FDA WARNING REGARDING SOME WEIGHT LOSS PRODUCTS

 The following excerpt comes from the FDA website:

"[July 8, 2011] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising consumers not to purchase or use “Slim Forte Slimming Capsules” and “Slim Forte Double Power Slimming Capsules,” products for weight loss sold on various websites and distributed by LA Beauty Store, Inc.
FDA laboratory analysis confirmed that “Slim Forte Slimming Capsules” and “Slim Forte Double Power Slimming Capsules” contain sibutramine.  Sibutramine is a controlled substance that was removed from the U.S. market in October 2010 for safety reasons.  These products pose a threat to consumers because sibutramine is known to substantially increase blood pressure and/or pulse rate in some patients and may present a significant risk for patients with a history of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, or stroke.  These products may also interact in life threatening ways with other medications a consumer may be taking.

Consumers should stop using these products immediately and throw them away.  Consumers who have experienced any negative side effects should consult a health care professional as soon as possible. (See Product Labels¹) 

Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:

• Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm²
• Download form³ or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178

Note: This notification is to inform the public of a growing trend of products marketed as dietary supplements or conventional foods with hidden drugs and chemicals.  These products are typically promoted for sexual enhancement, weight loss, and body building, and are often represented as being “all natural.”  FDA is unable to test and identify all products marketed as dietary supplements that have potentially harmful hidden ingredients.  Consumers should exercise caution before purchasing any product in the above categories.
Please refer to the links below for more information:

• Tainted Weight Loss Products⁴
• Subscribe to the RSS feed⁵
• Tainted Supplement Consumer Article^6"

 

 

OBAMANITES CONSIDER THE ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH ISSUES

The following is an excerpt from the EPA website:

"WASHINGTON – Building on the Obama Administration’s strong record of protecting the public’s health through common-sense clean air standards – including proposed standards to reduce emissions of mercury and other air toxics, as well as air quality standards for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today finalized additional Clean Air Act protections that will slash hundreds of thousands of tons of smokestack emissions that travel long distances through the air leading to soot and smog, threatening the health of hundreds of millions of Americans living downwind. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will protect communities that are home to 240 million Americans from smog and soot pollution, preventing up to 34,000 premature deaths, 15,000 nonfatal heart attacks, 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis, 400,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and 1.8 million sick days a year beginning in 2014 – achieving up to $280 billion in annual health benefits. Twenty seven states in the eastern half of the country will work with power plants to cut air pollution under the rule, which leverages widely available, proven and cost-effective  control technologies. Ensuring flexibility, EPA will work with states to help develop the most appropriate path forward to deliver significant reductions in harmful emissions while minimizing costs for utilities and consumers.  

“No community should have to bear the burden of another community's polluters, or be powerless to prevent air pollution that leads to asthma, heart attacks and other harmful illnesses. These Clean Air Act safeguards will help protect the health of millions of Americans and save lives by preventing smog and soot pollution from traveling hundreds of miles and contaminating the air they breathe,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “By maximizing flexibility and leveraging existing technology, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will help ensure that American families aren’t suffering the consequences of pollution generated far from home, while allowing states to decide how best to decrease dangerous air pollution in the most cost effective way.”

Carried long distances across the country by wind and weather, power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxide (NO_x) continually travel across state lines. As the pollution is transported, it reacts in the atmosphere and contributes to harmful levels of smog (ground-level ozone) and soot (fine particles), which are scientifically linked to widespread illnesses and premature deaths and prevent many cities and communities from enjoying healthy air quality.

The rule will improve air quality by cutting SO₂ and NO_x emissions that contribute to pollution problems in other states. By 2014, the rule and other state and EPA actions will reduce SO₂ emissions by 73 percent from 2005 levels. NO_x emissions will drop by 54 percent. Following the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor” mandate to limit interstate air pollution, the rule will help states that are struggling to protect air quality from pollution emitted outside their borders, and it uses an approach that can be applied in the future to help areas continue to meet and maintain air quality health standards. 

The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule replaces and strengthens the 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered EPA to revise in 2008. The court allowed CAIR to remain in place temporarily while EPA worked to finalize today’s replacement rule.

The rule will protect over 240 million Americans living in the eastern half of the country, resulting in up to $280 billion in annual benefits.  The benefits far outweigh the $800 million projected to be spent annually on this rule in 2014 and the roughly $1.6 billion per year in capital investments already underway as a result of CAIR.  EPA expects pollution reductions to occur quickly without large expenditures by the power industry. Many power plants covered by the rule have already made substantial investments in clean air technologies to reduce SO₂ and NO_x emissions. The rule will level the playing field for power plants that are already controlling these emissions by requiring more facilities to do the same. In the states where investments in control technology are required, health and environmental benefits will be substantial.

