World Briefing | The Americas: Canada: Appeal In Serial Killer Case Prosecutors in British Columbia asked an appeals court to set aside six second-degree murder convictions against Robert Pickton, and order a new trial on 26 charges of first-degree murder. Relatives a... Read Full Article Arts, Briefly: MySpace Will Hold Talent Show Auditions NBC, FremantleMedia and MySpace are expected to announce a partnership that will treat the social network as a ?virtual audition city? for the third season of ?Americas Got Talent.?... Read Full Article Horta In Fight For Life In Darwin East Timorese President fighting for his life in Royal Darwin Hospital after being shot and critically wounded in an apparent coup attempt.... Read Full Article Briton Denies air Terror Plot Role In Pakistani Court A British Muslim who Pakistan authorities had claimed was a key figure in an alleged plot to blow up aircraft flying from London to America, spoke publicly today for the first time to deny his guilt..... Read Full Article Somalia Tallies The Plagues, Fearing Whats Next As many Somalis teeter on the edge of survival, a famine looms, ministries are not functioning and the transitional government is running out of money.... Read Full Article |
Copies NewsNew HarperCollins Unit to Try to Cut Writer AdvancesThe new unit will also try to eliminate the costly practice of allowing booksellers to return unsold copies.Read Full Article Reckitt faces inquiries over plan to maintain Gaviscons dominanceReckitt Benckiser faces a series of investigations by competition and health regulators over an alleged secret plan to maintain a monopoly in the supply of Gaviscon, the lucrative heartburn medicine.<br/> <br/> Internal documents show that executives at Reckitt, the Hull-based drug and cleaning products company, plotted under the codename “Project Eric” to block rivals from selling cheaper generic copies of Gaviscon.<br/> <br/> One former senior executive said Reckitt had “cheated the NHS”. It is thought that a cheaper, generic version of Gaviscon could have saved the health service £40 million a year.<br/> <br/> E-mails between executives discuss how to “drag out as long as possible” the process of other companies being allowed to manufacture generic versions, and their intention to create “a further barrier to competitors” and “restrict entry for new competitors”.<br/> <br/> The company announced an internal investigation into the allegations, made by BBC2’s <i>Newsnight</i>, insisting that it was “a responsible company in the way it conducts its business”.<br/> <br/> A spokesman for the Office of Fair Trading said: “We are aware of the story and are considering whether there may be a competition case to answer.” The NHS Counter Fraud Service is also considering whether an inquiry falls within its remit, and the House of Commons Health Select Committee may also investigate.<br/> <br/> Kevin Barron, MP, chair of the committee, said he was “disturbed” by the e-mails. “I will be taking it back to the committee to look at,” he said.<br/> <br/> However, it is not clear whether any laws have been broken. One regulatory source said: “Members of the public might not find it particularly wholesome. It might be sharp practice and they may be sailing close to the wind, but that doesn’t mean it’s illegal.”<br/> <br/> Before a rival company can create a generic drug, the British National Formulary must give it an official title. Reckitt tried to claim Gaviscon was unique and such a title could not be issued. It objected in 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2006.<br/> <br/> The drug company also successfully lobbied the British Pharmacopoeia Commission (BPC), part of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, that for health and safety reasons, a detailed quality specification known as a monograph was needed.<br/> <br/> One Reckitt executive wrote: “Should we not drag it out as long as possible . . . £9 million of business is at stake”. The e-mails talk of “a clever idea” - to make a near-identical product with a different name. “There must be something we can dig out of the cupboard!” one executive wrote.<br/> <br/> Reckitt also tried to persuade doctors to prescribe the new Gaviscon Advance. In 2005 the industry’s watchdog found it guilty of unethical behaviour.<br/> <br/> The news comes shortly after the European Commission began an inquiry into whether pharmaceutical companies were employing illegal tactics to delay generic versions.<br/> <br/> In January, it raided the offices of some of the world’s largest drug companies, including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Astrazeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co and Sanofi-Aventis. In 2005 AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish drug manufacturer, was fined €60 million for trying to delay rival versions of its ulcer drug, Losec, thereby keeping prices artificially high.<br/> <br/> A spokesman for Reckitt said: “We are shocked by the allegations . . . and by the inappropriate sentiment expressed in some of the internal correspondence of 2003.” A spokesman for the BPC said it was “aware that the company would want to protect its market”. He added: “When Reckitt sought to protect the monograph being published with a legal challenge, the BPC rejected this request and proceeded with its publication.”Read Full Article Two Tests Added to Recommended List to Prevent or Detect Colorectal CancerThe American Cancer Society is recommending virtual colonoscopies and stool tests be a part of colorectal cancer screening for adults 50 and older.Read Full Article Lara Croft swings into the most perilous predicament of her turbulent careerSCi Entertainment, the home of Lara Croft, was forced to admit yesterday that its financial problems were worse than expected as it announced an emergency overhaul that includes dismissing a quarter of its workforce.