Washington in brief

Terror alert had a third source

WASHINGTON - A third person separate from the two prisoners and documents previously disclosed provided information indicating al-Qaida was plotting to attack U.S. financial buildings, Bush administration officials said Wednesday in seeking to counter criticism their latest terror warning was overblown.

The White House described the information from the third person as "another new stream of intelligence" that supported its decision to issue the warning. It arrived days before the public alert, as officials were reviewing reams of recently obtained documents and photographs that showed surveillance of five buildings in New York, New Jersey and Washington carried out years earlier by al-Qaida.

"Old information isn't irrelevant information - particularly with this kind of enemy," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.

WASHINGTON - Citing a need to keep information from terrorists, regulators said Wednesday the government will no longer reveal security gaps discovered at nuclear power plants or the subsequent enforcement actions taken against plant operators.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the change in policy during its first public meeting on power plant safety since the Sept. 11 attacks. It drew barbs from critics who said the secrecy would erode public confidence in the agency.

Until now, the NRC has provided regular public updates on vulnerabilities its inspectors found at the country's 103 nuclear power reactors, such as broken fences or weaknesses in training programs.

"We need to blacken some of our processes so that our adversaries won't have that information," said Roy Zimmerman, director of the commission's Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, which was created after the attacks.

Scott Burnell of the NRC said commissioners voted to take the step March 29, but kept it quiet as agency staff worked to implement the plan.

WASHINGTON - The government on Wednesday refused to override patents on the AIDS drug Norvir, effectively allowing a quintupling of the price to stand despite consumer groups' accusations of price gouging.

Patient groups and some members of Congress had pushed the National Institutes of Health to take the unprecedented action, arguing it was warranted under a special law because Norvir's discovery was partially funded by taxpayer dollars.

But the NIH decided that such an extraordinary step could have overly broad effects on the pharmaceutical market, and would exceed that law's intent.

"The issue of drug pricing has global implications and, thus, is appropriately left for Congress to address legislatively," concluded Dr. Elias Zerhouni, NIH director.

Abbott Laboratories raised the price of the 8-year-old Norvir to $8.57 a day from $1.71 late last year.

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration approved sale of a new antidepressant for adults on Wednesday. Called Cymbalta, it should be on pharmacy shelves by late month.

Maker Eli Lilly & Co. is banking on Cymbalta as a successor to its once-blockbuster Prozac. Cymbalta, known chemically as duloxetine, is one of a newer class of antidepressants that targets two brain chemicals involved in depression, serotonin and norepinephrine.

Cymbalta's average wholesale price will be $2.85 for 60 milligrams, the usual daily dose, which Lilly called comparable to similar competitors.

World and national headlines

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright