CANTON, Il - The state of Illinois prepares for nature’s first hard hit of frost, which will kill mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus — and halt the deadliest West Nile Outbreak since the virus was first detected in the United States in 1999.
State health officials in attempt to stop the virus next year, [...]

Survey published Thursday by New England Journal of Medicine, is the latest sign of growing concerns about possible conflicts of interest between scientific researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Survey finds drug companies sponsoring research give the participating university researchers little to no say how the studies are designed and how the findings are handled.
(via The [...]

The New York attorney general’s office will question Citigroup Inc.’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Sanford I. Weill in its broad investigation of the company including the research practices of its securities-firm unit, Salomon Smith Barney.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is investigating what role Weil played in Salomon’s AT&T rating, including an upgrade made by [...]

FRANKFURT - Bayer AG CEO Werner Wenning said Monday the German drugs and chemical group faces 3,500 damages suits in the United States following the recall last year of Baycol, its cholesterol drug.
Baycol, which was sold under the name Lipobay in countries outside the United Sates, was recalled in August 2001 after it was linked [...]

The FBI has obtained information that al Qaeda operatives may be planning to target railroads in the United States, including passenger trains and trains carrying hazardous. No specific targets were mentioned. The FBI said additional “protective measures” have been implemented along railroads including Amtrak’s facilities and trains, and freight railroads. The overall state of alert [...]

Washington — President Bush signed a congressional resolution Wednesday authorizing him to commit U.S. troops to enforce U.N. resolutions mandating Iraq give up its efforts to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Iraq has denied having weapons of mass destruction and has offered to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return for the first time since [...]

Atlanta, GA - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee voted Wednesday to recommend a half million hospital workers - such as emergency room doctors and nurses — be inoculated against smallpox first. That breaks down to about 100 personnel across 5,000 hospitals in the country. Then the vaccine would be available to [...]

U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith must decide how to divide the compensation of tens of millions of dollars in the case Robert R. Courtney, the pharmacist who diluted caner drugs. More than 400 lawsuits have been filed against Courtney, his pharmacy had $71 million in insurance.
Last Week Georgia Hayes, a cancer patient won a [...]

New York - ImClone Systems founder Sam Waksal pleaded guilty Tuesday to securities and bank fraud charges, and did not implicate friend and investor Martha Stewart in the company’s insider trading scandal. Waksal did not have an agreement to cooperate with the Justice Department.
The Justice Department is investigating whether Martha Stewart acted on illegally obtained [...]

Huston, TX - Arthur Andersen was sentenced to five years probation and fined $500,000 for obstruction of justice. The decision was in result to the company admitting to destroying thousands of records involving its work for Enron. The sentencing comes one year after Enron Corp filed for bankruptcy.
Andersen, once a company of 85,000 employees, is [...]