Pharma films are all the rage in Hollywood these days--and several more are on the horizon. After "Love and Other Drugs" turned Jake Gyllenhaal into a Viagra rep and "Contagion" made a vaccine researcher into a hero, we have the news from Reuters that a Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) whistle-blower story has been sold to New Regency.

In an exclusive story, Reuters reports that the book "Blood Feud," written by journalist Kathleen Sharp, has been optioned by the production company. The book covers a J&J salesman-turned-whistle-blower who repped for the anemia drug Procrit until he was fired, allegedly for warning that the drug could be harmful.

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Meanwhile, Steven Soderbergh, who directed "Contagion," has signed up Jude Law and Blake Lively for a film dubbed "The Side Effects." According to Empire Online, "The Eagle" star Channing Tatum is also close to joining the project, which puts Lively in the role of a woman who turns to pills to cope with the impending release of her husband from prison.

Finally, Liv Tyler is said to be part of another pharma-related project called "The Side Effect," at least for now. Empire Online says (in a story highlighted by Pharmalot) that Tyler will play a woman who signs up to spend several months in space for a pharma experiment. The plot thickens when she wakes up one day to find herself pregnant. It's the brainchild of horror specialist Ti West.

- see the Reuters news
- get the Empire Online story
- check out more from Empire Online

Related Article:
Thumbs down: Biotech flops at the box office

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Liberty Is Elusive for Sikh Americans

Rajdeep Singh is the director of law and policy for the Sikh Coalition.

December 22, 2011

For religious minorities in the United States, the promise of religious freedom remains unfulfilled. Sikh Americans, in particular, continue to face relentless challenges in the post-9/11 environment. Worse still, American law affords inadequate protection to Sikhs against religious discrimination and, in some cases, reflects deep-seated stereotypes about American identity.

 

Loopholes in federal law make Sikhs especially vulnerable to discrimination.

The Sikh religion was founded in South Asia over five centuries ago and is currently the fifth-largest world religion, with approximately 25 million adherents throughout the world. Sikhs are distinguished by visible religious articles, including uncut hair, which Sikh males are required to keep covered with a turban and which Sikh females have the option of covering with a turban. Although the Sikh turban signifies a commitment to upholding freedom, justice and dignity for all people, it is often ignorantly associated with foreign terrorists, some of whom also wear turbans and many of whom have received copious publicity in our mainstream media. Consequently, Sikhs in the United States are stereotyped because of their appearance and subjected to hate crimes, workplace discrimination, school bullying, racial profiling, and other deprivations of civil rights.

Many of these challenges are compounded by loopholes in federal law that make Sikhs especially vulnerable to discrimination. For example, according to some interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers may lawfully segregate Sikhs from customers in the name of corporate image policies, reflecting biases about what American workers should look like. According to U.S. military regulations, religiously observant individuals with uncut hair (including Muslims, Sikhs and Jews) may not presumptively serve in the U.S. armed forces, even if their neatly-groomed hair does not pose a safety risk. In many states, if a state legislature passes a law prohibiting all headcoverings in driver’s license photos, Sikhs may have no legal recourse under the First Amendment and would be forced to choose between their religious observance and the ability to obtain a valid identification photograph, without which travel and economic transactions become exceedingly difficult.

Until Sikhs and the Sikh identity are considered an integral part of the American fabric by opinion-shapers and decision-makers in all spheres of American life, Sikhs will continue to encounter existential threats to their religious freedom.

 

 

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Topics: Law, Muslims, Religion, Sikhs, discrimination

The race is on for a better mammogram

December 19, 2011: 11:13 AM ET

Nuclear physicist Edward Flynn was moved by his wife's cancer to find a better procedure. He's not the only one angling for a piece of a growing $6 billion market.

By Sierra Jiminez, contributor

GE's mammography device.

FORTUNE -- When his first wife went into a coma following cardiac arrest in 1978, nuclear physicist Dr. Edward Flynn vowed to build a machine that could save lives. Flynn's wife died 18 months later, but the experience moved Flynn to create a technology that could map brain activity using magnetic fields.

When Flynn's second wife was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer at 53 years old, he was ready for round two. The technology that he'd developed before would prove useful once again. While a mammogram had successfully detected abnormal cells, Flynn says that the procedures to detect and treat his wife's cancer seemed inadequate. "Radiation just didn't seem necessary. It would have caused a lot of scarring on the breast tissue and she would never be able to have another mammogram that worked," he says.

