Chewing tobacco firm settles death suit for $5M

The maker of Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco has agreed to pay $5 million to the family of a man who died of mouth cancer in what is believed to be the first wrongful-death settlement from chewing tobacco. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. will pay the award to the family of Bobby Hill of Canton, N.C., who began chewing tobacco at 13. He died in 2003 at 42. Steven Callahan, a spokesman for Altria, which acquired U.S. Smokeless Tobacco last year, said the company does not make any health claims about its products, and it supports programs and laws to reduce underage tobacco use.
Report: Hire more drilling inspectors

Washington— The Obama administration should sharply increase the number of offshore drilling inspectors, conduct more surprise inspections and stiffen penalties on companies found to violate federal rules on drilling, says a report by the Interior Department's top watchdog. The report by the inspector general of the agency echoes one issued in September by a safety oversight board convened by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Both reports emphasized that inspectors from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement are badly outnumbered and in some cases poorly trained, without clear ethics rules.


Washington — Three pharmaceutical manufacturers have agreed to pay more than $421 million to settle allegations that the companies reported inflated prices for numerous products, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. The government said the companies knew that federal health care programs relied on the inflated prices to set payment rates.

In the latest settlements, Abbott Laboratories Inc. agreed to pay $126.5 million, B. Braun Medical Inc. will pay just over $14.7 million, and Roxane Laboratories Inc. agreed to pay $280 million.
In other headlines

FBI issues alert for Barbie doll with video camera: The FBI has issued a cyber crime alert on a new Barbie doll that comes with a hidden video camera. Mattel's Barbie Video Girl has a video camera lens built into its necklace that can record up to 30 minutes of footage to be downloaded on a computer. Officials warn that it could possibly be used to produce child pornography. A Mattel spokeswoman says the FBI has confirmed no reported incidents of using the doll for criminal activity.

UPS expands photo ID requirement for retail shipping: United Parcel Service Inc. will require customers shipping packages to show government-issued photo ID in an effort to intensify security after explosives were found on October cargo flights.
Audubon book auctioned for $10M

London — John James Audubon's "Birds of America," a rare blend of art, natural history and craftsmanship, fetched more than $10 million at auction on Tuesday, making it the world's most expensive published book. With its 435 hand-colored illustrations of birds drawn to size, the volume is one of the best preserved editions of Audubon's 19th-century masterpiece.