Amgen loses as top US court backs class actions

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Feb 28:  The US Supreme Court made it easier yesterday for shareholders to bring class-action lawsuits, breaking a recent line of decisions that had made it harder to sue corporate defendants collectively and perhaps obtain greater recoveries. By a 6-3 vote, the court allowed shareholders of Amgen Inc to sue the biotechnology company as a group without first having to show that misinformation had materially and fraudulently inflated its stock price. (agencies)