Current Events in May 2019

Three Apple iTunes users have filed a lawsuit against the company for purportedly disclosing -- and selling -- their listening habits, purchases, and personal data to advertisers without getting their consent.

The rub is simple: in the plaintiff’s mind, Apple didn’t practice what it preached in an Apple billboard reading “What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.”

Apple’s ad seems innocent enough given that it ran only in Las Vegas and was riffing on Vegas’ tourism line, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” However, Apple made a blunder when it also pointed to Apple.com/privacy in the ad. On that site, the company clearly says that every Apple product “is designed from the ground up to protect [user] information. And to empower you to choose what you share and with whom.”  

That mantra is widely used. Only a few weeks ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook kept that consumer promise alive when he said Apple doesn’t want consumers’ data.

The disgruntled iTunes users are from Rhode Island and Michigan, states that have laws in place that protect records of entertainment purchases. In their lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco, the plaintiffs claim that iTunes’ disclosure of consumers’ personal data is not only illegal, but also alarming because it allows the company to target “vulnerable members of society.”

“For example, any person or entity could rent a list with the names and addresses of all unmarried, college-educated women over the age of 70 with a household income of over $80,000 who purchased country music from Apple via its iTunes Store mobile application,” the lawsuit points out. “Such a list is available for sale for approximately $136 per thousand customers listed.”

Spy Tunes

Whether Apple can prove its intentions weren’t as marauding as Facebook’s has been, there is evidence that the company has made similar missteps before.

“A person’s taste in media can be highly personal, yet all of Apple’s more than 10 billion song and 200 million TV and movie downloads are potentially traceable by the George Smileys of the world the world’s spies, stalkers, yellow journalists, and opposition researchers,” wrote Andrew McAfee, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) back in 2011. (Author’s note: Smiley is a spy in John le Carré novels.)

“Of course, this is nowhere near as big a deal as privacy holes in online health or financial information would be, so we should keep this issue in perspective. But it is an issue, I think.”

Whether Apple is speaking out of both sides of its mouth is something for judge and jury to decide, but it’s possible the company might use existing language in the company’s advertising and privacy policy as a shield.

“To ensure ads are relevant, Apple’s advertising platform creates groups of people, called segments, who share similar characteristics and uses these groups for delivering targeted ads. Information about you is used to determine which segments you are assigned to, and thus, which ads you receive. To protect your privacy, your information is used to place you into segments of at least 5,000 people,” Apple states in that policy.

Calling out the tech industry

It’s interesting to note that while Apple may be the one in the lawsuit’s crosshairs, the plaintiffs pull other companies into the mix, spreading the blame across the larger tech landscape.  

“Apple is not alone in jeopardizing its subscribers’ privacy and well-being in exchange for increased revenue: disclosing subscriber information to data aggregators, data appenders, data cooperatives, direct marketers, and other third parties is a widespread practice in the publishing industry.”

Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy in October and sold off its assets in February, purchased by former CEO Eddie Lampert for $5 billion. But it seems that’s not the end of the story.

The transition has been marked by lawsuits, the latest filed by Transform Holdco LLC, a subsidiary of Lampert’s ESL Investments Inc., established to acquire and operate for former Sears assets.

At the time of the sale, Lampert said he planned to operate 400 Sears and Kmart stores but also said those stores would be smaller than most of those operated under the old company. The suit comes as that transition is getting underway and claims what’s left of the old company -- the Sears estate -- has failed to turn over "hundreds of millions of dollars of assets" called for by the sales agreement.

As is the case with most litigation, neither party is responding to media requests for comment.

Dueling lawsuits

Transform Holdco’s suit against the Sears estate follows April’s suit against Lampert by some of the stakeholders who are winding down the old Sears operation. That suit charged Lampert is profiting from the mistakes he made while in charge of Sears Holdings. The complaint charges Lampert’s actions destroyed billions of dollars of Sears’ value, driving the company into bankruptcy.

