Business in brief

Crackdown continues on illegal jet ski operators

The crackdown on illegal operators of jet skis continued on the weekend when the police and officials from Jamaica Customs seized 13 of the watercraft in St Ann.

The incident prompted residents from the community of Mammee Bay in the tourist resort town of Ocho Rios to stage a demonstration to protest against an early-morning raid on several houses, as well as the seizure of the skis.

In response to the protest, assistant superintendent of the Marine Police, Adrian Hamilton, said the police will arrest anyone found breaking the law and they will continue to clampdown on the illegal operators.

According to Hamilton, the operation will be extended to other parishes.

"This operation will not only be concentrated in St Ann but will move into other areas where the activity continues to be pervasive. We are adamant that these activities must be clamped down," he said.

Last month, Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeil, announced a six-month suspension of the importation of jet skis and personal watercraft for commercial purposes, including a clampdown on illegal operators.

This follows a series of accidents involving the machines at local beaches and growing calls for them to be banned.

But Shahine Robinson, the member of parliament for North East St Ann which includes Ocho Rios, voiced concern about the new policy.

"I'm saying to the minister that you must have a policy in place to guide how the industry is regulated but at the time that it was done, I think what was brought to Parliament was ill-conceived and not well thought out. I expressed my concern then and I still express my concern," she said.

CMC

Johnson & Johnson agrees to pay $2.2b

Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries have agreed to pay over $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil allegations of promoting three prescription drugs for off-label uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Justice announced on Monday.

The allegations include paying kickbacks to physicians and pharmacies to recommend and prescribe Risperdal and Invega, both antipsychotic drugs, and Natrecor, which is used to treat heart failure.

The figure includes $1.72 billion in civil settlements with federal and state governments, as well as $485 million in criminal fines and forfeited profits.

The agreement is the third-largest US settlement involving a drugmaker, and the latest in a string of legal actions against drug companies allegedly putting profits ahead of patients.

In recent years, the government has cracked down on the industry's aggressive marketing tactics, which include pushing medicines for unapproved uses. While doctors are allowed to prescribe medicines for any use, drugmakers cannot promote them in any way that is not approved by the FDA.

Last year British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline paid a record-setting $3 billion in fines to settle criminal and civil violations involving 10 of its drugs.

AP