Nation News

WASHINGTON - Karen Bartlett, a New Hampshire woman, took a generic prescription pain medication called sulindac for shoulder soreness and suffered what a lower court described last year as "truly horrific" injuries. She endured burns across much of her body, spent two months in a medically induced coma and underwent 12 eye surgeries. She is now nearly blind and unable to eat normally because of burns to her throat. She was at the Supreme Court on Tuesday to hear arguments on whether Americans who are hurt by generic drugs can ever hold the drug maker liable for their injuries.

WASHINGTON - Karen Bartlett, a New Hampshire woman, took a generic prescription pain medication called sulindac for shoulder soreness and suffered what a lower court described last year as "truly horrific" injuries. She endured burns across much of her body, spent two months in a medically induced coma and underwent 12 eye surgeries. She is now nearly blind and unable to eat normally because of burns to her throat. She was at the Supreme Court on Tuesday to hear arguments on whether Americans who are hurt by generic drugs can ever hold the drug maker liable for their injuries.

The St. Louis drug company lambasted for increasing the price of a pregnancy drug from $20 to $1,500 per dose announced Friday that it's cutting the price by more than half. The sharp reduction to $690 per dose came two days after the Food and Drug Administration publicly invited competition by announcing that it would continue to allow so-called compounding pharmacies to make and sell a version of the drug. The drug, a synthetic form of progesterone commonly called 17P and marketed under the trade name Makena, is recommended for women at high risk of delivering prematurely.

NEWTOWN, Conn. - A 7-year-old who dreamed of being a fireman. A heroic teacher who loved flamingoes. A beloved principal whose last act was trying to save the children in her care. The grim procession of memorial services continued Wednesday as Newtown and surrounding communities bade tearful farewell to more victims of last week's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 20 students and six school staffers dead. First-grade teacher Victoria Leigh Soto received a hero's funeral at the Lordship Community Church in Stratford, Conn., complete with a police honor guard - officers in full dress uniforms and white gloves, marching in precise formation.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head in a Tucson parking lot in January, "is making leaps and bounds in terms of neurological progress," doctors said Friday, and there is "a good possibility" she will be able to attend the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, which her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, will command in April. Giffords' speech "is getting very good" and she "is starting to walk with assistance," said Dr. Dong Kim, director of Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where she has been undergoing physical therapy since the end of January.

House Republicans proposed watering down the powerful top job at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as they attacked Obama administration advisor Elizabeth Warren, accusing her of overstepping her temporary position overseeing the bureau. The new agency is the centerpiece of the financial regulatory overhaul enacted last year, but two leading Republicans said they would introduce legislation to change the bureau's still-vacant position of director to a five-member bipartisan commission.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is breathing on her own and moving both arms, both very encouraging signs of recovery, physicians at University Medical Center in Tucson said Tuesday. In an interview, Dr. Peter Rhee, the chief of trauma at the medical center, said Giffords was moving both arms, although her left arm was more active than her right, and moving her eyes. Previously, doctors had said that she was moving only her left arm, which is controlled by the right hemisphere of her brain ?

President Obama said that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes Wednesday shortly after he visited her, news that drew resounding cheers from the thousands who gathered to hear Obama speak at a memorial service for the Tucson shooting victims. "Gabby opened her eyes, so I can tell you, she knows we're here, and she knows we love her," Obama told the crowd at the University of Arizona. The development was more good news on a day when Giffords continued to show signs of recovery with "spontaneous movements" such as feeling her wounds and adjusting her hospital gown, Dr. Peter Rhee, chief of the trauma division at University Medical Center in Tucson, said earlier in the day. "She's getting better every day, and she's making more and more spontaneous movements," he said.

The debate over whether federal regulators should allow Avastin to be marketed as a breast cancer treatment has been characterized as a battle between science and emotion. On one side stands a Food and Drug Administration appeals panel that urged the agency last week to rescind its approval of the drug's use against advanced breast cancer, citing clinical studies that showed no improvement in a patient's chances of survival or quality of life. On the other is a group of women who told the panel at a hearing that they'd be dead if not for Avastin.

Pharmaceutical giant Allergan Inc. stands to win big from the federal government's decision to make Lap-Band weight-loss surgery available to more overweight Americans. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday cleared the way for marketing the procedure to patients who are significantly less obese than those who qualify now ? a decision that would make an estimated 26.4 million more Americans eligible to consider the Irvine company's device. The approval also means that, according to company officials, 45.6 million Americans meet the criteria for Lap-Band surgery.

