Spotlight on Business Headlines
DAIMLER’S AGREES TO $1.5B SETTLE- MENT FOR U.S. DIESEL CASES But the government has alleged that various drugmakers have used such charities as means to improperly pay the co-pay obligations of Medicare patients using their drugs, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. The settlement is just the latest to result from an industry-wide U.S. probe of drugmakers’ finan - cial support of patient assistance charities that has resulted in nearly $921 million in settlements. Drug companies is the U.S. are prohibited from subsidizing co-payments for patients enrolled in the government’s Medicare healthcare program for those aged 65 and older. Companies may donate to non-profits providing co-pay assis - tance as long as they are independent. FLORIDA-BASED SPECIALTY PHARMACY TO PAY $3.5M TO RESOLVE U.S. KICKBACKS CLAIMS According to the U.S. Justice Department, Advanced Care Scripts Inc, which is a Flori- da-based specialty pharmacy will pay $3.5 million to resolve allegations it served as a conduit for a Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd subsidiary to pay kickbacks to Medicare patients. Daimler released a statement that it has reached an agreement to settle U.S. proceedings relating to investigations into software to cheat diesel emissions tests that will result in costs of about $1.5 billion. The automaker said it expects an impact on its free cash flow over the next three years as a result, with the main impact within the next 12 months. German carmakers, among the global leaders in diesel technology, have been caught in the cross- hairs of courts and regulators after Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to using engine control devices to cheat U.S. diesel emission tests.
FORTNITE MAKER TRYING TO TAKE A BITE OUT OF APPLE FOR GAME REMOVAL A pple Inc removed the popular video game “Fortnite” from its App Store for violating the company’s in-app payment guidelines, prompting developer Epic Games to initiate le- gal action against Apple. The move came after Epic Games enabled a di- rect payment feature on the Fortnite app, which Apple said violated its in-app payment guide- lines. This means a lot of money for Apple, as the iP- hone maker takes a cut of between 15 per cent and 30 per cent for most payments made inside apps, though there are some exceptions for com- panies that already have a credit card on file with iPhone customers if they also offer an in-app pay- ment that would benefit Apple. AMERICAN AIRLINES LOOKS TO DROP SERVICE TO SMALLER CITIES TO CUT COSTS American Airlines is preparing to cut flights to about two dozen small and medium cities as the expiration of federal coronavirus aid that placed restrictions on carriers from cutting service approaches. Under a $25 billion federal aid package handed out by the U.S. government, carriers are required to maintain minimum levels of service through September 30th. Carriers were also prohibited laying off staff through until the end of the third quarter. American was granted $5.8 billion in support under the program that was developed to preserve both jobs by providing payroll assis- tance and air service around the country, even though most planes were flying with a fraction of their normal passenger loads.
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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