SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE January 7, 2013 8:38AM Darryle Bolen / photo from Chicago Police storyidforme: 42684612 tmspicid: 15768057 fileheaderid: 7100514 Updated: January 7, 2013 8:38AM Two gang members on parole were arrested when assault weapons and drugs were found Saturday in their homes on the West Side. Darryle Bolen, 28, of the 2100 block of South Avers Avenue was charged with unlawful use of a weapon while on parole, two counts of aggravated battery to a peace officer, resisting an officer and possession of cannabis, according to a release from police News Affairs. Kevin Walton, 20, of the 1400 block of South Millard Avenue was charged with possession of a controlled substance, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon while on parole, and violation of parole, police said. Chicago Police officers and state Dept. of Corrections agents visited Bolen and Walton at their homes Saturday during a routine parolee check, police said. When enforcement officials visited Bolens apartment shortly after 9 a.m., he refused to comply when officers told him not to enter a bedroom closet, police said. He began shouting profanities and swinging a sledgehammer at officers. Bolen was subdued and arrested without incident, police said. A loaded … Continue reading →

China will cut the maximum retail prices of more than 400 varieties of drugs by an average 15 percent, including products from Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Novartis AG (NOVN) and Merck & Co. (MRK), to reduce health-care costs in the nation. The changes, effective Feb. 1, will cover drugs used for respiratory diseases and pain relief, as well as other specialized medicines, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its website. This is the fourth set of state-mandated price adjustments since 2011, with earlier cuts for drugs including antibiotics, vaccines and cancer medicines, the NDRC said. The government wants to reduce medical costs for Chinas aging population, through means such as requiring hospitals derive as much as half their drug sales from cheaper essential medicines, Shanghai Securities News said today, citing Health Minister Chen Zhu. Among the products affected are Mercks asthma treatment Singulair, Pfizers Zyvox, an antibiotic, as well as Novartiss epilepsy drug Trileptal, according to a list of prices released by the government. Prices of higher-end drugs will be reduced an average 20 percent in the latest adjustment, while some cheaper items that face limited supply will have their prices raised to encourage production, the … Continue reading →

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China will cut prices of about 400 drugs for respiratory diseases, fever and pain by up to 20 percent from February, in a move to make medicines, including some products from Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, more affordable. It will be the fourth such price cut since 2011 and is part of reforms since the early 2000s to make healthcare cheaper and more accessible. China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Tuesday the latest round of price cuts involved 20 broad classes of medicines and would include specialty drugs. As the government cracks down on costs, more Chinese drugmakers are fighting thinning margins [ID:nL4E8DS1YF]. Sinopharm Group Co Ltd - China's largest drug distributor - and smaller rivals like Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd are expanding their distribution networks to get bigger slices of the market to offset increasing pressure on margins. Faced with patents running out in the West, bigger foreign pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have hitched their futures largely to sales in developing markets including China, India, Eastern Europe and South America. The average reduction in the latest round of price cuts will amount to 15 percent, although … Continue reading →