Replica Herve Leger Dress – Replica Dress Manufacturers, Suppliers

By Ney Hayashi

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — The Bovespa index fell as Vale SA followed a drop in metal prices after a report showing U.S. retail sales trailed estimates rekindled concern that global growth will falter.

Gerdau SA, which generated 37 percent of its third-quarter revenue from North America, led declines by steelmakers. Diagnosticos da America SA, the medical-diagnostics firm known as Dasa, sank after saying Chief Financial Officer Jose Mauricio Mora Puliti left the company. Retailers including B2W Cia. Global do Varejo gained after a report showed sales in Brazil rose more than forecast in December.

The Bovespa sank 1 percent to 65,038.53 at the close of trading in Sao Paulo. Forty-six stocks dropped on the gauge, while 23 gained. The real weakened 0.5 percent to 1.7247 per U.S. dollar.

Sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.4 percent in January from December, Commerce Department figures showed today. The advance was half the 0.8 percent median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, reflecting an unexpected drop at auto dealers.

“Most of the U.S. data released in the past few months were good, so people were behaving like we’re now living in a dream, as if the worst was already over,” Alexandre Ghirghi, who manages about 150 million reais ($87 million) at Metodo Investimentos, said by phone from Sao Paulo. “Today’s numbers signal it’s not like that, at least not yet.”

Vale fell 1.9 percent to 42.88 reais. Gerdau dropped 2.8 percent to 17.35 reais. The Bloomberg Base Metals 3-Month Price Commodity Index declined 0.5 percent. The UBS Bloomberg CMCI Index of 27 raw materials slid 0.4 percent.

Brazil Retail Sales

The Bovespa earlier climbed as much as 0.2 percent as retailers gained after a report from the national statistics agency showed sales in Brazil rose 0.3 percent in December from November. The median estimate of 44 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for an increase of 0.1 percent. Sales rose 6.7 percent from a year earlier.

Online seller B2W jumped 4.6 percent to 11.30 reais. Cia. Brasileira de Distribuicao Grupo Pao de Acucar, Brazil’s biggest retailer, climbed 0.7 percent to 74 reais after earlier gaining as much as 1.8 percent.

Dasa tumbled 4 percent to 15.50 reais, the biggest drop since Jan. 5. The company said CFO Puliti left to “pursue new challenges.” Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Noll Barboza will assume the position, according to a regulatory filing.

Banco do Brasil SA, Latin America’s biggest bank by assets, rose 4.1 percent to 27.47 reais. The lender reported adjusted net income, which excludes extraordinary events, of 3.03 billion reais in the fourth quarter Replica Watches, according to a regulatory filing. That beat the mean estimate of 2.6 billion reais among 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Embraer Orders

Embraer SA, the world’s fourth-largest plane builder, climbed 1.1 percent to 12.61 reais. The company said it won an order for 10 E195 jets from Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras SA for a total list price of $478 million. In a separate filing, Embraer said it signed a contract with China’s Minsheng Financial Leasing Co. Ltd. for three Lineage 1000 executive jets.

The Bovespa has advanced 15 percent this year, following an 18 percent slump in 2011, buoyed by Brazil’s interest-rate cuts, signs of growth in the U.S. and renewed optimism Europe may be closer to solving its debt crisis. The gauge trades at 10.3 times analysts’ earnings estimates, which compares with a ratio of 10.5 for MSCI Inc.’s measure of 21 developing nations’ equities, weekly data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Traders moved 7.3 billion reais in stocks in Sao Paulo today, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That compares with a daily average of 6.59 billion reais this year through Feb. 7, according to data from the exchange.

–Editors: Richard Richtmyer, Brendan Walsh

To contact the reporter on this story: Ney Hayashi in Sao Paulo at ncruz4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos in New York at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION

By Hans Nichols

Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers are two leading candidates to succeed World Bank President Robert Zoellick when he leaves at the end of June, according to two people familiar with Obama administration discussions.

While Summers has expressed interest in the position and has supporters inside the administration, the position would be Clinton’s if she sought it Replica Watches, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the private conversations.

Clinton, who said previously she doesn’t plan to remain in her post if President Barack Obama wins a second term, repeatedly has denied having an interest in the World Bank job. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland repeated those denials today.

“The secretary has addressed this issue many times since last year,” Nuland said at a briefing in Washington. “She has said this is not happening. Her view has not changed.”

Summers was traveling and unavailable for comment, his assistant, Julie Shample, said.

Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, refused to comment on possible successors to Zoellick, who was nominated for the position by then-President George W. Bush in 2007.

“There’s been a lot of speculation in the press,” Carney told reporters traveling with the president to an event in Wisconsin. “I’m not going to confirm any of it.”

U.S. Nomination

By tradition, the U.S. president chooses the leader of the World Bank while the head of the International Monetary Fund is selected by European leaders. The nomination is subject to approval by the World Bank’s executive board.

While Clinton, 64, told State Department employees at a town hall last month that she’s tired after 20 years in public life, many of her associates say she might be willing to take the World Bank presidency. It requires fewer hours and less travel than being secretary of state, the people said.

Summers, 57, was Obama’s first director of the National Economic Council and served as Treasury secretary in former President Bill Clinton’s administration. He left the Obama administration at the end of 2010 and returned to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he’s a professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Zoellick’s five-year term expires June 30. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in a statement today that the U.S. will put forward a candidate for the job “in the coming weeks.”

–With assistance from Sandrine Rastello in Washington and Kate Anderson aboard Air Force. Editors: Joe Sobczyk, Steven Komarow

To contact the reporter on this story: Hans Nichols in Washington at hnichols2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net

Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION

By Bloomberg News

(Updates with underwriters in second paragraph.)

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — China’s Ministry of Railways plans to offer 15 billion yuan ($2.38 billion) of five-year notes on Feb. 22, its first bond sale since November, to fund rail construction and buy rolling stock, it said in a statement.

Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. are the lead underwriters, it said in the prospectus posted on Chinamoney.com.cn, a website of the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

The debt-to-asset ratio of China’s rail operator as of the end of the third quarter was 59.6 percent Herve Leger, the statement said.

State support has helped rail bonds recover losses to become the best-performing corporate notes this year, with a 1.93 percent gain, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s China Corporate Index.

–Henry Sanderson, with assistance from Penny Peng in Beijing. Editor: Beth Thomas

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Henry Sanderson in Beijing at hsanderson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shelley Smith at ssmith118@bloomberg.net

Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION

TORONTO — Addiction experts are applauding new provincial restrictions on OxyContin and the drug replacing it, but say Canada needs a national strategy to tackle widespread abuse of prescription painkillers.

Ontario’s decision last week to remove OxyContin and its replacement, OxyNeo, from the list of drugs it routinely funds is “a very positive thing overall,” said Dr. Irfan Dhalla of Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital.

His research found the addition of long-acting oxycodone – the form contained in OxyContin — to Ontario’s drug plan in 2000 coincided with a spike in opioid-related deaths.

Imposing tighter controls on prescriptions “is not going to solve the problem by itself, but it’s a major step forward,” he said.

The maker of OxyContin will stop manufacturing the drug in Canada at the end of the month and replace it with a new formulation called OxyNeo.

