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The study, to be conducted at the Mesothelioma Center of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center, will explore whether a combination of chemotherapy and radiation may be successful in treating the fatal disease by targeting cells on the surface of affected lungs while sparing healthy tissue. It is hoped that the new treatment will help preserve the quality of life of mesothelioma victims and improve treatment outcomes while avoiding the need for major surgery. The current standard treatment for mesothelioma is to remove the affected lung.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer which has been directly tied to asbestos exposure. Pleural mesothelioma is most common form of the disease, accounting for around three-quarters of mesothelioma victims.

It is estimated that over 25 million Americans were exposed to asbestos between 1940 and 1979, and current trends indicate that the number of American citizens diagnosed with the disease may continue to rise in the near future. While incidence of mesothelioma is relatively rare, affecting approximately 15 people per million in the United States in 2004, the disease can occur between 20 to 50 years after asbestos exposure.

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By a vote of 14-2 on Wednesday, the panel of advisers advised the FDA to require drug makers to demonstrate that experimental diabetes drugs submitted for FDA approval do not increase cardiovascular risks. While the panel’s recommendations are not binding, the FDA generally tends to follows such recommendations as a matter of course.

Cardiovascular problems are the leading cause of death in diabetics. Last year, a firestorm of controversy erupted when GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia, then the top-selling diabetes drug, was said to raise the risk of heart attacks in an analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine. GlaxoSmithKline has consistently denied the allegations and asserts that Avandia is completely safe; the drug remains on the market despite an FDA safety alert regarding the potential heart safety issue.

If new, stricter standards are imposed, research and development costs for drug makers could rise in order to comply with new testing requirements. AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb are expected to submit their new diabetes drug saxagliptin (proposed brand name Onglyza) for FDA approval soon; Merck has already received FDA approval for its diabetes drug Januvia, which would not be subject to any new requirements.

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Along with Continental Airlines, Continental mechanic John Taylor, Continental chief of maintenance Stanley Ford, Aerospatiale director Henri Perrier, former Concorde chief engineer Jacques Herubel, and Claude Frantzen of the French civil aviation authority were identified as defendants in the case.

In 2004, French investigators concluded that the July 25, 2000 crash of Air France Flight 4590 was caused by a titanium metal strip which fell off of a Continental Airlines DC-10 onto a runway at Charles de Gaulle airport and punctured the Concorde jet’s tires as it attempted to take off. The Concorde’s fuel tanks were also determined to be insufficiently shielded from shock, a defect Concorde’s makers were reportedly aware of since 1979.

Continental, which has consistently denied responsibility for the crash, vehemently denounced the indictments in an official statement and characterized the charges as “outrageous” and “completely unjustified.” If found guilty in the case, said to be likely to begin in 2009, Continental could face a multi-million dollar fine.

Flight 4590 was the only fatal Concorde flight in the aircraft’s 27-year history of regular service. The 2000 crash led to all Concorde airliners being withdrawn and refitted with additional safety modifications before being officially retired in 2003.

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Under the terms of the agreement, all airlines arriving at or leaving from airports located within the EU would be subject to emissions caps and emissions credits trading rules intended to reduce airline emissions to 95 percent of 2004-2006 emissions levels by 2012.

Because the terms of the agreement mean that the restrictions would also apply to non-EU carriers, international trade groups such as the US Air Transport Association, the International Air Carrier Association, and the Association of European Airlines were quick to express displeasure with the decision. Following the announcement, the director general of the International Air Transport Association called the decision “crazy” and asserted that jurisdiction over international emissions standards should fall to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations body.

Airline industry lobbyists also indicated that any costs incurred by US airlines required to purchase emissions credits to operate within the EU would likely pass those costs on to consumers and that air carriers are already financially stressed due to the rising cost of aviation fuel.

Before taking effect, the emissions agreement must be approved in a European Parliament vote (currently scheduled for July 9) and ratified by the governments of the individual EU countries.

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The new amount of the punitive damage award was set at $507.5 million, equivalent to the amount of compensatory damages in the case. The amount of the punitive award had originally been set at $5 billion in 1994, but was reduced upon appeal. Including interest since 1989, the current value of the punitive amount is estimated to be around $1 billion.

Justice David Souter, who authored the majority opinion in the decision, indicated that the ruling was intended to curb the unpredictability of punitive damages in maritime liability cases and establish a standard limiting the amount of punitive damages in maritime law cases to the amount of compensatory, or actual, damages in a particular case. While this new 1-to-1 ratio currently applies only in maritime shipping cases, advocates of limitations on punitive awards hailed the decision and stated that while the new standard is not binding outside of maritime law, the justices’ decision is likely to become influential in a broad range of tort law cases.

Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer dissented from the majority opinion in the case. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case due to his ownership of Exxon Mobil stock.

