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Black-Only Heart Drug Goes Bust

The effort to market BiDil, the first drug approved for treatment of congestive heart failure specifically among Blacks, is ending as a result of poor sales. NitroMed, the Lexington, Mass., company that distributes BiDil, is discontinuing sales and promotional activities and eliminating 70 of 90 jobs at the company, but will continue to make BiDil available for patients, reports The Wall Street Journal. Reportedly, insurers were concerned about BiDil's price and doctors were skeptical that the drug was an improvement. Read about BiDil's failed promise and how historic racist medical treatment has caused a culture of fear among U.S. Blacks and Latinos that prevent them from participating in clinical studies. 

Speak English or You're Fired!

"You don't speak English? Then you're fired!" That's essentially what a bill introduced by Virginia state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli would do: allow a boss to fire employees who don't speak English in the workplace and make them ineligible for unemployment benefits. How can this be true? Cuccinelli says a growing number of employers in northern Virginia are frustrated that some immigrants, who said they would learn English when they were hired, never did, reports The Washington Post. "The point here isn't to be mean; the point is to allow circumstances to give employers their own ability to hire and fire people who may not speak English," Cuccinelli said. Several bills in Virginia seek to address immigration issues and the growing influence of Latino culture in the state, including efforts to make English Virginia's official language, reports The Washington Post. Read about the increasing number of states, cities and towns considering English-only laws and why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says "no way."

Michigan's Black Voters Ignore Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton was the only Democratic presidential candidate on Michigan's Democratic primary ballot, and still, the senator from New York could not carry the state's Black vote. Michigan's Democratic primary was stripped of its 156 delegates because the state party moved its primary to an earlier date, frontloading the primary season and angering the Democratic parties in Iowa and New Hampshire. Only Dennis Kucinich campaigned in Michigan, and Clinton was the only candidate on the Democratic ballot. Still, however, most Blacks and young voters chose "uncommitted" rather than Clinton, a choice backed by supporters of Barack Obama, reports BlackAmericaWeb.com. A CNN exit poll showed 68 percent of Blacks chose "uncommitted," compared with 30 percent who chose Clinton, according to BlackAmericaWeb.com. Read this national commentator's view on why Clinton trumps Obama among Black voters nationwide. Also, read Uh Oh! Black Leaders Who Backed Hillary Early Get Nervous to find out why Obama's stunning victory in Iowa had some Black leaders concerned.  

Muslim Attire Gets High-School Track Athlete Disqualified

Juashaunna Kelly, a senior at the District of Columbia's Theodore Roosevelt High School, has the fastest mile and two-mile times of any woman runner in the city, reports The Associated Press. She is also the only runner who wears a custom-made, one-piece blue and orange unitard that covers her head, arms, torso and legs, which she wears under the same orange and blue T-shirt and shorts as her teammates. The unitard allows Kelly to compete while adhering to her Muslim faith, which forbids displaying any skin other than her face and hands. Saturday, Kelly was disqualified from the Montgomery Invitational indoor track-and-field meet because of her unitard. Kelly has worn the unitard for three seasons, but the meet director said it violated rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations. Uniforms are required to be "a single-solid color and unadorned, except for a single school name or insignia no more than 2 1/4 inches," he said to The Associated Press. Rogers said he offered Kelly several options to conform to the rules while still respecting her faith.

Read how to look professional without losing your identity. 

Obama Gets Big Endorsement

With the Nevada primary set for Saturday, Barack Obama's campaign received a hefty endorsement today from Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Leahy is the current chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. On a conference call, Leahy said that after surveying the remaining Democratic candidates, he felt more than comfortable giving Obama his official nod. "My endorsement isn't something that's against Hillary Clinton or John Edwards. I'm looking at who can do this best and I believe Barack Obama can." Get all the latest Election '08 news on DiversityInc.com.

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