News briefs for July 3, 2001

Tuesday, July 3, 2001 | 10:07 a.m.

Battle ensues over heart drug

Nevada has joined a $100 million lawsuit against two major drug companies accused of keeping the generic version of the heart medication Cardizem CD off the shelf, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said Monday.

The state joined the suit on behalf of consumers and taxpayer-financed government programs such as Medicaid.

Cardizem CD is used to treat high blood pressure, chest pains and heart disease. Aventis, the company that produces the medication, is accused of paying Andrx, another pharmaceutical manufacturer, nearly $100 million to keep the generic version off the market.

Couple suspects in hotel killing

A Pennsylvania man and woman, suspects in the slaying of a man found wrapped in plastic in a room at the Maxim hotel, were captured Monday in California.

Paulette Walker Perry, 33, and Kenneth Maurice Grant, 33, were held in Fresno, Calif., pending extradition to Las Vegas.

On April 26 about 10 a.m. a hotel employee found a body wrapped in a plastic bag. Police identified the man as David Sygnarski, 47, of Pennsylvania.