The rule will also help improve visibility in state and national parks while better protecting sensitive ecosystems, including Appalachian streams, Adirondack lakes, estuaries, coastal waters, and forests. In a supplemental rulemaking based on further review and analysis of air quality information, EPA is also proposing to require sources in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin to reduce NO_X emissions during the summertime ozone season. The proposal would increase the total number of states covered by the rule from 27 to 28. Five of these six states are covered for other pollutants under the rule. The proposal is open for public review and comment for 45 days after publication in the Federal Register."

J.P. MORGAN PAYS $228 MILLION TO SETTLE SEC CHARGES

The following is an excerpt from the SEC website:

"Washington, D.C., July 7, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS) with fraudulently rigging at least 93 municipal bond reinvestment transactions in 31 states, generating millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains.
To settle the SEC’s fraud charges, JPMS agreed to pay approximately $51.2 million that will be returned to the affected municipalities or conduit borrowers. JPMS and its affiliates also agreed to pay $177 million to settle parallel charges brought by other federal and state authorities.

 

“JPMS improperly won bids by entering into secret arrangements with bidding agents to get an illegal 'last look' at competitors’ bids,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. “Municipal issuers and investors didn't stand a chance against the fraudulent strategies JPMS and others used to guarantee profits."
Elaine C. Greenberg, Chief of the SEC's Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit, added, “When powerful financial institutions like JPMS conspire with each other to intentionally violate regulations designed to ensure fair investment prices, the integrity of the municipal marketplace becomes corrupted. Rather than playing by the rules, the rules got played.”
Typically, when investors purchase municipal securities, the municipalities temporarily invest the proceeds of the sales in municipal reinvestment products until the money is used for the intended purposes. Under relevant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, the proceeds of tax-exempt municipal securities generally must be invested at fair market value. The most common way of establishing fair market value is through a competitive bidding process in which bidding agents search for the appropriate investment vehicle for a municipality.
The SEC alleges that from 1997 through 2005, JPMS’s fraudulent practices, misrepresentations and omissions undermined the competitive bidding process, affected the prices that municipalities paid for reinvestment products, and deprived certain municipalities of a conclusive presumption that the reinvestment instruments had been purchased at fair market value. JPMS’s fraudulent conduct also jeopardized the tax-exempt status of billions of dollars in municipal securities because the supposed competitive bidding process that establishes the fair market value of the investment was corrupted. The employees involved in the alleged misconduct are no longer with the company.
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, JPMS, acting as the agent for its affiliated commercial bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., at times won bids because it obtained information from the bidding agents about competing bids, a practice known as “last looks.” In other instances, it won bids set up in advance for JPMS to win (“set-ups”) because the bidding agent deliberately obtained non-winning bids from other providers, and it facilitated bids rigged for others to win by deliberately submitting non-winning bids.
Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC’s complaint, JPMS has consented to the entry of a final judgment enjoining it from future violations of Section 15(c)(1)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and has agreed to pay a penalty of $32.5 million and disgorgement of $11,065,969 with prejudgment interest of $7,620,380. The settlement is subject to court approval.
In a related enforcement action, the SEC barred former JPMS vice president and marketer James L. Hertz from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization, and from participating in any penny stock offering. This sanction is based on Hertz’s December 6, 2010 guilty plea to two counts of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud for engaging in misconduct in connection with the competitive bidding process involving the investment of proceeds of tax-exempt municipal bonds. The Commission recognizes Hertz’s cooperation in the SEC’s investigation and investigations conducted by other law enforcement agencies.
This is the SEC’s third settlement with a financial institution stemming from its ongoing investigation into corruption in the municipal reinvestment industry. On December 7, 2010, the SEC charged Banc of America Securities LLC (BAS) with securities fraud for similar conduct. BAS agreed to pay more than $36 million in disgorgement and interest to settle the SEC’s charges, and paid an additional $101 million to other federal and state authorities for its misconduct. On May 4, 2011, the SEC charged UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBS) with securities fraud for fraudulently rigging bids as both a provider and a bidding agent. UBS agreed to pay $47.2 million in disgorgement, interest and civil penalties to settle the SEC’s charges and to pay $113 million to other federal and state authorities in connection with their parallel cases.
Deputy Chief Mark R. Zehner and Assistant Municipal Securities Counsel Denise D. Colliers, who are members of the Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit in the Philadelphia Regional Office, conducted the SEC’s investigation into this matter.
The SEC thanks the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their cooperation and assistance in this matter. The SEC is bringing this enforcement action in coordination with the Department of Justice, the IRS, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and 25 State Attorneys General.
The SEC’s investigation is continuing. "

OWNER OF BROOKLYN MEDICAL CLINIC PLEADS GUILTY IN MEDICARE FRAUD CASE

The following case is an excerpt from the Department of Justice website:   

"Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Brooklyn Neurologist Pleads Guilty in Health Care Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON – Leonard Langman, M.D., a neurologist who owned and operated a Brooklyn, N.Y., medical clinic pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare; the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP); the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board (NYS-WCB); the New York State Insurance Fund (SIF) and various private health insurance carriers, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.  