Ontario health officials said Friday the new drug will be funded through the province’s Exceptional Access Program, meaning prescriptions will fall under stricter regulations.

As other provinces weigh whether to include OxyNeo in their formulary, experts such as Dhalla are urging Ottawa to take the lead in combatting what has become a national health crisis.

Benedikt Fischer, director of the Centre for Applied Research in Addictions and Mental Health at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, said “concerted measures” could help prevent smuggling of the drug across provincial borders.

“Let’s say in Manitoba or in Quebec, the restrictions aren’t there, there’s a much higher supply and there’s a great black market demand in Ontario, it’s quite possible the stuff will come in from the neighbouring provinces,” he said.

“It’s one reason why approaches to those kinds of measures in Canada should really be harmonized across the board,” he said.

Manitoba and British Columbia are among a handful of provinces that have yet to decide whether to fund OxyNeo once OxyContin is discontinued.

Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick have chosen not to pay for the new drug, which is formulated to make abuse more difficult.

Unlike OxyContin, the tablet is hard to crush and when added to liquid, it forms a thick gel that stops oxycodone from being extracted for injection.

But that won’t help those who have developed addictions to the drug in pill form, Fischer said. “They can still simply swallow it,” he said.

It’s also possible addicts will turn to other painkillers or illicit drugs once OxyContin is off the market, he said.

“One thing that’s for sure is that those people who have dependence will not suddenly be cured of their dependence because of OxyContin disappearing,” he said.

“Those people who have dependence or are inclined to abuse will continue to do so, they will just have to adapt to the situation.”

Comments are now closed for this story

dwayne in da peg

said

over 42 comments and not once did anyone suggest legalizing Pot. Guess its too early in the day for the hemp heads to read the news. That being said, the government isn’t taking away oxycontin, the formula is being changed to prevent people from snorting it or shooting it. Thoese who truly need this medication will still get it but it will make it more difficult for the doctors with quesionable prescribing habits to give them to those who can get by on something less potent.

mama

said

want to get rid of the problem, quit prescribing it like fricken candy!!! Years ago, I was in a bad car accident, broken pelvis, broken foot, broken face, broken teeth and all they sent me home from the hospital with was T3’s, and I was fine. Now a days, they give you an oxy RX for getting your wisdom teeth pulled! ridiculous!

NeutralMind

said

I recently hurt myself in a fall at work which automatically qualified me for WCB compensation. The original doctor who saw me highly recommended that I get treated by a very good chiropractic facility in Victoria. However, based on the WCB rules, I had to see a doctor every few weeks. The doctor I�d originally seen was away and his replacement recommended that I avoid costs to WCB and instead take strong painkillers (Tylenol 3 to start with) every 4 hours and muscle relaxants every 6 hours. I am an engineer and cannot afford to be drugged. In addition, drugs are not the way to fix a problem. I voiced my opinion and as usual was shut down by the doctor. Apparently just because I don�t have a medical degree, I cannot have an opinion when it comes to my well-being. The next doctor wrote WCB a lengthy note detailing my concussion and damage to my lower and upper back but WCB rep (who is NOT a doctor and I wonder if she had any education from the way she spoke) decided to not look at the latest and instead go with the �drug yourself so you don�t feel the pain� recommendation. They closed my file and considered me fixed. I must add that WCB decided to not compensate me for time lost because I get paid too much!! So now I am left with no treatments. I am in pain all day every day and just have to wonder how a doctor whom I am supposed to trust can prescribe a 30-year old with medication just to avoid costs to WCB. What has gone wrong here? When did we get to this point? I am so angry and it seems like there is just nowhere to go.

Doug ^^^ BC

said

There’s no doubt that OxyContin is a valuable drug,when used appropriately.But it is well known as one of the most addictive pain killers on the market.It’s unfortunate that drug companies who make addicitve drugs are not also required to create a drug or a program to deal with the addiction once the drug is no longer needed for pain. It’s also unfortunate that both addiction and pain management are still not well understood by the science community.Imagine how much better off our whole society would be if we could just deal with those two problems in ways that would be actual “cures”,rather than just more treatment for they symptoms. I’m neither a scientist,or a medical expert.But I wish them luck as they work to develope better programs to reduce addictions,and drugs that relieve physical pain,without creating even more drug addicts. Only time will tell whether we are on our way to such solutions.But I think it’s clear that the staus quo is not working as well as it should,for a lot of people under stress.In that context,I think that just going on as we always have,is not a good option.

ed ellsworth

said

If the doctors would keep track of who they give the drugs to.And the pharmacy keep track of what they give out there would be less a problem.

BJ

said

I’m one person that takes this drug.
I’ve been suffering for 28 years with ankle pain,got it repair and still suffering and put on these pills just for pain for the last two years.No i’m not addicted,i only take them when i need them,just to get on with life.
If any of you,ever get hurt i mean seriously hurt you’ll be glad you got something to calm the pain down
.So there is people out there like me that needs this drug,yes I agree some just take it for the fun of it but it’s up to the doctors that give this drug to people,just to get rid of them and they give it to other people just for the the money,so watch what you say,because pain can kill to because your heart can’t take that much stress.Some people commint suicde because they can’t take that much pain anymore too.

L. Anderson

said

Cancer patients still have other pain killers that work very well such as dilaudid and morphine. They don’t have to rely solely on oxycontin. Those other drugs can be just as effective when used properly. The same drugs that the addicts will turn to and still do now and after the oxycontin is gone.

manfred

said

Six years ago, I had 3 operations that went terribly wrong. For four years I was in and out of hospitals. I am 66 years old, and I never needed a painkiller in my life, even after both knee operations, not related to the operations mentioned above, I took no painkillers. But what they had done to me six years ago is beyond explaining. So much pain that death seems a better solution. But my family loves me, and I have to go on. I went through all the programs of the pain clinic and tried all different kinds of treatments and medication. The only one that made a difference with the least amount of side affects was oxycodone. I only take 2 pills a day, which just take the edge of the pain. My body screams for more relief but I am in control of how much is needed to get by! Why is society always looking after people who abuse the system? If this medication is taken away, they will find other ways to get high. What will happen to me?

Randy

said

Once again the government seems to worry more about the criminal that the victim. Chronic pain patients have a right to a quality of life like anyone else. Should their first concern not be for the people these drugs were meant to help ? Why are they not discussing ways to identify people in need and weed out the drug seekers. Making doctors afraid of prescribing narcotic pain medications is not the way to do that. Create a program by which doctors can more easily identify those in need and those who are not.Or does that make to much sense?

simone

said

I would like to see an independent report on this new drug. They told us that thalidomide was safe and look at that outcome. It appears that people with cancer and other chronic pain issues are being punished for their pain.Not a proper solution at all.