<br/> <br/> The beleaguered computer games group – Britain’s only sizeable competitor in a global industry – said that it needed to raise between £45 million and £55 million to keep afloat, more than the £30 million it had thought that it needed as recently as January.<br/> <br/> Its financial woes come despite the relative success of <i>Kane & Lynch</i>, its home-grown shooter starring a flawed mercenary and a medicated psychopath, which sold 1.4 million copies worldwide over the Christmas period – sales that SCi’s new management believes could have been greater if the company had been better run.<br/> <br/> Phil Rogers, the group’s new chief executive, said: “It’s clear things have to change. We recognise the failure to maximise the franchise opportunities we have had.” He announced plans to abandon 14 games that are in development, prompting a write-off amounting to £79.6 million.<br/> <br/> The company now hopes to raise new equity, although any investment is likely to leave existing investors – including the American media giant Time Warner – with a fraction of the rescued business. Yesterday, the shares tumbled 26 per cent to 39p, valuing what remains of the company at £34 million.<br/> <br/> SCi parted company with Jane Cavanagh, its chief executive, and two other top executives in January. The new management made clear where they thought the fault lay as the business unveiled an interim loss of £83.4 million. It said that “quality has slipped below acceptable standards” and added that it was working in an “ineffective operating struture”.<br/> <br/> Yesterday SCi indicated that it would consider “any sensible offer for the company”, although insiders believe that it would be a bad time to sell the business, because any purchaser would be picking up its intellectual property on the cheap. Neither is it clear that bids would be forthcoming after SCi spent the best part of last year in takeover talks that did not come to fruition.Read Full Article Microsoft Cuts Price for Boxed VistaOnly copies of the year-old operating system that are sold in boxes directly to consumers are affected by the price cuts , which will range from 20 percent to 48 percent.Read Full Article External News for: copiesSarah Palin in Cincinnati to sign copies of her best-selling book - Cincinnati.comGlobe and MailSarah Palin in Cincinnati to sign copies of her best-selling bookCincinnati.comThe Hustons had two line letters guaranteeing them a place in line and three copies of the book. “I just like her,” said Huston, a retired IRS worker and ..."Going Rogue" is going bigThe Associated PressStores try to max out on Palin visitsPoliticoSarah Palin to sign copies of her book for military families at Fort HoodWaco Tribune HeraldNewsOK.com -fwdailynews.com -Hot Air (blog)all 5,511 news articles »Sarah Palin in Cincinnati to sign copies of her best-selling book - Cincinnati.comGlobe and MailSarah Palin in Cincinnati to sign copies of her best-selling bookCincinnati.comThe Hustons had two line letters guaranteeing them a place in line and three copies of the book. “I just like her,” said Huston, a retired IRS worker and ..."Going Rogue" is going bigThe Associated PressStores try to max out on Palin visitsPoliticoSarah Palin to sign copies of her book for military families at Fort HoodWaco Tribune HeraldNewsOK.com -fwdailynews.com -Hot Air (blog)all 5,511 news articles »RealTime CrunchUp: Win A Signed Copy Of Benioff's 'Behind The Cloud' - TechCrunch (blog)Ad-Hoc-News (Pressemitteilung)RealTime CrunchUp: Win A Signed Copy Of Benioff's 'Behind The Cloud'TechCrunch (blog)Benioff has also signed a pair of copies of his book Behind The Cloud, which we're going to be giving away to attendees of today's conference. ...Business Apps Offer Social ToolsWall Street JournalSugarCRM Launches Guerrilla Marketing Campaign Against Salesforce.comNewsweekGuerilla Marketing @ DreamforceEnterprise Irregulars (blog)San Francisco Chronicleall 261 news articles »Sarah Palin in Cincinnati to sign copies of her best-selling book - Cincinnati.comGlobe and MailSarah Palin in Cincinnati to sign copies of her best-selling bookCincinnati.comThe Hustons had two line letters guaranteeing them a place in line and three copies of the book. “I just like her,” said Huston, a retired IRS worker and ..."Going Rogue" is going bigThe Associated PressStores try to max out on Palin visitsPoliticoSarah Palin to sign copies of her book for military families at Fort HoodWaco Tribune HeraldNewsOK.com -fwdailynews.com -Hot Air (blog)all 5,511 news articles »RealTime CrunchUp: Win A Signed Copy Of Benioff's 'Behind The Cloud' - TechCrunch (blog)Ad-Hoc-News (Pressemitteilung)RealTime CrunchUp: Win A Signed Copy Of Benioff's 'Behind The Cloud'TechCrunch (blog)Benioff has also signed a pair of copies of his book Behind The Cloud, which we're going to be giving away to attendees of today's conference. ...Business Apps Offer Social ToolsWall Street JournalSugarCRM Launches Guerrilla Marketing Campaign Against Salesforce.comNewsweekGuerilla Marketing @ DreamforceEnterprise Irregulars (blog)San Francisco Chronicleall 261 news articles »Ballmer Touts Windows 7 Sales - Wall Street JournalCNET NewsBallmer Touts Windows 7 SalesWall Street JournalMicrosoft Corp. has sold twice as many copies of Windows 7 in its first few weeks than any previous version of the operating system, ...Ballmer Says Windows 7 Sales Double Those of VistaCIO TodayExamining Windows 7's fast startTechFlash (blog)Mac ads haunt Steve BallmerCNNMoney.comPC World -Infosecurity Magazineall 218 news articles » |
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