By Lea Yu on August 11, 2010
Two U.S. tobacco companies have agreed to pay fines and forfeit profits totaling more than $28 million to settle criminal and civil charges of bribing officials in Thailand and other countries.
Federal authorities said the companies, Universal Corp. of Richmond, Va., and Alliance One International Inc. of Morrisville, N.C., paid more than $5 million in bribes to ... Read more »
Posted in Industry Conduct, News & Notes, Tobacco Industry
By Elise Craig on August 5, 2010
Proponents of California’s Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, back the marijuana-legalization measure for a variety of reasons–including the drug’s medicinal uses, the belief that drug laws unfairly target minorities and increased tax revenue.
But Keith Humphreys, a psychiatry professor at Stanford University and former senior policy adviser in the Office ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, Industry Conduct, News & Notes, Tobacco Industry
By Elise Craig on July 22, 2010
Asbestos, a substance used commercially for its flame-retardant and insulating properties, has been banned or restricted in 52 countries because it can cause fatal diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. It is banned in the United Kingdom and its use is restricted in the United States, where the industry has paid out $70 ... Read more »
Posted in Industry Conduct, News & Notes, Product Hazards and Recalls
By Elise Craig on July 19, 2010
To deal with nursing shortages, a 24-state partnership permits nurses to use licenses obtained in one state to work in another, so that they can move to areas where they are needed most. But when states have been slow to act or share information, the pact has allowed some nurses with records of misconduct to cross state ... Read more »
Posted in Industry Conduct, News & Notes
By Elise Craig on July 15, 2010
Nestlé has agreed to stop running ads that claimed a drink called BOOST Kid Essentials could improve immunity and keep children from getting sick, the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday. According to the agency, TV and magazine ads, the product’s website and packaging all made deceptive claims that probiotics in the drink’s straw could prevent ... Read more »
Posted in Industry Conduct, News & Notes
By Elise Craig on July 15, 2010
In Kazakhstan, farms that produce tobacco for a cigarette factory owned by Philip Morris International have exploited workers, used child labor and trapped some workers into forced labor, according to a report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch.
Picking tobacco can be particularly harmful to children, the report noted, because nicotine is absorbed by the skin ... Read more »
Posted in Industry Conduct, News & Notes, Tobacco Industry