Mark O

said

Tighter controls on medications that people need will result in more people buying their opiates on the street. A poor diet kills far more than drugs kill.

stephanie

said

The problem has been addressed but the solution is inappropriate and not well thought out..There are those of us in society that do NOT abuse this medication. For those of us that take it for various reasons and do not abuse it what happens to us?It is not a medication anyone chooses to take believe me. Quality of life is the issue.

bigpianoguy

said

Again, it’s far too easy to concentrate on the subject of the story, the terrible addicts, and overlook the majority of people who DON’T abuse their meds but do need them in order to function daily. I suffer from spinal and hip arthritis and wouldn’t be able to get out of bed or to the bathroom without my daily meds; perhaps I could just get the phone number of those who drafted this bill so I could scream (and I mean SCREAM!)at them when my meds dry up…

MarkinTO

said

Just throw them in jail, isn’t that what we do with Drug addicts? Don’t bother with actual physical or emotional treatment or therapy, jail is the best rehabilitation right guys? We need to start treating drugs as a medical problem, not a criminal problem.

Enough!

said

This new formulation will still work as well as the old for those that are legally taking it for pain. The HUGE problem is the illegitimate use by those that are stealing/buying/selling oxycontin. Believe me, the pharmacies are NOT happy to be filling RXs for abusers/addicts. Unfortunately, a legal prescription presented to us ties our hands. Not having the drug covered carte blanc will help but those that sell the drug will always have the money to pick up their RX. This is a much needed step in the right direction. The fact that someone can have this paid for by Ontario Works and NIHB (our tax dollars) and then go out and sell it to make a profit is just sickening.

Sudbury Darren

said

This story follows so many others that only ever deal with the abuse of the drug. We never get a glimpse of the issue from the viewpoint of those who’s lives are saved or at least made liveable by drugs like Oxycontin. In the rush to condemn doctors who aren’t doing enough to ensure their patients are being prescribed the correct drug at the correct dosage, those doctors who are trying to help their patients live with chronic pain are being squeezed and many are now too afraid of the overseers to even bother anymore. It makes it increasingly difficult for both doctors and their patients. What’s really needed is a system that balances the concerns of regulators, prescribing physicians and “legitimate” patients. So far this isn’t the case. All the emphasis has been on regulating doctors and punishing abusers on both ends of the prescription. The only notice paid to patients with serious pain is to cast suspicious glances and treat them like addicts looking for a fix; the proverbial “Throwing the Baby out with the Bathwater” helps no one.

Montreal Cynic

said

So because a few abuse it, the plan is to punish the truly sick by not assisting with the cost of the drug? How about you crack down on the people over prescribing it instead?

OldOne

said

I would like to add that I am not on any drug plan of any kind and any presciption I get is paid for out of my own pocket.

OldOne

said

I’ve been taking prescription pills for more than 40 years to help me get through the day and sleep at night. I’m 60 now and have not been able to work for 15 years. Sometimes I don’t feel to bad and have gone from 3 months to 2 or three years without much more than a T-3. Then comes the bad times when I’m in a wheel chair or on crutches. Pain so bad that 3 bottles of whisky would not help. Exhausted to the point that I sweat in the shower then must rest for hours to get over the workout of getting into a tub. Back in the seventies and eighties I took Talwin or Morphine to get through the day ( I was a meat cutter using knifes and saws ) and still have all my fingers. I had to take these pills to make money to feed my kids. Even with the aid of pills I had times that I could not work for a couple of years. I had to decide at an early age, do I have a long life filled with poverty and pain or a shorter life, one that made me feel good, contributing to society when I could, raising great kids, happy to be alive even with the bouts of pain and exhaustion. I’ll tell you, if my liver stoped working today ( I would not want an another ) I would not change one thing in my life . I would like to thank to the Doctors who helped me all these years, without them my life would have been a living hell. I take perks now and have been taking them since they became popular in the 1990’s. Think before you preach.

sharon olmstead

said

What happens to people with cancer that use this drug to try and have a normal life? They are going to make us start taking a pill that hasn’t been properly tested and we become involuntary guinea pigs who will probably end up zombies not able to do anything except wait to die.

JH

said

I think it is horrible to blame the doctors. The drug companies are no different than the people who are mixing up fatal drug combinations in their basement only the drug companies have a license to do so. Their pushers are the regulatory agencies that okay the drug and governments themselves. If governments want to regulate something, stop the perks that regulators, government and doctors receive from the drug companies. This system we have applies to much of the money that governments depend on these days; they have become licensed pushers of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and mafia style gambling facilities. All in the name of money. When someone dies from an alcohol related traffic accident, go arrest someone at the company that made the alcohol and arrest the government employee that sold it. Do the same when somone dies from one of these toxic drug combinations or a life is completely ruined due to gambling. Governments should stop laundering money (also illiegal for most of us) through these illicit activities.

river

said

There needs to be more follow through with body pain.

Chris/Manitoba

said

The main problem is Doctors giving out unnecessary prescriptions in order to get troublesome patients out of their hair , isn’t there some kind of control in place that monitors the amount of narcotics Drs give out. As for the Federal Govt. getting involved the squeals from some of the Provinces would be so loud you would be better to leave it to them in the first place.

Marg

said

My husband is taking this meds for almost 7 years now.He had a knee injury.I dont like him taking them but he needed for his kneepain.We went to foot doctor,psychiatrics, etc.We asked any help but some said that the pain is just in his brain but he is still limping and suffering.With or without this meds he is screwed already.

Homer NB

said

I hope that the government is ready to increase the funding of methadone … which is even stronger and more addictive, Remember … where there is a will there is a way. I see crime rising to a new level as well.

Dean in Abby

said

The best thing to do is to get the doctors to stop prescribing too many medications to their patients. They must get a percentage of sales or something otherwise, why do they keep over prescribing the stuff?

Devil’s Advocate

said

This is a real problem because this is where a lot of REAL money is wasted. A lot of canadians are on these drugs with funding plans which either cover part or all of their prescription’s cost. That means the taxpayer pays for it. If they get addicted for say several months, (being my modest self) then we have to fill several months worth of a needless prescription. There is the waste and that is why we need to look here.

Mel

said

So what happens to the people that actually need this long acting pain medication for their own quality of life. So that they can get up out of bed, move, be active.There are alot of people out there that live with chronic pain. If you have never had to deal with it it is something you would never understand. If these drug prescriptions were monitored and those that did need this medication were seen often by there family doctors to monitor them what is the problem. The problem is is abusive drug seekers which makes it unacceptable for those that live with chronic pain to be able to have a reasonable quality of life without being seen as ADDICTS as well. I am sick of people snorting and abusing everything they can get thier hands on and giving these meds a bad name.when pain meds are taken for actual pain, that is what they work on. The pain. When you do not have pain and take them then that is when you get HIGH.A drug addict will always find a new FIX and a new way to fuel their addiction.This is a real bad decision and is going to leave alot of people hurting. And this is going to clog up our hospitals and emergencies etc because those with chronic injuries will not be able to deal with the pain in their bodies.Peace

joe canada

said

I find it is a patient and doctor problem. Many patients do not think the doctor is doing anything if they leave the office without a prescription of some sort. I also used to have a doctor that as soon as you walked in his office out came the prescrition pad and …”what can I do for you?” I have switched doctors and feel I have much better service and don’t leave the office with drugs all the time.

sharon olmstead

said

What happens to people with cancer that use this drug to try and have a normal life? They are going to make us start taking a pill that hasn’t been properly tested and we become involuntary guinea pigs who will probably end up zombies not able to do anything except wait to die.

JH

said

I think it is horrible to blame the doctors. The drug companies are no different than the people who are mixing up fatal drug combinations in their basement only the drug companies have a license to do so. Their pushers are the regulatory agencies that okay the drug and governments themselves. If governments want to regulate something, stop the perks that regulators, government and doctors receive from the drug companies. This system we have applies to much of the money that governments depend on these days; they have become licensed pushers of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and mafia style gambling facilities. All in the name of money. When someone dies from an alcohol related traffic accident, go arrest someone at the company that made the alcohol and arrest the government employee that sold it. Do the same when somone dies from one of these toxic drug combinations or a life is completely ruined due to gambling. Governments should stop laundering money (also illiegal for most of us) through these illicit activities.

river

said

There needs to be more follow through with body pain.

Chris/Manitoba

said

The main problem is Doctors giving out unnecessary prescriptions in order to get troublesome patients out of their hair , isn’t there some kind of control in place that monitors the amount of narcotics Drs give out. As for the Federal Govt. getting involved the squeals from some of the Provinces would be so loud you would be better to leave it to them in the first place.

Marg

said

My husband is taking this meds for almost 7 years now.He had a knee injury.I dont like him taking them but he needed for his kneepain.We went to foot doctor,psychiatrics, etc.We asked any help but some said that the pain is just in his brain but he is still limping and suffering.With or without this meds he is screwed already.

Homer NB

said

I hope that the government is ready to increase the funding of methadone … which is even stronger and more addictive, Remember … where there is a will there is a way. I see crime rising to a new level as well.

Dean in Abby

said

The best thing to do is to get the doctors to stop prescribing too many medications to their patients. They must get a percentage of sales or something otherwise, why do they keep over prescribing the stuff?

Devil’s Advocate

said

This is a real problem because this is where a lot of REAL money is wasted. A lot of canadians are on these drugs with funding plans which either cover part or all of their prescription’s cost. That means the taxpayer pays for it. If they get addicted for say several months Replica Watches, (being my modest self) then we have to fill several months worth of a needless prescription. There is the waste and that is why we need to look here.

Mel

said

So what happens to the people that actually need this long acting pain medication for their own quality of life. So that they can get up out of bed, move, be active.There are alot of people out there that live with chronic pain. If you have never had to deal with it it is something you would never understand. If these drug prescriptions were monitored and those that did need this medication were seen often by there family doctors to monitor them what is the problem. The problem is is abusive drug seekers which makes it unacceptable for those that live with chronic pain to be able to have a reasonable quality of life without being seen as ADDICTS as well. I am sick of people snorting and abusing everything they can get thier hands on and giving these meds a bad name.when pain meds are taken for actual pain, that is what they work on. The pain. When you do not have pain and take them then that is when you get HIGH.A drug addict will always find a new FIX and a new way to fuel their addiction.This is a real bad decision and is going to leave alot of people hurting. And this is going to clog up our hospitals and emergencies etc because those with chronic injuries will not be able to deal with the pain in their bodies.Peace

joe canada

said

I find it is a patient and doctor problem. Many patients do not think the doctor is doing anything if they leave the office without a prescription of some sort. I also used to have a doctor that as soon as you walked in his office out came the prescrition pad and …”what can I do for you?” I have switched doctors and feel I have much better service and don’t leave the office with drugs all the time.

Mary

said

There is an easy and effective way to tackle widespread abuse of prescription drugs. First start with the Doctor’s who prescribe these drugs and abuse their power. I have worked in the Pharmacy industry for 25 years and this is where the biggist problem exists. The Prescription Monitoring Program should exist across all of Canada without delay. Doctor’s should be audited regulary and if they are found to be over prescribing then they should have their narcotic rights taken away from them. People are under the misconception that if it’s prescribed by a Doctor then it is Ok! These drugs are not Ok sometimes they are necessary and should be taken. But when Doctor’s prescribe Clonazepam after only 5 minutes of being in the office then there is a serious problem these drugs have an extremely high potential for abuse and are given out like candy. It starts with the Doctor’s hold them accountable they amount to no more then a drug mule for the Pharmacuetical companys!.

Donaldbain

said

The real problem is over-prescribing doctors. I recently had a doctor offer me opiod meds for what I consider a minor injury. Sure, there was some pain but that is what you get when you get injured, the brain tells you to take care until the injury heals. You don’t need to be whacked out of your skull the whole time. I mean, sure it’s fun and all but if I’m going to get high it won’t be on doctor drugs.

Frank Buchan

said

While in the midst of a health care and other funding crises, we’re actually considering pampering drug addicts. How wonderful that we have our priorities straight. I’m not slagging drug addicts here, either. Addiction is a terrible thing, and I’m distinctly aware that many of our addicts today are addicted to prescription drugs they once got legally for some ill or other, but really, we can’t properly fund anything, have a massive deficit, and this is the issue we’re wringing our hands over?

gregoryd

said

Great so the people that really need it are now being treated like addicts. They stop covering it so the very segement of the population that needs it will have to pay or ask for special consideration. I would say that the majority of people who need it are disabled and on a close to poverty income and will suffer as a result of this narrow minded approach. Addicts will just move on to something else and leave these poor people suffering. Workers comp will now follow suit so injured workers will be victims as well.

By Ilya Khrennikov

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — OAO VSMPO-Avisma, the Russian titanium producer that supplies the metal to companies including Boeing Co., plans to increase output by 33 percent this year, according to its corporate newsletter.

The Verkhnaya Salda-based company, controlled by state-run Russian Technologies Corp. Replica Watches, is targeting output of 32,700 metric tons, up from 24,600 tons last year, Head of Production Dmitry Trifonov said in the newsletter published on its website.

–Editors: Amanda Jordan, Alastair Reed

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Khrennikov in Moscow at ikhrennikov@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net

Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION

By Thomas Penny

Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — An inquiry into British complicity in the torture of terrorism suspects will be scrapped as a result of police starting a probe into allegations of mistreatment in Libya, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said today.

London’s Metropolitan Police said Jan. 12 they will investigate allegations that suspects were sent to Libya and mistreated there. On the same day British spies were told by police and the Crown Prosecution Service that they will not be prosecuted over claims they were complicit in the torture of Binyam Mohamed, a detainee held by U.S. officials.

“The government fully intends to hold an independent judge-led inquiry once police investigations are concluded to establish the facts and draw a line under these issues Replica Watches,” Clarke told lawmakers in the House of Commons today. “We do want these matters to be investigated thoroughly,” Clarke said, adding that police will take “months at least” to conclude their inquiries.

–Editors: Andrew Atkinson, Eddie Buckle

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net

Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION

By Elizabeth Amon

(Adds Stanford in top section, BP and Apple in Lawsuits and Perelman in Trials. Updates Chinese Vitamin C Makers in Lawsuits and J&J in Verdicts.)

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) — R. Allen Stanford, standing trial on allegations he led a $7 billion investment fraud, appeared in an October 2008 video shown to jurors in which he decried “damn greed” on Wall Street as the financial crisis deepened.

“People are stupid, they’re greedy, they’re lazy, they don’t stick to their core values,” he told a gathering of Stanford Financial Group Co. executives in Miami. “We’re different.”

In the video, shown yesterday in Houston federal court, the financier told his audience that the company was “$5.5 billion more liquid than it should have been.” Four months later, U.S. regulators filed suit claiming his businesses were missing billions of dollars in investor money. He was indicted in June 2009.

