December 01, 2009

Lawyers for the Bigio family, Jewish Egyptians whose property was seized by the Egyptian government in a 1960s program to rid the country of its Jewish population, are demanding summary judgment and a jury trial to establish damages against Coca-Cola for exploiting "for immense profit" property that Coca Cola has been occupying since 1994 with the knowledge that the property was taken unlawfully from the Bigios. In a brief filed today in federal district court, the Bigios - responding to the Court's request for supplemental briefing - spelled out the extensive web of international laws violated by the Nasser regime's anti-Jewish campaign which included the nationalization of the Bigios' property in 1962. The Egyptian government has acknowledged that the property was seized illegally and rightfully belongs to the Bigios. A federal court of appeals has twice rejected technical jurisdictional contentions made by Coca-Cola. The case has been before the courts for 12 years. "Coca-Cola is the occupier of stolen property," said attorneys for the Bigios. "Coca-Cola has been stonewalling for years, hiding behind a veil of artificial and inapplicable legalisms and it will now be able to respond to our latest brief only by denying that Egyptian Jews were persecuted by the Nasser regime. Full release.

On December 31, 2008, a reported 20,606 state prisoners and 1,538 federal prisoners were HIV positive or had confirmed AIDS, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, announced today. At yearend 2008, an estimated 5,672 inmates in state and federal prisons had confirmed AIDS, down from 5,762 in 2007. In 2007, about 43 per 10,000 prison inmates were estimated to have confirmed AIDS, compared to 17 per 10,000 persons in the general population. At yearend 2008, the reported number of state and federal inmates who were HIV positive or had confirmed AIDS totaled 22,144. Among states reporting data in both 2007 and 2008, there was an increase of 145 inmates with HIV/AIDS. Of the state and federal inmates who were HIV positive or had confirmed AIDS, a reported 20,231 were men and 1,913 were women. Between 2007 and 2008, the percentage of male inmates with HIV/AIDS remained stable at 1.5 percent, while the percentage of female inmates with HIV/AIDS decreased slightly from 2.1 percent to 1.9 percent. Full release.

As colder weather arrives and as electric rates for many consumers are expected to rise by as much as 30 percent next year, help is available for Pennsylvanians who are trying to stay warm this winter. The state's Turn Down, Seal Off, Save Up initiative offers energy conservation tips and resources for getting financial help with utility bills. "Heating costs consume a major portion of any household budget, and poor energy efficiency robs your home of warmth and takes money out of your pocket," said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger. "Many of our residents will struggle this winter trying to stay warm. A home energy audit can find ways to make our homes warmer and, by using less energy, produce significant dollar savings." An energy audit evaluates a home's energy use. It calculates how much energy is used, how efficiently it is used, and suggests ways to make a home more energy efficient. An audit can reveal potential savings totaling hundreds of dollars. Homeowners can perform a simple energy audit themselves or they can hire a trained professional to do a more thorough evaluation. Full release.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on the latest analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on the creation of jobs and higher economic growth from the Recovery Act: "A series of independent economic analyses now show the Recovery Act is doing its job. The latest analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is clear: the Recovery Act is likely producing even more jobs and higher economic growth than originally thought. "But Americans struggling to find and keep jobs need all the help they can get, and Congress will keep working to create and save jobs and restore American economic security." Full release.

Women were less likely than men to receive major funding for scientific research, according to a study from the University of Michigan Health System. The study also found that only a quarter of all researchers, both men and women, who received a major early career award went on to get further federal funding within five years. The study looked at 2,783 researchers who received the highly competitive early career awards called K08 or K23. These awards provide funding that protects a researcher's time and include a mentoring component to help nurture a young clinician-scientist's career. The funding is typically for three to five years. The researchers then matched the K award recipients to those who were awarded an R01, a prestigious federal grant that is a milestone in a researcher's career. They found that within five years of a K08 or K23 award, only 23 percent of all researchers had attained an R01. But while 25 percent of men had been awarded an R01, only 19 percent of women had. After 10 years, fewer than half of all K awardees had an R01: 36 percent of women and 46 percent of men. Full release.

