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A class action has been filed against biopharmaceutical company Alkermes, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALKS) and certain of its officers and directors by stockholders who purchased the company's common stock between April 22, 1999, and July 1, 2002. The action claims that the defendants violated federal securities laws by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market over this time period, thereby artificially inflating the price of the company's securities.

A lawsuit challenging a hospital's $1,133 bill to clip a toenail and run tests has been certified as a class action that could include other patients charged similar fees by the hospital. Lori Mill is challenging a $418 fee included in the bill for "miscellaneous hospital charges" because she had her toenail clipped to check for fungus at Virginia Mason Medical Center's downtown complex rather than at one of its other clinics.

The issue of corporate health plan prescription contraceptive coverage is growing quickly. A class action has been filed against DaimlerChrysler Corporation on behalf of women employees who allege that the company discriminated against them by failing to include prescription contraceptives in its health plan coverage in violation of federal civil rights laws.

Several class actions have been filed against healthcare facility operator Dynacq International (Nasdaq: DYIIE, formerly Nasdaq: DYII) and certain of its officers and directors by stockholders who purchased the company's common stock between January 14, 2003, and December 18, 2003. The actions claim that the defendants fraudulently certified that Dynacq's financial statements for the first three quarters of fiscal 2003 were compiled in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The stockholders seek to recover compensatory damages for the loss of value of their stock.

The parties have reached a tentative nationwide $9+ million settlement in a class action filed against Bayer, Inc. on behalf of Canadians who live in any province other than British Columbia, and who were prescribed the anti-cholesterol drug Baycol (cerivastatin) and family members of deceased Canadians who took the drug. The action alleges that the drug causes the serious adverse muscle reaction known as rhabdomyolysis, and may also cause acute renal failure. The court has apparently not yet set a claims deadline-- persons eligible to take part in the settlement should contact attorneys for the class as soon as possible.

A tentative settlement was announced in a ten year old class-action lawsuit against a former Warren hospital. The suit was filed in 1995 by two former patients on behalf of 12,000 past hospital patients. The lawsuit claims medical records and personal information files were turned over to a local law firm that wanted to help pay the hospital bills through federal Supplemental Security Income benefits.

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