Hadcorp News: March 7, 2008

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Hadcorp News: March 7, 2008

Lifestyle Lift Holding, Inc. v. RealSelf Inc., 2:08-cv-10089-PJD-RSW complaint filedon Jan. 7, 2008

Lifestyle Lift has left many patients who have undergone the 1 hour procedure very unhappy. Subsequently, these customers posted reviews about Lifestyle Lift on a blog called RealSelf. Lifestyle Lift has sued RealSelf claiming trademark infringement (47 USC 230).

On March 3, 2008 RealSelf countersued claiming Lifestyle Lift filled RealSelf's site with shill reviews breaching RealSelf's user agreement .

MORE PLASTIC SURGERY NEWS

Tragic husband's warning to women

Blackpool Gazette

Blackpool, England, UK

A HUSBAND whose wife died after undergoing cosmetic surgery has warned other women about the dangers.

Poulton mother-of-two ine Bainbridge suffered a heart attack last July just two days after having liposuction on her thighs.

A coroner yesterday ruled the £3,500 procedure played a significant part in the 50-year-old's death.

Her devastated husband Alan and sons and Danny were in court to hear the decision.

Mr Bainbridge, 54, managing director of T Print in Bispham where his wife was company secretary, said he accepts the decision and has warned others against elective surgery.

He said his wife had fulfilled a long-held wish for surgery, was aware of the risks and had researched the procedure before being referred to Gerard Laitung, a plastic surgeon with more than 20 years experience, at Capio Fulwood Hospital in Preston.

Mr Bainbridge said: "She had wanted it for a long time, for years. She was so fit and healthy we didn't think anything would go wrong.

"It just shows you can't have operations without consequences and probably, especially, with liposuction.

"She had an operation that, really, led to her death.'' Mr Bainbridge said unless a patient really needed cosmetic surgery, he would not advise others going ahead.

"I think if it is really needed, something on your face perhaps, and you really want it, then go ahead," he said.

"I think liposuction procedures or tummy tucks, I would not, definitely would not, do it.''

Mrs Bainbridge, of The Downs in Poulton, died on July 22 in Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) after collapsing at the couple's city centre apartment.

Manchester coroner Nigel Meadows heard she had a "moderate degree" of heart disease, expected in a woman of her age. After hearing evidence from pathologist Dr Emyr Benbow he said the risk of heart attack increased by having surgery.

It, both the coroner and pathologist agreed, had probably contributed to the formation of a small blood clot in Mrs Bainbridge's coronary artery.

But Mr Meadows said he found no evidence of neglect or wrong doing on behalf of the Capio Fulwood or the MRI where she was treated with clot busting and b lood thinning drugs.

He said: "The evidence indicates the liposuction procedure must, on the balance of probabilities, have had a contributory effect here because she would not have died at the time she did, when she did in the circumstances she did, without the procedure.''

Mr Meadows gave the formal cause of death as first, a heart attack, with a second cause as "liposuction on both thighs''. He added: "I don't think it is possible or appropriate to record natural causes because of the elective procedure.

"The most appropriate is to return a verdict of misadventure; the unintended consequences of a human act.

"Coronary thrombosis, together with the procedure, that has led to a combination of events that has led to Mrs Bainbridge's death.

"There is nothing really risk free, and sometimes a rare combination of circumstances can occur. It is a very sad occasion.''

Last Updated: 29 February 2008 4:52 PM

NY plastic surgeon to be struck off

RTE.ie

Ireland

A doctor who performed plastic surgery on an Irish woman who died three days after her operation is to be struck off the register of physicians in the state of New York.

Kay Cregan, who was 42 and the mother of two sons, lived at Croom, Co Limerick.

She died on 17 March 2005 at a clinic in New York, three days after undergoing a plastic surgery procedure on her face performed by Dr Evan Sachs, who operated a clinic at Central Park South in New York.

Dr Sachs has been struck off by the New York State Board for Professional Medical Misconduct after an investigation into his care of four patients who underwent facial plastic surgery between 14 March and 7 April 2005.

