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Reports that a U.S. federal appeals court ordered the judge overseeing five asbestos-related bankruptcy proceedings to withdraw from three of the cases because of the appearance of bias. View of legal experts that the decision will force new delays and might cause economic repercussions; Details of the decision by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Reasons why Alfred M. Wolin, a federal district judge in Newark, New Jersey, was ordered to end his role in the bankruptcy hearings of W.R. Grace, Owens Corning and U.S. Gypsum; View of some analysts that the order is highly unusual.

Reports that Medco Health Solutions, the largest pharmacy benefits management company in the U.S., will start telling patients, doctors and employers about billions of dollars in annual rebates that it received from drug manufacturers for promoting their products. How the agreement settles state and federal complaints that accused Medco of violating consumer protection and mail fraud laws by switching patients to drugs that added costs for patients and their health plans; Terms of the settlement; View that the settlement will be a precedent for other large pharmacy benefit managers, many of which are the subjects of state investigations; Comments of Patrick Meehan, the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the federal suit was filed.

Deals with the United States presidential candidate George W. Bush's program to help states ease drug costs for those covered by Medicare. Implication of Bush's proposal; Problems being faced by Pennsylvania's Medicare program; Bush's proposal for states which neither established nor authorized programs.