Patriot Act renewal up for Senate vote
Months overdue in a midterm election year, the USA Patriot Act renewal cleared a final hurdle Tuesday in the Senate on its way to President Bush’s desk.
But the bill’s sponsor said he is unsatisfied with the measure’s privacy protections and far from done tinkering with the centerpiece of Bush’s war on terrorism.
“The issue is not concluded,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. He said he plans more legislation and hearings on restoring House-rejected curbs on government power.
The Senate voted 69-30 Tuesday – 60 votes were needed – to limit debate and bring the bill to a final vote that could occur as early as today. The House then would vote and send the legislation to the White House. Sixteen major provisions would expire March 10 if President Bush doesn’t sign the bill by then.
Washington
Skin patch OK’d for depression
The first skin patch to treat depression won federal approval Tuesday, providing a novel way to administer a drug already used by Parkinson’s disease patients but that belongs to a class of medicines that is rarely a first or second choice antidepressant.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the selegiline transdermal patch, agency spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said. The drug will be marketed as Emsam, said Somerset Pharmaceuticals Inc., which developed the drug, and Bristol-Myers Squib Co., which will market it in three sizes as a once-a-day treatment for major depression.
Selegiline, approved in pill form by the FDA in 1989 to help treat Parkinson’s, is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Typically, doctors prescribe them for depression only if patients don’t respond to other antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil.
Birmingham, Ala.
More explosions occurring at mine
More underground explosions have rocked Alabama’s largest coal mine since a blast last week forced the evacuation of scores of workers.
No one has been hurt in any of the blasts, and the government said the severity of the explosions was unknown since the mine remains too dangerous for anyone to enter.
The Shoal Creek Mine remained closed for a fifth day Tuesday. About 140 workers were evacuated safely after a blast last Friday.
Two more explosions occurred on Sunday and Monday, but no one was at risk because no one had been allowed to re-enter the mine after the first explosion.
Federal regulators said Tuesday it was unclear when production could resume.