Patrick seeks legislators' patience on auto insurance

Governor Deval Patrick sent a letter to every member of the Legislature, urging them to give managed auto insurance competition a chance. He said the benefits will become clear Nov. 19, when insurers file their proposed rates for next year. Patrick's letter was a response to legislation filed last week that would limit what factors an insurer could use in setting premiums. Officials with several insurers say the proposed legislation would gut auto insurance competition, but proponents of the bill say it would merely require insurers to base premiums on an individual's driving record, garaging address, and type of vehicle. (Bruce Mohl)

Boston Scientific Corp. asked a jury to order its larger rival Johnson & Johnson to pay $99 million for stealing inventions for tubes used to unclog arteries. Boston Scientific showed during a three-week trial that its engineers - not J&J's - created and tested designs for a tube used to guide balloon catheters during angioplasty surgery, company lawyer Bill Lee said in US District Court in San Francisco. Boston Scientific's experts estimate that $99 million is a reasonable royalty, representing 1.3 percent of the total value of J&J balloon catheters that use the technology, Lee said. J&J lawyers said it doesn't dispute that products sold by its Cordis unit use technologies found in Natick-based Boston Scientific patents. The patents are invalid because Cordis's engineers already had invented the technologies, said David Pritikin, a J&J attorney. (Bloomberg)

Bear Stearns Cos. cut 300 jobs to reduce costs, as the nation's fifth-largest investment bank deals with the credit turmoil that swept through Wall Street. The positions will affect various business units, including its equity trading business, according to an internal memo obtained by Associated Press. The layoffs represent about 2 percent of the staff, which as of Aug. 31 was 15,516 employees. Bear Stearns already cut about 600 positions from its mortgage-origination unit as defaults from subprime borrowers began to skyrocket. (AP)

A panel of US government health officials narrowly recommended in a closed-door meeting that the Food and Drug Administration keep GlaxoSmithKline PLC's diabetes drug Avandia on the market, according to Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican. The FDA's Drug Safety Oversight Board, made up mostly of agency staff, cast the 8-to-7 vote this month after studies showed increased heart risks from Avandia, said Grassley in an e-mail, citing unnamed sources. The board meets in private, and its advice isn't binding. The FDA is considering whether Avandia needs new warnings for heart-attack risks. (Bloomberg)

Office Depot Inc. delayed its third-quarter earnings report due to its audit committee's independent review of vendor program funds, a development that one analyst said raised questions about the nation's second-largest office supplies retailer's financial statements. Its shares fell $2.86, or 14.1 percent, to $17.43. The review primarily relates to the timing of the recognition of certain funds, the company said. Office Depot had been scheduled to release its third-quarter results today, a new date wasn't released. Specifics of the delay and the funds were not clear. An Office Depot spokesman declined to comment. (AP)

Oil futures surged to a record near $94, propelled by the weak dollar and news that Mexico's state oil company had suspended a fifth of its oil production due to stormy weather. Light, sweet crude for December rose $1.67 to settle at a record $93.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $93.80 earlier, a trading record. (AP)

The European Union's aviation safety authority called for a "crisis meeting" to evaluate the airworthiness of Bombardier Q-400 turboprops after three crash landings prompted Scandinavian airline SAS to drop the planes from its fleet. The European Aviation Safety Agency said it was "very concerned" about the latest accident Saturday in Copenhagen, when the landing gear malfunctioned on an SAS Q-400 turboprop, also known as Dash 8. (AP)

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