Talk station KFI-AM (640) topped radio ratings in November, riding a stable of provocative commentators that includes Rush Limbaugh, Bill Handel and John and Ken to its second straight win, and its best showing in more than two years. KFI took 5.6% of the Los Angeles-Orange County listening audience age 6 or older, the same figure it held in October. But the station still widened its lead over second place, pop station KIIS-FM (102.7), which dropped from 5.3% to 5% since October, according to figures released this week by the Arbitron ratings service.

The debate over whether federal regulators should allow Avastin to be marketed as a breast cancer treatment has been characterized as a battle between science and emotion. On one side stands a Food and Drug Administration appeals panel that urged the agency last week to rescind its approval of the drug's use against advanced breast cancer, citing clinical studies that showed no improvement in a patient's chances of survival or quality of life. On the other is a group of women who told the panel at a hearing that they'd be dead if not for Avastin.

The St. Louis drug company lambasted for increasing the price of a pregnancy drug from $20 to $1,500 per dose announced Friday that it's cutting the price by more than half. The sharp reduction to $690 per dose came two days after the Food and Drug Administration publicly invited competition by announcing that it would continue to allow so-called compounding pharmacies to make and sell a version of the drug. The drug, a synthetic form of progesterone commonly called 17P and marketed under the trade name Makena, is recommended for women at high risk of delivering prematurely.

House Republicans proposed watering down the powerful top job at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as they attacked Obama administration advisor Elizabeth Warren, accusing her of overstepping her temporary position overseeing the bureau. The new agency is the centerpiece of the financial regulatory overhaul enacted last year, but two leading Republicans said they would introduce legislation to change the bureau's still-vacant position of director to a five-member bipartisan commission.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head in a Tucson parking lot in January, "is making leaps and bounds in terms of neurological progress," doctors said Friday, and there is "a good possibility" she will be able to attend the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, which her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, will command in April. Giffords' speech "is getting very good" and she "is starting to walk with assistance," said Dr. Dong Kim, director of Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where she has been undergoing physical therapy since the end of January.

Pharmaceutical giant Allergan Inc. stands to win big from the federal government's decision to make Lap-Band weight-loss surgery available to more overweight Americans. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday cleared the way for marketing the procedure to patients who are significantly less obese than those who qualify now ? a decision that would make an estimated 26.4 million more Americans eligible to consider the Irvine company's device. The approval also means that, according to company officials, 45.6 million Americans meet the criteria for Lap-Band surgery.

NEWTOWN, Conn. - A 7-year-old who dreamed of being a fireman. A heroic teacher who loved flamingoes. A beloved principal whose last act was trying to save the children in her care. The grim procession of memorial services continued Wednesday as Newtown and surrounding communities bade tearful farewell to more victims of last week's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 20 students and six school staffers dead. First-grade teacher Victoria Leigh Soto received a hero's funeral at the Lordship Community Church in Stratford, Conn., complete with a police honor guard - officers in full dress uniforms and white gloves, marching in precise formation.

The U.S. Chess Federation's showcase tournament, the U.S. Open Championship, has drawn a total of 528 players to Concord, Calif. The two-week-long tournament, played at the leisurely pace of one game per day, serves as a sort of national chess convention. The USCF fills the spare hours by running its annual business meeting, chess workshops and a variety of side events. With three rounds to go, Senior Master Omar Cartagena and top-rated GM Alex Yermolinsky share first place, at 8-1.

President Obama said that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes Wednesday shortly after he visited her, news that drew resounding cheers from the thousands who gathered to hear Obama speak at a memorial service for the Tucson shooting victims. "Gabby opened her eyes, so I can tell you, she knows we're here, and she knows we love her," Obama told the crowd at the University of Arizona. The development was more good news on a day when Giffords continued to show signs of recovery with "spontaneous movements" such as feeling her wounds and adjusting her hospital gown, Dr. Peter Rhee, chief of the trauma division at University Medical Center in Tucson, said earlier in the day. "She's getting better every day, and she's making more and more spontaneous movements," he said.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is breathing on her own and moving both arms, both very encouraging signs of recovery, physicians at University Medical Center in Tucson said Tuesday. In an interview, Dr. Peter Rhee, the chief of trauma at the medical center, said Giffords was moving both arms, although her left arm was more active than her right, and moving her eyes. Previously, doctors had said that she was moving only her left arm, which is controlled by the right hemisphere of her brain ?