Prosecutors accuse Stanford of skimming more than $1 billion in investor deposits from his Stanford International Bank Ltd. to fund a lavish lifestyle and support real estate developments and unrelated companies that included regional airlines and newspapers.

Charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and obstructing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe, Stanford, 61, told jurors earlier this week that he wasn’t guilty. He faces as long as 20 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charges.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner, who is overseeing Stanford’s case, said the trial, which began Jan. 23, may last six weeks.

The video was played as Jason Green, former president of Stanford Group Co.’s private client group, testified against his ex-boss.

Green told the jury of 10 men and five women, which includes three alternates, about a monthly newsletter Stanford drafted for his investors and sent to him for his input in December 2008, the same month New York money manager Bernard Madoff admitted to the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.

The criminal case is U.S. v. Stanford, 09-cr-342, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston). The SEC case against Stanford is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stanford International Bank, 09-cv-298, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas).

For more, click here.

New Suits

Morgan Stanley Sued Over $1.2 Billion in Mortgage Securities

Morgan Stanley was sued over about $1.2 billion worth of residential mortgage-backed securities by Bayerische Landesbank and Dexia SA in New York state court.

Bayerische Landesbank, based in Munich and the second- biggest German state-owned lender, asserts claims on almost $486 million in residential mortgage-backed securities purchased in 22 offerings in 2006 and 2007.

Dexia asserts claims on more than $680 million worth of the securities bought in 21 offerings in 2006 and 2007. Belgium and France are dismantling Brussels-based Dexia, once the world’s leading lender to municipalities, after the company could no longer fund itself as the sovereign-debt crisis dried up short- term financing.

Both banks say the loans underlying the securities were riskier than promised and that Morgan Stanley “knew or recklessly disregarded” that the loans didn’t conform to underwriting standards.

Mark Lake, a spokesman for New York-based Morgan Stanley, declined to comment on the lawsuits, which were both filed Jan. 25 in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, because the company hadn’t received them yet.

The cases are Bayerische Landesbank, New York branch v. Morgan Stanley, 650230/2012; and Dexia SA/NV v. Morgan Stanley, 650231/2012, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).

For the latest new suits news, click here. For copies of recent civil complaints, click here.

Lawsuits/Pretrial

BP Can’t Collect Part of $40 Billion Spill Costs From Transocean

BP Plc can’t collect from Transocean Ltd. part of the $40 billion in cleanup costs and economic losses caused by the 2010 oil well blowout and Gulf of Mexico spill, a judge ruled, sending Transocean shares higher.

BP must indemnify Transocean for pollution-related economic damage claims under its drilling contract, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans ruled yesterday. London-based BP sued Transocean in April to recover a share of its damages and costs from the spill.

Any awards for punitive damages against Transocean or civil penalties under the U.S. Clean Water Act won’t have to be covered by BP, the judge wrote in his 30-page decision. He didn’t say whether Transocean will be liable for punitive damages or Clean Water Act penalties. Transocean has already accepted responsibility for equipment losses and paying personal injury and death claims, citing contract provisions.

“This confirms that BP is responsible for all economic damages caused by the oil that leaked from its Macondo well, and completely discredits BP’s ongoing attempts to evade both its contractual and financial obligations,” Transocean said in an e-mailed statement.

The decision leaves Transocean at risk for Clean Water Act penalties and possible punitive damages. The U.S. sued BP and Transocean in December 2010, alleging violations of the Clean Water Act, and seeking penalties for each barrel of oil spilled.

“Under the decision Transocean is, at a minimum, financially responsible for any punitive damages, fines and penalties flowing from its own conduct,” BP said in a statement. “Transocean cannot avoid its responsibility for this accident.”

BP argued that Transocean’s conduct voided the agreement.

The April 2010 Macondo well blowout and the explosion that followed killed 11 workers and set off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The sinking of Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and spill led to hundreds of lawsuits against BP and its partners and contractors.

The case is In Re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL-2179, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).

For more, click here.

Apple, Google Must Face Employee-Poaching Ban Antitrust Lawsuit

Google Inc. and Apple Inc. were among seven technology companies that must face a lawsuit claiming they violated antitrust laws by entering into agreements not to recruit each other’s employees, a federal judge said.

U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose, California, said yesterday that even if she dismisses some claims, she will give the plaintiffs a chance to amend their complaint and re- file it. Intel Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Walt Disney Co.’s Pixar animation unit, Intuit Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. are also named as defendants.

“They still have an antitrust claim that’s going forward so I don’t want to see any obstruction on discovery,” she told lawyers during a hearing.

The case is a private lawsuit brought on behalf of employees that mirrors claims the companies settled with the U.S. Justice Department in 2010 following a probe. The companies agreed to refrain from placing “cold calls” to lure workers from competitors, the government said at the time.

The decision yesterday requires the defendants to produce documents describing the agreements and permits lawyers to take depositions, Saveri said. “We get to see what really happened,” he said, adding that damages in the case could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Google said in a statement that is has “always actively and aggressively recruited top talent,” declining to comment further.

George Riley, a lawyer for Apple, and Robert Mittelstaedt, an attorney for Adobe, declined to comment immediately after the hearing.

Zenia Mucha, a Disney spokeswoman, wasn’t immediately available for comment after regular business hours yesterday.

Intel spokeswoman Laura Anderson, Intuit spokeswoman Sandra Corradetti, and a representative at Lucasfilm didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment on Koh’s ruling after regular business hours yesterday.

The San Jose case is In Re High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, 11-2509, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose). The previous case is United States v. Adobe Systems, 10-cv-1629, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

For more, click here.

Virginia, Alberta Lead Suit Against Corzine Over MF Losses

The Virginia Retirement System and Canada’s Alberta province will lead a group lawsuit against Jon Corzine seeking compensation for losses from MF Global Holdings Ltd.’s collapse.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan combined 12 lawsuits against Corzine, putting Virginia and Alberta at the head as their combined investment losses of $19 million give them a larger stake in the suit than seven other applicants for lead plaintiff, he said in a signed order.

MF Global executives led by Corzine, New Jersey’s former governor, made “materially misleading” statements about liquidity and financial controls, Joseph DeAngelis alleged in the first of the 12 similar suits. He also named Henri Steenkamp, the New York-based company’s chief financial officer, and Bradley Abelow, its president. JPMorgan Chase & Co., MF Global’s banker, should have noticed the “depletion” of customer money, and should have investigated, commodity customers said in a separate suit seeking unspecified restitution and damages.

Andrew Levander, a lawyer for Corzine, hasn’t responded to e-mails seeking comment on the suits and Mary Sedarat, a JPMorgan spokeswoman, has declined to comment.

The main case is DeAngelis v. Corzine, 11-cv-7866, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

For more, click here.

Mets Ruling Draws 34 Similar Suits by Madoff Trustee

A federal judge’s ruling in a $1 billion lawsuit against the New York Mets owners has drawn 34 suits to the judge’s door that claim to be similar to the case brought by the liquidator of Bernard L. Madoff’s firm against Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan threw out most of trustee Irving Picard’s claims against the team owners and refused to let Picard appeal his ruling before a March jury trial on $386 million in remaining claims.

Rakoff has accepted as related some of the 34 cases against other defendants, while others await decisions, according to court records. Two new suits were added to the list Jan. 25.

Defendants in Picard’s bankruptcy court suits, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., have asked district judges to decide whether Picard, a New York lawyer, has the right to sue them, and for how much. They say that Picard is straining the limits of the law as he tries to grab back money for victims of Madoff’s fraud — and some of them have won initial victories.

The Madoff trustee calculated in October that people and companies he sued in about 247 actions had sought an “escape hatch” from bankruptcy court, intended by Congress to handle such cases, he said. Judge shopping was “perverting” the law, Picard said in the October filing. He is appealing district court rulings in the JPMorgan and other bank cases that knocked out more than $28 billion of his claims.

The Mets owners have said they will ask Rakoff next month for judgment on all remaining counts of Picard’s complaint. Picard said separately he wants a ruling before trial on one remaining count.

Picard originally demanded $300 million in profit and $700 million in principal from Wilpon, Katz and a group of family members and related entities, saying they turned a blind eye to Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The partners denied the allegation. In September, Rakoff dismissed all or part of nine of 11 claims in Picard’s suit against Wilpon and Katz.

The case is Picard v. Katz, 11-cv-03605, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

For more, click here.

Chinese Vitamin C Makers Can Be Sued by Buyers as a Group

North China Pharmaceutical Co. and three other Chinese makers of vitamin C can be sued in the U.S. for alleged price- fixing by buyers acting as a group, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan in Brooklyn, New York, yesterday certified a class of vitamin C buyers. The buyers are seeking triple damages.

“Individual class members are unlikely to have sufficient resources — let alone fluency with federal antitrust law — to institute a lawsuit such as this,” Cogan wrote.

The defendants, including Aland (Jiangsu) Nutraceutical Co., Northeast Pharmaceutical Co. and Weisheng Pharmaceutical Co., captured more than 60 percent of the worldwide market for vitamin C by 2001, Cogan said in a September ruling. China’s share of vitamin C imports to the U.S. climbed to more than 80 percent in 2002 from 60 percent in 1997, he wrote.

Cogan appointed Ranis Co., a food company in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to represent the group seeking damages.

The judge also certified a group of buyers asking the court to force the Chinese companies to stop their alleged antitrust violations. He appointed Animal Science Products Inc., a Nacogdoches, Texas-based maker of animal-feed additives, to represent that group.

The ruling “is important because Chinese companies selling products in the U.S. are being treated like companies from England and Switzerland and Japan and Korea,” William A. Isaacson, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, said in a phone interview.

North China’s unit in the case is Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical. Charles Critchlow, a lawyer for Hebei Welcome at Baker & McKenzie LLP in New York, declined to comment on Cogan’s ruling.

Richard Goldstein, a lawyer for Aland (Jiangsu) at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in New York; James Serota, a lawyer for Northeast Pharmaceutical at Greenberg Traurig LLP in New York; and Daniel Mason, a lawyer for Weisheng Pharmaceutical at Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP in San Francisco, didn’t immediately return calls for comment on the decision.

The case is In re Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, 06- md-1738, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).

For the latest lawsuits news, click here.

Trials/Appeals

Perelman Trial Testimony Ends With Tale of Broken Friendship

After 2 1/2 days of testimony about contract clauses and e- mails, jurors in Donald Drapkin’s lawsuit against Ronald Perelman’s MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. heard a witness recount how the $16 million breach-of-contract claim splintered a once-close friendship.

The testimony yesterday wasn’t about Perelman’s relationship with Drapkin, a top dealmaker who worked for Perelman at MacAndrews & Forbes for 20 years. Rather, Eric Rose, who heads the firm’s life sciences business, testified that he fell ill last year and that Drapkin, once a dear friend, ignored him.

“I think he’s been more than aware of the difficulties I’ve had in the last six months,” said Rose, who walked into court using two canes and wearing a cap to retain body heat. “He hasn’t even picked up the phone and called me.”

Drapkin, the former vice chairman, is suing MacAndrews & Forbes for $16 million that he says the firm failed to pay him after he left in 2007. Lawyers for MacAndrews & Forbes called Rose to the witness stand as their final witness yesterday to bolster their claim that Drapkin breached a separation agreement by trying to induce Rose to quit.

Rose testified about a dinner at Quality Meats in Manhattan on May 14, 2007, three weeks after Drapkin left MacAndrews & Forbes. Most of the dinner was about “everyday life stuff,” said Rose, who met Drapkin on a rafting trip in the early 1990s. Then the conversation switched to the firm.

“Mr. Drapkin told me that Mr. Perelman had little interest in life science, and in light of that my continuation at MacAndrews would be disastrous long-term for my future,” Rose testified. “The implication of that was clear for me.”

Drapkin says he agreed to leave the firm in 2007 in return for millions of dollars in severance and proceeds from the sale of his stock. He has yet to be paid $16 million, money that MacAndrews & Forbes says it withheld because Drapkin breached the separation deal by withholding documents and trying to get Rose to leave.

The cases are Drapkin v. Mafco Consolidated Group, 09- cv-1285, and MacAndrews & Forbes LLC v. Drapkin, 09-cv-4513, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

For more, click here.

Dresdner Banker Says Commerzbank Bonus Didn’t Match ‘Worth’

A former manager at Commerzbank AG’s Dresdner Bank unit told a London court he was suing the German lender because it hasn’t paid him the bonus his performance deserved — $394,000.

Desmond McNamara, who headed up risk management for Dresdner’s capital-markets division, is one of 104 London-based bankers who have sued claiming Commerzbank failed to honor a bonus pledge Dresdner made before it was taken over in 2009.

“I’m only claiming the amount my line manager determined during the year my performance was worth,” McNamara said. While he received salary and a guaranteed bonus worth around 400,000 pounds ($628,000) for 2008, Commerzbank didn’t pay a discretionary bonus he was told was worth another $394,000.

Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest lender, completed a takeover of Dresdner in January 2009 then cut bonuses by 90 percent or more, according to court filings from the former Dresdner bankers. Stefan Jentzsch, Dresdner’s former chief executive officer, had in 2008 promised to set aside 400 million euros ($524 million) for workers who stayed at the bank.

Commerzbank, which took an 18.2 billion-euro bailout from Germany during the credit crunch, has been sued in London, Germany and Singapore by workers who claim they weren’t paid what they were owed after the buyout.

Earlier, Commerzbank lawyer Tom Linden set out the Frankfurt-based lender’s case, saying the 400 million-euro promise made by Jentzsch at a 2008 meeting “cannot have been intended to be legally binding even if it genuinely represented the intentions of the bank.”

The cases include: Mr. Fahmi Anar & Others v. Dresdner Kleinwort Limited, Commerzbank AG, High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, HQ09X05230 and Richard Attrill & 71 others v. Dresdner Kleinwort Limited, Commerzbank AG, HQ09X04007

Chevron Bid to Block Judgment Rejected by Appeals Court

A U.S. appeals court blocked Chevron Corp. from using a New York law to try to bar a group of Ecuadoreans from collecting on an $18 billion judgment in an environmental damage lawsuit.