Lampert has defended his actions as CEO, saying he was forced to sell assets in a vain attempt to pull Sears out of what he called its “death spiral.” But Sears Holdings, which filed the suit, charges Lampert in effect “gave away the store” in deals that failed to realize the full value of the assets he was selling.

Lampert’s complaint

Lampert’s suit against the Sears estate accuses the bankrupt entity of breaking the sales agreement in numerous ways. It cites the estate’s decision to retain ownership of the Sears Holdings headquarters in Chicago. Lampert’s company also accuses the Sears estate of delaying agreed-upon payments to vendors.

“Transform believes that prompt resolution of these matters is important and necessary at this time to allow the bankruptcy court and creditors to consider the Defendants’ proposed Chapter 11 plan,'' the complaint maintains.

Meanwhile, the Sears estate will be back in court later today for a hearing on its bankruptcy plan.

With one in five children across the country affected by childhood obesity, researchers are always looking for ways to help young people maintain healthy lifestyles. Now, one team has analyzed how mothers’ pregnancies can play a key role in childhood weight.

According to researchers from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, babies are more likely to develop obesity during childhood when their mothers have high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.

Researcher Samantha Ehrlich noted that “the risk of child developing obesity increases by 52 percent” when the mother has been diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

Monitoring sugar levels

To see how sugar levels affected newborn’s weight into childhood, the researchers started by following over 40,000 women through their pregnancy journeys. All of the women involved in the study gave birth between 1995 and 2004, and the researchers monitored the children from birth until they were between five and seven years old.

The women involved in the study had their blood sugar tested between weeks 24 and 28 of pregnancy, which is when gestational diabetes can first be detected. Elevated blood sugar levels at the first screening don’t always indicate that an expectant mother will have gestational diabetes, but this will typically lead to further tests as the pregnancy moves into the later stages.

For this study, the researchers found that when mothers had spiked blood sugar levels on their initial glucose test, their babies were more likely to develop obesity during childhood, even if the mother never developed gestational diabetes. A positive diagnosis of gestational diabetes increased the child’s risk of obesity by over 50 percent.

According to the researchers, mothers’ weight before pregnancy can also play a role in the child’s likelihood of developing obesity. The finding is helpful for healthcare professionals because they can offer their patients tangible advice to help keep themselves and their children healthy.

“This information is important because it suggests that we may be able to prevent childhood obesity in two ways: by helping mothers achieve a normal BMI before they become pregnant, and by reducing hyperglycemia during the pregnancy,” said Ehrlich.

Mothers play a role

Obesity increases the overall risk of death for both children and adults, which makes it that much more important for consumers to be doing everything possible to lead healthy lifestyles.

Recently, researchers have found that mothers’ lifestyles can play a large role in children’s likelihood of developing obesity and creating and following their own healthy habits. One study found that mothers who made a conscious effort to eat healthy and lose weight had positive effects on their kids’ health, whereas fathers’ commitments did not yield the same results.

Moreover, researchers from Harvard University found that mothers who follow five healthy habits could help reduce their children’s risk of developing obesity.

The study found that when mothers eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, keep a healthy body weight, drink alcohol only in moderation, and don’t smoke, their children’s risk of obesity was 82 percent lower.

​At an investor conference on Wednesday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said the company is aware that it will need to regain the public’s trust in the wake of two deadly crashes of 737 Max jets.

The crashes, which occurred just five months apart, prompted authorities to ground all the jets worldwide in March as a safety precaution. Since then, investigators have pointed to the possibility of faulty sensor data being a key factor in the crashes, which killed a total of 346 people.

“We know ... that the public’s confidence has been hurt by these accidents and that we have work to do to earn and re-earn the trust of the flying public and we will do that,” Muilenburg said, according to CNBC. “We are taking all actions necessary to make sure that accidents like those two ... never happened again.”

A 'defining moment' for Boeing

Describing the incidents as a “defining moment” for the company, Muilenburg said Boeing is exploring “a number of different ways we can address this issue.”

