Gut...

Unethical...*

Alzheimer Patient.

NYS attorney general filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to stop a pharmaceutical company from forcing patients with Alzheimer’s to switch to a new version of a widely used drug. The lawsuit contends that the switch is designed to blunt competition from low-priced generic versions of the medication.

Forest Lab announced that it would stop selling the existing tablet form of the drug, Namenda, in favor of new extended-release capsules called Namenda XR that can be taken once a day instead of twice.

While the company said that patients preferred the newer drug, it has made little secret of its desire to switch all patients to the newer form, which has a longer patent life, before the old tablets face generic competition. The strategy would make it much harder for the generics to gain traction.

The step taken by Forest Lab. is intended to maintain its monopoly even after its patent expires.

“A drug company manipulating vulnerable patients and forcing physicians to alter treatment plans unnecessarily, simply to protect corporate profits, is unethical and illegal,” the attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, said in a statement.

Remedies is very easy. Since the company abandoned their patent drug, the Generic should jump right into production before the patent expires. In addition, Walmart and the likes should be allowed to import the item from other Countries since US patients are left out in the dark.  Way to go AG.

Just a thought.

Made In...?*

It is the Hat.

As labor costs have risen and currency appreciated, China is slowly losing work to countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc. at least for cheaper, labor-intensive goods like casual clothes, toys and simple electronics.

For DBL Group, employs 9,000 people making T-shirts and other knitwear, business has been so good that the company is finishing a new 10-story building with open floors the size of soccer fields, planted with row after row of sewing machines.

The company that handles sourcing and apparel manufacturing for companies like Wal-Mart and Liz Claiborne, reported that its production in Bangladesh jumped 20 percent last year, while China, slid 5 percent.

Bangladesh is the third-biggest exporter of clothing after China, and Turkey [WTO] and could probably absorb many more of China’s 20 million garment industry jobs as the Chinese workers demand higher salaries.

With many counterfeit product from China, a small change in the label is a huge business to others " Made in Bangladesh."

Just a thought.

Old Doc...*

The world's oldest complete copy of the Ten Commandments is going on rare display at Israel's leading museum in an exhibit tracing civilization's most pivotal moments.

The 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scroll, from a collection of the world's most ancient biblical manuscripts discovered near the Dead Sea east of Jerusalem, has never before been publicly displayed in Israel and has only been shown in brief exhibits abroad.

The manuscript is so brittle that it will only be on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for two weeks before it is returned to a secure, pitch-black, climate-controlled storage facility there.

It is one of 14 ancient objects displayed in "A Brief History of Humankind," an exhibit of historical objects spanning hundreds of thousands of years.

The exhibit includes tools used in an elephant hunt from 1.5 million years ago, the oldest known remains of a communal bonfire from 800,000 years ago, skulls from the oldest remains of a family burial and the world's oldest complete sickle — a 9,000-year-old object that represents the transition from hunter-gatherers to settled civilization working the land.

A 5,000-year-old Mesopotamian tablet on loan to the museum and 2,700-year-old coins from what is now Turkey, are also on display. An original handwritten manuscript of Albert Einstein's groundbreaking theory of relativity caps the exhibit.    Time to see. Just a thought.

Alzheimer...*

All the science in the world won't help people who don't help themselves, said Agus, professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California.

"Sitting for five hours a day is the same on a health basis as smoking a pack of cigarettes." He recommended frequent breaks to combat the negative effects of being chained to a desk all day.

Through a combination of technological developments such as DNA editing and personal responsibility like getting flu shots or sitting for shorter periods of time, humans can live longer, more productive lives, he said.

"No matter what, get up and go to bed at the same time. Your body strives for that regularity."

Arming people with the knowledge to make better and different lifestyle choices will maximize long-term health benefits, he said, "Big data is what's going to save us in the short run." For example, he said, "An amazing study came out showing that every year you delay retirement you reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's by 3 percent." This may increase your pension by 3% as well.

Just a thought.

Break...?*

Pennsylvania company that publishes business newsletters will pay about $1.75 million to thousands of employees who had to clock out while going on short breaks, including for the bathroom.
  

The bill includes back pay and damages to 6,000 employees at 14 Progressive Business Publications call centers located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio used a timekeeping system that was associated with logging on and off their computers between 2009 and 2013.

The Department of Labor filed a lawsuit in 2012 claiming the company violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act because employees weren't earning minimum wage when the company required them to clock out for breaks.