The appeals court yesterday reversed a lower-court order, saying Chevron can’t use the law against the plaintiffs before they try to collect.

“Chevron will have its opportunity to challenge the judgment’s enforcement under this act at such time, if any, as judgment-creditors seek to enforce the judgment in New York,” a three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based court said yesterday.

In March, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan issued a ruling that barred Ecuador residents in the Amazon River Basin from enforcing an $18 billion judgment awarded by a court in their country until a separate suit by Chevron against the villagers and their lawyers is decided.

“A grave injustice against the Ecuadorians has been set right by today’s 2nd Circuit ruling,” Karen Hinton, a spokeswoman for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “It rebukes Chevron’s abusive legal tactics of the past two years.”

Chevron was ordered Feb. 14 to pay as much as $18 billion in compensatory and punitive damages for Texaco Inc.’s alleged dumping of toxic drilling wastes in the Ecuadorian jungle from 1964 to about 1992. The ruling came in an 18-year-old lawsuit decided by a judge in Lago Agrio, a provincial capital near the Colombian border.

“Chevron believes this corrupt judgment will be unenforceable in any country that adheres to the rule of law and we will continue to defend Chevron’s interests against any attempts to enforce the fraudulent judgment,” San Ramon, California-based Chevron said in a statement yesterday.

Chevron says it cleaned up its portion of the oil fields and was released from pollution claims against Texaco in an agreement with the government of Ecuador. Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001.

The case is Chevron Corp. v. Naranjo, 11-1150, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Manhattan).

For the latest trial and appeals news, click here.

Verdicts/Settlements

Ranbaxy Violations Include Unsafe Drugs, U.S. Says in Settlement

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. made “adulterated, potentially unsafe” medicines that were illegal to sell, U.S. prosecutors said in a proposed settlement with the Indian drugmaker.

Among alleged violations, Ranbaxy failed to adequately separate the production of penicillin and non-penicillin drugs and failed to take adequate steps to prevent contamination of sterile medicines, the U.S. Justice Department said in a 58-page document filed in federal court in Maryland Jan. 25.

The settlement stipulates proposed changes Ranbaxy, based on the outskirts of New Delhi, must make to settle the three- year-old dispute. The drugmaker set aside $500 million to resolve all potential civil and criminal liability related to the U.S. investigation, it said last month. The company didn’t admit or deny the accusations detailed in the settlement, which requires approval by a federal judge.

“This action against Ranbaxy is groundbreaking in its international reach — it requires the company to make fundamental changes to its plants in both the United States and India,” Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in an e-mailed statement.

“Our commitment to ensuring that the drugs the American people rely on are safe, effective and manufactured according to the FDA’s standards extends beyond our borders,” West said.

The department in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration uncovered numerous problems with Ranbaxy’s drug manufacturing and testing in India and at facilities owned by its U.S. subsidiary, according to the statement.

The defects led the FDA to block more than 30 generic drugs made at the Indian drugmaker’s Paonta Sahib and Dewas plants, the FDA said in September 2008, three months after Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo Co. agreed to buy a controlling stake in Ranbaxy for $4.6 billion.

Ranbaxy consented to the proposed decree on Dec. 20 in an agreement signed by company officials including co-defendants Dale Adkisson, head of global quality; Managing Director Arun Sawhney; and Venkatachalam Krishnan, the company’s regional director for the Americas.

“Today’s announcement is the next step in the process of finalizing our agreement with the FDA to resolve this legacy issue,” Sawhney said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “We are pleased with the progress we have made in upgrading and enhancing the quality of our business and manufacturing processes.”

Daiichi Sankyo declined to comment on the proposed settlement until the court approves the filing, spokesman Masaya Tamae said.

The case is U.S. v. Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., 12-00250, U.S. District Court Replica handbags, District of Maryland (Baltimore).

For more, click here.

Johnson & Johnson Wins Jury Verdict Over Levaquin Warning

Johnson & Johnson can’t be held liable for the tendon injuries to a 78-year-old man who said the company didn’t properly warn of the risks of its antibiotic Levaquin, a Minnesota jury said.

Clifford Straka, who blew out two Achilles tendons after taking the drug for pneumonia, sued J&J and its Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical unit in 2008. Straka said his doctor wasn’t aware when she prescribed the drug that Levaquin was linked to an increased risk of tendon damage in elderly patients.

Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, has denied any failure to warn and contended that Straka needed Levaquin to treat his pneumonia. The Minneapolis federal jury yesterday found that J&J and its unit failed to provide reasonably adequate warnings, while also ruling that this wasn’t the cause of Straka’s injuries. The verdict is the companies’ third straight trial win.

“We are trying to understand how the jury arrived at the verdict,” Ronald Goldser, Straka’s attorney, said in an interview. “If the warning is inadequate, what is it the doctor did wrong?”

The company is “pleased with the verdict,” Foster said in an e-mail yesterday. “When used according to the product labeling, Levaquin has been proven to be a safe and effective medication.”

The lawsuit was the third federal case to go to trial in Minnesota alleging the unit, now known as Janssen Pharmaceuticals, downplayed the risks of the antibiotic to boost sales. J&J lost the first, a jury verdict for $1.8 million in 2010, and won the second last year. The company also won the first state case in October, when a New Jersey jury rejected the claims of two plaintiffs.

J&J is facing more than 3,700 claims involving Levaquin in state and federal courts, Bill Foster, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail. The 2010 trial loss has been appealed and 43 cases have been dismissed, he said.

The case is Straka v. Johnson & Johnson, 08-05742, combined for trial in In re Levaquin Products Liability Litigation, 08- md-01943, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota (Minneapolis).

For the latest verdict and settlement news, click here.

On The Docket

Ex-UBS Municipal Derivatives Chief Faces July Criminal Trial

Peter Ghavami, former co-head of UBS AG’s municipal- derivatives group, will go on trial July 9 along with two colleagues, Gary Heinz and Michael Welty, in a municipal bond bid-rigging case, a federal judge said.

The three, who have pleaded not guilty, are accused in a six-count indictment of engaging in “complex fraud schemes and conspiracies that subverted competition in the market for municipal finance contracts and deprived municipal bond issuers of the benefits of their investments,” according to court documents. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan set the trial date yesterday.

The case is one of three brought by the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust unit in connection with a nationwide bid- rigging probe of contracts used by states and local governments to invest municipal-bond proceeds.

The conspiracy included more than 200 deals involving state agencies, local governments and non-profits across the country, according to documents filed in federal court.

The amount of evidence collected in the case is massive, Charles Stillman, a lawyer for Ghavami, said in court. The U.S. has provided more than 600,000 audiotapes and hundreds of millions of documents, he said.

An unidentified municipality hired Ghavami’s firm to handle the bidding for the investment of bond proceeds, government prosecutors allege. Ghavami preselected the winning bidder in exchange for a kickback to his employer, whom the government didn’t identify, in a conspiracy that began in October 2001 and ran until February 2002, according to the U.S.

Stillman, Jonathan Halpern, a lawyer for Heinz, and Gregory Poe, a lawyer for Welty, all declined to comment after court.

The case is U.S. v. Ghavami, 10-cr-1217, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

For more, click here.

