August 7, 2003

WHEN a software company is working on a new program, it tries to throw competitors off the scent by using a code name, like Whistler (which became Windows XP) or Cheetah (the original Mac OS X). Nobody outside America Online knows the code name for the new AOL 9, but it should have been Humble Pie. AOL is in trouble. Every week, more and more Americans get to the Internet by using high-speed broadband connections like cable modems and digital subscriber lines, rendering dial-up connections -- AOL's primary product -- less and less relevant. You can buy broadband service directly from AOL, of course, but only in some areas, and only for an exorbitant $55 a month.

Warnings by drug regulators about the safety of Paxil, one of the world's most prescribed antidepressants, are reopening seemingly settled questions about a whole class of drugs that also includes Prozac and Zoloft. Doctors are just beginning to react to the finding -- reported first by British drug authorities in June and then endorsed the next week by the Food and Drug Administration -- that unpublished studies about Paxil show that it carries a substantial risk of prompting teenagers and children to consider suicide.

Zimmer Holdings emerged today as the top bidder for Centerpulse A.G., Europe's top maker of orthopedic implants, after Smith & Nephew said that it would not raise its bid for Centerpulse. The announcement by Smith & Nephew of Britain ended a four-month battle over Centerpulse, which is based in Switzerland. In buying Centerpulse, Zimmer, from Indiana, would gain a strong European presence in the fast-growing segment of spinal implants. Its cash and stock bid was valued at 4.2 billion Swiss francs ($3.15 billion).

Same-Sex Unions Rejected In an atmosphere of tension, Episcopal Church leaders rejected a proposal to begin writing an official liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions. A day earlier, they approved the election of the church's first openly gay bishop. PAGE A20 Bryant Appears in Court Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers made his first court appearance on sexual assault charges for a hearing that lasted seven minutes. The next hearing was set for Oct. 9. SPORTSTHURSDAY, PAGE D1

Tenet to Pay $54 Million In Settlement With U.S. Tenet Healthcare agreed to pay $54 million to resolve government accusations that doctors at a hospital in Northern California conducted unnecessary cardiac procedures and surgical operations on hundreds of patients. The settlement was the largest ever reached in a case involving what is known as ''medical necessity fraud'' -- in other words, billing government health programs for tests and treatments that the patient's condition did not require. [Page A1.]