Originally Published
MX July/August 2002

BUSINESS NEWS

Infectious-disease
specialist Julie Gerberding, MD, is expected to be named the first female director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta). Previously
CDC’s acting deputy director for science, she has been in the forefront
of investigations into last fall’s anthrax attacks.

In May,
the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California lifted its stay
in patent infringement proceedings initiated by Computer Motion (Goleta, CA)
against Intuitive Surgical (Sunnyvale, CA) and set the trial date for April
29, 2003. Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent Office entered final judgments in favor
of Intuitive in two of three interference proceedings. Intuitive has filed a
motion with the California court for summary judgment of

noninfringement for the third patent in issue.

In spite
of recently enacted privacy laws, a report commissioned by the California HealthCare
Foundation (Oakland, CA), "Genetics and Privacy: A Patchwork of Protections,"says
that individuals still cannot be assured their genetic information will be kept