Lead-Contaminated Children’s Shoes Seized at Seattle Waterfront
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
Seattle— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigators have seized a shipment of children’s shoes for containing three times the legal limit of lead.
The shipment originated in China, and was destined to a distributor in the Seattle area. The shoes are valued at more than $23,000.
The shipment was targeted by CBP staff for an intensive examination, in which samples were taken from the shipment. The samples were tested by CPSC, and were found to contain unacceptable levels of lead in violation of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Laboratory analysis found the shoes contained 300 parts per million (ppm) of lead; the acceptable level is just 100 ppm.
“One of CBP’s missions is keeping a wide variety of harmful products from reaching the American marketplace,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Area Port Director Mark Wilkerson. “Lead-contaminated children’s footwear is one such product.”
CBP works with CPSC to prevent hazardous or harmful products from entering U.S. ports and reaching American consumers. In fiscal year 2011, 9,119 shipments of lead-contaminated products with an estimated domestic value of more than $24 million were seized by CBP in coordination with CPSC at ports of entry across the country.
This shipment of lead-contaminated shoes ultimately will be destroyed.
Misguided Misgivings about the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (FORBES)
Committee of Ways and Means - The Trade Report / www.waysandmeans.house.gov
Those of us who view import tariffs as distortive taxes on consumption and production tend to find merit in any effort to reduce them. That’s why Senator Jim DeMint’s opposition to the perennial import duty suspension process known as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) seems a bit misplaced. DeMint has – according to Cato’s Congressional Trade Votes database – a glowing record of unfettered support for free trade. So what’s DeMint’s problem with the MTB?
Well, the MTB is a vehicle through which duties on certain, “non-controversial” products – usually raw materials or intermediate goods, such as chemicals, electronic components, and mechanical parts, used by downstream U.S. firms to produce their own output – are temporarily suspended for two or three years. A product is considered non-controversial if its proposed duty suspension engenders no opposition from a domestic producer and if its suspension will not reduce tariff “revenues” by more than $500,000.
Given those conditions (temporary, no domestic producers, tariff savings of no more than $500,000 per product), the MTB is hardly the kind of bold reform to spark an economic renaissance. It’s far from the kind of across-the-board, even-if-we-have-domestic-producer-opposition, unilateral trade liberalization that would really help U.S.-based firms reduce their costs and compete more effectively at home and abroad, and help U.S. individuals and families reduce their costs of living. But that shortcoming – the MTB’s smallness – is, regrettably, not the basis for DeMint’s opposition.
Rather, DeMint’s opposition to these kinds of duty suspensions is borne of his party’s 2010 pledge to oppose earmarks. DeMint’s view is that these duty suspensions provide a “limited tariff benefit,” which is defined under House rules as benefiting 10 or fewer entities. However, the fact is that the benefits are not limited. Anyone or any entity that imports or intends to import as a result of the tariff suspension benefits, as do others down the supply chain all the way to the consumer. There is a pretty clear distinction between funding expenditures from the national treasury for the benefit of a limited few in a particular congressional district and suspending the payment of taxes on imports, which is available to all and can benefit many.
Trade liberalization, in this case, is being held captive to the Republican Party’s battle over semantics. In the meantime, there are likely to be real costs to real businesses and consumers if the MTB is jettisoned because several duty suspensions are set to expire at the end of the year. Moreover, even if these duty suspensions were earmarks, DeMint’s proposed alternative does nothing to change that. He and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) proposed legislationlast year that would require the U.S. International Trade Commission to decide which products qualified for duty suspension, and then to inform Congress of those products. Presumably, this would reduce the lobbyist activity in Congress, which is something DeMint cites as unseemly and the source of America’s disgust with the process. Well, his solution seems a bit cosmetic. It could be a better approach, and the USITC might recommend more duty suspensions than are currently pursued, but it’s entirely unclear why a duty suspension under that system would not be an earmark, where suspension under current procedures is considered as such by DeMint.