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The northern face of the fourth through seventh floors of the 30-story Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel were knocked out by the explosion, which occurred about 2 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Monday. Nine construction workers injured in the blast and one firefighter were transported to UCSD Medical Center, where five workers were admitted in critical condition. Three of those critically injured workers have been placed in medically induced comas to receive treatment for second and third degree burns covering up to 35 percent of their bodies. Four other workers were treated at Scripps Mercy Hospital.

While onlookers and first responders expressed initial concerns that the blast could have been the work of terrorists and arson and bomb squad investigators were summoned to the scene, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said that the explosion was caused by an accumulation of natural gas which was ignited by an as-yet undetermined source, most likely an electrical spark or boiler flame.

The 1,190-room hotel was previously scheduled to open in December. It is undetermined whether the opening will be delayed due to the damage.

The accident scene is currently under investigation.

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Daniel C. Price, of La Mesa, California, was diagnosed as having contracted the West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite while employed by marine construction contractor Connolly-Pacific. Although Price worked on board the derrick barge “D.B. Long Beach” five days per week, he was not required to live aboard the vessel. Instead, Price was given special permission to park a camper truck in a Connolly-Pacific parking lot near the job site.

After contracting the virus, Price was unable to return to work and his employment was subsequently terminated. Citing maritime law provisions requiring vessel owners to provide “maintenance and cure” to injured or ill seamen in their employ, Price filed suit against Connolly-Pacific for compensation for his food, lodging, and medical care.

Although Connolly-Pacific conceded that it was likely that Price contracted the virus during the period he was employed by the company, the California Court Of Appeal, Second Appellate District affirmed that because Price was not obligated to remain on company property after his working hours, he was not covered under the “maintenance and cure” provision, which was intended to cover “blue water” seamen who are required to live aboard a vessel during the entire period of their employment.

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The 36-year-old Mutlu says on February 23 of this year, he had a standby ticket for a JetBlue cross-country flight from San Diego to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. After Mutlu was told the flight was full, an off-duty flight attendant volunteered to give up her seat and ride in a flight attendant’s jumpseat so that Mutlu could get on board.

90 minutes into the flight, Mutlu says he was summoned to the cockpit where the pilot told him the off-duty flight attendant was uncomfortable in the jumpseat, so Mutlu would have to instead move to the bathroom. According to a lawsuit filed by Mutlu against JetBlue on Monday over the incident, though Mutlu offered to switch and sit in the jumpseat, he was told it was for authorized personnel only and that the bathroom was his only choice.

Mutlu’s suit seeks $2 million for emotional damages suffered in the incident.

Federal Aviation Administration officials stated that the incident is under investigation, noting that all passengers must have seat belts available for use in case of turbulence.

JetBlue has made no public response to Mutlu’s allegations, saying that the airline does not discuss pending litigation.

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The 500,000 coins recovered in international waters by Odyssey have been in contention ever since the company announced the haul it codenamed “Black Swan” in May 2007. Odyssey refused to release information relating to the exact location of the shipwreck until ordered by a U.S. judge last month to share information about the find with Spanish investigators.

Last week, Spanish archaeologists announced that gold doubloons among the “Black Swan” treasure were documented as having been aboard the Spanish colonial-era galleon Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes when it was sunk in 1804 off the southern coast of Portugal.

Odyssey had previously claimed that the Spanish government had abandoned the wreck, clearing the way for the company to take possession under international maritime law. However, Spanish officials now say that because the coins were not being transported aboard a commercial vessel, they remain the property of the Spanish Armada. In court papers demanding the treasure’s return, Spanish officials also identified the sinking of the Mercedes as a pivotal point in Spanish history and the coins as part of Spanish historical heritage.

Odyssey spokesmen responded that they do not believe sufficient evidence exists to link the “Black Swan” site to the Mercedes.

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Three people died in the crash, including pilot Steve Lipperer, 39; surgeon Darren Bean, 37; and nurse Mark Coyne, 53; all of Madison, Wisconsin. There were no survivors. Witnesses said the helicopter apparently struck a hill or trees shortly after lifting off from the La Crosse airport, where the copter had stopped to refuel before its return flight to Madison. Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigations into the crash are currently underway.

The American Eurocopter EC-13 twin-engine helicopter owned by Denver-based Air Methods Corp. and leased to University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison for its Med Flight program featured satellite tracking, but was not equipped with pilot night vision goggles or a Terrain Awareness and Warning System to warn of approaching obstacles. While there are no known reported mechanical problems with this particular model of aircraft, the NTSB suggested in a 2006 report that many deadly EMS flights could be prevented with use of night vision goggles and a computerized warning system. Though neither technology is required, an Air Methods spokesman stated that about 40 percent of its 348 helicopters have night vision goggles and 6 percent have Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems.

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