Free Republic

PhRMA’s quiescence on Obamacare badly hurt the industry — and all those who depend on medical innovation. With the release of the president’s budget, it is now beyond dispute — Beltway spin notwithstanding — that the decision by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) to support the health-care bill was one of the worst self-inflicted wounds in the history of lobbying. For biotech and pharmaceutical companies, the president’s budget repudiates one of the most important benefits of their “deal” with the White House: the ability to market biotech drugs without generic competition for twelve years. The president would...

While it is common knowledge that the health care industry is not happy with the rules and regulations of the health care law, the National Review brings up this question: Will the implementation of ObamaCare stifle the creation of new drugs and treatments? To answer this question, the National Review observes that Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) made a deal with the Obama Administration that they would be able to market their drugs without generic competition for 12 years. The administration reneged on that deal and reduced the 12 years to 7 years. And there are many more...

A drug derived from the curry spice turmeric may be able to help the body repair some of the damage caused in the immediate aftermath of a stroke. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are preparing to embark on human trials after promising results in rabbits. Their drug reached brain cells and reduced muscle and movement problems. The Stroke Association said it was the "first significant research" suggesting that the compound could aid stroke patients. "This is the first significant research to show that turmeric could be beneficial to stroke patients by encouraging new cells to grow and...

Any constitutional issues here? While Johnson's car was parked in the casino parking lot, Defendant John Hurla—then a K-9 officer in the Pottawotomie1 Tribal Police Department (PTPD)—deployed a drug dog to Johnson's vehicle and the dog indicated the presence of illegal narcotics. Based on the probable cause arising from the drug dog's deployment, Johnson was stopped, his vehicle was searched, and he was arrested... Johnson was charged under tribal law for possession of narcotics, but in February 2008, Kansas dismissed the charges. In March 2008, the United States unsealed an indictment against Johnson, charging him with violating 21 U.S.C. §...

Admittedly, the Egyptian uprising, the nullification of Obamacare and the ongoing ramifications of "Snowpocolypse 2011" could render the controversy about an MTV original program insignificant by comparison. After all, MTV is only out to destroy an entire generation. No big deal. Every adult - not just parents - should take the time to learn about the MTV show "Skins," a new "teen drama" that the Parents Television Council (PTC) has deemed "the most dangerous show on TV." Be careful when you go hunting for information about "Skins" lest your spouse conclude you've developed an interest in child pornography. The publicity...

Surveillance video appears to show drug smugglers using a catapult to transport narcotics over the border between Mexico and Arizona near Naco. (Video courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Executions of Florida death-row inmates could be on hold for months in the wake of a decision last week by an Illinois drug company to stop producing an anesthetic used in lethal injections here. Though no new executions are scheduled, the halt in production of the drug effectively means that the state will have to come up with a new procedure to kill inmates. And any new drug "cocktail" developed likely will result in legal challenges down the line. The drug in question is sodium thiopental, one of three used by Florida and many other states in the lethal-injection sequence....

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio says it's switching its lethal injection drug to an anesthetic commonly used to euthanize pets as a shortage of the drug normally used for executions has worsened.

What an odd turn of events: A drug company decides to stop producing an anesthetic — and the death penalty system in the U.S. is potentially thrown into turmoil. We say “potentially,” because it hasn’t happened yet. But on Friday, the WSJ’s Nathan Koppel broke the news that Hospira Inc., based in Lake Forest, Ill., has decided to permanently halt production of thiopental sodium, a key drug widely used by states in lethal injections. Hospira’s decision puts a wrench in the nation’s capital-punishment system. States can attempt to use another anesthetic in place of thiopental, but such a switch likely...

The Burns family in Brooks County, Texas, are packing up and leaving their 38,000 acre ranch because the area has become a war zone, thanks to the Mexican drug cartels and illegal aliens crossing on or near their property on a daily basis. The Burns’ family home has been broken into, their land littered with garbage and the distinct sounds of gunfire can be heard from their front porch. The ranch, which is located 60 miles from the Mexican border runs alongside Farm Road 755, which law enforcement calls a “main smuggling corridor” for the cartels. Thanks to our federal...

A Hartford Superior Court jury believed a drug dealer's claim that he shot and killed one man and wounded another in self defense after they forced their way into his Gillett Street apartment and robbed him at gunpoint of drugs and $8,000 in cash. The jury took about two hours to acquit Tivon Mendes, 25, of the most serious charges against him, first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and first-degree assault with a firearm. He was found guilty of two count of sale of drugs, possession of drugs and tampering with evidence. He will be sentenced Feb. 15. [Get Your Local...