The board found that in all cases he failed to assure appropriate preoperative medial clearance, and that he also failed to assure appropriate post-operative monitoring.

It is understood the family of Ms Cregan, who was an executive with Limerick City Council, is taking a civil action in the US which is due to begin next September.

'DONDA WEST LAW' TO BE PROPOSED IN CALI: Bill would require patients to get medical clearance before undergoing plastic surgery.

February 26, 2008

*A California Assemblywoman is sponsoring new legislation that would require all patients receiving elective plastic surgery to receive clearance from a licensed doctor.

On behalf of Kanye West's family, Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina announced Friday (Feb. 22) that she has proposed the "Donda West Law," which would allow doctors to ensure that patients are healthy enough to endure the potential rigors of general anesthesia.

"Most people who do cosmetic surgery are certified and do a good job, and they do require patients to have physicals," told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on Friday. "But some do not, and as we have seen, it can cause problems, and that's why we want to make this a requirement across the state."

Dr. Donda West, the mother of Kanye West, died Nov. 10 at a hospital in Los Angeles a day after undergoing breast reduction surgery, a tummy tuck and liposuction. An autopsy revealed she likely died of heart disease, coupled with complications after the surgery, "but the final manner of death could not be determined," the report concluded.

Yolanda , a niece of Donda West, reached out to to suggest the legislation.

"I didn't want her death to be in vain," said , 45. "I wanted her name to live on so this wouldn't happen to other people."

said she spoke with Kanye on Friday afternoon while he's on tour in Australia and told him of 's involvement. "He is ecstatic and very grateful," said. "He said, 'You started this. Now run with it and let me know how I can help."' said there's an effort to get similar legislation pushed in Illinois, where Dr. West lived for many years, as well as Oklahoma, where she was born. Kanye West also suggested New York, where his mother did business on his behalf.

New Jersey Woman Wanted in Plastic Surgery Death of Ex-Cop

Prosecutor: Woman Practiced Surgery Without a License

myfoxny.com

New York, NY, USA

Last Edited: Tuesday, 26 Feb 2008, 3:48 PM EST

Created: Tuesday, 26 Feb 2008, 3:36 PM EST

MYFOXNY.COM -- Police and prosecutors in New Jersey hope information from the public may help them locate a woman from Rahway accused of being responsible for the death of a former Newark police officer after a plastic surgery procedure.

The Union County Prosecutor's Office charged Jaramillo with aggravated manslaughter and practicing medicine without a license in connection with the death of Olga Arroyo on November 21, 2007.

Arroyo died in a private home in Rahway after undergoing a plastic surgery procedure performed by Jaramillo, according to the prosecutor's office.

Arroyo began to feel ill after the procedure, but Jaramillo didn't get proper help for her, according to the prosecutor's office.

"Jarimillo did not have a medical license and she had no medical emergency equipment available to her on the premises," Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said in a statement. "When Ms. Arroyo became ill Jaramillo consulted a friend, who is allegedly a doctor in Colombia but not in the United States, who advised her to get Jaramillo to a hospital."

Instead of calling for assistance Jaramillo fled the scene, Romankow said. She has not been seen from since.

Evidence suggests that Jaramillo may have injected Arroyo with twice the appropriate amount of lidocaine for her weight, authorities said. The autopsy showed that Arroyo died from an "adverse reaction following injection of silicone and lidocaine."

Jaramillo, a native of Colombia, is described as about 40 years old, 5-foot-4, and 150 pounds. She also uses the name Jaramillo Arango and other aliases.

Olga Arroyo was a former Newark police officer who later worked as an assistant to Police Director Garry McCarthy.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of Jaramillo. The tip line number is (908) 654-TIPS.

--Arun Kristian Das/MyFox New York

MERCURY NEWS

Lankan dentists go green

Ceylon Daily News

Ceylon, Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: More than 100 dental clinics in Colombo will participate in a “Go Green” project aiming for zero environmental effect from dental dangerous waste containing mercury. Amalgam separators will soon be installed at the clinics collecting 99 per cent of the amalgam which contains mercury.