"In some cases cash may be part of the solution,” he said, referring to the possibility of compensating airlines for the ongoing grounding and the delay in new deliveries of its 737 planes.

Boeing recently submitted a software fix for the jets, which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently reviewing. The change would, in part, give pilots greater control over the system believed to have contributed to the crashes.

In the meantime, the planes still haven’t been deemed safe to fly.

“We’re committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right," Muilenburg said in a statement earlier this month. "We’re making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 Max with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly."

SpaceX has launched 60 satellites into orbit as part of its mission to establish a low-orbit constellation that could give nearly everyone on the planet internet access.

The rocket carrying the 60 satellites took off Thursday night from Cape Canaveral, Florida. About an hour later, the satellites were slowly dropped into orbit, fanned out in a way that resembled a “deck of cards on a table,” CEO Elon Musk said.

The “Starlink” mission,” if successful, would ultimately put 12,000 satellites into orbit over the next few years. All together, they are expected to deliver 1 terabit per second of usable capacity, and 2.5 to 3 terabits per second of total capacity,” according to SpaceNews.

The total cost of launching the constellation will come to around $10 billion dollars. Musk has said the company has “sufficient capital” to move forward with the mission and that the latest round of funding brought “more interest than we were seeking.”

“May not work”

Though Musk said the company has gone to great lengths to ensure that the satellites work, he tempered expectations by pointing out that new technology can often be unpredictable.

"There is a lot of new technology here, so it's possible that some of these satellites may not work," Musk said in a call with reporters last week. He noted that there is a "small possibility" that none of the satellites will work.

SpaceX said it will take as few as six launches before Starlink internet can be delivered to consumers.

“Starlink is targeted to offer service in the Northern U.S. and Canadian latitudes after six launches, rapidly expanding to global coverage of the populated world after an expected 24 launches. SpaceX is targeting two to six Starlink launches by the end of this year,” the company said on its website.

Amazon and OneWeb are also currently working toward the deployment of their own internet constellations.

By now, just about every consumer on the planet is aware of the nuisance of robocalls. They’re even aware that most of these calls are connected to some kind of scam. But new research from AARP shows that not many consumers have taken steps to protect themselves from these attempts at fraud.

U.S. consumers received an estimated 48 billion robocalls in 2018, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says a significant portion came from scam operations peddling worthless health insurance policies or claiming the call’s recipient was about to be arrested. The FTC reports telephone-delivered scams cost U.S. consumers $429 million last year.

Some robocalls were legitimate. Your doctor may have placed a robocall to remind you of an appointment, or the airline might be calling to tell you a flight has been cancelled. Any other type of robocall should be viewed with skepticism.

‘Spoofing’ technology

The AARP survey showed that a large majority of consumers use Caller ID to decide whether or not to answer a call. The research shows consumers are more likely to answer a call that appears to come from their area code or exchange.

Scammers know this and employ “spoofing” technology to make it appear like the call is coming from a nearby location, even if the call was placed halfway around the world.

"Be wary when you pick up the phone. A number that looks familiar or local may be neither familiar nor local," said Kathy Stokes, director of AARP’s fraud prevention programs. "Con artists have become increasingly sophisticated and devious, and once they connect with you and get you talking it's far too easy to fall prey to their schemes."

So the key to avoiding these scams is to not engage with a robocaller. Once you hear the recorded voice and determine it’s not your doctor or airline calling, just hang up. Don’t wait on the line to hear the entire pitch.

Robocall recipients who remain on the line are eventually connected with a human, and that’s where the trouble begins. So just hang up.

Let it go to voicemail

Better yet, don’t answer the call at all. Most smartphones have a feature allowing you to reject a call. If it’s an unfamiliar number, just reject it. If it’s a legitimate call, the caller will leave a voicemail message.

Use your phone’s contacts list to add every number you think might ever have a reason to call, from your cousin to your doctor’s office. When you get calls from them, it won’t show up as a number, but as the contact’s name.