(CNSNews.com) - Cartel-related murders in Mexico’s drug war have surpassed 10,000 so far this year, according to a tally kept by the Mexican newspaper Reforma. As of November 19, the newspaper’s Ejecutómetro (execution-meter) stood at 10,514 for 2010. With an estimated 230 killings a week in the last two months, the cartel-related murders for 2010 could reach 12,000 by the end of the year. That figure is about twice the overall number of U.S. military fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, which currently stand at about 5,700 for 2010, as reported by CNSNews.com. The Reforma newspaper shows that since Felipe...

The state of Oklahoma is planning to execute death row inmates with drugs intended for use on animals. Lawmakers want to switch away from the only brand of anaesthetic that has been used in the US for lethal injections because there is not enough to go around. The replacement is likely to attract controversy because it is currently used by vets to anesthetise animals for operations. Other states are watching closely and may well follow suit, but such a move is likely to face a challenge from human rights groups to ensure that it is safe to use.

Mexican authorities confirmed that Ezequiel "Tony Tormenta" Cardenas Guillen—one of the two leaders of the Gulf Cartel and a pivotal figure in recent border drug wars—was killed in a shootout in Matamoros Friday. Violence across the city throughout the day left at least 47 others dead, including a reporter for a Matamoros newspaper, sources with knowledge of the situation said. Three of Cardenas Guillen’s aides, or bodyguards, also were killed, according to Alejandro Poire, spokesman for the Mexican government. He gave no other information other than confirming the death of Cardenas Guillen and his aides. Two Mexican soldiers also were...

The state of Arizona executed a convicted murderer on Tuesday night despite objections from attorneys that the state would use a non-approved drug from overseas for the lethal injection. Just hours before Jeffrey Landrigan's death, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to lift a stay issued by a federal judge to halt the execution. "There is no evidence in the record to suggest that the drug obtained from a foreign source is unsafe," the Supreme Court said Due to a U.S. shortage, the state turned to a non-FDA approved drug. It was later revealed that the source was the U.K., although...

Well armed and trained assassins are loose in the United States. Can you guess who they are? If you are thinking al-Quida, Hezbullah, or perhaps home grown terrorists – try again. Would you be that surprised to find out that they are drug smuggling Mexicans cartel members! A few weeks ago I wrote an article detailing the growing threat of Mexican drug cartels. After showing the evidence of the gangs’ escalating aggressiveness and violence leaving a body count now totally to over 27,000 dead since 2006 I posed the question “do Mexican drug cartels pose a greater threat” to the...

Sinaloa cartel exploiting Tijuana corridor "unimpeded"The Examiner reported that Mexico's largest-ever seizure of marijuana packaged for sale is even bigger than the original estimate of 105 tons and probably belonged to the country's most powerful drug-trafficking cartel, authorities said Tuesday. The Sinaloa cartel run by Mexico's most wanted fugitive, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, now is moving drugs through the Tijuana corridor "unimpeded," said a U.S. law enforcement official in Mexico, a possible reason why violence has dropped in the city across the border from San Diego, California, since a bloody peak in 2008... Mexican soldiers and police grabbed the U.S.-bound...

Mexican drug cartels are like a malignant cancer that keeps on spreading. Mexico has spent billions of dollars on its drug war to combat the power and influence of the cartels, but when you look at the statistics it seems as if little progress has been made. Considering the dramatic impact cartels have on the United Sates, America should consider if securing our border is as important to our national security as is the war we are fighting in Afghanistan. Mexico’s war on drugs has been ongoing since 2006, but the problem keeps getting bigger each year. So does the...

US authorities and outraged Texans are pondering a plan of action to deal with Mexican pirates after a US jet skier was shot Thursday and his fleeing wife chased onto the US side of a border lake. The shooting on Falcon Lake, part of the Rio Grande watershed near Zapata, Texas, follows a months-long surge in attacks by drug-cartel-linked pirates on US boaters who have crossed into Mexican waters. It is the first instance in which an American has been hurt. "Piracy on Falcon Lake is an incredible story, especially when Somali piracy has been so much in the news,"...

10 Years Later, Abortion Drug Has Killed One Million Children, Hurt Women Washington, DC -- This weekend marked the tenth anniversary of the Clinton administration approving the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug that has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of unborn children and hurt women. The drug has killed at least eight women in the United States and dozens around the world. http://LifeNews.com/nat6729.html