GSK

Pharmaceutical giant GSK on Feb. 1 settled another suit, alleging that its heartburn medication, Zantac, causes cancer. The case was to go to trial Feb. 20 in California.

The British company offered the corporate boilerplate when it comes to settling court cases.

“The settlement reflects [our] desire to avoid the distraction related to protracted litigation in this case. GSK does not admit any liability in this settlement and will continue to vigorously defend itself.”

Ireland would welcome the same legal boilerplate from GSK.

The Irish government is setting up an $1B fund to compensate the 34K survivors of the country’s scandalous Magdalena Laundries.

The Catholic Church ran those workhouses for unmarried women and their babies from the 18th century until the last one closed in Dublin in 1996.

Predecessor companies at GSK tested experimental vaccines for decades on children and infants at the laundries.

The Irish government has asked GSK to contribute to the compensation fund due to its “moral and ethical obligation.”

GSK has refused, saying the tests were “bona fide” though there were failings in the trials “in the context of seeking and/or receiving appropriate consents.”

The British company chalked up $8.5B in 2023 operating profit, eight times the size of Ireland’s fund for survivors of the homes. Revenues were $38B.

In 2013, Ireland described the laundries as “the nation’s shame.” The government and its citizens “deeply regret and apologize unreservedly to all those women for the hurt that was done to them, and for any stigma they suffered, as a result of the time they spent in a Magdalene Laundry.”

If GSK isn’t going to donate to the fund, an apology is the very least that it can do. It shares Ireland’s shame.

Bryon Allen serves up some weak tea. The Allen Media Group is offering $14B to buy Paramount Global in a bid to acquire its TV networks and stations.

The Allen Media Group though has a spotty record when it comes to clinching deals. The Paramount bid is AMG’s second run at the media giant. Bryon Allen also made an offer to acquire Walt Disney’s ABC TV network.

AMG’s statement confirming its most recent offer for Paramount wasn’t exactly a vote of confidence that it would triumph in its quest.

‘We believe this $30 billion offer, which includes debt and equity, is the best solution for all of the Paramount Global shareholders, and the bid should be taken seriously and pursued.”

Paramount directors have a fiduciary obligation to take AMG’s offer seriously, even if’s it’s a half-hearted one.

Four more years… Biden’s re-election is in the bag, according to an extensive analysis produced by Moody’s Analytics.

Assuming an average turnout, Biden is expected to win by a narrow margin.

The vote will be a replay of 2020. Biden won 306 electoral votes four years ago (270 are needed to notch a victory). Moody’s projects 308 votes from the November election.

Biden will flip North Carolina due to its changing and more moderate demographics, but lose Arizona as its heavy Hispanic population drifts away from the Democrats.

Donald Trump turns the tables on Biden and triumphs if Republican turnout rises just two percent. That translates into wins in Nevada, NC and Pennsylvania and 271 votes for Trump.

That could very well be. MAGA World is jacked that its dear leader has a shot at redemption, while supporters of Sleepy Joe may decide to take a snooze on Election Day.