December 26, 2003

Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Ranbaxy Laboratories and other Indian manufacturers of generic drugs are aggressively challenging patents held by world's largest pharmaceutical companies in bid to expand in $17 billion US generics market; can produce drugs at fraction of what it costs to make them in West and are generating much higher margins in US by being among earliest to enter market when patents expire; are meeting fierce resistance in courts from patent holders, who argue that generics will whittle away incentive to innovate, jeopardize investment in new and much-needed drugs and sacrifice consumer safety; patent holders are also patenting component chemicals and processes in addition to drug itself; photos (M)

Explosion rocks natural gas field in Chongqing in southwestern China, killing at least 191 people as poisonous fumes spread into surrounding communities; high death toll and long lag in reporting accurate information raise possibility that accident resulted from poor safety procedures or faulty rescue operations, which are endemic in China's fast-growing economy; accident occurred when drillers apparently punctured highly pressurized store of natural gas and hydrogen sulfide, which can be lethal when inhaled; natural gas is high priority industry for China because of its energy needs, and also because authorities are eager to replace coal-burning furnaces with cleaner natural gas generators to fight air pollution which has reached hazardous levels in many major Chinese cities; photos; map (M)

More NFL players are buying and carrying guns, sometimes bringing them into stadiums, and are seldom subjected to same security checks that fans are; players cite increased sense of vulnerability, while opponents claim that NFL's gun rules are too broad and are not inforced; photos (M)

Floyd Norris column deplores credulity of auditors who swallowed Parmalat's claim to have had 3.95 billion euros in bank account in Cayman Islands; says they should have wondered why company with such an unheard-of amount of cash in the bank would keep borrowing billions; graph (M)

New York Knicks president Isiah Thomas puts team on notice and reinforces importance of next three-game road trip for determining any roster changes he might then make; photo (M)