UNITED NATIONS — The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution today that gives Iraq a “final opportunity” to comply with disarmament resolutions and establish a rigorous regiment of inspections, giving United Nations inspectors immediate access to any site they want in Iraq. President Bush called the resolution a “final test” of Saddam Hussein’s willingness to […]

DETROIT — Verizon Internet Services has settled its lawsuit against Alan M. Ralsky, who some consider to be among the world’s most persistent spammers. The settlement permanently restricts Ralsky and his company, Additional Benefits, from sending bulk email on any of Verizon’s networks. Ralsky also must pay the company an undisclosed fine.
“Ralsky is one […]

Florence, SC — McLeod Regional Medical Center will pay $15.9 to the federal government to end a three-year civil investigation into allegations the hospital had made false Medicare and Medicaid claims, Scott Schools, a senior U.S. Attorney in Columbia said.
The government accused McLeod of paying inflated prices to buy six doctor’s practices, and then […]

ITALY — Italian prosecutors are investigating to learn why the Francesco Iovine primary school was reduced to rubble in an earthquake, killing 26 children and a teacher. CNN’s Chris Burns says the main question is whether the school was built earthquake-safe. Earthquakes are common to the area.
Some 60 children were in the school when the […]

SHIPROCK, N.M. — The federal government has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit against the Northern Navajo Medical Center. The lawsuit alleged that a series of medical mistakes left 4-year-old Eric Borg brain-damaged and quadriplegic.
(via The Associated Press)

California — John Desimone a former vice president at Homestore Inc., a media and technology company, plead guilty to federal insider trading charge and faces up to 10 years in prison. The company’s ex-chief operating officer and ex-chief financial officer pleaded guilty this month to federal charges for their role in a scheme to inflate […]

Austin, TX — An August inspection of an Abbott Laboratories Inc. factory that makes drugs and hospital products turned up problems, including failure to follow written procedures, the Food and Drug Administration said in an Oct. 15 letter to the company.
(via Bloomberg News)

WASHINTON — The White House today rejected North Korea’s offer to open negotiations over their newly disclosed nuclear weapons program, said White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer. “North Korea knows what it needs to do,” said Fleischer. “It needs to dismantle its nuclear program and honor its treaty obligations.” North Koreans said they would be willing […]

WASHINGTON — Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay $49 million to settle charges that subsidiary Parke-Davis Labs defrauded Medicaid by overcharging for Lipitor, the Justice Department said. Lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering drug and was the world’s top-selling drug in 2001 with sales of $6.45 billion.
Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor, requires […]

MOSCOW — Russia’s health minister, Yuri L. Schevchenko, acknowledged that Russian forces released Fentanyl, an aerosol version of a powerful painkiller, into a Moscow theater to end the hostage crisis last Saturday. The death toll of victims from the hostage siege stands at 120, all but two died from effects of the Fentanyl derivative.
Dr. […]