Raphael Stevens

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is under investigation by a federal court-appointed watchdog, according to a Monday court filing.
The monitor, Neil Barofsky, is investigating whether Fain abused his power as union president, potentially in violation of a 2020 consent decree between the UAW and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The union is in the middle of a national organizing drive of nonunion automakers.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain testifies about the toll of working hours on laborers before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 2024.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

DETROIT — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is under investigation by a federal court-appointed watchdog who is tasked with monitoring the union and eliminating corruption, according to a Monday court filing.
The monitor, Neil Barofsky, is investigating whether Fain abused his power as union president. He also accuses union leaders, including Fain, of obstructing the investigation and interfering with his access to information.

Such actions could potentially violate a 2020 consent decree between the UAW and the U.S. Department of Justice that avoided a federal takeover of the union.
“The Monitor has attempted for months to garner the Union’s cooperation in gathering the information needed to conduct a full investigation, but the Union has effectively slow-rolled the Monitor’s access to requested documents,” the court filing reads.
More recently, the filing says the monitor expanded the investigation to include additional allegations of retaliation by Fain against one of the union’s vice presidents.
The monitor also opened an unrelated investigation into another unnamed UAW International Executive Board, or IEB, member, a regional director, after receiving allegations of potential embezzlement, according to the filing.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain (right) and UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock (left) lead a march outside Stellantis’ Ram 1500 plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, after the union called a strike at the plant on Oct. 23, 2023.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Without specifically addressing any issues in the filing, Fain released a statement Monday night: “Taking our union in a new direction means sometimes you have to rock the boat, and that upsets some people who want to keep the status quo, but our membership expects better and deserves better than the old business as usual.

“We encourage the Monitor to investigate whatever claims are brought to their office, because we know what they’ll find: a UAW leadership committed to serving the membership, and running a democratic union. We’re staying focused on winning record contracts, growing our union, and fighting for economic and social justice on and off the job.”
The union is in the middle of a national organizing drive of nonunion automakers. The accusations follow Fain’s rise to international prominence after the union under his leadership scored record-setting contracts last year with General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis.
The court filing, which was first reported by The Detroit News, says Barofsky’s concerns largely began in February, after the monitor “began investigating current members of the IEB—including the President, Secretary-Treasurer, and one of the Union’s Regional Directors.”
The probe stems from union leaders removing all responsibilities assigned to Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock that were not constitutionally required amid allegations she had engaged in misconduct while carrying out her financial oversight responsibilities.
In response, the filing says Mock “lodged allegations of her own against the Union’s President that, among other things, the charges against her were false, and that the removal of her authority was improperly instigated in retaliation for her refusal or reluctance to authorize certain expenditures.”

The filing states more than three months after the monitor’s initial document request, the union has produced “a very small portion (approximately 2,600 documents) of the current potentially relevant pool of approximately 116,000—and with more than 80% of those documents only produced on June 6, 2024, days before the issuance of this report.”
The monitor believes the “union’s delay of relevant documents is obstructing and interfering with his access to information needed for his investigative work, and, if left unaddressed, is an apparent violation of the Consent Decree,” the filing reads.
The consent decree followed a yearslong corruption probe into the union involving embezzlement, bribery and other charges. It resulted in several convictions of union leaders and Fiat Chrysler executives, including two past union presidents.

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A panel of independent advisors to the FDA recommended Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug donanemab, paving the way for the treatment to receive full approval in the U.S. later this year.
If approved, Eli Lilly’s drug would become the second Alzheimer’s drug of its kind currently on the U.S. market after another treatment called Leqembi from Biogen and Eisai.
An approval would expand the treatment options for the more than 6 million Americans of all ages who have Alzheimer’s, the fifth-leading cause of death for adults over 65.

Eli Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, US, on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. Eli Lilly & Co.’s shares climbed in early US trading after its experimental drug for Alzheimer’s slowed the progress of the disease in a final-stage trial, paving the way for the company to apply for US approval.
AJ Mast | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A panel of independent advisors to the Food and Drug Administration on Monday recommended Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug donanemab, paving the way for the treatment to receive full approval in the U.S. later this year.
The FDA typically follows the recommendations of its advisory panels but is not required to do so. If cleared for use, Eli Lilly’s donanemab would become the second Alzheimer’s drug of its kind currently on the U.S. market after another treatment called Leqembi from Biogen and its Japanese partner Eisai.

An approval would expand the now limited treatment options for the more than 6 million Americans who have Alzheimer’s, the fifth-leading cause of death for adults over 65.
In a first vote, 11 committee members unanimously said available data on the drug shows that it is effective at treating Alzheimer’s patients at the early stages of the mind-wasting disease. But several advisors noted that more data is needed on donanemab in Black and Hispanic patients, among other groups.
In a second vote, advisors unanimously said the benefits of Eli Lilly’s donanemab outweigh its risks. 
“There’s a huge unmet medical need here that hopefully can be addressed,” temporary committee member Sarah Dolan said during a meeting on Monday. Dolan is a consultant for the non-profit organization Critical Path Institute, which aims to improve the drug development process.
Eli Lilly is “pleased” with the panel’s recommendation and looks forward to bringing the treatment to patients, Mark Mintun, group vice president of neuroscience research and development at Eli Lilly, said in a statement.

The recommendation follows snags Eli Lilly faced in bringing the treatment to market.
The FDA in March called a last-minute meeting of an advisory panel to further review the safety and efficacy of Eli Lilly’s drug in a late-stage trial, just weeks before the agency’s deadline to rule on the treatment.
It was another blow to Eli Lilly, which initially expected donanameb to win approval at the end of last year. The FDA also rejected the drug in January last year, saying it had insufficient data to greenlight it. 
The FDA appears to be reviewing donanemab more cautiously after its polarizing approval of the ill-fated Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm, from Biogen and Eisai. The agency granted accelerated approval to that treatment despite a negative recommendation from an advisory panel.
Biogen and Eisai have since dropped the drug. 
Leqembi and donanemab are milestones in the treatment of Alzheimer’s after three decades of failed efforts to develop medicines that can fight the fatal disease. 
Both drugs are monoclonal antibodies that target amyloid plaque in the brain, considered a hallmark of Alzheimer’s, to slow the progression of the disease in patients at the early stages of it. 
But neither of the treatments are cures.
Drugs that target and clear amyloid plaque can also cause brain swelling and bleeding in patients, which in some cases can be severe and even fatal. Three patients who took Eli Lilly’s drug in a late-stage trial died from severe cases of those side effects, called amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, or ARIA.
A host of hurdles has slowed Leqembi’s rollout since its approval in July, including the steps needed to diagnose Alzheimer’s and monitor and handle the weekly infusions required with the drug. Biogen and Eisai signaled in April that they are seeing adoption pick up.
In a note Sunday, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said he expects limited commercial adoption of donanemab relative to Leqembi because Eli Lilly’s drug has “more safety liabilities” and will be less convenient, since it is administered once a month through the veins. That is a method known as intravenous infusion. 
Leqembi is currently administered through twice-monthly infusions, but Biogen expects to launch an injectable version of the drug next year, Risinger noted. He expects donanemab to rake in $500 million in sales by the end of the decade. 

How effective is Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug?

Eli Lilly’s phase three trial on more than 1,700 patients found that donanemab slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s by 29% compared to a placebo after around 18 months, based on a traditional tool used to measure the severity of dementia.
Those results are comparable to those seen with Leqembi. 
Patients in Eli Lilly’s phase three trial needed to test positive on a PET scan for amyloid plaque and another protein in the brain called tau, which is thought to be a marker of Alzheimer’s severity. People with no or very low levels of tau were not included in the primary analysis of the trial because researchers thought their disease was less likely to progress during the study. 
Eli Lilly’s trial mainly focused on patients with low-to-medium levels of tau, who appeared to benefit more from the treatment than those with high tau.

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images

Eli Lilly argued that patients should be tested for amyloid plague to be eligible for the drug, but not for tau. The company said it tested for tau in the trial to enroll patients whose condition was expected to worsen, which made it more likely for the study to “clearly determine” the drug’s effect. 
Most advisors agreed that tau tests should not be required to access donanemab because it would likely restrict the population who can benefit from the drug.
“From a very practical perspective, I think this would be not a wise thing to to have as a barrier,” said temporary committee member Dr. Kathleen Poston, a professor in neurology, neurological sciences and neurosurgery at Stanford University, during the meeting on Monday.
Patients taking Eli Lilly’s drug in the trial were eligible to switch over to a placebo if amyloid levels in their brains fell below a certain threshold. By the end of the trial, 60% of participants on donanemab were able to stop treatment.
Dolan said allowing patients to discontinue the drug when enough amyloid has been cleared could be a “motivational factor” for patients to comply with their infusions and regular testing.

Risks of brain swelling, bleeding

Around 24% of trial participants who took donanemab experienced brain swelling, while 31% experienced brain bleeding. 
The majority of those ARIA cases were mild to moderate, as 6% of participants with brain swelling and 1% with brain bleeding experienced symptoms. They included headache, confusion, dizziness, nausea and in rare cases, seizures.
Serious cases occurred in 1.5% of patients with brain swelling and less than 1% with brain bleeding.
If donanemab is approved, FDA staff said they expect the drug’s label to include a strong “boxed” warning about the risks of brain swelling and bleeding, especially for people with two copies of a gene called ApoE4. They also expect recommendations for MRIs to monitor for those side effects in patients, among other strategies.
That is consistent with Leqembi’s approval label.
There were 19 deaths in participants on donanemab, including the three attributed to Eli Lilly’s drug, within the 18-month trial, according to a final analysis of data by FDA staff. That compares to 16 deaths in patients on placebo, reflecting a smaller imbalance in the number of deaths between people who took donanemab and those who didn’t. More

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the rethemed Splash Mountain, is set to reopen June 28 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The revamp, which was annouced four years ago, is part of a bigger strategy for Disney to infuse relevant, fan-favorite intellectual properties into its existing rides and theme parks.
It is also the most recent example of Disney’s wider effort to invest $60 billion in its parks business over the next decade.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens June 28 at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida! The ride will take guests on a musical adventure picking up after the events of the Walt Disney Animation Studios film, “The Princess and the Frog.” Guests will encounter fan-favorite characters including Prince Naveen, Mama Odie and more, plus all-new music.
Disney | Olga Thompson

We’re almost there.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the rethemed Splash Mountain, is set to reopen June 28 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The refurbishment of the iconic water ride was first announced four years ago. Similar alterations at Disneyland in California are expected to be complete before the end of the year.

Featuring characters from Disney Animation’s “Princess and the Frog,” Tiana’s Bayou Adventure takes guests through the swamps of New Orleans as Tiana preps a massive Mardi Gras celebration. And don’t worry, the more than 50-foot drop remains.
Riders will be immersed in a musical experience as they jettison along the log ride with new, original music alongside favorite songs from the 2009 animated film. Along the way, riders will spot familiar faces like Tiana, Louis and Mama Odie as well as a number of instrument playing critters from the bayou.
The revamp of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is part of a bigger strategy for Disney to infuse relevant, fan-favorite intellectual properties into its existing rides and theme parks. It’s all part of Disney’s wider effort to invest $60 billion in its parks business over the next decade.
Already the company has rethemed the iconic Tower of Terror at California Adventure to feature characters from Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” converted the California Screamin’ roller coaster into an “Incredibles” coaster (also at California Adventure) and replaced Maelstrom in the Norway Pavilion at Epcot with a “Frozen” ride.
Disney often refers to these updates as “plussing,” which is done in order to make attractions more relevant and to elevate the guest experience. 

Tiana’s transformation

Splash Mountain has been a staple at Disneyland since 1989 and at Disney World since 1992. There is a third Splash Mountain in Tokyo, which also opened in 1992. In recent years, there were calls from some parkgoers to strip away the “Sound of the South” theme from the ride. The source material, a film released in 1946, has been deemed racist by many even though the ride itself hasn’t been criticized as racist.
For Disney, retheming Splash Mountain allows it to upgrade ride elements, like its animatronics, tie the ride to a popular studio film and develop a slew of new merchandise, food items and drinks for guests to enjoy.
Imagineers have developed all-electronic audio-animatronics for the ride, including for characters such as Louis, the trumpet-playing alligator from the film.
Disney revolutionized animatronics decades ago with its hydraulic, or liquid-fueled, and pneumatic, or air-fueled, systems, but the electronic animatronics for Tiana’s Bayou allow for more refined and precise movement, making them appear more realistic. Similar animatronics can be seen in the rides Smuggler’s Run and Rise of the Resistance, in Galaxy’s Edge.

A preview of Walt Disney Imagineering’s audio-animatronics for the upcoming refresh of Splash Mountain, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

Interior pieces of some of the animatronics were crafted using 3-D printing, resulting in a lighter-weight material.
The relaunch also comes with new apparel lines, themed hot sauces, plush toys and a slew of different snack items.
Parks profits
In 2023, experiences was the best-performing part of Disney’s business, accounting for 36% of the company’s total revenue but 70% of its operating income. Meanwhile, Disney’s entertainment division, which includes its theatrical and streaming businesses, represented 45% of revenue but just 11% of operating income.
The ability to get more out of the parks in recent years was crucial for CEO Bob Iger and Disney’s board as they tried to make the company more profitable and improve share performance. 
“I looked at the return on invested capital in our parks and resorts unit over the, my tenure, really, and it was extraordinary,” Iger said during the MoffettNathanson Media Internet and Communications Conference last month. “And I asked about how much we were planning to invest over the next decade, and I realized that if we believe we’re going to basically turn things around from a cash free – a free cash flow generation perspective, which we’ve done, and we’re doing, then we have an opportunity to invest. Why not invest in the business that has the highest returns?”
Disney has already announced that the reimagined Country Bear Musical Jamboree would open on July 17 at the Magic Kingdom Park in Orlando. In an all-new show, the twangin’ bears will sing interpretations of classic Disney songs in different genres of country music including bluegrass, pop-country, Americana and rockabilly.
Additionally, a “The Little Mermaid” theatrical production inspired by the the 1989 film will debut later this year.
The company is also developing what it’s dubbed “blue sky” ideas for its parks — projects that are still in early development and may ultimately not see the light of day.
Disney has teased that an area based on “Coco” or “Encanto,” or both, could be underway in the Magic Kingdom. There were also talks about opening an area of the Magic Kingdom that would be overrun by Disney villains.
During the company’s investor meeting in April, Iger even teased the possibility of an “Avatar” land at Disneyland in California.
Price points for these projects will vary, if they do come to fruition. The recent additions of the two Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands in Disneyland and Disney World are estimated to have cost $1 billion each. More

The Women’s National Basketball Association is averaging 1.3 million viewers per game, tripling last season’s average of 462,000 viewers.
Much of the growing fan engagement is attributed to popular players such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
About 400,000 fans attended games in May, the most first-month attendees in 26 years, according to the league.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) maneuvers past Washington Mystics guard Ariel Atkins (7) and Washington Mystics guard DiDi Richards (12) during the Washington Mystics-Indiana Fever WNBA game at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on June 7, 2024.
Craig Hudson | The Washington Post | Getty Images

The growing popularity of women’s basketball did not stop with the NCAA tournament — fans are showing up and tuning in at record levels for Women’s National Basketball Association games, too, the league reported Monday.
The beginning of the 28th season, which started May 14, has been the most-watched on TV networks in the league’s history, according to a release. Across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS, the WNBA is averaging 1.3 million viewers per game, tripling last season’s average of 462,000 viewers.

About 400,000 fans attended games in May, the most first-month attendees in 26 years, according to the league. More than half those games were sold out.
The WNBA attributed much of the growing fan engagement to its powerful rookie class. Jersey sales for big names such as Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky contributed to a 236% jump in merchandise sales year over year.
The league also reported more diverse viewership. The number of people tuning in to games on TV grew 60% year over year among people of color. Viewership in the first week of the season more than doubled for young girls and people under age 35.
“We’re encouraged by growing engagement across all our verticals, especially as we welcome new and diverse audiences into our fandom,” Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison said in the release.

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Roche in a lawsuit accused manufacturers and sellers based in India of selling counterfeit versions of its Accu-Chek devices on Amazon.
Roche said the test strips are expired or nearly expired products that are repackaged with counterfeit labels bearing Roche’s registered U.S. trademarks and fake expiration dates.
Amazon is not a defendant in the case but is alleged to have held the counterfeit products at U.S. facilities and shipped them to customers.

Roche, one of the world’s largest biotech companies, said “dangerous counterfeits” of its diabetes medical devices ended up for sale on Amazon to be bought by patients throughout the United States.
Roche accused manufacturers and sellers based in India of selling counterfeit versions of its Accu-Chek devices, which are used to test blood glucose levels. The company made the claim in a federal lawsuit unsealed late Friday.