Sweden Recycling AB, a Swedish environmental oriented company, with financial assistance from the Swedish organisation SIDA, is spearheading this project to reduce the mercury waste coming from dental clinics in Sri Lanka.

With this project, Sri Lanka will be the first country in Asia to move towards a safe recycling of dental dangerous waste. Installing amalgam separators will evidence that mercury waste can be reduced instantly.

Awarness of the positive effects on the evironment and the benefit of this to humans is expected to lead to a wider use of amalgam separators both on a national and international level.

The Sri Lanka Dental Association with 1,500 dentist members, together with Sweden Recycling is offering dental clinics to participate in a subsidised project where dangerous waste will be collected and recycled.

Sweden Recycling has during the last 25 years successfully reduced the amount of mercury finding its way into nature, polluting the environment in Nordic countries. In Sweden, more than 500 kg of mercury is yearly recovered by Sweden Recycling from the dental sector.

Mercury is a heavy metal which posses the most severe threat to nature and to human beings through pollution caused by inadequate handling of mercury contaminated waste. Dental clinics generally represent approximately 50 per cent of the total amount of mercury being wasted into nature and polluting the environment for decades.

Amalgam waste, and thus mercury being its main ingredience in the dental amalgam, has to be collected at source (the dental clinic) according to the mercury strategy adopted by the European Parliament.

In Asia pollution caused by mercury waste is not restricted like in Europe and the amalgam pollution continues. Teeth repair with amalgam fillings continue to be the main method for dental proffesionals. Since there is no collection in Asia of waste containing mercury and recovery of mercury the impact of the waste is massive.

Many inhabitants in Asia have fish as their most important daily food and the fish is prone to be contaminated by mercury in the water.

Mercury will thus be transferred to man and accumulated in the human body with well-known lethal effects. Inducting amalgam separators in dental clinics is thus a big step towards a cleaner environment and consequently less polluted food.

BIG PHARMA ARTICLES

Drug co raids: Nobody trusts Big Pharma anymore

What Doctors Don't Tell You

London, UK

29 February 2008

EC investigators are carrying out raids on the offices of drug companies around Europe. The raids began in January, and the companies aren’t given any advance notice in case executives destroy sensitive documents.

Astonishingly, the raids have been prompted by a general sense of mistrust of the drugs industry rather than by a specific allegation. In other words, they are sure the pharmaceuticals are doing something wrong even if they don’t know what it is.

European competition commissioner Nellie Kroes is co-ordinating the raids in the name of antitrust laws, although she has admitted she has not received any specific allegations.

As industry commentator Jack put it: “Instead of being viewed as heroic providers of the latest life-saving medicines, drug companies seem often to be viewed as 19th century snake oil salesmen.”

Suspicions have been fuelled by the knowledge that the drugs industry is heading for a major crunch, with many top-selling drugs losing their patent protection soon. This year blockbusters such as Fosamax, Effexor, Keppra and Risperdal lose their patents, which means their market becomes immediately open to generic, copycat drugs that are also often cheaper. GlaxoKline has already warned of a 7 per cent drop in earnings this year.

(Source: British Medical Journal, 2008; 336: 418-9).

Big pharma spent big on lobbying

Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia, PA, USA

By Perrone

Associated Press

Posted on Fri, Feb. 22, 2008

WASHINGTON - The pharmaceutical industry's main trade group spent more than $22 million lobbying the federal government in 2007, a 25 percent boost from the year before that paid off on some key issues.

Proposals aimed at lowering drug prices and restricting industry advertising fell by the wayside in Congress. But lobbying experts say the road ahead for the industry looks increasingly bumpy.

"This seems to be a case where the increase in lobbying activity is defensive, not offensive," said Massie Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics, a government watchdog.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, whose members include Pfizer Inc., GlaxoKline P.L.C., Merck & Co. Inc., Wyeth, and Eli Lilly & Co., spent about $12 million in the second half of 2007 to lobby on how prices are set for seniors' medications, rules governing drug imports, and other issues, according to lobbying disclosure records filed last week.

