Business news in brief

By The Associated Press

Two tribal nations sue social media companies

Two tribal nations are accusing social media companies of contributing to high rates of suicides that disproportionately affect Native American youth. Their lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles county court names the companies responsible for Instagram, Snap, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Google.

The Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin say addictive features are pushing more Native youths to kill themselves. Virtually all U.S. teenagers use social media, and research shows roughly one in six say they’re almost constantly on YouTube and TikTok.

Tribal leaders say Native youths are particularly vulnerable due to the complexities of Indigenous identity in the U.S.

Norfolk Southern agrees to $600M settlement in Ohio derailment

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in Ohio. But residents worry that the money won’t go far enough to cover future health needs that could be tremendous but also won’t amount to much once divided up.

The company said Tuesday that the agreement, if approved by the court, will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius of the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius of the derailment.

Philips ordered to overhaul CPAP manufacturing

WASHINGTON | The company responsible for a global recall of sleep apnea machines will be barred from resuming production at U.S. facilities until it meets a number of safety requirements, under a long-awaited settlement announced Tuesday by federal officials.

Philips will be required to overhaul its manufacturing and quality control systems and hire independent experts to vet the changes, according to a court order announced by the U.S. Department of Justice. The company must also continue to replace, repair or provide refunds to all U.S. customers who got the defective devices, the department said.

The action is a major step toward resolving one of the biggest medical device recalls in history, which has dragged on for nearly three years.

—From AP reports