ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 24, 1996 TAG: 9612240086
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
Agency approves Israeli drug for MS
WASHINGTON - A drug manufactured in Israel has been approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, a crippling disease that often strikes young adults.
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it has approved the sale of an injectable drug called glatiramer acetate, or copolymer-1, for the treatment of relapsing, remitting multiple sclerosis.
The drug is manufactured by Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. in Israel. It will be marketed in this country under the brand name Copaxone by Teva Marion Partners of Kansas City, a partnership firm established by Teva and Hoechst Marion Roussel Inc.
- Associated Press Songwriter changes Christmas classic
ENCINITAS, Calif. - He still wants you to ``Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,'' but he'd also like it to be blessed.
Composer Hugh Martin has changed the lyrics to the yuletide classic he wrote for the 1943 Judy Garland movie ``Meet Me in St. Louis.'' Now, instead of ``Have yourself a merry little Christmas,'' the chorus reads: ``Have yourself a blessed little Christmas.''
``My faith means everything to me now. I wasn't even a Christian when I wrote it,'' Martin, now an 82-year-old Seventh Day Adventist, said Friday.
- Associated Press Affirmative action ban loses in court
SAN FRANCISCO - California's voter-approved ban on affirmative action programs won't go into effect before a court challenge goes to trial, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The measure is probably unconstitutional, Chief U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson wrote in a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of Proposition 209. He earlier had blocked the measure's enforcement in the form of a temporary restraining order.
In Monday's ruling, Henderson agreed with civil rights groups' claims that the measure ``violates the 14th Amendment's equal protection guarantee to full participation in the political life of the community.''
- Associated Press
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