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Last year saw the beginning of grumblings that drug companies may be keeping certain trial results out of the public, and that the FDA may also not be getting out cautions when needed. Merck had been accused of hiding research that showed that its blockbuster arthritis drug, Vioxx, could cause heart problems. One of the first liability suits filed against Merck just came out with the verdict - an award against Merck for $253 million to the widow of a marathon runner and Wal-Mart worker in Texas... Posted on August 19, 2005 at 12:46 pm by Cece Gassner

I'll be posting more later today on some regulatory/legal developments in the bioscience world, but wanted to pass along this article from Wired online. This could be a great development in treatment for various diseases - using nifty little nanoscale molecules that have tiny tendrils on them to administer vaccines and other medicines. Cheery news like this is always necessary to counter so much of the negative results and news we get inundated with these days. Posted on July 26, 2005 at 08:59 am by Cece Gassner

One tidbit from the BIO 2005 sessions that really stuck in my mind - the PTO now faces a backlog of 500,000 patent applications. With the rate of growth in patent filings, they foresee having a backlog of a million applications within the next 10 years. The speaker, Dr. Jasemine Chambers, Director of Technology Center 1600 at the PTO, said that despite the increased filing fees, there has been little to no slowdown in the filings. The PTO is hoping that some of the patent reform initiative and... Posted on June 21, 2005 at 05:11 am by Cece Gassner

The World Summit on Food Security in Rome just finished a few days ago. A few words of Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the chairman of Nestl&#xc3&#xa9, talking about how hostility to new food technologies exacerbated the global food crisis by holding back agricultural productivity, "It is disheartening to see how easily a group of well-intentioned and well-fed activists can decide about new technologies at the expense of those who are starving."Some have dismissed these remarks. Harder to dismiss are the... Posted on November 21, 2009 at 05:52 am by Neal Fortin

Google launched a free online case law search system available through Google Scholar (select scholar as search option, then legal cases). Of course, it's not LEXIS or Westlaw, but it is surprisingly comprehensive and robust. Every citation is hyperlinked to the full text of the opinion cited. It looks like a great tool for preliminary research. One announcement is here. Posted on November 18, 2009 at 05:09 am by Neal Fortin

Ensuring Global Food Safety: Exploring Global Harmonization, edited by Christine E. Boisrobert et al., is now published. I wrote a very small part of this large book. You can find out more here. Posted on November 17, 2009 at 07:36 am by Neal Fortin

/**/ Participants practice safely removing a donated ATV from the rider. (Mike Brady photo) Kentucky emergency service professionals trained on search-and-rescue operations and other accident scenarios during the second annual Kentucky ATV and Rescue R&D Weekend in October at the Knott County ATV and Motorcycle Rider Training Center... more. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Farm and Home Safety Program trailer with an array of all-terrain and utility vehicles. (Mike Brady photo) Posted on November 20, 2009 at 02:19 am by Kentucky Agriculture

Kentucky Educational Television has added air dates for "Vintage Kentucky: The Vine to Wine Experience," a 30-minute documentary about the history of Kentucky's grape and wine industry, its recent resurgence and its bright future... more. Posted on November 19, 2009 at 04:49 am by Kentucky Agriculture

by Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is upon us with Thanksgiving next week and Christmas just around the corner. But the joy of the Christmas season is sometimes squelched by the stress of finding just the right gifts for your friends and loved ones. I have a fantastic gift idea: Give the taste of Kentucky this holiday season - Kentucky Proud foods and products. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) has an Internet search engine to help... Posted on November 17, 2009 at 04:52 am by Kentucky Agriculture

Cornbelt Update is a weekly summary of news from Extension, government, and other attributable sources, focused on marketing, farm management, and other issues that are of interest to Midwestern farm owners and operators. Corn price strength is due to harvest delays and ethanol according to the calculations of IL marketing specialist Darrel Good, who says favorable blending margins for ethanol and reduced Brazilian imports have allowed prices to move sharply higher. He says, "The EPA ruling on... Posted on November 19, 2009 at 10:50 pm by shellis

Throughout the long harvest corn prices have stayed in the upper range of prices established in the late summer. The uncertainty of the quality and quantity of the crop has kept the market interested enough to offer prices in the mid to upper level of USDA's expected price range for the year; and many farmers have forward contracted corn in anticipation of higher prices. The objective for every producer is to forward contract at a profit, and not be challenged if the market moves decidedly... Posted on November 19, 2009 at 08:20 pm by shellis

Whether you are a livestock producer besieged by high input prices and low market prices, or whether you are a crop producer besieged by high input prices and low market prices, you are being blown apart by a "perfect storm" that threatens to financially devastate your operation. As you begin to look at the end of 2009 and the start of 2010, what is your thought process to evaluate your options? University of Nebraska farm transition specialist Dave Goeller uses the term "perfect storm" to... Posted on November 18, 2009 at 10:09 pm by shellis

Google launched a free online case law search system available through Google Scholar (select scholar as search option, then legal cases). Of course, it's not LEXIS or Westlaw, but it is surprisingly comprehensive and robust. Every citation is hyperlinked to the full text of the opinion cited. It looks like a great tool for preliminary research. One announcement is here. Posted on November 18, 2009 at 05:07 am by Neal Fortin

A Consumer Issues Conference was held September 24 & 25, 2009, titled, "Food Safety, Security and Sources: A Recipe for Tough Times" at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming. Audio recordings from Conference sessions are available here and on the University of Wyoming's iTunes U section (reached by going here > public access > Cooperative Extension Service). Posted on November 18, 2009 at 03:06 am by Neal Fortin

Jackie Jacobs will present a seminar titled "Automatic Milking Systems Could be the Future of Milking for North American Dairy Farms: But are Cows Comfortable Being Milked by Robots?" in 1310 Anthony Hall, Michigan State University, at 12:40 pm on Thursday, November 19. Come early (12:30) as snacks will be provided. All are welcome. Posted on November 17, 2009 at 08:35 am by Neal Fortin

From Obama Foodorama, a nice report on President Obama's arrival last night in Singapore and attendance at the Gala Dinner at the APEC Summit. "Last night, President ending leaders were given traditional garb for the dinner, and had a choice between red shirts and blue. President Obama, of course, chose blue. APEC is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and has 21 member countries. One of the primary goals of this week's meeting is the development of a region-wide free trade area, which... Posted on November 14, 2009 at 02:40 am by Neal Fortin

EU Training on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Issues for Asian Countries provides links to seminar slides organised by the European Commission Directorate General for TRADE in cooperation with the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO). Although aimed at improving mutual understanding of Sanitary and Phytosanitary issues and relevant legislation between the EU and administrators from Asian countries, the materials are applicable generally on SPS issues in the EU and globally.... Posted on September 14, 2009 at 10:50 am by Neal Fortin

A paper by Daniele Giovannucci and Timothy Purcell is posted on SSRN here. Abstract: The markets for agri-food products are changing at a pace that is unparalleled in modern history. Markets are increasingly open and also increasingly homogenized toward international tastes and requirements for levels of quality, packaging, safety, and even process attributes such as socially or environmentally friendly methods. New distribution channels, dominated by larger firms, including supermarket... Posted on August 26, 2009 at 01:01 am by Neal Fortin