The drug industry, consistently one of the top spenders in Washington, has long faced criticism from some lawmakers over the safety and price of its products. But beginning late in 2006, after the Democrats regained control of Congress, drugmakers faced a slew of proposals unfriendly to their interests.

The industry trade group advocated against:

A proposal by House Democrats that would have allowed the government - not private health insurers - to negotiate drug prices for seniors in Medicare. The measure, aimed at wringing lower prices from drugmakers, stalled in the House after President Bush threatened to veto it.

Legislation that would have allowed the United States to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and other countries, citing safety concerns. Import proponents said foreign competition would help drive down U.S. drug prices. The issue failed to gain traction in Congress, despite several high-profile hearings.

Legislation that it argued could weaken legal protections on drug patents. High-tech companies supported the bill that passed the House last year aimed at improving the U.S. patent system, but PhRMA argued it could weaken patent protections by reducing infringement penalties. The bill is pending in the Senate.

A bill to overhaul the Food and Drug Administration's drug-safety system. The legislation, which became law last September, gave the FDA new powers to update drug-safety labeling and monitor side effects after drugs are approved.

But the final bill did not include restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising opposed by the drug industry.

Drug Prices Surge Despite Criticisms On Campaign Trail

By HEATHER WON TESORIERO

February 21, 2008; Page B1

The pharmaceutical industry has been a frequent target in the current presidential campaign, but that hasn't stopped it from continuing to aggressively raise the prices of prescription drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies increased wholesale prices for the 50 top-selling branded drugs by an average of 7.82% in 2007, after increases of 6.73% and 6.22% in the previous two years, according to Delta Marketing Dynamics Inc., a health-care marketing research company.

The most recent increase is almost double the overall U.S. economy's 4.1% annual inflation rate last year.

• The News: Makers of the top 50 branded prescription drugs raised prices 7.8% in 2007.

• Why It Happened: Drug firms are under pressure to preserve revenue, as new-drug pipelines dry up and as brand-name drugs that are no longer under patent protection lose market share to generic equivalents.

• What It Means: Co-payments are going up, and the industry has become a frequent target of presidential candidates who bemoan high health-care costs.

Some individual drugs had double-digit price increases over three years. GlaxoKline PLC raised the price of antidepressant Wellbutrin XL by 44.5% from 2005 to 2007. Sanofi-Aventis SA raised the price of sleep drug Ambien 70.1%. Shire PLC increased the price of its attention-deficit disorder medication, Adderall XR, by 33.5%, while the price of cholesterol-fighting Lipitor -- the world's top-selling drug, which brought in roughly $13 billion last year for Pfizer Inc. -- rose 16%.

Drug makers are trying to keep revenues afloat by raising prices ahead of many drug-patent expirations and the possibility of changing government regulations, part of the presidential candidates' agendas.

But aggressive price increases could backfire politically, pushing policies toward greater government power over price negotiations.

In some instances, drug makers are raising prices on medications that are due to lose patent protection so that customers will switch to -- and continue to buy -- similar, newer products that enjoy market exclusivity well into the future.

It's a tactic that pharmaceutical companies use "to shift patients to next-generation drugs by making old ones so expensive," says Krensavage, a drug-industry analyst with & Associates. For example, Sanofi raised Ambien's price ahead of its loss of patent protection last year so that it was more expensive than Ambien CR, a new formulation, to encourage patients to switch to Ambien CR, which will be patent-protected for several more years.

The Delta Marketing figures represent the wholesale acquisition cost, which is the manufacturers' list price for a drug; it doesn't reflect underlying rebates and discounts given to wholesalers and large purchasers, such as health insurers and pharmacy-benefit managers.

While the wholesale list price isn't what most customers pay, raising it may help boost the starting point for negotiating a final price.

Through 2012, drugs that generate a total $67 billion of annual revenue will lose patent protection and rapidly lose sales to cheaper generic versions, according to Bernstein Research. Pharmaceutical research-and-development operations haven't been able to produce enough new drugs to replace those going off patent.