So Flynn retreated to his garage at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent the next six months building something better. Flynn's aim was to use magnetic nano-particles to develop a less invasive method to detect breast cancer than a typical mammogram. "Unfortunately, I couldn't get liquid helium delivered to my garage to finish the device," Flynn says jokingly. And so he moved his operation to a facility at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, where the device now known as SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) was finished in partnership with his new business venture Senior Scientifics.

Flynn is not the first to realize the flaws of digital mammography. Women around the country often find it an uncomfortable and anxiety inducing process. In order to get a clear image, a typical digital mammography machine squeezes the breast between two plates so that all of the breast tissue is of equal width. For women with more or denser breast tissue, even the act of squeezing the breast is sometimes not enough to get an accurate reading, and requires a follow up MRI or ultrasound.

Major industry is trying to find a better way. General Electric (GE), Philips and Hologic (HOLX) are all striving for bigger pieces of the nearly $6 billion medical imaging industry, much of which is focused on breast screening devices according to industry analyst firm Frost & Sullivan. In 2011, roughly 40 million mammograms were performed in the U.S., making it a prime market for better medical technologies. Sales of film and digital mammography machines in the U.S. totaled $425 million this year and are expected to see a slow but steady overall growth of 4% by 2015

Demand is being stoked by unmet needs, according to David Danielson, a spokesperson for Hologic. In February, the company received FDA approval for its digital tomosynthesis system. The machine looks and works similarly to a typical mammography system, but includes an overhead sensor, which takes a 3D image of the breast by scanning 1-millimeter layers of breast tissue. While GE pioneered the mammography industry in 2000 when it developed the digital mammogram, Hologic is now the industry leader, selling about 65% of mammography systems in the U.S. each month.

In October, GE received FDA approval for its so-called SenoBright. That system uses contrast to produce an enhanced secondary image in addition to a traditional mammography scan. The contrast allows for a clearer reading of the image, much like you would get in a follow up MRI scan. While the company says it expects the new technology to have a "significantly" lower false positive rate than current mammography systems, it still can't detect whether a mass is cancerous -- a factor some physicians feel is key to new technologies.

Nearly 300,000 women in the U.S. were diagnosed with breast cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society. While frequent screening and early detection can lower the mortality rate by up to 30%, the mammography "gold standard" is far from perfect, says Elizabeth Morris, chief of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Mammograms miss about 20% of cancers in normal breast tissue, and up to 50% in denser breast tissues, she says. And even if the x-ray does manage to pick up an abnormality, roughly 70% of those patients called back will be a false positive, meaning they don't have cancer. "I'm just not sure 3D imaging is going to be a huge game changer," Morris says. "The holy grail is when we're able to inject something that allows us to see where the cancer is and does targeted therapy at the same time."

John Hazle of MD Anderson Cancer Center agrees. In fact, that's the reason, he says, MD Anderson signed on for a pre-clinical evaluation of Edward Flynn's magnetic nano-particle technology in August this year. Unlike a mammogram, which can only detect a mass of at least 100 million cancer cells, Flynn's nano-particle technology can detect cancer at a mass of 100,000 cells, and is currently being programmed to detect down to 12,000 cells. By the time it's ready for commercial use, it could detect cancer before stage one -- down to "a few thousand cells" says Gerald Grafe, president of Senior Scientifics, now a division of Manhattan Scientifics (MHTX). "Imaging is fundamentally the wrong approach. In cancer, you're not after the shape, you're looking for a kind of cell," Grafe argues.

Instead of producing an image of a large mass of cancer cells, Flynn's technology produces a magnetic signal when the nano-particles attach to cancer cells. This allows physicians to see not only where the cancer is, but also how many cells there are. While the technology is nowhere near FDA approval, and it'll likely be several years before Flynn's dreams come to fruition, Flynn claims his work is just one more step toward the right approach.

Ford Board of Directors Reinstates Quarterly Stock Dividend

DEARBORN, Mich., Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Ford to pay a quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share

Business performance and balance sheet improvements allow Ford to resume regular payments

Dividend begins at level sustainable through economic cycles

The Board of Directors of Ford Motor Company /quotes/zigman/264304/quotes/nls/f F -0.36% today declared a quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share.

"We have made tremendous progress in reducing debt and generating consistent positive earnings and cash flow," said Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford Motor Company. "The board believes it is important to share the benefits of our improved financial performance with our shareholders. We are pleased to reinstate a quarterly dividend, as it is an important sign of our progress in building a profitably growing company and our confidence in the future."

