JUDGE DELAYS CALCIUM RULING.Byline: Bob Egelko Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. A judge refused Thursday to order warnings to pregnant women in California about lead in widely sold calcium supplement tablets, and instead gave the state 45 days to reach a settlement with drug companies. Attorney General Dan Lungren's office filed suit earlier in the day accusing nine companies of selling calcium supplements and antacids Antacids Definition Antacids are medicines that neutralize stomach acid. Purpose Antacids are used to relieve acid indigestion, upset stomach, sour stomach, and heartburn. with levels of lead that violate a state anti-toxics law. The companies include the makers of Rolaids, DI-GEL, Os-Cal and GNC GNC General Nutrition Centers GNC Gas Natural Comprimido (Argentina) GNC Guidance, Navigation, and Control GNC Grand National Championship (ATV racing) GNC Global Navigation Chart products with calcium. The companies denied that their products contain dangerous levels of lead, a substance that has been linked to birth defects birth defects, abnormalities in physical or mental structure or function that are present at birth. They range from minor to seriously deforming or life-threatening. A major defect of some type occurs in approximately 3% of all births. . They joined Lungren's office in opposing a restraining order restraining order: see injunction. sought by the Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a New York City-based, non-profit non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing. Founded in 1970, NRDC today has 1. , which filed a similar suit Monday. The NRDC NRDC Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC National Research and Development Centre (Institute of Education, London) NRDC National Realty & Development Corp. asked Superior Court Judge William Cahill to require immediate labels on calcium supplements sold by the nine companies, warning pregnant women that lead in the products can harm their fetuses. But Deputy Attorney General Edward Weil told Cahill that a restraining order would interfere with a possible settlement. Weil also said the anti-toxics law, passed by the voters in 1986, allows private enforcement only if the attorney general is not acting diligently. ``The ship can only have one captain,'' he said. B.J. Kirwan, lawyer for Smithkline Beecham Corp., makers of Os-Cal, said the company's marketing surveys showed that a warning label would cut sales in half. Cahill denied the restraining order and put the NRDC suit on hold for 45 days to allow time for a settlement. Roger Carrick, a lawyer for the companies, said he was ``optimistic that we'll get it done well before that.'' ``Judge Cahill's decision is good news for California consumers because it will assure continued access to calcium supplements, which play a vital role in maintaining general health, promoting healthy pregnancies and protecting against osteoporosis,'' Carrick said in a prepared statement. Fred Altschuler, a lawyer for the NRDC, said he hoped Lungren would ``insist on the kind of standard that protects the public.'' ``Unfortunately, consumers (in the interim) will not be told they may be consuming a product with lead in it,'' Altschuler said. Proposition 65, the 1986 initiative, requires warnings on products that can cause cancer or birth defects. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion