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Exaggerated claims about medical products date from the days of snake oil. But the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new crackdown on unproven over-the-counter treatments for STDs carries a particularly urgent thrust. The FDA and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have announced a joint effort to ban non-prescription products purporting to treat, cure and prevent STDs. That means companies selling such products have 15 days to respond to the agencies’ written allegations that specific products are drugs subject to FDA regulation....

After last week’s Oregon community college campus shooting, President Obama gave a speech calling for more gun control. He said that stricter regulations lead to fewer gun deaths, a fact that probably came from a 2015 National Journal investigation. The investigation concluded that there was a direct relationship between loose gun laws and more gun deaths. But not every state fits neatly into the paradigm. Let’s take a look at the research and the data and see how deep the connection between the two goes....

It’s a pretty common assumption: you walk into a fast food establishment, see combo meals on the menu, and assume that the meal is less expensive than buying each of the items individually. After all, that’s why they’re called “value meals,” right? But our parents have all told us what happens when you assume, and it’s apparently common knowledge that McDonald’s Extra Value Meals actually cost more than the individually priced items....

Vaccinations have been a hot topic for years now, and even with little evidence they are harmful to children, many parents are choosing to not vaccinate their kids. And for the most part, that’s OK, legally speaking. But there are a few exceptions to that rule, and one of them is when a judge orders you to vaccinate your child. This week, Michigan mom Rebecca Bredow was sentenced to seven days in jail for failing to vaccinate her 9-year-old son, but her real crime was ignoring a consent order to do so....

In a move sure to harsh the mellow of many a Mile High City marijuana enthusiast, Colorado is outlawing certain edibles, targeting those that might confuse children into ingesting cannabis. Not only does this mean no more pot gummy bears, but any edible “in the distinct shape of a human, animal or fruit, or a shape that bears the likeness or contains the characteristics of a realistic or fictional human, animal, or fruit, including artistic, caricature, or cartoon renderings....

Mobile phone maker Nokia filed price fixing lawsuits in the U.S. and U.K. today, alleging that LCD and CRT manufacturers engaged in price fixing for more than a decade. The big question, though, is why would the company wait so long to sue, particularly when the price-fixing conspiracy, according to the complaint, occurred “[f]rom at least January 1, 1996 through at least December 11, 2006”? In January 2009 four executives from LCD manufacturers LG in South Korea and Chunghwa Picture Tubes in Taiwan plead guilty to criminal price fixing conspiracy charges, were sentenced to spend time in federal prison, and paid tens of thousands of dollars in criminal fines....

The Santa Ana police department recently settled the lawsuit against it alleging that their officers stole product during a marijuana dispensary raid. A secret camera that officers were unaware of caught officers eating marijuana-laced treats that were for sale in the dispensary. Additionally, the video footage captured an officer mocking a disabled woman in a wheelchair. While the officers who were caught misbehaving have been fired, the department clearly felt compelled to settle the lawsuit as the six-figure settlement implies....

Since the federal government has yet to act, states are stepping in to fill the void on legislation to control or eliminate the use of the chemical BPA, especially in products for babies and young children. Bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, is a chemical used to harden plastics and until recently, was often found in products such as sippy cups, baby bottles and lining the cans of food products....

The Supreme Court put out a few noteworthy decisions yesterday, covering issues ranging from postconviction DNA testing to age discrimination in the workplace. In one of the key 5-4 rulings, the Court said convicts had no Due Process right under the Constitution to access the state’s evidence for DNA testing. The five justices felt that, considering the fact that federal law and 46 states’ statutes already cover access to DNA evidence, it was best left to the states to deal with that postconviction issue....

Vandalism in National Parks Hudgens has reportedly been offered a deal – she can pay a $5,000 fine. Or if she declines the offer, she can go to court to face misdemeanor charges for defacing the red rock. The star has reportedly been cooperative with authorities, which is smart considering the foolish way she got caught for this crime. In the deliciously ironic way of our times, she publicized her mischief on Instagram, thus drawing the attention of authorities....

