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Premature Infants Would Go Untreated, Die in Proposed
Latin American Drug Trial
Hundreds of premature infants with a potentially fatal medical condition would be given placebos -- and thus be more likely to die -- in a drug company study in Latin America that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering endorsing, Public Citizen has learned. In a letter sent today to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson, Public Citizen called on the FDA to immediately halt plans for the study unless it is redesigned to treat all patients. "One expects drug companies to be profit-driven and act accordingly," said Dr. Peter Lurie, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group. "But the FDA’s job is to stop this kind of unethical behavior, not encourage or endorse it. The fact that the agency is seriously considering this study is beyond belief." In the study, hundreds of infants with Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) would be treated with an experimental synthetic surfactant drug called Surfaxin, while a control group of hundreds of premature infants with the syndrome would be given placebos -- instead of one of four FDA-approved surfactant drugs that could save the infants’ lives. Many infants given placebos likely would die unnecessarily, a Public Citizen analysis shows. Surfactant is a kind of drug that makes it easier to inflate the lungs of newborns with RDS. A third group of infants would get an already-approved drug. (full story) |
Keating to see race riot report
Nearly 80 years after whites laid waste to Tulsa’s black neighborhoods with guns and torches, all but one member of a state investigative panel agree - someone should pay. The Tulsa Race Riot Commission will present its report to Gov. Frank Keating and state legislators Wednesday and repeat an earlier call for reparations, chairman Pete Churchwell said. The 40-page report, which won’t be made public until then, ends a four-year effort to get to the truth of what is believed to be one of the nation’s deadliest race riots. "Quite frankly, most of us are worn out," Churchwell said. "There’s been a lot of agonizing over what’s truth and what’s hearsay." It will be up to lawmakers to decide whether to act on the issue of reparations to 118 living survivors or survivors’ descendants. Rep. Don Ross, a Tulsa Democrat whose legislation created the 11-member commission in 1997, refused to predict Thursday what lawmakers might do. "I think the Legislature and the governor of the state and the mayor of Tulsa were brave in agreeing to look back at these dark ... days," Ross said. Consensus was no easy feat even for the commission. The basic facts were the subject of debate. (full story) |
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Judge In Diallo Case Is Censured
The state judge who presided over the trial of four police officers acquitted in the fatal shooting of Amadou Diallo has been censured for engaging in judicial misconduct in four cases between 1996 and 1998. According to the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the state body that disciplines judges, State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi of Albany held the parties in two cases in contempt and sentenced them to jail without following lawful procedures. In two others, he was found to be "injudicious, impatient and discourteous during discussions in which he attempted to force a settlement" and "exerted pressure in an injudicious and indiscriminate manner," the commission found. The 11-member commission, with one member not present, concluded that by such conduct, Teresi "failed to respect and comply with the law" and violated the ethical rules requiring a judge to be "patient, dignified and courteous" toward litigants and their attorneys. (full story) |
Nader and the Politics of Fear
Mention his name in the House Democratic caucus and Ralph Nader draws spontaneous boos. Among party regulars, many assume that the anger and the regrets lingering from Election 2000 effectively put an end to the "Nader moment." Every right turn by George W. Bush reminds people that Nader's Green Party vote of 2.7 percent deprived Albert Gore of a clean victory. Even some erstwhile supporters are grumbling about Nader's postelection silence, depicting a weird recluse who's not even talking to old friends. Representative Richard Gephardt, the House minority leader, had a different idea. He invited Nader in for a friendly chat in early February and began by congratulating him for running "a terrific campaign." According to Nader, Gephardt was especially impressed by the superrallies the Green campaign organized in city after city, filling large arenas with enthusiastic young people who paid $10 or $20 to cheer Nader's dense litany of progressive policy issues. Nobody is paying to hear us talk about policy, Gephardt observed. Under the circumstances, it seems wiser to talk than to shun. The Democratic Party is now in the full wilderness--complete minority status for the first time since the early 1950s--and this fallen condition opens space for a different, more fractious kind of party politics. Where are the Democrats? "Castaways," said Representative Dennis Kucinich, new chair of the Progressive Caucus. "We're back on the island, learning to make fires.... What happened for the last eight years was the Democrats exchanged principles for polling data." (full story) |
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Antiunion mood rattles labor leaders
Union members did everything they were supposed to do in the 2000 presidential election, turning out in record numbers and helping to carry Democrat Al Gore to a 500,000-vote margin over Republican George W. Bush. Now they may have to pay the price for that loyalty. Bush and his Republican Party control the White House and Congress, the first all-Republican government since the 1950s, and they are poised to pursue a pro-business, antiunion agenda that could punish Big Labor. Labor leaders say publicly that they are eager to work with the White House and Congress. But privately they hold no illusions. (full story) |
A Surprising Odyssey
On a sunny morning at a seaside taco stand, the Rev. Mel White was yapping on his ever-present cell phone, griping about his prostate while on hold, then bickering with the cops over the script of how to get himself and his devotees arrested. White, 61, an affable gay minister ordained in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, clutched a Tecate beer. It may have been 11:20 a.m., but he'd been up since 4 a.m., so he figured he'd earned it. That's got to be in the Bible somewhere. (full story) |
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| © 2000-2001 Alan D. Harris | ||
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