Lewis Booth, Ford executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the company's strong liquidity and balance sheet improvements provide the underlying financial strength to resume paying a quarterly dividend.

"Building a strong balance sheet that supports our growth plans remains a core part of our One Ford strategy," said Booth. "We have demonstrated our capability to finance our plans and we are confident that we can begin to pay a dividend that will be sustainable through economic cycles."

The dividend is payable March 1, 2012, to shareholders of record of Class B and common stock on Jan. 31, 2012.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com .

SOURCE Ford Motor Company

Sultan of Sarangi

Kuldeep Kumar

Ustad Sultan Khan will be sorely missed, both for his genial humility and his supreme skill

For Indian music, 2011 has proved to be annus horribilis — a truly horrible year. One can't remember a year that witnessed the departure of so many of our great masters in quick succession. It began with the passing away of the one and only Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, followed by Rudra veena exponent Ustad Asad Ali Khan, Dhrupad maestro Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar, sitar maestro Ustad Uma Shankar Mishra, ghazal singer Jagjit Singh and the versatile colossus Bhupen Hazarika. The year is not yet over and we have lost another talented musician, when sarangi maestro Sultan Khan passed away at the age of 71, leaving his countless admirers inconsolable. He was suffering from diabetes and kidney failure.

This writer met him only once, way back in 1989. Bhopal's Bharat Bhavan, under the able guidance of poet-administrator Ashok Vajpeyi, had organised a three-day Sarangi Samaroh that was attended by more than 200 sarangi players from across the country including Pt. Ram Narayan, Ustad Sultan Khan and Ustad Abdul Latif Khan. The event was aimed at discussing the ways by which the decline of the sarangi as a solo and accompanying instrument could be stemmed. It was packed with structured discussions, performances and informal interactions.

Humility personified

During a long conversation with him, I was most impressed with his humility, self-confidence and optimism about the future of his chosen instrument.

He was well-known even at that time. The way he had played the sarangi in Muzaffar Ali's unforgettable film ‘Umrao Jaan' (1981) was superb and people felt it added to the hypnotising effect of Asha Bhonsle's voice. But it was in the later years that he truly emerged as an internationally renowned exponent of the sarangi who was not afraid of experimenting with new ideas and genres.

He was a member of the fusion group, Tabla Beat Science, along with tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell. So great was his humility that he happily accompanied Zakir Hussain by providing him lehra on the sarangi. He was fully adept in the art of providing accompaniment and knew that an accompanist must keep his ego in check so as not to overshadow the main performer. No wonder he was a much sought after artist in Bollywood. He became a household name by lending his voice to the song ‘Albela Sajan Aayo' in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' and his album ‘Piya Basanti' was an instant hit.

Ustad Sultan Khan belonged to a family of traditional musicians of Jodhpur and learnt the art of playing the instrument from his father Ustad Gulab Khan. However, he was greatly influenced by the vocal style of Amir Khan and incorporated the great ustad's badhat, taan patterns, sargams and tarana while fashioning his own style of sarangi playing. Ustad Faiyaz Khan and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan were among his other major influences. So close was the tone of his sarangi to the human voice that New York Times critic Edward Rothstein complimented him for turning his instrument into ‘a supple human voice' after he performed in the company of tabla maestros Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain, and sarod player Ken Zuckerman at Symphony Space in New York in April 1992.

Human tone

Rothstein was also appreciative of the absence of ‘commercialism' in Ustad Sultan Khan's musical attitude. He wrote: “Mr. Khan, a member of one of India's musical families, has a worldwide reputation (he was heard on the soundtrack of ‘Gandhi'), but there was no sense of commercialism in his playing. Using fingernails to change pitches of the instrument's gut and metal strings (not the pads of the fingers as in Western string instruments), sliding into and out of notes, he made the ancient instrument (held like a cello by a cross-legged player) sound like a supple human voice. Its slightly nasal whine, produced with a thick bow, was shaped into wiry, sinuous phrases.”

No wonder that his contribution did not go unnoticed. He was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award while the President conferred the Padma Bhushan on him this past year. He was also given the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Award in 2001.

His death has been mourned by ordinary music lovers as well as top notch musicians alike. The famous Saptak Festival of Ahmedabad will be dedicated to his memory in the coming year. The world will sorely miss the Sultan of Sarangi.

Keywords: Ustad Sultan Khan, tribute

I've been listening to Ustad Sultan Khan for over 10 years. His music has played a major part in inspiring me to learn and perform dilruba. His duets with Zakir Hussain are nothing less than LEGENDARY. He will truly be missed.