November 12, 2009

The following is being released on behalf of WheresOurMoney.Org: Now that we've nursed the financial giants back to health after their collapse last year, what to do with them? They're more addicted to risk and power than ever, secure in the knowledge that taxpayers are there to catch them when they fall - and make sure the bonuses get paid. On WheresOurMoney.Org, we've been looking into the "too big to fail" phenomena. Our conclusion? When Wall Street gets "too big to fail," Main Street flunks. "Too big to fail" banks are one fact of life we can no longer afford. Some recent posts on WheresOurMoney.Org: "Too Big to Get Sick: Vaccine for Swine" Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and JP Morgan Chase are getting doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine ahead of virtually everyone else in the country. Wall Street's flu bailout might be comical if it didn't seem to confirm what most Americans suspect: that we live in a two-class system in which the financial elite is protected from all form of risks while the rest of the country has to fend for itself. Full release.

A former consultant for Willbros International Inc. (WII), a subsidiary of Houston-based Willbros Group Inc. (Willbros), pleaded guilty today to engaging in a conspiracy to pay more than $6 million in bribes to government officials of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and officials from a Nigerian political party, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and Assistant Director Joseph Persichini Jr., of the FBI's Washington Field Office. Paul G. Novak, 43, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III in Houston to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one substantive count of violating the FCPA. Sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 19, 2010. "The use of intermediaries to pay bribes will not escape prosecution under the FCPA," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. "The Department will continue to hold accountable all the players in an FCPA scheme - from the companies and their executives who hatch the scheme, to the consultant they retain to carry it out." Full release.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of CSL Limited's 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine to include children ages 6 months and older. This vaccine was previously approved only for use in adults, ages 18 years and older. "Because children are among those most vulnerable to the 2009 H1N1 virus, having a broader range of children's vaccines available is an important step in responding to the H1N1 outbreak," said Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., commissioner of food and drugs. The company's 2009 H1N1 vaccine is manufactured and tested using the same well-established licensing processes that have been in place for many years for the company's seasonal flu vaccine. The expanded approval also covers the company's seasonal flu vaccine. The approval was based on a study of the company's seasonal flu vaccine in children showing the vaccine's safety and efficacy in inducing antibodies to protect against influenza. These efficacy findings supported approval under FDA's accelerated approval regulation, which helps safe and effective medical products for serious or life-threatening diseases to become available sooner to the public. Full release.

The following is a statement by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President Matthew L. Meyers: The government's report today that adult smoking declines have stalled since 2004 is an urgent warning to elected officials that it is premature to declare victory over tobacco and much more must be done to continue reducing tobacco use, which remains the number one preventable cause of death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the adult smoking rate in 2008 was 20.6 percent - essentially unchanged since 2004, when 20.9 percent smoked. In fact, the 2008 survey found a small but disturbing uptick in the percentage of smokers, from 19.8 percent in 2007. While the CDC said this increase was not statistically significant, it is the first increase in the adult smoking rate since 1994. There is no question that we know how to significantly reduce tobacco use, as demonstrated by sharp reductions in adult smoking over the past several decades and a remarkable 45 percent reduction in high school smoking since 1997 (from a peak of 36.4 percent to 20 percent in 2007). But it is also clear from the recent stall in progress that elected officials at all levels must redouble efforts to implement scientifically proven strategies that prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect everyone from secondhand smoke. The challenge today is to resist complacency and finally fight tobacco use with the political will and the resources that match the scope of the problem. Full release.

During this year's Global Week of Action, a week devoted to farmed salmon awareness, the Pew Environment Group today raised concern about the creation of fish farms in U.S. waters without adequate uniform national aquaculture standards in place. In the past two months, tens of thousands of farmed salmon have escaped from open-net fish farms in British Columbia, Norway and Scotland. This poses serious threats to wild salmon populations and coastal marine ecosystems. While monetary losses amount to millions of dollars, the ecological damage caused by these fish is immeasurable. Escaped fish spread disease to wild fish and compete and interbreed with wild salmon populations. This September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) allowed a plan to move forward that will establish fish farms in the Gulf of Mexico. Without necessary safeguards in place, U.S. waters could suffer the same environmental problems affecting other fish farming regions across the globe. NOAA has not yet mandated a set of uniform, national standards to regulate open ocean aquaculture in federal waters. Full release.

