Two more charged over fake Lipitor

Kansas City, Mo. Two men have been charged in a multimillion dollar scheme to sell counterfeit and illegally imported Lipitor. Three others have already been convicted in the plot.

A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Gregory Broccoli, 38, of New York City, and Richard Goodman, 40, of Miami, on charges of conspiring to sell fake and illegally imported versions of the cholesterol-reducing drug.

The defendants already convicted are from Miami, Chicago and Anaheim, Calif.

Albers Medical Distributors Inc., of Kansas City, paid more than $12.8 million for the illegal pharmaceuticals, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said. Albers has not been charged with wrongdoing.

The conspirators allegedly bought genuine Lipitor intended for distribution in South America and illegally imported it into the United States. They also shipped equipment and chemicals to Costa Rica and Honduras to manufacture counterfeit Lipitor.

More than 4 million tablets of the fake drug were smuggled into the United States. While not considered dangerous, the fake pills had no health benefits.

Lawsuits claim wrong weight-loss surgery

Wilmington, N.C. A doctor may have performed the wrong type of gastric bypass surgery on more than 50 patients at a Wilmington hospital, officials said.

Dr. Steven E. Olchowski performed the surgeries between December 2000 and spring 2002 at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, which is facing eight malpractice lawsuits stemming from the weight-loss operations.

The lawsuits claim Olchowski told patients he would perform a gastric bypass surgery known as Roux-en-Y, which usually is covered by health insurance. According to the lawsuits, he performed minigastric bypass, which usually is not covered.

The difference between the surgeries is how the stomach and intestines are attached.

Attorneys for six of the patients said their clients had serious complications such as stomach ulcers and required a second surgery to convert the bypass into a Roux-en-Y.

Olchowski, 57, resigned from New Hanover Regional in 2003. He now practices at Ionia County Memorial Hospital in Michigan.

Brooklyn Diocese will close 22 grade schools

New York The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn will close 22 elementary schools in Brooklyn and Queens at the end of the school year in the biggest round of Catholic school closings in the city’s history.

Falling enrollment and rising salaries for teachers and administrators made the closings necessary, Monsignor Michael J. Hardiman, a diocese education official, said Wednesday.

The 4,000 affected students can enroll in the remaining 125 schools in the diocese. Officials told the New York Times they expect many of the 250 teachers will find work at the other schools.

“It’s wrenching to see this happen,” Frank DeRosa, a spokesman for Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio, told the newspaper.

“We know how much good has been accomplished in those schools for so many students, by dedicated teachers, for so many years. But the reality of the situation now requires this kind of action.”

The decision does not affect schools in Manhattan, the Bronx or Staten Island, which fall under the Archdiocese of New York.

Heroic Iraq death phony; donations to be returned

Grand Junction, Colo. A woman concocted a heartbreaking story of how her soldier husband died a hero in Iraq – and then admitted the story was all a hoax.

“I think I need some serious counseling,” 24-year-old Sarah Kenney told the Daily Sentinel newspaper on Wednesday. “This is the most serious lie I’ve ever told, but I’ve been caught in many lies.”

The touching story of how Spc. Jonathan Kenney took a bullet meant for an Iraqi child on Jan. 29 was reported by Colorado media after a news release was sent to them by the nonprofit group Homefront Heroes.

In reality, there is no record of a soldier with that name dying in Iraq. Sarah Kenney is married to a man named Michael Kenney, and he is neither currently in the military nor serving in Iraq.

Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said Tuesday that he had convened a team of investigators to look into the hoax and see if any laws were broken.

Phyllis Derby, founder and president of Homefront Heroes, said Kenney convinced her group the story was true.

“I would have never thought in a billion years that she was lying to me,” Derby said. She said the donations on behalf of the fictitious soldier would be returned.

Her own student runs over driver’s ed teacher

Stone Mountain, Ga. A driver’s education instructor was run over by one of her students and pinned beneath the car for 15 minutes, officials said.

Two cars driven by students collided on the DeKalb County Schools driver’s education lot, then one of the students backed into Patricia Erwin, running her over.

She was hospitalized Friday in stable condition and underwent surgery for multiple broken bones.

Erwin, 64, who has taught driving for 20 years, was working with the students on a drill that included pulling forward and backing up at slow speeds, said Kal Kelliher, the district’s driver’s education coordinator.