"Companies are under great pressure to deliver revenue, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to do so as generics displace profitable brands," says R. Little, president of Delta Marketing of East Syracuse, N.Y. Amid weak pipelines for new drugs, "I think drug companies, by and large, are in a survival mode."

The pharmaceutical industry is already a target of criticism in the presidential campaign, even among its traditional Republican allies. Arizona Sen. McCain, the likely Republican nominee, and Sens.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who are vying for the Democratic nomination, have highlighted the fact that Americans pay more for individual drugs than any other country's citizens. On his Web site, Mr. Obama says he "will prevent [drug] companies from abusing their monopoly power through unjustified price increases."

Mr. McCain's health-care plan includes a provision to "develop safety protocols that permit reimportation to keep competition vigorous."

Reimportation refers to allowing drugs exported to other countries to be brought back into the U.S. market to circumvent pharmaceutical companies' high U.S. prices. The industry has been a staunch opponent of reimportation, citing safety risks that could arise from drugs that wouldn't undergo rigorous U.S. regulatory and border scrutiny.

Sens. Clinton and Obama, meanwhile, have endorsed giving the federal government, which currently is excluded by law from directly negotiating with drug makers, the power to negotiate prices for the Medicare Part D drug benefit.

Some industry analysts suggest the drug companies are raising prices to protect their margins in case the Medicare effort and others like it succeed. The theory is that negotiations between the industry and government would start at a higher price point.

Bush administration health officials and industry analysts disagree about whether direct negotiations with drug makers would lower prices.

"Allowing the government to negotiate drug prices would not generate additional savings under Medicare Part D," says Jeff Nelligan, spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "The legislation creating Part D relies on health plans and their related pharmacy-benefit managers to negotiate deep discounts with manufacturers."

"Direct negotiations clearly could save the feds money, the concept being that the government makes almost 50% of purchases, and accordingly have almost fiat-like power to set their purchase price wherever they wish," says Ransom, health-care equity analyst at & Associates. "I'd argue that if the exclusionary clause were lifted, government would be in a position to effectively dictate price."

Trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America says, "Pharmaceutical prices in America today are determined by market transactions and health plans are able to negotiate for discounts. ... Clearly, Medicare patients and the Medicare drug-coverage program have benefited from our competitive market approach."

The companies whose drugs had some of the steepest increases in recent years defend their price tags. The average price increases of Glaxo drugs in percentage terms were "below the consumer-price index for the years 2005-07," says Glaxo. Sanofi says it "makes every effort to price our products competitively relative to the value that they provide to patients." Pfizer says, "Over the past decade, Pfizer has a well-established history of moderate pricing versus competitors in the U.S. market, particularly when you consider that the vast majority of our customers receive some type of legislated or negotiated discount off our announced list prices." Shire, the maker of Adderall, declined to comment.

According to A. Barrueta, vice president of government relations at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., branded drugs account for less than 20% of the large insurer's prescriptions but more than 85% of its drug costs.

As drug prices increase, patients feel the sting in their co-payments. "You've got this insidious effect on the consumer side, where you're paying a higher and higher proportion of the drug cost," says drug-industry consultant .

Jim McNulty of Burrillville, R.I., has seen his monthly co-payments for Wellbutrin rise to $45 today from $10 when he started taking the antidepressant for bipolar disorder about a decade ago. Mr. McNulty, a 57-year-old mental-health advocate and former president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, takes 11 medications -- nine of them available in generic form -- and pays $247 a month in co-payments.

He was on a generic form of Wellbutrin, which carried a $10 co-pay, but had a bad reaction to it and went back to the brand. Still, he says, "Whenever drugs go generic, I always give them a try."

More Big Pharma Info: Zombie patents — they cost the healthcare system billions, but just won’t die

AGENT ORANGE NEWS

CORRECTION: Vietnamese appeal "agent orange" suit in New York

Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:50pm EST

By Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several major U.S. chemical companies are directly accountable for supplying the U.S. military with "agent orange" during the Vietnam War and causing widespread dioxin poisoning, a lawyer for Vietnamese plaintiffs told a federal appeals court on Monday.

