Department of Veterans Affairs watchdogs have concluded that the department failed to alert veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in a timely manner to the dangers posed by a drug it was prescribing, VA officials acknowledged Wednesday under sharp questioning from lawmakers.

The city of Columbus was awarded $3.4 million Tuesday for its share of punitive damages in its lawsuit against a Phenix City plant. The city of Columbus, local boat dealer John Tharpe and south Columbus resident Owen Ditchfield won their suit against Continental Carbon in 2004. They had said their homes, businesses and buildings had been damaged by carbon black dust emitted from the plant.

Continuing concern about possible contamination from chemicals produced at 3M's Cottage Grove facility has state health officials seeking volunteers for a study of perfluorochemical levels in residents near the plant and several landfills.

Why should doctors be concerned about preemption? In stripping patients of their right to seek redress through due process of law, preemption of common-law tort actions is not only unjust but will also result in the reduced safety of drugs and medical devices for the American people. Preemption will undermine the confidence that doctors and patients have in the safety of drugs and devices. If injured patients are unable to seek legal redress from manufacturers of defective products, they may instead turn elsewhere.

MONTGOMERY, Ala., July 3 (Reuters) - The state of Alabama said on Thursday it would offer 69 drug companies it sued over alleged Medicaid price-fixing 30 days to reach a settlement before taking further legal action.

Attorneys have completed closing arguments in the trial of the state of Alabama's lawsuit against two prescription drug companies. The jury now has the case. An attorney for the state of Alabama has asked jurors to make two drug companies pay as much as $800 million in a lawsuit accusing the firms of fraud in Medicaid drug pricing.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A state court jury on Tuesday found two major pharmaceutical companies defrauded Alabama in a long-running Medicaid drug pricing scheme and ordered the firms to pay more than $114 million in damages. The jury found that GlaxoSmithKline should pay the state $80.8 million in compensatory damages and that Novartis should pay about $33.7 million in similar damages. But it declined to order any punitive damages.

July 1 (Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Novartis AG inflated drug prices paid by Alabama's Medicaid program and must pay the state $114.3 million in damages, a jury ruled after a two-week civil-fraud trial. After deliberating for 5 1/2 hours yesterday and today, the state jury in Montgomery, Alabama, found the drugmakers liable for misrepresentation.

More than 59,000 people have registered claims against drugmaker Merck & Co. for injury from painkiller Vioxx, and administrators have enough records to review about 9,100 of those claims.

The United States Supreme Court on Friday rejected all further appeals of punitive damages in a nearly 4-year-old pollution verdict of more than $20.7 million against a Phenix City plant. In 2004 a federal jury ruled in favor of the city of Columbus, Ga., local boat dealer John Tharpe and South Columbus resident Owen Ditchfield in their suit against the Continental Carbon plant.