To overcome his own concerns that narrowly-defined tariff suspensions recommended by the firms likely to benefit are indistinguishable from earmarks, DeMint should be thinking bigger and more substantively. His bill with Sen. McCaskill does nothing to overcome the smallness of the effort. We’re still dealing with temporary suspensions on products not made in the United States that don’t deprive the Customs Service of more than $500,000. Where’s the creative destruction in that? Where are the gains from trade? How does that liberate America’s downstream producers from the monopolistic tendencies of upstream producers who raise prices behind tariff walls?
The MTB is hardly a demonstration of congressional courage or wisdom. It nibbles around the edges of the problems caused by our distorted tariff system. However, it is a step in the right direction, if not for the huge savings and efficiencies, for the fact that it provides the rare occasion when policymakers of both parties and at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue actually talk about the benefits of imports and how tariffs raise costs of production and living expenses for Americans.
Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins Today (June 1)
Department of Homeland Security / www.dhs.gov
MIAMI—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today joined Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate, Deputy Administrator Rich Serino, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read and Florida Governor Rick Scott to discuss the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season outlook and preparedness measures with leadership of hurricane-prone states.
“We may not know exactly what Mother Nature will bring this year, but we are leaning forward in our preparations, utilizing the ‘Whole Community Approach’,” said Secretary Napolitano. “As part of this approach, we are engaging the broadest possible set of partners in our preparedness efforts—integrating planning across federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments as well as with private sector, community, non-governmental, and faith-based partners.”
Hurricane season begins June 1 and extends through November 30. Being aware of risks and hazards and taking the steps to prepare can reduce the impacts of hurricanes.
“Hurricane season officially begins today and yet we have already had two named storms,” said FEMA Administrator Fugate. “When it comes to preparing for disasters, don’t simply focus on the calendar … focus on the need to be prepared. You can go to www.ready.gov and find all of the tools and information you need to prepare your home, business and family.”
This season, we ask families, communities and businesses to be a force of nature by taking the pledge to prepare at www.ready.gov/hurricanes.
For more information, visit www.ready.gov
Recovery Act-Funded Land Port of Entry Opens at Scobey
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
Scobey, Mont. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today announced the opening of the new land border port of entry at Scobey. The port of Scobey, on Daniels County Hwy 13 North, adjoins the Canadian port of Coronach, on HWY 36, in Saskatchewan. Operational hours are from 8 am to 6 pm (Mountain Time), daily. Summer operational hours (June 1-Sept. 15) are from 8 am to 9 pm daily.
This new border facility—funded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)—replaces the previous outdated facility, strengthens security and facilitates the flow of legal travel and trade along the Northern border.
“This new port facility will enhance our mission to secure our borders,” said Great Falls Service Port Director, Daniel Escobedo. “The new technologies deployed here, along with the enhanced facility and infrastructure will provide more efficient, secure and expedited processing for travelers crossing our Northern border. This milestone marks the 14th ARRA land border port of entry under the Seattle Field Office.”
The new Scobey facility features cutting-edge inspection technologies that both strengthen security and expedite inspections. These facilities support current inspection requirements and will be adaptable for CBP’s future border security and trade facilitation needs.
CBP is using Recovery Act funds to modernize more than 35 land ports of entry along the Northern border to meet security and operational needs. The new facility in Scobey supports current inspection requirements and will be adaptable for CBP’s future border security and trade facilitation needs.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to invest additional personnel and technology along the Northern border–deploying more than 2,200 Border Patrol agents and nearly 3,800 CBP officers throughout the region to manage the flow of people and goods through ports of entry and designated border crossings.
CBP continues to deploy state-of-the-art technology along the Northern border, including thermal camera systems, Mobile Surveillance Systems, and Remote Video Surveillance Systems. Additionally, CBP unmanned aircraft currently patrol nearly 950 miles along the Northern border from Washington to Minnesota, and approximately 200 miles along the northern border in New York and Lake Ontario.
CBP Seizes Live Bird Hopping Onboard Plane from Asia
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.
Los Angeles—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) seized a live song bird that started hopping inside the plane cabin two hours before landing on a 10-hour flight from Taiwan. CBP officials suspect a failed animal smuggling attempt.
