Endoscopy Center doctor served on Medical Board

A search from a number of different sources shows some of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada doctors are well connected. In fact, one was a member of the governor’s transition team.

There are the four doctors associated with the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. The majority owner, Dr. Dipak Desai, lives in a 9,000 square foot home in the red rock country club.

Some may be surprised to learn Desai was a member of the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners. That’s the agency which investigates allegations against doctors. At one time, he served as chair of the board’s investigative committee.

http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7959309

Alaska Says Lilly Concealed Risks

In Trial, Alaska Says Lilly Concealed Risks of a Schizophrenia Drug

By ALEX BERENSON

Published: March 6, 2008

ANCHORAGE — Eli Lilly, the drug maker, systematically hid the risks and side effects of Zyprexa, its best-selling schizophrenia medicine, a lawyer for the State of Alaska said Wednesday in opening arguments in a lawsuit that contends the drug caused many schizophrenic patients to develop diabetes.

JB Reed/Bloomberg News

Eli Lilly has faced legal problems over evidence that Zyprexa, a top-selling medicine, tends to cause weight gain and diabetes.

The lawyer, Scott Allen, said that memorandums from Lilly executives showed that the company knew of Zyprexa’s dangers soon after the drug was introduced in 1996. But Lilly deliberately played down the side effects, Mr. Allen said, so that sales of Zyprexa would not be hurt.

Lilly’s conduct was “reprehensible,” Mr. Allen said. In the suit, which is being heard in Alaska state court before Judge Mark Rindner, the state is asking Lilly to pay for the medical expenses of Medicaid patients who have contracted diabetes or other diseases after taking Zyprexa.

http://www.urlet.com/alien.comet

Homeowner equity is lowest since 1945

Homes are advertised for sale at discounted prices in Stockton, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007. Home foreclosures soared to an all-time high in the final quarter of last year and are likely to keep on rising, underscoring the suffering of distressed homeowners and the growing danger the housing meltdown poses for the economy. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

– + By J.W. Elphinstone

AP Business Writer / March 6, 2008

NEW YORK—Americans’ percentage of equity in their homes fell below 50 percent for the first time on record since 1945, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.Homeowners’ portion of equity slipped to downwardly revised 49.6 percent in the second quarter of 2007, the central bank reported in its quarterly U.S. Flow of Funds Accounts, and declined further to 47.9 percent in the fourth quarter — the third straight quarter it was under 50 percent.That marks the first time homeowners’ debt on their houses exceeds their equity since the Fed started tracking the data in 1945.

http://www.urlet.com/workhorse.mybluelight

San Jose Mercury News cuts 50 jobs

Mercury News cuts 50 jobs, names new business, opinion editors

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

The San Jose Mercury News said the paper cut 50 jobs Friday and replaced two section editors in its latest round of cost cutting.

There were 34 employees let go involuntarily — 15 from the newsroom and 19 from other departments. Another 16 accepted buyouts earlier in the week.

http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2008/03/03/daily73.html

Carlyle Group Scorched

Carlyle Group Scorched by Mortgage Fund’s Stumble By Edward Evans

March 7 (Bloomberg) — The collapse of the subprime- mortgage market has engulfed Carlyle Group, the world’s second- biggest leveraged-buyout firm by assets.

Trading in Carlyle Capital Corp., the firm’s mortgage-bond fund, was suspended in Amsterdam today after creditors forced the sale of some holdings. The fund expects to receive further margin calls, which could deplete its capital. The pool may now be liquidated and the stock rendered worthless, Bear Stearns Cos. analyst Keith Baird said in a note to clients today.

“This marks a further savage step in the ongoing credit implosion of recent months,” Baird wrote.

http://urlet.com/strikes.scientific