Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels may have a bigger audience for his State of the State address as political observers around the country search the speech for clues on whether the Republican will run for president in 2012.
Local companies are embedding stealthy video messages for high school and college students.
The biggest killer of all—cigarette smoke—knocks off 450,000 Americans a year—400,000 of those smokers themselves, 50,000 innocent bystanders.
I do not think I have ever read a more disgustingly disrespectful column as the one printed in the Jan. 24-30 issue, written by Bruce Hetrick.
The Indiana governor received just 4 percent of the vote among potential Republican presidential candidates at the Conservative Political Action Conference. But an IUPUI political science professor says the weak showing shouldn’t dissuade Daniels’ supporters.
Gov. Mitch Daniels has spent years talking about issues that typically make voters' eyes glaze over: Cutting spending. Balancing budgets. Shrinking government. The priorities haven't changed much in Daniels' six years as governor. But suddenly voters are paying attention.
I finally have reached my breaking point and felt compelled to write a letter in response to last week’s editorial.
An intoxicated traveler was arrested after using an emergency exit to take a smoke break at Indianapolis International Airport Monday night. Airport police say Michael Rogers of Bloomington lit a cigarette inside Concourse A. When a security staff member told Rogers he was not allowed to smoke in the airport, he became uncooperative and opened a secure door to a gate bridge. Two Delta ramp workers stopped Rogers before he could get to the tarmac. He was arrested for public intoxication, criminal trespass and other charges.
Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation officials acknowledge they still have work to do in a state that in 2008 had the nation's highest smoking rate and still has more than 1 million smokers.
Sometimes the most powerful force for social change is a bunch of irreverent and wise-cracking students, working together.
You shouldn’t have much trouble discerning the immediate winners from the 2011 session of the Indiana General Assembly.
A man told police voices in his head made him commit a robbery Wednesday night. Aaron D. Williams, 31, was arrested for robbing the Village Pantry on North Meridian Street in Greenwood. He told police he has a mental disorder and is on medication for it. According to police, Williams used a large kitchen knife to hold up the store. Police pulled him over a short time later based on a description of his car and found a bag of money, cigarettes and the knife. Williams was taken to the Johnson County Jail and also was charged with two other robberies in the Greenwood area: a Red Roof Inn in January and another Village Pantry in April.
Agency’s advocates express relief but say new structure leaves anti-smoking efforts vulnerable to politics.
Well, here’s some consolation for the nightmarish year WellPoint Inc. had in 2010: Its legal department was one of three finalists for “Best Legal Department” honors from Corporate Counsel magazine. The Indianapolis-based health insurer lost that competition to Google Inc., with UPS also a finalist. But WellPoint still got this praise from the magazine: “WellPoint’s lawyers had a tumultuous year, having to deal with political reaction to its Anthem Blue Cross subsidiary’s proposed California rate hikes, filed just as health care reform passions began to flare. Even after the Affordable Care Act was signed, the nation’s largest health benefits company continued to take heat from the president on down, while it struggled to interpret and comply with the new law.” Many regarded WellPoint’s headaches as self-inflicted, but that criticism was aimed at its former general counsel and now CEO, Angela Braly, not the current legal team.
Eli Lilly and Co. has agreed to license the U.S. marketing rights of its disappointing sepsis drug Xigris to a newly created biotech company that will seek to reinvigorate it. The new company, BioCritica, will be based in central Indiana and will be jointly owned by Lilly and two private investment firms: New Jersey-based Care Capital LLC and North Carolina-based NovaQuest Capital Management LLC. The company will be led by David Broecker, who managed Lilly manufacturing operations in Germany and Ireland before becoming CEO of Alkermes Inc., a Massachusetts-based drug development firm. Within Lilly, Xigris was well down the priority list to get time from scientists and other staff. In 2010, it generated sales of just $104 million, which was down 18 percent from the previous year. Xigris was the first drug Lilly launched after it lost patent protection on its bestseller Prozac in 2001. Expectations for the drug initially were huge, with some Wall Street analysts predicting annual sales of $2 billion. But the drug struggled after U.S. regulators issued a strong warning about its bleeding side effects and because hospitals struggled to identify which patients and in which situations the drug was appropriate. BioCritica hopes results from a new clinical trial of Xigris will establish clarity on how to use it, thereby reenergizing sales. BioCritica has an option to acquire the international rights to Xigris at a later date, as well as options to acquire other critical-care drugs that are in Lilly’s pipeline. BioCritica also hopes to acquire critical-care drugs from other drugmakers.
Riley Hospital for Children lost its CEO last week, but got a fresh round of positive publicity to help it find a new one. Dan Fink resigned on Friday, according to Indiana University Health, the parent organization for Riley. IU Health said it would launch a national search for a replacement. Meanwhile, Riley was once again ranked as one of the top 50 children’s hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Riley was nationally ranked in each of the 10 specialties included in the report. Its only top 10 ranking is in urology. The complete rankings can be viewed online here.
A team led by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine has identified a potential new way to target the incurable disease of emphysema with drugs. The researchers identified a lung protein in mice that appears to play a role in smoking-related emphysema and have created an antibody that blocks the protein’s activity, according to an article posted on the website of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The lead author on the study is Matthias Clauss, a research professor of cellular and integrative physiology at the IU med school. Mice exposed to cigarette smoke that received an inhaled version of the antibody had significantly less cell death and inflammation and improved lung function compared to the mice that did not receive the treatment. The benefits to the treated mice continued even after the treatment stopped.
Claus Muth has a proud heritage of making specialty meats, but now he faces circumstances that stand to threaten his south-side business: family-owned Claus’ German Sausages and Meats.
A man died after being shot multiple times on the city’s northwest side Wednesday. Manvel Bethea, 38, was killed at an apartment complex in the 4000 block of Gateway Court, near the intersection of 38th Street and High School Road. Detectives said they believe the suspect approached Bethea and asked for a cigarette, then shot him in the head and the chest.
A billboard near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway features an image of hot dogs poking out of a cigarette pack adorned with a skull and crossbones. A message warns viewers that "hot dogs can wreck your health."
Indianapolis police are investigating three robberies that have taken place in the past week in which the victims were told to undress by the suspect. The robberies occurred at 39th Street and Boulevard Place, Renton Street and Barrington Avenue, and 10th Street and Rural Street. In two of the cases, the robber asked for a light for a cigarette and then took the victims’ wallets and phones before ordering them to take off most of their clothing. Police say there’s a good chance the robberies are related.
The adult smoking rate in Indiana dropped to 21.2 percent last year, a major reduction from the 27 percent rate logged five years ago. Karla Sneegas, assistant commissioner of the State Health Department’s Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Commission, discussed the progress, as well as her agency’s efforts to help employers help their workers quit smoking.
Yes, for me this is personal. My father, Woodrow Sr., died of lung cancer caused by cigarettes. So did his brother Rufus. So did his brother Alphonso. So did his brother Joseph.