On May 26, CBP agriculture specialists were notified that a passenger reported to airline personnel that an animal was hopping around his area. A member of the flight crew captured the bird and put it in a plastic bag inside a white Styrofoam box.
CBP agriculture specialists met the plane upon arrival. Passengers were instructed to remain in their seats while the bird was removed. The animal was transferred immediately to a cage approved to handle birds and was provided with water and bird food/seeds.
All the passengers, crew members and their carry-on bags were screened and sent to agriculture secondary for x-ray inspections of their belongings. No other birds or any signs (bird droppings, feathers, etc.) were discovered.
“By preventing the introduction of foreign animal diseases, CBP agriculture specialists protect America’s agriculture resources. Animal diseases such as avian influenza (AI) can affect other avian species and be potentially fatal,” said Todd C. Owen, CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles.
The bird was identified as the same species as one of the song birds seized by CBP at LAX in the past. On June 8, 2010, a Garden Grove man was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay $4,000.00 in restitution after pleading guilty to illegally importing 14 song birds strapped to his legs as he arrived at LAX from Vietnam.
The seized bird was turned over to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) veterinary services.
U.S. Marshals seized misbranded drugs in Maine
U.S. Food & Drug Administration / www.fda.gov
Portland company promoted their products for disease diagnosis, treatment
On May 31, 2012, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals seized drug products from Global Biotechnologies, Inc., of Portland, Maine, pursuant to a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.
According to the complaint, the company has made claims on its website, in promotional materials, and on the products’ labels that its products can diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat or prevent human diseases. The company’s products, including Glucanol, Healthy Trac, Immunol, and Lactopril, meet the FDA definition of drugs because Global Biotechnologies promoted them to treat diseases. However, the company failed to provide adequate directions for use for its drug products, causing those products to be misbranded drugs in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
“The public relies on the FDA to keep companies from claiming that their products improve medical conditions or diseases,” said Armando Zamora, acting director, office of enforcement, in the Office of Regulatory Affairs. “Using these products in the mistaken belief that they will cure a disease – especially when they cannot do so – represents a danger to the public’s health.”
Earlier, the FDA sent a warning letter to Global Biotechnologies advising the company that making treatment claims on its labels, promotional materials and websites caused the products to be unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs in violation of the Federal, Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. At that time, the company committed to removing drug claims cited in the warning letter from its labeling. However, during a recent inspection, the FDA found that the company had continued to make illegal claims that cause their products to be misbranded drugs.
No illnesses have been associated to date with Global Biotechnologies’ products. Illnesses or adverse events related to use of these products should be reported to the FDA at caers@fda.hhs.gov or by calling 240-402-2405.
New York Doctor Arrested: Sold Narcotic Prescriptions to Phantom Patients
/ www.justice.gov
June 7 (New York) - Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor, Raymond W. Kelly, New York City Police Commissioner, Wilbert L. Plummer, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Field Division, Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H., New York State Commissioner of Health, and Robert Doar, Commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) announced yesterday the indictment and arrest of Shaikh Monirul Hasan, a physician charged with selling prescriptions for controlled substances from a family medical practice he operated in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Hasan was arrested at approximately 11 a.m. this morning at his office at 416 37 th Street in Sunset Park. His arraignment is scheduled for later today in Manhattan Supreme Court before Judge Larry Stephen. The indictment, filed by the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Prescription Drug Investigation Unit, follows an investigation that spanned more than one year, and charges Hasan with 32 counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance.
NYPD detectives, DEA agents and investigators with Special Narcotics, HRA and the New York State Health Department’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement conducted a court authorized search of the doctor’s Sunset Park office, his home at 155 Harold Road in Woodmere, New York and a safe deposit box leased by Hasan at Capital One Bank in Hewlett, N.Y. this morning. They seized electronic and paper records, approximately $150,000 in cash and several one-ounce gold bars.
Charges in the indictment unsealed today relate to 3,840 oxycodone pills prescribed in the name of a woman who never visited Hasan, and who was unaware that prescriptions for the highly addictive narcotic painkiller were being filled in her name. The probe was sparked by intelligence received by detectives with the NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Brooklyn South Major Case Squad.
