Olathe

Kline tries to slow Health Midwest deal

Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline says Health Midwest officials are trying to rush a judicial review of its proposed sale to HCA Inc.

In court documents filed Tuesday, Kline says Health Midwest is trying to “artificially create a time crisis” in order to avoid a proper analysis of the $1.13 billion proposal.

Kline was responding to a motion Health Midwest attorneys filed last week seeking to expedite a review of lingering issues Health Midwest says may delay or break the deal. The attorney general asked the Kansas appellate court to deny the Health Midwest motion.

Health Midwest attorneys quickly filed a reply late Tuesday, restating their motion for the appellate court to set an expedited appeal schedule. Health Midwest attorneys say that if they can’t meet a March 31 deadline, HCA can walk away from the deal, which would kill the $700 million foundation that is expected to result from the sale.

Topeka

Legislative leaders dash hopes for schools

Legislative leaders told more than 200 local school officials Wednesday that prospects for additional state aid and for serious effort to consolidate districts were dim this session.

House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, and Senate President Dave Kerr, R-Hutchinson, offered comments during a two-day governmental relations seminar by the Kansas Association of School Boards, many of which are grappling with budget cuts and declining enrollments.

Kansas spends $2.3 billion in state revenue each year on elementary and secondary education, although the appropriation for the current budget year was cut by more than $17 million in August. Neither Kerr nor Mays would say whether further cuts would be avoided in fiscal year 2004, which begins July 1.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Judge cuts award to diluted-drugs patient

While upholding a jury’s verdict for a cancer patient who received drugs diluted by a pharmacist, a judge cut the damages from $2.2 billion to just over $330 million.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Lee Wells ruled Tuesday in the case against Robert Courtney, who faced hundreds of lawsuits over the dilutions at his Research Medical Tower Pharmacy in Kansas City.

A year ago Courtney pleaded guilty in federal court to 20 counts of misbranding, tampering with and adulterating cancer drugs. He was sentenced in October to 30 years in prison, the maximum under his plea agreement, fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $10.4 million in restitution to victims.

The $2.2 billion award, second-largest in the nation last year, came in the case of Georgia Hayes, a Harrisonville woman who received 27 chemotherapy treatments with drugs diluted by Courtney.