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A couple of local items of interest, courtesy nonprofit Public Citizen. After the jump, another Chantix chant, but first up, the D.C.-based consumer advocacy group's involved in some federal litigation in Tarrant County, where Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is trying to get Internet hosting company Network54 to turn over the names of two BNSF employees who posted some "parody news articles" about the company last year.
BNSF filed the suit in Tarrant County District Court last summer; Public Citizen and Fort Worth-based attorney David Broiles, on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, filed a motion to dismiss last week. And this week Public Citizen issued a media release in which one of their attorneys says, “This is just another example of a company trying to use the courts to censor and intimidate its critics.”
Also, today Public Citizen is demanding that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration force Pfizer to add a so-called "black box warning" to smoking-cessation drug Chantix. Says today's release, "A black box warning is the FDA’s most serious type of safety warning. In most cases, when Public Citizen petitions the FDA for a black box warning on a drug, the FDA eventually agrees." Most Friends, of course, know all about Chantix and its dangers -- it's been mentioned here repeatedly since last September, following the death of Carter Albrecht, who, of course, is mentioned in the Public Citizen media release.
Incidentally, this particular item serves as a sort of message board for Chantix users or those considering the drug; not a week goes by someone doesn't post about their experience with the drug, for better or worse. --Robert Wilonsky
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