During the investigation, detectives learned that Hasan was prescribing a high volume of prescriptions for highly addictive opioid painkillers, in some cases writing up to 100 prescriptions for controlled substances in a single day. The pattern was unusual for a family medical practitioner.
After months of interviews, analysis and other follow up work, an undercover detective with the NYPD observed Hasan write a prescription for 120 30 mg oxycodone pills in the name of a woman who was not present, and whom Hasan had never met or treated as a patient. Hasan provided the prescription to a male patient and received $80 cash as payment. The undercover detective videotaped this exchange, which took place on April 18th.
Investigators also learned that Hasan had previously written 31 prescriptions for 120 oxycodone pills in the same woman’s name between February 2010 and January 2012. Detectives located the woman and learned that she had never heard of Hasan or visited his office. The woman told detectives she lost an identification card issued by a local college in late 2009. She also pointed out that the card contained a misspelling – the last letter of her last name was missing. This same misspelling was repeated on each of the 32 prescriptions written by Hasan for 120 oxycodone pills in the woman’s name.
Investigators believe that Hasan would write prescriptions in the names of people he had never met or treated as patients based on identification cards or other forms of identification. The forms of identification were brought in by actual patients to whom they did not belong. Hasan is believed to have dispensed up to 700 oxycodone pills per month to a single individual. This criminal activity is believed to have spanned a number of years.
Investigators also believe that many of the narcotics pills that pharmacies dispensed based on Hasan’s prescriptions ended up being sold illegally on the street. The street value of the pills charged in today’s indictment alone would have amounted to approximately $75,000.
The investigation continues into the sales of prescription to other patients, and into insurance, Medicaid and Medicare billing practices. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Hasan graduated from medical school in Bangladesh. He has been licensed to practice medicine in New York since 1995.
Each count of Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance, a C felony, carries a maximum sentence of 5 ½ years in prison.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New York City Police Department, New York Field Division, the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and the Office of Professional Medical Conduct for the New York State Department of Health, the Human Resources Administration for the NYC Department of Social Services, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and the Westchester County Police Department.
DEA New York Field Division’s Acting Special Agent in Charge Wilbert L. Plummer stated, “The increase in illegally diverted prescription drug abuse is alarming to law enforcement, families, community leaders and our treatment and prevention partners. This arrest exemplifies the dedicated diligence of law enforcement throughout the state to identify those who are diverting prescription medication in every which way from phantom patients, to doctor shopping to stealing them from medicine cabinets or from robbing pharmacies. DEA and our partners are working collaboratively to thwart and end this rising threat to the safety of our communities.”
Bridget G. Brennan said, “As charged in the indictment, there was not even a pretense of delivering medical care in this case. It is rare to come across a physician who so blatantly and callously uses a hard earned medical license to dispense prescriptions to phantom patients in exchange for a fee. This type of criminal activity by a member of the medical profession will not be tolerated.”
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said, “Dr. Hasan abused his medical license by using his prescription pad to flood Brooklyn streets with highly addictive oxycodone pills. Hasan was arrested after NYPD detectives found that he was subsidizing his Sunset Park medical practice by writing prescriptions in the name of patients he never met and then selling the prescription to a third party. I commend the detectives from Brooklyn South narcotics, the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and city, state and federal agencies for their work during this investigation.”
“Physicians have a duty to prescribe medications responsibly and legally. Unfortunately, we're seeing a rise in prescription drug diversion - particularly for controlled substances," said New York State Department of Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H. “The collective efforts of this collaboration are focused on reducing this alarming trend - as today’s arrest illustrates.”
“By writing prescriptions for potent controlled substances in exchange for cash, this physician has not only threatened the integrity of the Medicaid program but also our public health,” said HRA Commissioner Robert Doar. “HRA is committed to vigorously pursuing any Medicaid provider allegedly participating in fraudulent schemes and making sure that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I would like to thank New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan and her team for their continuous commitment to pursue the prosecution of those involved in prescription drug diversion.”