Senate votes to advance specialty pharmacy bill
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a bill designed to tighten government oversight of pharmacies that custom-mix prescription drugs, in the wake of last year’s deadly meningitis outbreak tied to contaminated pain injections.
The bill cleared a parliamentary hurdle on a 97-1 vote, indicating its overwhelming support in the Senate. The legislation, passed by the House in September, also creates a national system for tracking prescription drugs from manufacturers to retail pharmacies. Final passage sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature could come as early as today.
The lone vote against the measure came from Sen. David Vitter. The Louisiana Republican is championing a measure to make lawmakers disclose which of their aides are enrolling in the president’s new health-care program as part of an ongoing effort to discredit “Obamacare.”
Francis Bacon artwork sets auction record
NEW YORK – A 1969 painting by Francis Bacon set a world record for most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.
“Three Studies of Lucian Freud” was purchased for $142,405,000 Tuesday night at Christie’s postwar and contemporary art sale. The triptych depicts Bacon’s artist friend.
The work sold after “six minutes of fierce bidding in the room and on the phone,” Christie’s said in a statement. The price includes the buyer’s premium. Christie’s did not say who bought the painting.
The price surpassed the nearly $120 million paid for Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” which set a world record when it was sold at Sotheby’s in a 2012 sale.
The previous record for Bacon’s artwork sold at auction was his 1976 “Triptych.” That sold for $86 million in 2008.
Guilty plea in extortion of Miss Teen USA
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Southern California computer science student pleaded guilty Tuesday to hacking the computers of Miss Teen USA and other young women, secretly photographing them and threatening to post the pictures online if they didn’t send him more naked photos.
Jared James Abrahams, 19, answered a series of questions from U.S. District Judge James Selna in an Orange County courtroom, including an explanation of the crimes that were committed.
Abrahams pleaded guilty to three counts of extortion and one count of unauthorized computer access. He faces up to 11 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million when he’s sentenced in March.
Associated Press
