| No Negotiation on Medicare Rx Prices
April 18, 2007 -- The Senate blocked a bill Wednesday giving the federal government the power to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower Medicare prices. The bill would have overturned a part of Medicare law that bans the government from such direct bargaining in the Part D prescription drug program. The vote was a defeat for Democrats, who made repealing the ban a key part of their domestic agenda. A majority of 55 senators voted for the bill. But it still failed because procedural rules required 60 votes for passage. Six Republicans supported the bill. Democrats blame the political influence of the pharmaceutical industry for derailing the measure, which in polls enjoys support from most seniors. Supporters of the repeal have long criticized the ban on direct price negotiations as a sweetheart deal inserted into Medicare law at the behest of drugmakers.
Fairness of arbitration questioned
When the Supreme Court allowed brokerage firms to make their customers sign arbitration agreements 20 years ago -- and thereby relinquish the option to take their claims to the courts -- many hailed it as a faster, cheaper and more-efficient alternative. .
Ohuruogu ban is upheld on appeal
CHRISTINE Ohur-uogu has expressed her disbelief at the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) decision to uphold her one-year international ban, writes LUKE WILSON.In one of the most protracted affairs in anti-doping history, the Newham & Essex Beagles star has failed in her bid to overturn the suspension imposed on her after she missed three out-of-competition drugs tests.The heartbreak for the 22-year-old would have been enhanced further by the seemingly interminable wait for the CAS to announce their verdict and Ohuruogu revealed her shock at the Court's findings."I am totally stunned by the decision," she said."To be prevented from competing in the sport I love because of a lack of understanding of the system is very hard to come to terms with."I pray other honest athletes do not end up in this devastating position."There was no insinuation whatsoever that the Stratford sprint star was guilty of anything other than negligence in adhering to the stringent ant-doping rules.However, this fact could in no way quell the disbelief that the Commonwealth 400m champion feels about the whole affair: "The comment from the CAS that 'there is no suggestion that she is guilty of taking drugs...
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang's Regular Press Conference on ...
On the afternoon of April 12, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang held a regular press conference and answered questions on the Six-Party Talks, the East China Sea issue, the situation in the Kyrgyzstan, the trilateral meeting in Addis Ababa on Darfur issue, the violent attacks in Algeria and Morocco and other questions. Qin: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I have two announcements to make: At the invitation of Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, State Councilor and Chairman of China-UK Relations Task Force, Mr. Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister, First Secretary of State and Chairman of China Task Force of the United Kingdom will pay an official visit to China on April 19 to 25. At the invitation of Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Minister of Foreign Affairs Allam-mi of the Republic of Chad will pay an official visit to China on April 18 to 20.
Family policy grapples with modern complexities
His name was Joe. He was a trade union official, a former communist, influential in the building industry and a good bloke. I phoned him at his home on a Sunday afternoon in the late 1960s about a case in the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. He said he was busy and would have to ring back: "I'm concreting over the lawn ready for my retirement." He was serious. As someone who preferred grass to concrete, I was a bit shocked by this. But at the time I hardly noticed that he was articulating his own personal vision of life after work and of life being divided into rigid compartments of school, work and retirement, which meant doing virtually nothing as one recovered from the years of labour in the workforce. Usually it meant watching television, a few beers and, by today's standards, an early death.
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