Dr. Langman pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto in Brooklyn to one count of health care fraud. 

According to court documents, from January 2006 to December 2009, Dr. Langman caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare, OWCP, NYC-WCB, SIF and others.  Langman submitted claims for services that were not provided; misrepresented the services he provided by billing for a level of service higher than that which he performed; double-billed different health care benefit programs for the same service provided to the same beneficiary; and billed for services purportedly performed when he was out of the country.

At sentencing, Dr. Langman faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.  Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2011. 

The guilty plea was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch for the Eastern District of New York and Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas O’Donnell of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney James Hayes of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  HHS-OIG, the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General and the New York State Workers Compensation Board, Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.  The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,000 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $2.3 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers ."

MIAMI RESIDENT PLEADS GUILTY TO MEDICARE FRAUD

Medicare fraud is rampant and although law makers are o.k. with the fraud the Department of Justice is cracking down. Many companies and their executives literally make their fortunes by stealing from tax payers. The following is an excerpt from the Department of Justice web site:
“Friday, May 27, 2011
Vice President of Fraudulent Physical Therapy Company Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud
WASHINGTON – A Miami-area resident who was an owner and vice-president of a fraudulent physical therapy company in Lakeland, Fla., pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.
Andres Cespedes, 44, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo in Tampa to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
According to court documents, Cespedes was the vice-president of Dynamic Therapy Inc. Cespedes and his co-conspirators purchased Dynamic from its prior owners, and transformed it into a fraudulent enterprise. Dynamic purported to provide physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries, but in reality obtained patient information through kickbacks and bribes, and billed Medicare for physical therapy that never occurred.
According to court documents, from fall 2009 to summer 2010, Cespedes submitted and caused the submission of $757,654 in fraudulent claims to the Medicare program by Dynamic. Cespedes admitted that he and his co-conspirators paid and caused the payment of kickbacks and bribes to Medicare beneficiaries in order to obtain their Medicare billing information, and used it to submit claims to Medicare for physical therapy services that were never provided. According to court documents, the owners and operators of Dynamic also stole the identities of a physical therapist and Medicare beneficiaries in order to submit additional false claims to Medicare. Cespedes admitted that he knew the Medicare beneficiaries, on whose behalf claims were submitted to Medicare by Dynamic, never received the services billed to Medicare.
At sentencing, Cespedes faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.
Today’s guilty plea was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill of the Middle District of Florida; Steven E. Ibison, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Tampa Division; and Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Dennis of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations’ Miami office.
This case was prosecuted by Acting Assistant Chief Benjamin D. Singer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina M. Burden of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. The case was investigated by the HHS-OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and FBI, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Since their inception in March 2007, Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,000 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $2.3 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.”

EPA PROPOSES NEW SAFEGUARDS FOR RECYCLING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

Encouraging corporations to recycle hazardous materials is obviously something  with which the EPA should be involved. Too often hazardouss materials have been dealt with on the cheap:  this  means these materials are dumped in places that do not keep the materials from entering the enviroment.  The following is an excerpt from an e-mail sent out by the EPA:

“WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing new safeguards for recycling hazardous materials to protect public health and the environment. Today’s proposal modifies EPA’s 2008 Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) rule, which revised hazardous waste regulations to encourage recycling of hazardous materials. Today’s proposal will improve accountability and oversight of hazardous materials recycling, while allowing for important flexibilities that will promote its economic and environmental benefits. EPA is opening up this proposal for public comment.

EPA is also releasing for public comment its draft expanded environmental justice analysis of the 2008 DSW final rule, which evaluates the rule’s potential impact on low-income and minority communities. EPA is also requesting public comment on the environmental justice analysis as well as on suggested changes received from peer review. The analysis and peer review comments will be available in the docket for this rulemaking once the proposal is published.

“Safe recycling of hazardous materials conserves vital resources while protecting the environmental and economic health of our communities,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “Today’s proposed enhancements show EPA’s commitment to achieving sustainable materials management through increased recycling, while retaining safeguards to protect vulnerable communities and the environment.”

EPA’s re-examination of the 2008 DSW final rule identified areas in the regulations that could be improved to better protect public health and the environment with a particular focus on adjacent communities by ensuring better management of hazardous waste. Today’s proposal includes provisions to address those areas through increased transparency and oversight and accountability for hazardous materials recycling. Facilities that recycle onsite or within the same company under the reduced regulatory requirements retained under the proposal would be subject to enhanced storage and recordkeeping requirements as compared to the 2008 rule. Companies that send their hazardous materials offsite for recycling would have tailored storage standards, while being required to send their materials to a permitted hazardous waste recycling facility. The proposed rule also creates a level playing field by requiring all forms of hazardous waste recycling to meet requirements designed to ensure materials are legitimately recycled and not being disposed of illegally.”