| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Freedom Fighter" |
| Date: |
12 May 2007 02:52:24 PM |
| Object: |
GIULIANI: SHILL FOR ADDICTIVE DRUG PUSHERS |
GIULIANI: SHILL FOR ADDICTIVE DRUG PUSHERS!
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5293027
Giuliani met DEA about Oxycontin probe
By Brian Ross, Richard Esposito and R. Schwartz
(New York - ABC News, May 10, 2007) - Rudolph Giuliani and his consulting
company, Giuliani Partners, have served as key advisors for the last five
years to the pharmaceutical company that pled guilty today to charges it
misled doctors and patients about the addiction risks of the powerful
narcotic painkiller OxyContin.
Federal officials say the company, Purdue Pharma, helped to trigger a
nationwide epidemic of addiction to the time-release painkiller by failing
to give early warnings that it could be abused.
Prosecutors say "in the process scores died."
Drug Enforcement Administration officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com
Giuliani personally met with the head of the DEA when the DEA's drug
diversion office began a criminal investigation into the company.
According to the book "Painkiller," by New York Times reporter Barry Meier,
both Giuliani and his then-partner Bernard Kerik "were in direct contact
with Asa Hutchinson, the administrator of DEA."
Hutchinson told the Blotter on ABCNews.com today that Giuliani asked for a
meeting, "and we gave him a meeting." Hutchinson says he was aware the
company was under investigation at the time, and "any time a company is
under investigation I like to give them a chance to make their case."
Kerik told New York Magazine at the time that Giuliani had raised $15,000 in
donations for a "traveling museum operated by the DEA."
Some officials told ABC News there were questions inside the agency of
whether the donations were an attempt to influence the DEA.
Meier wrote that "with Giuliani now in the mix, the pace of DEA's
investigation into Purdue's OxyContin plant in New Jersey slowed as
Hutchinson repeatedly summoned division officials to his office to explain
themselves and their reasons for continuing the inquiry."
Giuliani publicly praised the company, Purdue Pharma, when it hired him in
May 2002 for an undisclosed amount. "Purdue has demonstrated its commitment
to fighting this problem," he said, referring to the issue of drug
addiction.
According to Giuliani Partners, Kerik, a New York City police commissioner
under Giuliani, was in charge of helping Purdue improve security at the New
Jersey plant.
Kerik left Giuliani Partners after disclosures he was under criminal
investigation.
In hiring Giuliani, Purdue said, "Giuliani Partners is uniquely qualified"
to address the issue of preventing drug abuse.
The Web site for Giuliani Partners lists Purdue Pharma as one of its current
clients.
A spokeswoman for Giuliani Partners told ABC News today, "The proceeding
speaks for itself, and beyond that we're not going to comment."
(Copyright 2007 WABC-TV)
NY Times
May 11, 2007
In Guilty Plea, OxyContin Maker to Pay $600 Million
By BARRY MEIER
ABINGDON, Va., May 10 -The company that makes the narcotic painkiller
OxyContin and three current and former executives pleaded guilty today in
federal court here to criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors
and patients about the drug's risk of addiction and its potential to be
abused.
To resolve criminal and civil charges related to the drug's "misbranding",
the parent of Purdue Pharma, the company that markets OxyContin, agreed to
pay more than $600 million in fines. That is the third-highest amount ever
paid by a drug company in such a case.
Also, in a rare move, three executives of Purdue Pharma, including its
president and it top lawyer, pleaded guilty today as individuals to
misbranding charges, a criminal violation. They agreed to pay a total of
$34.5 million in fines.
OxyContin is a powerful, long-acting narcotic that provides relief of
serious pain for up to 12 hours. Initially, Purdue Pharma contended that
OxyContin, because of its time-release formulation, posed a lower threat of
abuse and addiction to patients than traditional, shorter-acting painkillers
like Percocet or Vicodin.
That claim became the lynchpin of the most aggressive marketing campaign
ever undertaken by a pharmaceutical company for such a drug. Just a few
years after the drug's introduction in 1996, annual sales reached $1
billion. Purdue Pharma heavily promoted OxyContin to doctors like general
practitioners who had little training in the treatment of serious pain or in
recognizing signs of drug abuse in patients.
But both experienced drug abusers and novices, including teenagers, soon
discovered that chewing an OxyContin tablet or crushing one and then
snorting the powder or injecting it with a needle produced a high as
powerful as heroin. By 2000, several parts of the United States,
particularly rural areas, began to seeing skyrocketing rates of addiction
and crime related to the drug's use.
Details about the plea agreements are expected to be announced at a press
conference at noon today in Roanoke, Va., by John L. Brownlee, the United
States attorney for the Western District of Virginia. "Misbranding" is a
broad statue that makes it a crime to mislabel a drug, fraudulently promote
it or market it for an unapproved use.
In a proceeding this morning in United States District Court in Abingdon,
Va., both Purdue Pharma and those executives acknowledged that the company
fraudulently marketed OxyContin for six years as a drug that was less prone
to abuse as well as one that also had fewer narcotic side effects.
The time period covered by those expected guilty pleas runs from late 1995,
when the Food and Drug Administration approved OxyContin for sale, to
mid-2001, when Purdue Pharma, faced with both public criticism and
regulatory scrutiny, dropped its initial marketing claims for the drug.
Federal officials said that internal Purdue Pharma documents show that
company officials recognized even before the drug was marketed that they
would face stiff resistance from doctors concerned about the potential of a
high-powered narcotic like OxyContin to be abused by patients or cause
addiction.
As a result, company officials developed a fraudulent marketing campaign
designed to promote OxyContin as a time-released drug that was less prone to
such problems. OxyContin is made of a long-used narcotic, oxycodone. But
unlike other medications like Percocet that also contain the narcotic,
OxyContin is pure oxycodone and, because it is a time-released drug,
contains its in very high doses. The drug is valuable in treating serious,
long-lasting pain.
But to increase the drug's use, Purdue Pharma and those executives are
expected to acknowledge that "with the intent to defraud or mislead" they
marketed and promoted OxyContin as a drug that was both less addictive, less
subject to abuse and less likely to cause other narcotic side effects than
other pain medications.
For instance, when the painkiller was first approved, F.D.A. officials
allowed Purdue Pharma to state the time-released of a narcotic like
OxyContin "is believed to reduce" its potential to be abused.
But according to federal officials, Purdue sales representatives falsely
told doctors that the statement, rather than simply being a theory, meant
that OxyContin had a lower potential for addiction or abuse than drugs like
Percocet. Among other things, company sales officials were allowed to draw
their own fake scientific charts that they then distributed to doctors to
support that misleading abuse-related claim, federal officials said.
Between 1995 and 2001, OxyContin produced $2.8 billion in revenue for Purdue
Pharma, a closely held company that is based in Stamford, Conn. At one
point, it accounted for 90 percent of the company's sales.
As part of the plea agreement, Purdue Frederick, a holding company, pleaded
guilty to a felony charge of misbranding OxyContin. The company agreed to
pay $600 million in criminal and civil penalties, which will be split among
federal government and state agencies.
Purdue Pharma will also be required to use some of that money to settle
civil lawsuits. The company has also agreed, among other things, to subject
itself to independent monitoring.
The three top former and current Purdue Pharma executives pleaded guilty to
criminal misdemeanor charges of misbranding, a charge that not require
prosecutors to show knowledge of intent. However, the three individuals ran
Purdue Pharma during the period in question.
Those executives are Michael Friedman, the company's president, who agreed
to pay $19 million in fines; Howard Udell, its top lawyer, who agreed to pay
$8 million; and Dr. Paul Goldenheim, its former medical director, who agreed
to pay $7.5 million.
-------
NYC Settles Pesticide Lawsuit Against Giuliani
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Press Release: nospray.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.nospray.org
Pesticides: NYC Settles Lawsuit against Giuliani, et. al.
--------------------------------------------
Feds Approve, and Judge Daniels Signs Agreement on April 12, 2007
-----------------------------------------------------------------
New York City admits that pesticides may remain in the environment
beyond their intended purpose and may cause adverse health effects
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For seven years, the No Spray Coalition and other environmental groups
have battled the City of New York in Federal Court in opposition to
the Giuliani administration's massive and indiscriminate spraying of
toxic pesticides, including Malathion.
On April 12, a federal judge signed a settlement agreement in which
New York City admits that the pesticides sprayed may indeed be
dangerous to human health as well as to the natural environment.
The settlement agreement states that, contrary to the City's prior
statements, pesticides may remain in the environment beyond their
intended purpose, cause adverse health effects, kill mosquitoes'
natural predators, increase mosquito resistance to the sprays, and are
not presently approved for direct application to waterways.
Mitchel Cohen, the coordinator of the No Spray Coalition and an
individual plaintiff in the lawsuit, sees the settlement agreement as
a "tremendous victory" for health advocates and a rebuff to the
"anti-environmental polices of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani."
"Thousands of New Yorkers were made seriously sick by the spraying,"
Cohen said. "A number of members of our coalition, including several
of the plaintiffs, died from pesticide-related illnesses. Many suffer
from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) or Asthma caused or
exacerbated by the spraying. We are very glad that the new City
administration has to some degree acknowledged that pesticides are
extremely dangerous to human health. They need to be rejected as a way
of killing mosquitoes."
