June 22, 2002

Food and Drug Administration panel recommends allowing Procter & Gamble to sell Prilosec, heartburn medicine it distributes and AstraZeneca manufactures, without doctor's prescription; drug will rival Pepcid, marketed by Johnson & Johnson, for leadership in $1.6-billion-a-year market for over-the-counter heartburn treatments (M)

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column contends that US national team can exit World Cup, after defeat and elimination by Germany, respectfully, having played their best match of tournament; photos (M)

Stock prices skid for third consecutive day and fifth sequential week; Standard & Poor's 500-stock index falls 1.7 percent, or 17.15, closing at 989.14, below 1,000 for first time since its Sept 21, 2001 bottom following Sept 11 terrorist attacks; Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq composite index also drop sharply, Dow falling 177.98, or 1.9 percent, to 9,253.79 and Nasdaq losing 23.79, or 1.6 percent, to close at 1,440.96; flight-to-safety buying causes 5/32 gain in 10-year Treasury note, to 100 26/32, its yield falling to 4.77 percent from 4.79 percent; 30-year Treasury bond rises 12/32, to 99 20/32, driving its yield down to 5.40 percent, from 5.43 percent; photo; graphs; table of key rates (M)

House Committee, 30-23, approves Republican bill to provide prescription drug benefits to elderly under Medicare; vote is major legislative and political victory for House Republicans; committee chairman Rep Billy Tauzin says vote will put pressure on Senate to pass similar bill, interview; Sen Tom Daschle scores bill as inadequate and says Senate will weigh providing more generous benefits; House bill would cost $310 billion over 10 years; table compares bill with two Democratic alternatives (M)

Whither the Death Penalty? The abolition of capital punishment for the mentally retarded does not necessarily portend further limitations on it. NEWS ANALYSIS, PAGE A7