In the near future, scammers may have a more difficult time spoofing local numbers. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai is putting pressure on telecom providers to find a way to block illegal Caller ID spoofing by the end of this year.

Pai recently issued a declaratory ruling that, if adopted, would allow phone companies to block unwanted robo- and spoofing calls to their customers automatically.

Talk of an economic slowdown has been persistent throughout this spring, but consumers apparently haven’t gotten the news. As a group, we’re feeling pretty bullish.

The Conference Board reports its monthly Consumer Confidence Index rose in May for the second month in a row. The increase is not insignificant, now standing at 134.1, up from 129.2 in April.

The bellwether Present Situation Index – which is based on how consumers view current business and labor market conditions – rose from 169.0 to 175.2. The Expectations Index -- which measures how confident consumers feel about income, business, and labor market conditions -- jumped from 102.7 last month to 106.6 this month.

Lynn Franco, senior director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said confidence is back to levels last seen in the fourth quarter of last year when the Index was reaching an 18-month high.

"The increase in the Present Situation Index was driven primarily by employment gains,” Franco said. “Expectations regarding the short-term outlook for business conditions and employment improved, but consumers' sentiment regarding their income prospects was mixed.”

Stock market soars despite trade dispute

Part of the growing confidence may have to do with the stock market, which has been trading near all-time highs in recent weeks, before faltering a bit in the last month. An increasing number of analysts predict stocks can’t remain at their lofty valuations when the U.S. trade war with China threatens to slow the global economy.

Just this week Morgan Stanley issued an analysis saying the economic outlook in the U.S. is “deteriorating.” Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Michael Wilson singled out growing trade tension and faltering economic data -- specifically a drop in durable goods orders and a slowdown in capital spending.

“Recent data points suggest U.S. earnings and economic risk is greater than most investors may think,” Wilson wrote in a note.

Narrowing yield curve

Others point to a narrowing of the “yield curve,” when the yields on the 10-year and 2-year Treasury bonds get closer together. In normal economic times, the yield on the 10-year bond should be well ahead of the 2-year note.

“Call it scare-mongering if you like, but many of the data releases [last] week had the unmistakable whiff of a recession,” Paul Ashworth, chief North American economist at Capital Economics, said in an interview with Newsweek.

A recession is officially defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. Economic growth in the first quarter was 3.2 percent, but many economists believe the economy has slowed significantly in the current quarter, which ends June 30; it will mark the 10th anniversary of the end of the Great Recession.

But The Conference Board’s survey shows consumers don’t share economist’s pessimism, at least not yet. And a confident consumer is usually good for the economy.

“Consumers expect the economy to continue growing at a solid pace in the short-term, and despite weak retail sales in April, these high levels of confidence suggest no significant pullback in consumer spending in the months ahead," Franco said.

Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has made an all-stock bid to merge with Renault, and the French automaker said it is reviewing the offer “with interest.”

Should the deal be completed, it would create the world’s third-largest automaker and put that industry on a path of consolidation that transformed other industries like airlines and health care in the previous decade.

A combination of FCA and Renault, which would trail only Volkswagen and Toyota in size, would produce close to 8.7 million vehicles a year. The combined fleet would check nearly all the boxes in the automotive market, from luxury to economy vehicles.

Perhaps just as important, FCA says the union of the two companies would create a technological synergy and would give the new company a leg up in developing transforming technologies, including electric and autonomous vehicles.

FCA said the two companies had held initial discussions to identify ways they could cooperate on research and development and pinpoint specific parts of the world where that cooperation could be mutually beneficial.

Broader collaboration

“These discussions made clear that broader collaboration through a combination would substantially improve capital efficiency and the speed of product development,” FCA said in a statement. “The case for combination is also strengthened by the need to take bold decisions to capture at scale the opportunities created by the transformation of the auto industry in areas like connectivity, electrification, and autonomous driving.”

T-Mobile and Sprint are making the same argument to justify their proposed merger. The two companies say they need to join forces in order to build a 5G wireless network that can compete with their two larger rivals, Verizon and AT&T.

