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International News

After COVID revenue collapse, Canadian municipalities face insurance premium spike

Cities need insurance to protect against claims in the event of accidents on municipal properties or roads, and to deal with risks including cyber attacks and natural disasters – so forgoing coverage is not an option.
Accident-related lawsuits against cities and settlements have risen alongside cyber attacks and natural disasters, both domestically and globally, even as bond yields have slid, resulting in more stringent underwriting standards and higher premiums around the world.

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Pfizer agrees to pay $345 mln to resolve EpiPen pricing lawsuit

The litigation followed a public outcry in 2016 after Mylan, which owns the rights to market and distribute the devices, raised the price of a pair of EpiPens to $600, from $100 in 2008, putting it in the center of an ongoing U.S. debate over the high cost of medicines. The lawsuit accused Mylan and Pfizer, which manufactured the EpiPen for Mylan, of engaging in anticompetitive conduct that allowed them to maintain a monopoly over the market for the devices and their profitable revenues.

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Biogen Alzheimer’s drug hits roadblocks with some hospitals, insurers

Several Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance plans, including those in Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, have said there is insufficient evidence of Aduhelm’s benefit for patients and they will not provide coverage for the drug.
Biogen said in a statement that the several Blues plans’ “characterization of Aduhelm as experimental and investigational is inaccurate and misleading.”

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U.S. launches online hub to help ransomware victims

The new website, www.StopRansomware.gov, is an initiative led by the Justice and Homeland Security departments.
The launch of the new website and the $10 million reward come on the heels of a ransomware attack earlier this year against the Colonial Pipeline Co. that led to widespread shortages at gas stations along the East Coast of the United States. The Justice Department was later able to help Colonial Pipeline recover some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom it paid to hackers.

About $350 million in ransom was paid to cyber criminals in 2020, a more than 300% increase from the previous year, the department said.

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