Litigation Departments

U.K. Prosecutor’s Fraud Chief Joins Jones Day as Departures Rise

Glyn Powell, a senior attorney at the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, left the agency to join law firm Jones Day, adding to the number of departures under the current director.

Powell, the former head of fraud and assurance at the SFO, joined the U.S. firm this week after eight years at the agency. He oversaw investigations of the U.K. operations of Bernard Madoff, who is serving a 150-year prison sentence in the U.S. for operating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, and Asil Nadir, the former Polly Peck International Plc chief executive officer who went on trial this week in London accused of stealing 150 million pounds ($235 million).

“Glyn’s criminal experience is a perfect adjunct to the civil team here,” said Craig Shuttleworth, the head of litigation in London at Jones Day, a Washington-based firm that according to its website has clients including Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Powell is being replaced on an interim basis at the SFO by case managers Jane de Lozey and Claire Whitaker until a new director takes over in April Replica watches, David Jones, an SFO spokesman, said. Richard Alderman, the director since 2008, will be replaced by David Green, a barrister who was formerly the director of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Fraud Group.

For the latest litigation department news, click here.

–With assistance from Chris Dolmetsch, Linda Sandler, Thom Weidlich, Bob Van Voris, Patricia Hurtado, David Glovin and David McLaughlin in New York, Lindsay Fortado and Kit Chellel in London, Jason Gale in Singapore, Tom Schoenberg in Washington, Margaret Cronin Fisk in Detroit, Andrew Harris in Chicago, Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco and Beth Hawkins in Minneapolis. Editor: Andrew Dunn

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Amon in New York at eamon2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION

By Ilya Arkhipov Replica Watches

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) — Russia won’t sell stakes in state- run companies at low prices, said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

“The state won’t privatize businesses at a loss for itself, and it won’t privatize them at a throw-away price,” Peskov said by telephone today. “A lot depends on market conditions. Of course, it wouldn’t likely make sense to sell a business when the market’s at a low.”

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin sent a letter to Putin last month recommending that the government not sell stakes in OAO Rosneft, OAO RusHydro, OAO Transneft and OAO Zarubezhneft this year because of low market prices Replica handbags, the Moscow-based Kommersant newspaper reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Scott Rose at rrose10@bloomberg.net

Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION

By Neil Callanan

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) — Francis Salway will step down as Land Securities Group Plc’s chief executive officer on March 31 and will be replaced by Robert Noel.

Salway, 54, has been chief executive of the U.K.’s largest real estate investment trust by market value since 2004. Noel, the 47-year-old managing director of Land Securities’ London properties, joined in January 2010 from Great Portland Estates Plc, where he had been property director since 2002.

Noel, who will earn an annual salary of 680,000 pounds ($1.06 million), said one of his goals is a “little more pace from top to bottom with everybody firing on all cylinders.” Over the next two years the London-based company won’t change its focus on keeping buildings leased and on developing new properties, Noel said on a conference call. He wouldn’t comment on whether he planned any changes to the management structure.

Land Securities Humorous oil paintings, which has a London portfolio and a collection of shopping malls outside the capital, today said vacancies at it properties fell to 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter after attracting tenants including CBRE Global Investors. The company has been the second best-performing U.K. REIT since Nov. 10, when it said the value of its properties gained including the office tower nicknamed the Walkie Talkie in the City of London.

“It is a bit earlier than expected, as we thought Robert Noel would have to prove himself first by delivering on the development pipeline,” Harm Meijer, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst, said in a note to investors.

Distressed Assets

Salway said today in the conference call that Land Securities is seeking to acquire distressed assets in Britain from the banks and larger assets that were securitized using the bond markets.

Land Securities shelved plans to divide itself in three in November 2008, citing “unprecedented” instability in the financial markets. It sold Trillium, the third part of the business, for 444 million pounds in January 2009 to Telereal.

“This appointment might again raise the debate about the company splitting,” Oriel Securities said in a note to investors. “That is unlikely near term.”

Noel led the London team in starting several major developments, such as the Walkie Talkie tower at 20 Fenchurch Street. Land Securities sold stakes in the developments before completion to reduce risk. Noel said construction costs on such projects are coming in below expectations.

“They’ve come down over the last quarter, we are taking advantage of those construction costs as we build Floral oil paintings, particularly at 20 Fenchurch Street,” he said. “It is a material advantage.”

Salway said he’s seeking “one more challenge” and has “nothing specific planned.” The company had been aware of Salway’s plans to leave since late 2010, he said.

–Editors: Jeff St.Onge,

To contact the reporter on this story: Neil Callanan in London at ncallanan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at ablackman@bloomberg.net

Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION

By Michael White and Laura Marcinek

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — The Mark Wahlberg action film “Contraband” opened as the top weekend film at U.S. and Canadian theaters, taking in $24.1 million for Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures.

The Walt Disney Co. animated classic “Beauty and the Beast,” converted to 3-D, was second with $18.5 million, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said yesterday in an e- mailed statement.

“Contraband” exceeded a box-office forecast of $18.5 million, the estimate of the movie website Box Office Mojo. The film stars Wahlberg as a former smuggler who is forced to return to the trade after his brother-in-law runs afoul of drug dealers. Kate Beckinsale co-stars. The film was made for an estimated $41 million, according to IMDB.com

“I think we’ve had a couple of weeks in a row now that were a little better than expected here in the first couple of January,” said Paul Sweeney, an analyst at Bloomberg Industries in Skillman, New Jersey. He called it “welcome news” for Hollywood after a “disappointing” 2011.

The 3-D “Beauty and the Beast” was expected to generate $17.5 million over the weekend, according to researcher BoxOffice.com Dress Suits, also topping its forecast.

The film, based on fairy tale, tells the story of Belle, a young girl who becomes a hostage in the castle of a frightening animal-like creature. The film features the voices of Angela Lansbury, Robby Benson and Paige O’Hara.

‘Mission: Impossible’

“What we’re finding is some of those Disney titles were blockbuster titles to begin with, and they lend themselves to some 3-D adaptations,” Sweeney said. “The expectation is that Hollywood’s going to bring out some of those animation films that did well in years past.”

“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” was third with $11.5 million. The movie, also from Paramount, has taken in $186.8 million since it was released on Dec. 16.

The film stars Tom Cruise, who returns as Ethan Hunt, leader of an elite special-operations squad that takes on the government’s most difficult assignments. This time, team members go underground to clear their names after being falsely implicated in a bombing at the Kremlin. The movie also features Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg.

The weekend’s other new film, “Joyful Noise,” was fourth with $11.3 million in receipts. The movie, from Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., stars Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah as the leading ladies in a small-town gospel choir. They clash during preparations for a national competition.

Revenue, Attendance Up

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” fell to fifth from third with $8.41 million. The Warner Bros. film features Robert Downey Jr. as the cerebral sleuth created by novelist Arthur Conan Doyle.

Weekend revenue for the top 12 films fell 1 percent to $114.5 million from the year-earlier period, Hollywood.com said. Through yesterday, revenue and attendance in 2012 have risen 14 percent and 15 percent Fleece, respectively. The amounts below are based on actual ticket sales for Jan. 13 and Jan. 14 and estimates for yesterday.

–Editors: Rob Golum, Sylvia Wier

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net; Laura Marcinek in New York at lmarcinek3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

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