Business briefs 7/7/04

Study: Soy doesn't help postmenopausal women

CHICAGO -- A new study casts doubt on the value of soy powder as a substitute for estrogen pills. Dutch researchers found that soy did not increase bone density in postmenopausal women, and did not improve their memory or cholesterol levels either. Many women and doctors have been looking for alternatives to estrogen because of recent findings linking estrogen-progestin supplements to heart disease, breast cancer and senility.

Suit faults drug makers in deaths of children

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A psychiatrist has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that children have been harmed and even killed by the misuse of drugs he blames on aggressive marketing by drug manufacturers. Dr. Stefan P. Kruszewski accuses the drug companies of distorting statistics, violating regulations and exaggerating the effect of their psychotropic products -- practices he says have victimized juvenile wards of the state, mental patients and prisoners.

Court orders club to allow women in restaurant

NEW ORLEANS -- The Louisiana Supreme Court Tuesday ordered a country club to open its men-only restaurant to women, rejecting claims that members sometimes dine there in the nude. "In the twenty-first century, it is simply archaic to cite protection of women from the sights and sounds of a locker room environment as an excuse for excluding them from the public dining area as it exists in this country club," Justice John L. Weimer wrote for the unanimous court. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling against Southern Trace Country Club in Shreveport.

Money laundering found in New York suburbs

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- Authorities raided dozens of gas stations and mini-markets around Long Island on Tuesday and arrested people on money laundering and immigration charges. Federal arrest warrants were unsealed against 11 defendants, most of them believed to be Turkish nationals. The arrests were not related to terrorism, said Joseph Conway, a federal prosecutor. Seven people were charged with laundering as much as $28 million in proceeds from dozens of the businesses over several years. -- From wire reports

Pa. lawmakers can own slot parlor share

PHILADELPHIA -- Pennsylvania lawmakers may have hit a jackpot of sorts under a new state law that legalizes slot machines and allows legislators to own a portion of gambling parlors. Under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Ed Rendell, individual lawmakers are permitted to own up to 1 percent of each of the 14 slot-machine parlors planned in the state. The new law will give Pennsylvania more slot machines -- up to 61,000 -- than any state except Nevada. They are expected to generate a total of $3 billion annually.

-- From wire reports