Ninety percent of all vaccine preventable deaths occur in those 65 and older, including residents in nursing homes, according to highlighted studies in the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority's 2009 December Patient Safety Advisory. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), vaccination remains the best approach to protect older persons with chronic health conditions who are considered at high risk for exposure to influenza, invasive pneumococcal disease (e.g., pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis) and complications. However, on average, only 42 percent to 66 percent of long-term care residents received these vaccinations, according to a recent National Center for Health Statistics report. Pennsylvania nursing homes rank 38th for residents given the flu shot and 26th for residents given the pneumonia shot, more than three percent below the national average for both shots. Healthcare workers self-report a low 45 percent participation in getting flu shots, and unvaccinated healthcare workers risk spreading the flu to their long-term care residents and patients. In its Healthy People 2010 goals, the CDC recommends 90 percent vaccination rate for institutionalized adults with high-risk conditions that may contribute to unnecessary outbreaks of flu and pneumonia within long-term care facilities and hospitals. Full release.

Individuals in consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) are more likely than those with traditional coverage to exhibit a number of cost-conscious behaviors, to be more engaged in wellness programs, and to be more inclined to think that financial incentives matter in holding down costs, according to survey results released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). At the same time, the fifth annual survey found that satisfaction levels for individuals in traditional health plans were higher again this year than for those in consumer-driven plans. As before, the survey found that the health, income, and education profiles of consumer-driven plan participants were different from those of traditional plan enrollees: People who are younger, healthier, higher-income, and better educated are more likely to be in consumer-driven health plans. The findings are from the 2009 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey, which provides nationally representative data regarding the growth of CDHPs and high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), and the impact of these plans and consumer engagement more generally on the behavior and attitudes of adults with private health insurance coverage. Findings from this survey are compared with earlier surveys and appear in the December 2009 EBRI Issue Brief, available at www.ebri.org. Full release.

In an unprecedented move by faith-based institutional shareholders, at least 21 U.S.-based health industry companies, including Aetna, AIG, Eli Lilly and UnitedHealth Group, are the focus of shareholder resolutions asking them to publicly disclose the total compensation packages of their top executives, including their health care packages, vis-a-vis that of their lowest paid U.S. workers. Among the insurers, medical device makers and other companies receiving the resolutions are many of the leading opponents of Congressional action on health care reform. The 30 investors filing the resolutions belong to the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), which has an estimated 300 faith-based institutional investor-members with assets in excess of $100 billion. Full release.

The Department of Justice today announced that a detainee has been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the control of the government of France. As directed by the President's Jan. 22, 2009 Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of this case. As a result of that review, the detainee was approved for transfer from Guantanamo Bay. In accordance with Congressionally-mandated reporting requirements, the Administration informed Congress of its intent to transfer the detainee at least 15 days before his transfer. Late last night, Sabir Lahmar, a native of Algeria, was transferred to the government of France. On Nov. 20, 2008, a federal court ruled that Lahmar may no longer be detained under the Authorization for the Use of Military Force and ordered the government to take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps to facilitate his release from detention at Guantanamo Bay. The United States is grateful to the government of France for helping achieve President Obama's directive to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Full release.

While many Americans are experiencing hardship, some communities and churches are remembering their relative abundance and reaching out to those affected by AIDS in the developing world, particularly today, on World AIDS Day, and throughout December 2009. World Vision, the international aid agency, enables this effort through its Caregiver Kit program, which allows Americans to give tangible support to people affected by AIDS. In recognition of World AIDS Day 2009, volunteers around the nation are gathering throughout the month of December to build thousands of kits containing the most basic goods including washcloths, soap, a flashlight and cotton balls. World Vision ships these kits to AIDS-stricken regions around the world, including in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 12 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Full release.

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