LIFE SCIENCES – WEEKLY INDUSTRY NEWS

Belarus Ambulance Doctors: Underpaid And Overworked, by Vadzim Smok, Posted on BelarusDigest

Leading up to New Year’s Eve and throughout the first week of 2014, employees of the Minsk municipal ambulance service launched a protest. They are demanding a raise in salaries and improved labour conditions. The healthcare sector in Belarus remains financed by the state and has one of the lowest average salary rates of any profession. Among its neighbours, Belarus allocates the smallest portion of its GDP towards healthcare, which has resulted in its gradual decline in recent years. [Read More…]

Supreme Court hands Monsanto victory over farmers on GMO seed patents, ability to sue, Posted on RT

The US Supreme Court upheld biotech giant Monsanto’s claims on genetically-engineered seed patents and the company’s ability to sue farmers whose fields are inadvertently contaminated with Monsanto materials. The high court left intact Monday a federal appeals court decision that threw out a 2011 lawsuit from the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association and over 80 other plaintiffs against Monsanto that sought to challenge the agrochemical company’s aggressive claims on patents of genetically-modified seeds. [Read More…]

Sinopharm executives face corruption probe, Posted on BBC News

China’s largest drug distributor Sinopharm has said two of its former senior executives are being investigated over alleged corruption. A former vice president was detained by police last week, while a former general manager is also being probed. Sinopharm is the most high-profile domestic company to feature in China’s crackdown on misconduct in its pharmaceutical sector so far. [Read More…]

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