Almost four years after the Medicare Part D prescription drug program went into effect, an overwhelming majority (88 percent) of America's seniors approve of their individual plan and coverage. In a national survey released this morning by the nonpartisan Medicare Today Coalition, 95 percent of seniors who used their plan and received prescriptions over the past year also reported that their plan has worked well, while 85 percent continue to find their monthly premium to be affordable. "The original intention behind Medicare Part D was to provide health security and the highest-quality prescription drugs at a price that seniors could afford," Medicare Today co-chairs John Breaux, former U.S. Senator and Mary R. Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of the nation's leading healthcare companies and organizations, said in a joint statement. "Without question, the program has exceeded everyone's expectations." The survey, conducted from October 16-25 by market research firm KRC Research, offers the latest evidence that seniors continue to see the prescription drug program as a success. The annual open enrollment period, in which Americans eligible for Medicare can add, drop or change their prescription drug coverage for 2010, begins on Sunday, November 15th. Full release.

On February 28, 2009 the United States Department of Commerce ("Commerce") published an antidumping duty order against small diameter graphite electrodes from the People's Republic of China ("China"). Reported U.S. imports of dumped small diameter graphite electrodes from China had reached nearly 14,000 metric tons in 2007, prior to the antidumping duty investigation. Recent information has raised domestic industry concerns that Chinese exporters are relying on illegal means to avoid the reach of the antidumping duty order on Chinese electrodes. U.S. producers have announced that they are carefully monitoring all imported graphite electrodes and will seek the help of Commerce and U.S. Customs & Border Protection ("Customs") to ensure effective enforcement of the antidumping order as necessary. Several schemes are reportedly being used to evade the antidumping duty order. Earlier this year, the domestic industry filed a request with Customs to investigate a number of circumvention schemes, including misclassification of the product and the country of origin. Full release.

Women's Health Weekly recently reported that America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are working on nearly 1,000 life-changing medicines for diseases affecting women, according to a new report released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). The medicines are awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or are in human clinical trials. In the U.S., diseases that disproportionately affect women include diabetes, which has reached epidemic proportions and affects 11 million women nationwide. Autoimmune diseases strike women three times more and anxiety and depression two times more women than men. The number one killer of American women is heart disease. The report lists 969 new medicines in development. They include 112 new treatments for breast cancer, 86 new treatments for obstetric/gynecologic conditions, 76 for asthma, 114 for autoimmune diseases, 155 for diabetes, 131 for arthritis, and 80 for Alzheimer's disease. Full release.

A poll conducted in August by Lake Research Partners found Americans very concerned with how chemicals are regulated for consumer use in the U.S. The findings come as overhaul of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) will be introduced soon in both Houses of Congress. Voters are concerned that, under TSCA, chemicals in existence prior to 1976 were grandfathered in to be used and produced in the U.S. without testing or regulation. (87 percent were somewhat or very concerned). Eighty percent of voters were concerned that the EPA was unsuccessful in banning asbestos under current law. Eighty-four percent were concerned that the EPA has mandated testing of barely 200 out of the over 80,000 on the market since 1976. "Voters across almost all demographic and political groups said that regulations on chemicals were not strong enough," said pollster Celinda Lake. "People definitely are not confident about how chemicals are currently regulated, but they're ready to give the EPA authority to protect consumers." Full release.

Individuals who stutter now can receive affordable, effective treatment thanks to technological advancements that reduce the average cost of stuttering treatment by more than 50 percent. At the same time, stuttering therapy participants benefit from more effective learning of fluency skills and greater confidence in their abilities to overcome stuttering. Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI - www.stuttering.org), an internationally recognized non-profit center specializing in stuttering research and treatment, has redefined how stuttering therapy is administered. HCRI researchers have developed electronic and computer technologies that improve the ease of learning lasting fluency skills. In addition, HCRI's developments have significantly reduced the cost of therapy administration, making treatment more affordable and accessible to greater numbers of people. Full release.

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