week that Tony Hayward, its embattled chief executive, is to step down, I have learned." Mark Kleinman, Sky News Blog, Friday July 23.

"As I revealed exclusively on this blog on Friday and discussed on air yesterday (both long before any other media organisation followed the story, despite some dubious claims to the contrary today), Hayward's exit three years after he became BP's boss leaves the company with an opportunity to rebuild its future." Mark Kleinman, Sky News Blog, Sunday July 25.

"Tony Hayward is to step down as BP’s chief executive within the next ten weeks as the company seeks to draw a line under its disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. " The Times, Wednesday July 21.