Chicago

AMA refuses to back ban on drug ads

The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday refused to back a ban on prescription drug ads, despite rising concerns about the dangers of certain heavily marketed painkillers and antidepressants.

Some doctors have complained that “Ask your doctor about …” ads lead patients to seek risky drugs they don’t need and interfere with the doctor-patient relationship.

But others said a ban would violate drug makers’ free-speech rights and argued that ads have helped increase awareness of certain ailments and reduced the stigma of mental illness and other disorders.

Policy-making delegates at the AMA’s annual meeting voted without debate to refer the measures for further study on the advice of a committee that said such a ban could run afoul of the First Amendment.

Various AMA factions have tried for years to get the nation’s largest doctors group to take a strong stand against direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs.

Supporters thought they had a good chance of succeeding this year because of recent concerns about the heart risks of arthritis drugs like Vioxx and Celebrex.

Chicago

Prostitutes’ alleged clients featured on Web

Seizing on public embarrassment as a deterrent, the Chicago Police Department on Tuesday began posting on its Web site the names, addresses and photos of people arrested for soliciting prostitutes.

“We’re telling everyone who sets foot in Chicago, if you solicit a prostitute, you’ll be arrested,” Mayor Richard Daley said. “And when you are arrested, people will know. Your spouse, your children, your families, your neighbors and your employers.”

Some newspapers already print the names of those arrested for soliciting sex for money. Cities have tried broadcasting mug shots on community access TV channels. And in Oakland, Calif., officials began a “shaming campaign” this year in which they posted billboards with photos of men convicted of soliciting sex.

Last year, Chicago police arrested 3,204 people on prostitution charges and 950 on charges involving solicitation. Officials estimate that more than 16,000 women are involved in prostitution in Chicago over the course of a year.

Washington

Frist reverses himself, will push for Bolton vote

Reversing field after a meeting with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he will continue pushing for a floor vote on John R. Bolton for U.N. ambassador. Frist switched his position after saying Tuesday that negotiations to get a vote on Bolton had been exhausted.

Talking to reporters in the White House driveway after he joined other GOP lawmakers for a luncheon with Bush, Frist said: “The president made it very clear that he expects an up or down vote.”

Just about two hours earlier, Frist said he wouldn’t schedule another vote on Bolton’s nomination and said that Bush must decide the next move. Frist, R-Tenn., had said there was nothing further he could do to break a Democratic stalemate with the Bush White House over Bolton, an outspoken conservative who, opponents argue, would undermine U.S. interests at the world body.

But he changed his tune after talking to Bush.

Detroit

Huge fire destroys century-old warehouse

An old Studebaker factory was destroyed Tuesday by a huge fire in an area of Detroit that was once a major hub of the automotive industry in its early years.

The flames could be seen for miles, and it took about 150 firefighters several hours to get the blaze at the warehouse under control. The wreckage was still smoldering by late morning.

Much of the century-old, four-story warehouse collapsed as the flames fed on the building’s wooden floors and supports. It contained a meat market, furniture store and several other businesses, but was about 60 percent vacant.

Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries, Fire Commissioner Tyrone Scott said.

The building was the former home of a factory of Indiana-based Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Co., whose cars and trucks were driven by millions of Americans before the company folded in the 1960s.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Texas also facing school funding woes

Texas’ school funding problem has been anything but elementary.

The Texas Legislature was scheduled to begin a 30-day special session Tuesday to take another crack at finding a solution to the issue – their fourth attempt in the past three years.

Without state funds, many K-12 schools won’t have the money needed to open their doors to the state’s 4.3 million students when the new school year starts in August.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry said he would deliver a new plan to the Legislature that would give teachers a salary increase and homeowners a tax cut.