Washington, D.C., police are investigating a mugging as a hate crime, after the white victim claimed that one of his attackers told him, “This is for Trayvon Martin.” Only two weeks after the verdict in the George Zimmerman case, police are now searching for three black males who allegedly mugged and beat the 28-year-old white male victim in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, reports D.C.’s WTTG-TV. The victim is not related to Zimmerman or the Trayvon Martin incident....

Somebody smashed your car windows. Somebody stole your bike. Somebody mugged you in a dark alley after a night at the bar. Somebody assaulted you while you were drunk. When you go to the police, they refuse to investigate your case. There are lots of reasons police won’t pursue a case. Maybe the value of your loss is too little. Maybe after an initial look, there is just no evidence to warrant further work....

While we’re not quite living in the world where the Terminator or RoboCop are walking around, autonomous vehicles and other devices are starting to see daylight, which means that lawmakers need to kick it into high gear. When it comes to civil liability, it would seem that the owner, programmer, and/or maker of a robot is likely to wind up paying for any damages caused. But what about when a crime is committed?...

Eddie Ray Routh has been found guilty of murdering former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and Kyle’s friend Chad Littlefield. The jury sentenced Routh, a former U.S. Marine, to life in prison without the possibility of parole, concluding what had been dubbed the “American Sniper” trial after Kyle’s autobiography and subsequent blockbuster movie of the same name. Coinciding with the release of the Clint Eastwood-directed movie depicting Kyle’s life and service as a sniper in Iraq, Routh’s murder trial gained widespread media coverage....

Whether best remembered for his role as a Roman politician or an Italian Mobster, Marlon Brando is a household name. Which is probably why the trust that has been tasked with overseeing his posthumous image has filed suit against Harley-Davidson, alleging that the motorcycle giant is misappropriating his likeness. They’ve come out with a new line of motorcycle boots called “The Brando.” Filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Associated Press is reporting that the lawsuit requests an injunction to stop Harley-Davidson from manufacturing and selling the Brando Boots, as well as punitive damages and profits....

Rapper 50 Cent just filed for bankruptcy! Is it no big deal, or will he be on the streets soon? 50 Cent recently filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford, Connecticut. More specifically, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This move is a surprise to many, especially since Forbes estimated his net work to be at least $155 million this year. However, 50 Cent is downplaying the significance of the filing as simply a smart business decision to reorganize his financial affairs....

American student Amanda Knox was freed by an Italian court on Monday. Nearly all of Knox’s criminal charges, including the murder charges, were overturned. In the U.S., defamation is a civil matter. People sue each other alleging libel or slander in order to get monetary damages in civil court. Not so in Italy, where defamation can be a criminal charge that carried jail time. Knox was indicted for criminal defamation after she accused club owner Patrick Lumumba of murdering Meredith Kercher....

You can bake them or barbecue them, but most of us think of armadillos as road kill. But it turns out that they’re also good for something else: armadillos spread leprosy. Until recently, researchers believed that leprosy could only spread via human to human contact, though they were also aware that armadillos are the only nonhuman animal susceptible to the bacterial infection. Curious about whether armadillos spread leprosy to humans, a research team in Louisiana compared the DNA of leprosy bacteria from armadillos to that which has infected a group of patients in the southern United States....

The day of a wedding you expect the headlines to be ‘bride marries groom,’ not ‘bride murders groom.’ Na cola Darcel Franklin unfortunately got the latter headline on Saturday morning when she was arrested for killing her fiance, Billy Rafael Brewster. The couple had planned to marry at 10 am but Brewster died hours before that from a stab wound. Franklin is allegedly the person who stabbed Brewster although she claims she didn’t kill him on purpose....

Well it turns out New Yorkers can’t divorce their spouses if they are being ignored. The case of Davis vs. Davis decided that a husband who ignored his wife has not constructively abandoned her. Constructive abandonment is one of the fault based criteria that New York state uses for divorces. New York State is the only state that does not have no-fault divorce. The Cause of Action The wife filed for divorce under two causes of action: the first was for cruel and inhuman treatment and the second was for abandonment....