January 28, 2006

In a nearly empty rink yesterday in Artesia, Calif., with no crowd to charm and no television cameras to capture her trademark smile, Michelle Kwan still captivated her audience. Kwan, the face of American skating for a decade despite always coming up short in the Olympics, performed so convincingly that a team of United States Figure Skating Association officials decided that she was fit to compete in her third Games. Kwan, making her last-ditch attempt at Olympic glory at 25, took the ice in a simple black sweatshirt and warm-up pants and skated her long and short programs, according to pool reporters attending the session. She beamed toward the empty bleachers as if they were packed with fans, although only some skating and Olympic officials, her parents and her sister watched from rinkside, shivering in the cold arena.

BEFORE A LAWSUI

Federal prosecutors have opened a new front in their investigation into the Guidant Corporation by issuing a subpoena seeking records disclosed in a Texas lawsuit that indicate the company knew that some heart devices could catastrophically fail. The subpoena, issued Tuesday by the United States attorney in Minneapolis, specifically sought Guidant documents disclosed this month in a Texas state court. Among other things, the records indicate that company executives debated whether to warn doctors that some heart defibrillators could short-circuit. The records suggest that Guidant might have sold potentially flawed devices.

An inhaled form of insulin won federal approval yesterday, offering the first alternative to injections for millions of people with diabetes since the drug was introduced in the 1920's. The new inhaler could offer more convenience and less pain for many of the roughly five million Americans already using insulin, diabetes experts say.

A federal judge yesterday struck down the system that has given state political party leaders a stranglehold over the way top trial judges across New York State have been elected for decades. In a decision that could have a lasting impact on the judicial selection process across the state, the judge, John Gleeson of the United States District Court in Brooklyn, found the system unconstitutional and ordered it halted immediately.