Three Bills Defeated.

The City Council overwhelming opposed shrinking the two-hour no parking district that includes the Square and surrounding streets during the regular Council meeting Tuesday evening.

Only two of the ten members, Bill Welch and Wayne Campbell, voted for the proposal. They both serve on the Public Safety Committee that recommended the bill. Council member Diane Sharits, who was the most vocal opposition heard, along with T.J. Teed, Claude Newport, Bill Fortune, Dan Rife, Brent Greninger, Larry Ross and John Studebaker voted against.

A separate Council bill that would have allowed residents on the Square to purchase parking permits for $30 a month was also defeated by a 6 to 4 vote. Council members Newport and Fortune voted along with Campbell and Welch for the permits.

In a somewhat unusual turn of events for this sitting Council, a third Council bill was defeated, this one recommended by the Planning, Zoning, and Historic Preservation Committee. The ordinance would have rezoned some property in the Pleasant Hills Subdivision to allow duplexes.

Drug Suspected in Michael Jackson Death Subject of Recall

by Sheri Fink, ProPublica www.propublica.com

Results of Michael Jackson’s toxicology tests have not yet been released, but suspicions have centered on the powerful anesthetic and sedative drug propofol, also known by the brand name Diprivan. It was reportedly found in Jackson’s house, and a nurse who worked with him said he begged for propofol to help him sleep.

Now, some lots of propofol are being recalled for contamination.

Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration advised clinicians immediately to stop using propofol from two lots found to be tainted with elevated levels of endotoxin, a toxin made by bacteria. Regulators said Teva Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer, had begun a voluntary recall of the lots.

Several drug companies are licensed to produce propofol in the U.S.

FDA spokesperson Karen Riley said the agency’s investigators were currently at the Irvine, Calif., plant where the tainted propofol was manufactured. She was unaware of the size of the lots. At least 39 patients had been affected in Florida, Arizona and Missouri since May, Riley said.

The CDC’s lead investigator on the case, Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, said clinicians across the country are being urged to check their inventories because the product was distributed nationally.

Srinivasan said the agency received an initial report about the drug from an outpatient surgery center on June 29. The Missouri center had 20 cases of patients who developed high fevers and muscle aches shortly after receiving the drug.

The CDC put out word to the FDA, state and local health agencies and providers. That quickly led to discovery of the tainted propofol and Monday’s warning, Srinivasan said.

All patients known to have been affected have recovered, he said. However, at high doses, endotoxins can cause a sequence of reactions, beginning with fever and progressing to shock and death.

There is no confirmation on whether Jackson received propofol before his death or whether, if so, the drugs reportedly found at his home came from one of the two tainted lots.

Teva Pharmaceuticals had no immediate details.

"Everybody seemed to find out about this before we did," a Teva customer service representative said today at noon. "We just found out about this an hour ago." She said company officials were meeting about the recall and would have a statement later today.

The drug is typically used to anesthetize patients for procedures such as colonoscopies. It can be dangerous if it is not administered carefully in a medical setting, and should not be used as a sleep aid.

Teva Pharmaceuticals spokesperson Denise Bradley said the company had been contacted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in connection with the agency’s investigation into Jackson’s death.

"We can confirm that the product we were called about by the DEA does not have the same lot numbers as the product we are recalling," Bradley said.

A DEA spokesman said he wasn’t immediately able to confirm or deny Bradley’s account. To date, the agency hasn’t officially said it is investigating circumstances around Jackson’s death and reports that numerous doctors may have prescribed strong sedatives and other drugs for the entertainer.

Bradley said 57,620 vials of propofol were being voluntarily recalled by the company. The affected drugs were manufactured early this year. The contamination problem is believed to be confined to only the two lots, she said.

Bradley had no information on the source of the endotoxin contamination and what steps, if any, the company has taken to address the problem.