FCA is proposing a balanced merger with ownership accruing equally to the shareholders of both companies. FCA shareholders would receive a dividend to compensate for differences in the two companies’ stock prices.

Global company

A merger with Renault would also solidify FCA’s standing as a global automaker, with strong sales in nearly every country. Chrysler moved into that realm with its merger with Fiat. FCA Renault would have brands such as Maserati and Alfa Romeo, Dacia, Lada, and would include the well-known Fiat, Renault, Jeep and Ram brands as well as commercial vehicles.

FCA said it would benefit from Renault’s strong presence across Europe, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East, while FCA is strong in North and South American markets.

Reuters quotes two sources as saying Renault’s board of directors will meet within days to take up the offer and a decision whether to proceed with merger talks could come the following week.

Apple on Tuesday introduced an updated version of its iPod touch. The latest iteration of the device contains an A10 Fusion chip which makes the device “twice as fast as before” and gives it the ability to handle Group FaceTime calls and augmented reality apps, according to the company.

The release of the upgraded product comes a full four years after Apple debuted the first version of its iPod touch. In addition to getting faster A10 Fusion Chips, Apple has announced that it’s rolling out a new Touch model that boasts 256 GB of storage for consumers who want more storage capacity.

The device remains the same in terms of appearance, with a physical home button and a four-inch screen. However, the internally-refreshed device is still cheaper than most newer iPhones.

The iPod touch is available now for $199 with a 32GB capacity, $299 for 128GB, and $399 for the 256GB model.

“We’re making the most affordable iOS device even better with performance that is twice as fast as before, Group FaceTime and augmented reality starting at just $199,” Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing, said in a statement. “The ultra-thin and lightweight design of iPod touch has always made it ideal for enjoying games, music and so much more wherever you go.”

Facebook is continuing its “We’re Getting Better” 2019 tour by yanking fake and fraudulent accounts from its platform to the tune of more than 2 billion.

In its new “Community Standards Enforcement Report,” the company announced two important changes:

• Data on appeals and content restored: “For the first time, we’re including how much content people appealed and how much content was restored after we initially took action,” wrote Facebook’s Guy Rosen, VP Integrity.
  

• Data on regulated goods: “In addition to the eight policy areas covered in the second edition of the report (November, 2018), we are now detailing how we’re doing at removing attempts at illicit sales of regulated goods.”

“Regulated goods” covers three categories: Drugs, firearms, and human/animal anatomy or blood. Facebook says it is now stepping up actions against the following:

• Attempts by individuals, manufacturers, and retailers to purchase, sell, trade, purchase, depict, or promote sales of non-medical drugs, pharmaceutical drugs, and marijuana. There’s one caveat, however. If it’s a brick-and-mortar store, legitimate website, or brand, which coordinates or promotes the sale or transfer of firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, or explosives, there is some breathing room, but the content is restricted to only those age 21 or older.

• The purchase, sale, gifting, exchange, and transfer of firearms, including firearm parts, explosives, or ammunition between private individuals.

• Content that depicts the trade (buying or selling) or mentioning of human organs and/or blood -- as well as content that coordinates or supports the poaching or selling of endangered species and their parts.

If anyone thinks they can beat Facebook at this game, they may want to think twice. The breadth and depth of the company’s new regulations covers everything imaginable, from how a product is defined to what animal-related items are allowed, and what demographics can view any related content that Facebook deems permissible.

Despite the possible downturn in its audience size, Facebook has nothing to do but clean up its own backyard. For the last year-plus, it’s gotten hammered over exposing personal data, its refusal to remove the recent Nancy Pelosi “drunk” video, and more. It’s hoping that taking this fork in the road puts it back on the path to reclaiming consumer trust.

“We remain confident that the vast majority of people and activity on Facebook is genuine,” Alex Schultz, Facebook’s VP of Analytics, said. “We welcome feedback and scrutiny on fake accounts but are proud of our work to balance protecting the people and advertisers using our services while giving everyone the power to build community on Facebook.”

Facebook’s march on spam, hate speech, and nudity also continues

Facebook’s self-imposed scrubbing continues on a  variety of fronts , including taking action on 1.6 billion accounts that were regarded as spam; 2.19 billion fake accounts; 19.4 million pieces of content that were considered adult nudity and sexual activity; and 4 million pieces of content that the company regarded as hate speech.

“Preventing fake accounts is just one way to stop abuse — and we have other protections once content is being produced and people are interacting with these accounts,” Schultz said.

“Also, fake accounts are just one way abuse happens. Authentic accounts can be abusive too. As such, to evaluate our work on keeping the community safe overall, we recommend using the full suite of metrics we offer ... especially the prevalence metrics. Our work on fake accounts is just one driver of these.”

As experts continue to try to find the safest ways to dispose of unused antibiotics, a new study has found that rivers around the globe are experiencing the brunt of antibiotic waste.

Based on a study that spanned over 70 countries and six continents, the researchers found that many rivers worldwide are full of antibiotics at levels that are 300 times higher than what is considered safe.

“Until now, the majority of environmental monitoring work for antibiotics has been done in Europe, North America, and China,” said researcher Dr. John Wilkinson. “We know very little about the scale of the problem globally. Our study helps fill this key knowledge gap with data being generated for countries that had never been monitored before.”

Problematic areas

The researchers were committed to make this a true global study, so they included the Seine, Chao Phraya, Thames, Mekong, Tigris, and Tiber, among others in their multi-continent analysis. The team found that over 60 percent of the sites contained high levels of antibiotics.

To gauge what was safe and unsafe, the researchers used the AMR Industry Alliance recommendations, which vary depending on the kind of medication but range between 20,000 and 32,000 ng/l.

The researchers tested for 14 of the most common antibiotics and evaluated over 90 different samples that were taken from the rivers. Despite the high levels of antibiotics found in nearly all of the samples, the researchers found that some areas were more prone to unsafe levels of drugs than others.

Austria was the leader in unsafe antibiotic levels in Europe, while Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, Nigeria, and Pakistan were other world leaders.

Of the antibiotics tested, trimethoprim, a medication typically used to treat urinary tract infections, was found in the most sites worldwide, while metronidazole, a common antibiotic that fights bacterial infections, was found in exceedingly unsafe amounts in the test sites.

Researcher Alistair Boxall believes that remedying this issue will be a “mammoth challenge” that will require “investment in infrastructure for waste and wastewater treatment, tighter regulation, and the cleaning up of already contaminated sites.”

The researchers note that this issue is escalating around the globe, and they hope that legislators take these findings seriously and do the necessary work to keep rivers around the world clean of antibiotics.

“The results are quite eye opening and worrying, demonstrating the widespread contamination of river systems around the world with antibiotic compounds,” said Boxall. “Many scientists and policymakers now recognize the role of the natural environment in the antimicrobial resistance problem. Our data show that antibiotic contamination of rivers could be an important contributor.”

Handling antibiotics responsibly

Many doctors are moving away from giving patients long-term prescriptions, particularly for conditions like acne, as starting a fresh prescription is not always the best option for patients.

Despite the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) efforts to help remedy the issue of over-prescribing, researchers continue to discover new trends regarding antibiotic resistance.  

“We know that efforts to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics are critical to addressing the problem of antibiotic resistance,” said researcher Yonatan Grad. “Our results show that most antibiotic use is occasional -- by people taking just one antibiotic course in a year -- and that this occasional use is more closely linked with antibiotic resistance than intense, repeated use.”

Last month, Burger King announced that it was testing a meat-free version of its Whopper at 59 locations in the St. Louis area. Now, a report from inMarket inSights shows the move had a positive impact on the restaurant chain’s number of visitors.

Traffic at the locations selected to be involved in the Impossible Whopper pilot exceeded the fast food giant’s national average by 18.5 percent, CNBC reported.

Compared to Burger King’s national average for March, locations in the city experienced a 16.75 percent bump in foot traffic during the month of the pilot. Meanwhile, stores outside of St. Louis saw foot traffic drop by 1.75 percent compared to March’s average.

Interest in plant-based burgers

“These next generation plant-based alternatives are in position to disrupt the meat category in a similar fashion that plant-based milks disrupted dairy and energy drinks disrupted caffeinated beverages,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Bryan Spillane said in a research note about Beyond Meat, which CNBC described as Impossible Foods’ chief competitor.

Towards the end of April, Burger King said it would roll out the Impossible Whopper nationwide later this year. The vegetarian-friendly burger has been introduced at three additional cities since that announcement.

Burger King president Chris Finazzo told CNN earlier this year that the company is hoping to "give somebody who wants to eat a burger every day, but doesn't necessarily want to eat beef everyday, permission to come into the restaurants more frequently,” as well as draw in more vegan and vegetarian eaters.

Just before the trial was set to begin, Teva Pharmaceuticals settled an $85 million lawsuit filed by the state of Oklahoma that accused the firm of fueling the opioid addiction crisis.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, who filed the suit, said it may take a couple of weeks to finalize the terms. The state is moving ahead with a similar case against Johnson & Johnson, with the trial scheduled to begin today.

“Today’s announcement is a testament to the state’s legal team’s countless hours and resources preparing for this trial and their dedication and resolve to hold the defendants in this case accountable for the ongoing opioid overdose and addiction epidemic that continues to claim thousands of lives each year,” Hunter said. “Nearly all Oklahomans have been negatively impacted by this deadly crisis and we look forward to Tuesday, where we will prove our case against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries.”

Second company to settle

Teva is the second opioid manufacturer to settle with Oklahoma. In late March, Perdue Pharma, the maker of the painkiller Oxycontin, reached a $270 million settlement with the state.

As part of that settlement, Perdue is contributing $102.5 million to help pay for the creation of a National Center for Addiction Studies at Oklahoma State University. Perdue will also donate medication to support the center’s treatment operation.

Hunter said the state will use money from the Teva settlement to battle the opioid crisis in the state. Attorneys quoted by The Oklahoman believe the state will take in anywhere from $12.7 billion to $17.5 billion over a 20- to 30-year period.

Extent of the crisis

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks opioid addiction injuries and deaths. In its latest report, it found that deaths from drug overdose are up among both men and women, all races, and adults in just about every age range.

Two-thirds of drug overdose deaths involve an opioid, a class of drug that also includes heroin. Overdoses involving opioids killed more than 47,000 people in 2017, and 36 percent of those deaths involved prescription opioids, according to the CDC.

In addition to the human toll, opioid addiction has economic costs. Researchers at Penn State University recently released a study showing how opioid addiction has produced unemployment that may have cost the government $37 billion in tax revenue.

Opioid painkillers were widely prescribed in the previous decade. A number of states, including Oklahoma, have accused drug companies of marketing these drugs to physicians without explaining their dangers.

Volvo Car USA is recalling 8,266 model year 2019 S60s.

The rear suspension toe link flange lock nuts may not have been properly tightened, possibly resulting in a sudden change in vehicle handling.

A sudden change in vehicle handling can increase the risk of a crash.

What to do

Volvo will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rear toe link flange bolts and lock nuts, replacing them if necessary, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin June 21, 2019.

Owner's my contact Volvo Customer Service at 1-800-458-1552. Volvo's number for this recall is R19938.

Brodt Zenatti Holding of Jupiter, Fla., is recalling SoCo brand tahini that may be contaminated with Salmonella.

Four illnesses have been reported to date.

The following product is being recalled:

• SoCo Tahini in a 13.5 oz. (380g) container with an expiration date two years from the production. The expiration date is located on the lid of the containers.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should discard or return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact Brodt Zenatti Holding at (305) 570-9050, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.