“For far too long, American Future Systems, [Progresive's parent company,] penalized its employees for taking breaks to meet the most basic needs during the work day – stretching their legs, getting a glass of water or just using the restroom,” said Jim Cain, district director for the department’s Wage and Hour Division, in a statement.

The court also ruled the company failed to keep proper record keeping requirements. Both the lack of records and the unpaid breaks are considered violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, reported the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Just a thought.

Dual...?*

Image is not related.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the car companies sold about 1.2 million cars that emit around 4.75 million metric tons of greenhouse gases above what the companies said they would release.

Hyundai and Kia have agreed to pay a $100 million civil fine, and they will forfeit so-called carbon credits which are used to make up for vehicles that emit more greenhouse gases.   The 4.75 million forfeited greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to be worth over $200 million, according to the EPA.

"This unprecedented resolution with Hyundai and Kia underscores the Justice Department's firm commitment to safeguarding American consumers, ensuring fairness in every marketplace, protecting the public from deceptive practices by large corporation.

Kia admitted overstating mileage claims for its Rio and Soul models. The EPA said the overstatements ranged from between 1 and 6 miles per gallon.

Buy a greener car....   Just a thought.

The Boot...?

Sen. Bernie Sanders blasted 13 Senate Democrats for lacking the “guts” to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry after they voted against a measure he pushed to help drive down drug costs by importing them from Canada.   A dozen Republicans voted in favor.

“The Democratic Party are not going to win elections until they do right by the American people.

The measure by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sanders would have allowed pharmaceutical distributors and pharmacists to import low-cost medicine from Canada and other countries.  That is lacking in the Open Market Condition that we talk about it all the time.

Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet - Co, Bob Menendez and Cory Booker -NJ, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray -WA, Tom Carper and Chris Coons- DE, Bob Casey PA, Joe Donnelly- IN, Martin Heinrich -NM, Heidi Heitkamp -ND, Jon Tester -MO and Mark Warner - VA all voted against it.

Sanders said  “If we can import vegetables and fish and poultry and beef from all corners of the Earth, please don’t tell me that we cannot bring in, from Canada and other major countries, name brand prescription drugs of some of the largest corporations in the world,” he said. “That’s a laughable statement.”

So, here ya go, the democrats are defeating themselves.

Rat Line...

Washington abruptly ended the CIA’s role in the transfer of arms from Libya after the attack on the consulate, but the rat line kept going. ‘The United States was no longer in control of what the Turks were relaying to the jihadists,’ the former intelligence official said.

Within weeks, as many as forty portable surface-to-air missile launchers, commonly known as manpads, were in the hands of Syrian rebels. On 28 November 2012, Joby Warrick of the Washington Post reported that the previous day rebels near Aleppo had used what was almost certainly a manpad to shoot down a Syrian transport helicopter.

‘The Obama administration,’ Warrick wrote, ‘has steadfastly opposed arming Syrian opposition forces with such missiles.  Two Middle Eastern intelligence officials fingered Qatar as the source.

While the missiles are seen as a potential game-changer in the fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, their arrival has evoked fear and dismay among Syria’s neighbors as well as Western countries. In the hands of terrorists, the easily concealed missiles could be used to blow up commercial jets, weapons experts and intelligence officials say.

What are we doing to Syria's children?   

One Way...*

Get ready, America. Our collective dream of a presidency may soon be realized. The former Democrat continues to lead the Republican field, after the lamestream media assured us Trump would fade.

Ted Cruz and Kasich teamed together against Trump... Both lost and got out in one week.
The Big Money, super pack, to stop Trump movement... failed and back fired at little Marco.
Fox News danced around, but now "Fair and Balanced network" cann't ignore the News.
The Bushes, Mitt Romney, .....  and many, failed to convince any against Trump.

Hillary Clinton is embroiled in an FBI investigation into “top secret” information email network.
She is making errors. First, she assumes a third term of Obama. Second, her comment on Coal which impacts three States. Third, she will let Bill fix the economy. Nothing about immigration, building the country.... etc.

Socialist Bernie Sanders is beating her in many States, but he may not have the same appeal in a general election versus Trump, even though they agree on almost every issue.
Republican voters realized the deceptive practices of many politicians. They booted them out swiftly.

Trump’s campaign platform of making the American Dream “bigger, better, and stronger than ever before” is a very desirable goal. Dealing with illegal Immigration, Safety of the public, and building a wall Job creation is, for all intensive purposes, politically flawless.

All roads lead to Rome.    Just a thought.    [Written 5/18/2016]