"In particular," Cohen continued, "the use of insect repellents
containing DEET should never be used, especially on children." Cohen
said that the Coalition will be discussing that concern with the City
when officials meet with the No Spray Coalition as stipulated in the
settlement.
Another plaintiff in the lawsuit, artist Robert Lederman, noted that
in 1999 and 2000, then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and other City officials
claimed that the spraying was "safe" and was used as "a last resort"
in its effort to kill mosquitoes said to be vectors for West Nile
encephalitis.
"This agreement represents the latest rebuff to the notion that
Giuliani was a good Mayor," Lederman said. "In 1999 and 2000, while
repeatedly spraying the population of NY with pesticides derived from
Nazi-era nerve gasses, Giuliani appeared in daily press conferences
claiming that the chemicals were completely harmless. The City of NY
has now admitted that these chemicals are harmful, that they persist
in the environment and that much more caution will have to be used if
they decide to ever spray them again."
Attorneys for the No Spray Coalition -- Joel Kupferman, (NY
Environmental Law and Justice Project, and National Lawyers Guild),
and Karl Coplan and Daniel Estrin (PACE Environmental Litigation
Clinic), announced that as part of the settlement the City agreed to
pay $80,000 to five grassroots environmental and wildlife
rehabilitation groups and meet with the plaintiffs in several sessions
to review an extensive list of concerns that the Coalition provided.
The Plaintiffs are not permitted, under the terms of the Clean Water
Act, to receive a monetary settlement themselves.
Members of the Coalition say that the resolution of the lawsuit begins
a new phase in its activities. In its letter of concerns to the City,
which is an attachment to the lawsuit settlement, the No Spray
Coalition seeks to win official approval for its proposed "Community
Health and Environment Council."
Cohen said that if the City approves it iin further negotiations with
the No Spray Coalition, the new Council would "make recommendations on
environmental health impacts of pesticide use and alternatives, review
and propose alternative, nontoxic control of mosquitoes."
It would also "critique the city's official mosquito control plan and
offer new plans to replace adulticides with safe materials, and assess
agents chosen with regard to interaction with all toxins in our living
environment." The No Spray Coalition points out that there is
currently no testing of chemical or biological agents in combination,
and, said Cohen, these chemicals often have synergistic or cumulative
impacts on health and the environment that fall below the officially
designated danger zone when examined separately."
Cohen said that while he hopes that the City would approve the
proposal to establish the Community Health and Environmental Council,
he recognizes that "it will probably take another prolonged struggle
to achieve that, the next step in our fight to make the City
accountable environmentally and health-wise to the people subjected to
these toxins."
Cohen added that he sees the terms of the Settlement Agreement as
helpful to those fighting against pesticide spraying elsewhere.
"Indeed, we consulted with many organizations not only in the U.S. but
in Canada and Mexico as well," Cohen said, "and we negotiated clauses
in the Agreement with the needs of other locales in mind."
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit were: the No Spray Coalition, National
Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, Disabled in Action, Save
Organic Standards - New York (by its president, Howard Brandstein),
and individual plaintiffs Valerie Sheppard (deceased), Mitchel Cohen,
Robert Lederman, and Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
website: www.nospray.org
hotline: 718-670-7110
email: editor @ NoSpray.org
listserve: SprayNo @ yahoogroups.com
Documents from the lawsuit
http://www.nospray.org/lawsuit.shtml
http://www.nyenvirolaw.org/nyeljp-nospray.htm
http://www.rense.com/general76/sett.htm
http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/issues_ruling.htm
http://www.vunet.org/progressive/1176565809-_toeslist__NYC_reaches_Agreement
_with_No_Spray_Coa.html
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0704/S00239.htm
Want the real story on Giuliani?
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=artistpres
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYCStreetArtists/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Arrest-Giuliani/
http://www.bluecollarpolitics.com/lederman/
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| User: "danny burstein" |
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| Title: Re: GIULIANI: SHILL FOR ADDICTIVE DRUG PUSHERS |
12 May 2007 03:19:39 PM |
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[ full snip ]
Scaredy car, scaredy cat, Looney Tunes [tm].
I'm still waiting for you to take me up
on that MetroCard offer.
Yellow belly.
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
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| User: "Server 13" |
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| Title: Re: GIULIANI: SHILL FOR ADDICTIVE DRUG PUSHERS |
12 May 2007 04:19:29 PM |
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"danny burstein" <dannyb@panix.com> wrote in message
news:f257gr$a1e$1@reader2.panix.com...
[ full snip ]
Scaredy car, scaredy cat, Looney Tunes [tm].
I'm still waiting for you to take me up
on that MetroCard offer.
Why, were you waiting till then to address the subject?
.
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