Skechers has agreed to pay $50 million to settle allegations made by the Federal Trade Commission and 44 states attorneys general that the shoe company made false and unsubstantiated claims regarding their rocker-bottom shoes, including that wearers would lose more weight and gain more muscle tone than they could with regular fitness shoes, the LA Times reports federal investigators as saying.

David Vladeck, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Affairs said “Unfortunately, for the millions of people who bought Skechers toning shoes, the only thing that got a workout was their wallet.” He also said that “when comparing its toning footwear to standard fitness shoes, Skechers put its foot in its mouth by making unproven claims that its toning footwear strengthened muscles, increases weight loss, reduces body fat and improves circulation and aerobic conditioning.” More Skechers to Pay $50 Million in Toning Shoe Lawsuit

According to a whistleblower lawsuit transferred to U.S. District Court in St. Louis last week, RehabCare Group Inc paid a Missouri nursing home some $10 million in kickbacks for access to Medicaid and Medicare residents for physical therapy. The U.S. Department of Justice joined the lawsuit last year.

Health Systems Inc., which owns the nursing home, and its affiliate Rehab Systems were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. According to government investigators, RehabCare formed an illegal business arrangement with Health Systems and Rehab Systems which included a one-time payment of more than a half million dollars, as well as continuous payments of 30 percent of therapy services. For this, the lawsuit claims, RehabCare was given a five-year therapy service contract for nursing home residents. More RehabCare Accused of Nursing Home Kickback Scheme

Marshall County, West Virginia landowners Lewis Aston, Cathy Aston, Linda Standiford, William Standiford, Mary Jako, Clarence Rulong, and Patricia Hoskins, as well as a “class of all similarly situated individuals” have filed suit against a natural gas drilling company, saying they acted in “reckless disregard” on royalty payments.

According to the lawsuit, AB Resources made improper deduction from the royalty payments made to the plaintiffs for fracking on their land. The complaint says that AB Resources’ acted in a way that was “so outrageous as to the shock the conscious,” as they “entered into a scheme and design to intentionally mislead plaintiffs into believing they were being paid all royalties due them,” the Wheeling Intelligencer reported. More WV Landowners File $1 Million Lawsuit over Fracking Royalties

Six days after Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson released a report detailing her criticisms with Accretive Health Inc., the company asked U.S. District Judge Richard H. Kyle in St. Paul, Minnesota to throw out a lawsuit Swanson filed in January which accused the hospital billings and collections company of breaching privacy laws when they lost a laptop that contained data of 23,500 patients.

According to court filings, Accretive called Swanson’s lawsuit “factually baseless and legally indefensible.” The company also said, “Rather than litigate this case in the courtroom, the attorney general orchestrated a nationwide media campaign against Accretive Health giving numerous television and print interviews to trumpet her release of a so-called ‘compliance review,’” Bloomberg Businessweek reported. More Accretive Wants Minnesota Attorney General’s Lawsuit Dismissed

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has filed a lawsuit against Accretive Health, a Chicago debt collection company, alleging the company violated federal and state health privacy laws as well as Minnesota consumer protection and debt collection laws.

According to the Minnesota lawsuit, Accretive employs are placed into the ranks of hospital staff which allows the company to direct employees, the Detroit Free Press reported. The state may coordinate its investigations with stated and federal regulators. Illinois is also investigating Accretive Health.

The state of Michigan filed a lawsuit against Accretive Health last year over annual report filings. More Hospital Collection Agency Investigated

Metlife has reached an agreement with nearly 34 states in which the life insurance company will pay nearly $500 million after allegations that though the company used the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master” file, it failed to pay beneficiaries what was owed.

The settlement comes after a joint investigative hearing that found that though Metlife did in fact have information regarding the deaths of policyholders, they failed to pay beneficiaries. California Controller John Chiang said, “These settlements make it clear that if the industry isn’t willing to make the payments legally required, we will take action, including lawsuits, to compel them to do right by their customers,” Businessweek reported. More Metlife Reaches $500 Million Life Insurance Settlement with States

Several class action lawsuits have been filed against Shop-Vac vacuums regarding the alleged misrepresentation of horsepower. According to a class action lawsuit filed in California, tests were performed on various Shop-Vac models in an effort to assess if the horsepower advertised was true.

NewsInferno reports the California complaints details its findings as “Measurements were taken for line current, power factor, barometric pressure, air duct temperature, total pressure, static pressure, free velocity and air flow. From these measurements, incoming horse power, air flow and air horse power were calculated. Testing was done at the typical household voltage of 120 Volts rms. More Shop-Vac Class Actions Filed

A jury in U.S. District Court in Billings, Montana has awarded 90-year-old Arlene Hull $34 million against the long-term-care insurance company Ability Insurance Co. According to the lawsuit, Ability Insurance violated the terms of the long-term-care policy when it claimed she no longer qualified for benefits and stopped paying St. John’s Lutheran Home assisted-living facility for her care, saying Hull, who has Alzheimer’s disease, was only “moderately” impaired and did not need “continual care.”

Hull and her husband started paying Ability in 1997 for their long-term-care policy. When Mr. Hull died in 1998, Mrs. Hull continued to pay on the premium. In 2008, Hull was admitted to the nursing facility, and the insurance company paid her benefits. However, in 2010, the insurance company stopped paying her benefits. More Court Orders Ability Insurance to Pay $34 Million to Elderly Woman

New York’s Attorney General announced settlement terms this week with a former executive at two nursing homes operating in the state on charges she misappropriated funds to her, her family’s, and friend’s financial gain.

Ruby Weston will pay $871,000 as part of the settlement terms, according to a report at LegalNewsline.com on a statement from AG Eric Schneiderman. Weston was the former administrator at Marcus Garvey Nursing Home and Ruby Weston Manor and was accused of breaking her “fiduciary responsibilities” to both organizations. Weston took an “excessive” salary during her time at the helm of Marcus Garvey Nursing Home – reaching a pinnacle of $500,000 in a single year – and also awarded nursing home contracts to her son, who operated a computer consulting firm, without accepting bids from others. She set her own salary.

Furthering her ability to defraud Marcus Garvey Nursing Home, to which she must repay $821,000 as part of the settlement, Weston appointed a personal friend to serve as the head of the board of directors of both not-for-profit corporations. More New York settles with former nursing home exec over excessive pay

Groupon has agreed to settle 17 lawsuits that were consolidated under U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw in San Diego for $8.5 million. The lawsuits alleged that the daily deals site sold coupons with illegal expiration dates and provisions.

One of the lawsuits claimed that “Groupon effectively creates a sense of urgency among consumers to quickly purchase ‘groupon’ gift certificates by offering ‘daily deals’ for a short amount of time.” The lawsuit explained that “Consumers therefore feel pressured and are rushed into buying the gift certificates and unwittingly become subject to the onerous sales conditions,” Bloomberg reports. More Groupon Settles Lawsuit Consolidation for $8.5 million