“Patients know that Roche’s Accu-Chek medical devices are safe, sterile and accurate,” the complaint said. Roche said the counterfeit test strips are expired or nearly expired products that are repackaged with counterfeit labels bearing Roche’s registered U.S. trademarks and fake expiration dates.
It warned that the counterfeit devices are “likely to give false or inaccurate measurements of blood glucose levels, putting patients at risk of severe and life-threatening complications, such as hyperglycemia and over- or under-dosages of insulin.”
The lawsuit, which was filed under seal in May in the U.S. District Court in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, named as defendants four companies and their executives, all based in India. Roche is seeking unspecified damages.
After the suit was filed, a judge granted Roche’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop the defendants from selling the counterfeit products. The Amazon stores that were offering the products for sale appear to have been taken down.

Roche Diabetes Care Inc. Accu-Chek brand glucose test strips are arranged for a photograph in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Thursday, April 4, 2019. 
Alex Flynn | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Amazon is not a defendant in the case, but Roche claims that as part of the alleged scheme all of the counterfeit products sent to the U.S. were stored at Amazon warehouses across the country, including in Brooklyn. The products are typically shipped to businesses and individuals within 48 hours of landing at Amazon facilities.

“Amazon currently has untold numbers of these dangerous counterfeit medical devices in its warehouses across the country, ready to deliver to unsuspecting American consumers at the click of a button,” the complaint said.
Roche said the counterfeiters participated in Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon program, through which “Amazon agrees to receive, store, and accept orders on behalf of the counterfeiters; to pick, pack, and ship the counterfeit goods; and to provide customer service for the counterfeiters. … Amazon, in return, receives a sizable percentage of the revenue from the counterfeit sales,” according to the complaint.
An Amazon spokesman told CNBC that the company has “a zero tolerance policy for counterfeit products. We have proactive measures in place to prevent counterfeit products from being listed and continuously monitor our store. If we identify an issue, we act quickly to protect customers and brands, including removing counterfeit listings and blocking accounts, and collaborating with brands and law enforcement to protect our customers from bad actors attempting to abuse our store.”
The complaint was filed on behalf of Roche Diabetes Care Inc., Roche Diabetes Care GmbH and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc, by attorneys with the New York-based law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler.
The defendants are JMD Enterprises doing business as DKY Store USA, JMD Enterprises founder and owner Dileep Kumar Yadav, JMD International, JMD International owner and founder Abhishek Jain, Medical Hub_USA Store, Medical Hub_USA owner Ratnakar Sharma, Authentic Indian Store and Authentic Indian Store owner Atikur Rahman.
CNBC contacted the defendants for comment, but has not yet received responses.
A spokesperson for Roche told CNBC that the company does not comment on ongoing lawsuits.

Counterfeit medical devices

Roche’s Accu-Chek diabetes care medical devices, used by millions of patients, include Accu-Chek glucometers, blood glucose test strips and lancets. The company’s blood glucose test strips and lancets can be purchased with or without a prescription at pharmacies and online marketplaces, including Amazon.

Roche Accu-Chek SoftClix
Source: Roche

The lancets are specialized disposable needles used to draw blood for testing.
The packaging on the counterfeit devices at the center of the lawsuit includes a misspelling of the name of the product as well as fake serial numbers and expiration dates, according to the complaint.

Arrows pointing outwards

These counterfeit Roche products show the product’s name misspelled.
Source: U.S. District Court filing

The company launched an investigation into the counterfeits in late March when a whistleblower reached out with information, according to the complaint. Its investigators then purchased the products from the three Amazon stores listed in the complaint, the lawsuit said.
As recently as May, a customer left a negative review on Amazon’s platform, complaining that he had ordered test strips from the DKY Store but received a different product. In March, a different customer said the lancets she purchased from DKY were fake.

Arrows pointing outwards

Fake identical serial numbers on the packages are another indicator of counterfeits.
Source: U.S. District court filing

Roche did not specify how long the counterfeit items were being sold on Amazon, or how many ultimately made it to customers.
The issue of potentially dangerous glucose test strips emerged in 2019 when the Food and Drug Administration warned against using test strips from a previous owner or ones not authorized for sale in the U.S. At the time, the FDA said faulty test strips were being sold via online marketplaces and individual sellers.
In 2011, Johnson & Johnson said it found counterfeit versions of its glucose test strips in India.
CNBC in March reported findings of an investigation into stolen items sold on Amazon’s marketplace via organized retail crime rings. The report centered on millions of dollars of items stolen from Ulta Beauty that were being sold for more than a decade on the platform.
And in 2023, a CNBC investigation revealed how counterfeiters illegally alter prescription medications, which are then funneled into a gray market supply chain for resale to pharmacies and ultimately to patients. More