The plaintiffs appealed a lower court decision that dismissed a civil suit seeking class-action status on behalf of more than 3 million Vietnamese people against the chemical companies. It could have resulted in billions of dollars in damages and the environmental cleanup of Vietnam.

More than 30 companies, including Dow Chemical Co and Monsanto Co, are named in the lawsuit.

U.S. warplanes dumped about 18 million gallons (70 million liters) of the defoliant on Vietnamese forests between 1962 and 1971 to destroy Vietnamese sources of food and cover. The plaintiffs seek damages from dioxin poisoning, which decades later they say has caused cancer, deformities and organ dysfunction.

, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the chemical companies knew that the "agent orange" herbicide, which releases dioxins, was harmful but did nothing.

"They knew how it was going to be used and they had reason to believe the effect would be disastrous and they did it anyway," told the panel of three judges for the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. "We are now seeing years later the fruit of that terrible poisonous product."

BATTLEFIELD IMPLICATIONS

The judges appeared unmoved by previous cases from years following World War Two, when makers of the gas Zyklon B, used in Nazi death camps, were convicted of crimes.

Unlike those cases, the judges questioned if poisons used in war that were not directly intended to kill people and only found years later to cause harm violated international law.

"It's a different circumstance here, is it not?" asked appeals court judge Sack. "Is poison designed to kill or hurt?"

The case also considers the power of the U.S. president to authorize the use of hazardous materials during war, but the U.S. government was not sued due to sovereign immunity.

Former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman, arguing for the chemical companies, noted a lack of legal precedent for punishing the use of poisons in war and warned of harming U.S. battlefield decisions if judges find the suit can proceed.

"This does affect our ongoing diplomacy," he said, citing the use of depleted uranium shells by U.S. forces in Iraq.

Before the hearing, the Vietnamese plaintiffs and supporters held a rally. Among them was Nguyen Van Quy, a former member of the North Vietnamese army exposed to "agent orange" who is at the end stage of multiple cancers and has two children with birth defects.

"We need to tell the American citizens of the bad impact and consequences of 'agent orange' to many generations in Vietnam," said Quy, who traveled to New York from Haiphong, Vietnam.

The judges were not expected to make a decision for several months, and if they found the suit could move ahead, it could take years before a trial is held and any damages are awarded.

In 1984, seven chemical companies including Dow and Monsanto agreed to settle out of court for $180 million with U.S. veterans who claimed "agent orange" caused cancer and other health problems.

The United States maintains there is no scientifically proven link between the wartime spraying and the more than 3 million people Vietnam says are disabled by dioxin over three generations.

Viet Nam rejects US verdict on victims of Agent Orange

(25-02-2008)

HA NOI — Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung criticised the recent US Appeals Court verdict in New York that denied Vietnamese Agent Orange victims compensation from responsible chemical companies, on Saturday.

He call the verdict an "erroneous and unjust decision", arousing much indignation among Vietnamese.

He said the Friday verdict denied the lingering serious consequences of AO/dioxin sprayed by the US armed forces during the Viet Nam war on the people and environment in Viet Nam. Many international research projects, including those from the US have substantiated these ill effects.

"Regrettably, the verdict has been issued at a time when the US Government is making co-operation efforts with Viet Nam to resolve the ongoing problems brought about by AO/dioxin," he said.

The spokesman also stressed that addressing this issue was an urgent humanitarian task, continuing to affect the socio-economic situation in Viet Nam almost 40 years after the war.

"Millions of Vietnamese and AO victims still suffer daily, both physically and mentally," Dung said. He demanded US companies producing AO/dioxin take responsibility for the damages and contribute to overcoming the toxic chemicals’ effects on US veterans and Vietnamese victims alike. He said this was a legal, spiritual and ethical obligation.

In conclusion, the spokesman stated, "The demands of Vietnamese AO victims are completely legitimate. We believe that the international community, including US organisations and individuals, will continue to stand side by side with Vietnamese AO victims in the struggle for justice."— VNS

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