Announcements | 
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TTLA Annual Conference has moved to June 1-3 in Austin |
| We’ll be hosting all the events you’ve come to expect from our December conference. Between the 2-day CLE, parties, meetings, legislative update & special events, you’ll leave the live music capital of the world feeling energized, connected, and bad to the bone! Check out the CLE program agendas for Wednesday and Thursday, which include a live video presentation with David Ball plus family friendly events to make this a true vacation opportunity. Click on the headline to register! |
Products |
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Drug Shortages, Skyrocketing Prices Anger Pharmacists |
| Many hospital pharmacists are struggling with an ever-expanding list of prescription drugs that are either in short supply or unavailable. Making the situation worse are distributors who are dramatically raising the prices of what are often life-saving drugs. Case in point: Cytarabine, an injectable cancer drug has a cure rate of 40% to 50% in patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Normally Christus Santa Rosa Health Care pays an average of $15.76 for a 2-gram vial of cytarabine. Earlier this month the pharmacy received a fax offering vials for $995 each — an astonishing markup of 6,213%. Richard A. Marini, San Antonio Express News 05/03/2011 | Read Article: San Antonio Express News |
Blood Thinners Recalled |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has issued a recall of one lot of the blood thinner Coumadin after it was discovered that the dosage was too potent. Patients taking too high a dose of blood thinners could be at risk of excessive bleeding. The recall affects 5-milligram Coumadin tablets with an expiration date of Sept. 30, 2012. Staff Report, Kansas City Star 05/02/2011 | Read Article: Kansas City Star |
Laws/Cases |
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GM Employees File Suit over Lack of Pay, Benefits |
| A group of Ohio General Motors employees have filed a lawsuit against their employer, claiming GM denied them full pay and benefits. According to the lawsuit, the employees have been improperly classified as temporary employees since their hiring in 2006, while other employees have been reclassified as permanent workers. The workers are seeking back pay between $3 million and $4 million. Julie Kent, Cleveland Leader 05/02/2011 | Read Article: Cleveland Leader |
Bed Bugs Lawsuit Settled |
| A Glendale, Calif., hotel has reached a settlement with three women who claimed to have been bitten by bed bugs during their stay. One of the women said she was bitten 167 times by bed bugs while staying at the Rodeway Inn-Regalodge Motel. The amount of the settlement was undisclosed. Veronica Rocha, LA Times 05/03/2011 | Read Article: LA Times |
Issues |
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Betting on Death |
| So-called life settlements have attracted increasing numbers of investors. In 2008, they purchased policies with a face value of as much as $12 billion, according to a 2010 GAO study. At the same time, state securities regulators have moved to shut down at least a half-dozen life settlement companies based or operating in Texas. In the past two years alone, they say, 2,200 investors have placed $220 million at risk. Other Texas-related federal actions add hundreds more investors, and tens of millions of dollars more to the toll. One reason the life settlements business has soared in Texas is a lack of meaningful oversight. Unlike most other states, for example, Texas does not explicitly designate life settlement investments as securities subject to state oversight. Eric Dexheimer & Tony Plohetski , Austin American Statesman 05/03/2011 | Read Article: Austin American Statesman |
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