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Workers at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc.'s two Buffalo-area facilities are watching the clock today as time ticks away on a four-year contract that is set to expire one minute before midnight.

The Detroit-based auto parts supplier (NYSE: AXL) and the United Auto Workers union have been holding negotiations.

The UAW represents several hundred hourly workers at the company's forge plant in the Town of Tonawanda and a machining operation in Cheektowaga.

Production at American Axle's Buffalo plant stopped in December and the E. Delavan Avenue facility houses only a skeleton work force for maintenance and other functions fast cash loans online payday loan.

The 2004 contract negotiations resulted in a strike which, though brief, caused General Motors Corp. to lose about five shifts of production at its light-truck plants in Indiana and Michigan because of parts shortages.

The company supplies components for GM's entire light-truck lineup.

An extended strike could shut down all GM truck output.

GM's Tonawanda engine plant produces engines for heavy-duty trucks such as Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Top Kick.

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Growth in Europe's service industries accelerated more than economists forecast in February, prompting investors to reduce bets on European Central Bank interest-rate cuts.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc's index of services, industries including banks, consultancies and airlines, rose to 52.3 from 50.6 in January, according to a preliminary estimate today. Economists expected a reading of 51, according to the median of 38 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.

The euro rose as the report indicated economic growth in Europe is withstanding a slowdown in the U.S. and U.K., reducing the need for the ECB to lower borrowing costs. While the European Commission yesterday cut its forecast for the euro region's 2008 expansion to 1.8 percent, the weakest since 2005, it predicted accelerating inflation.

“The euro area is likely to prove fairly resilient to headwinds,'' Klaus Baader, Merrill Lynch & Co.'s London-based chief European economist, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “If we continue to see that kind of data, markets will reconsider their expectations'' for ECB interest rates.

European government notes headed for their biggest weekly drop in almost four years as traders bet rising consumer prices will limit the scope of policy makers to follow their U.S. and British counterparts in cutting rates. The yield on the two-year German note rose 24 basis points, the biggest weekly advance since April 2004, to 3.35 percent by 3:20 p.m. in Paris.

The euro rose to $1.4850 from as low as $1.4789 before the report. Yields on interest-rate futures pared their decline.

Composite Index

Royal Bank's composite purchasing managers' index, which combines services and manufacturing and accounts for about half of the economy, rose to 52.7 from 51.8. A gauge of manufacturing slipped to 52.3 from 52.8, in line with economists' forecasts.

European companies have depended on sales to emerging markets and price increases to cushion against rising material costs and the fallout from the U.S. property slump.

Nestle SA, the world's biggest food company, yesterday reported second-half earnings that exceeded analyst estimates, after it passed on higher commodity costs to consumers by increasing prices of Dreyer's ice cream and Nescafe instant coffee.

Cap Gemini SA, Europe's largest computer-services provider, last week forecast higher profit margins, helped by growth in its Indian unit.

Bank Impact

The gain in services this month also may have reflected the impact in January of a record trading loss at Societe Generale SA, France's second-biggest bank, and writedowns at UBS AG no fax payday loans instant payday loan. The financial industry accounts for about 18 percent of the services index.

The rebound is probably temporary after several months of decline, said David Brown, chief European economist at Bear Stearns Cos. in London.

Euro-zone economic confidence has been in “decline since the middle of 2006,'' Brown wrote in a note to investors. “This looks set to extend as we are nowhere near reaching a bottom yet.'' French government reports today showed a gauge of business confidence fell to the lowest in 13 months and consumer spending dropped by the most since September 2006.

The PMI's gauge of euro-region business expectations in service industries fell to 60.7 from 61.5 in January, today's report showed. Growth in manufacturing orders slowed, with a measure slipping to 51 from 51.7 last month.

Inflation Concerns

Higher energy prices and more expensive food are also fanning inflation, which the European Commission says will average 2.6 percent this year, up from a November estimate of 2.1 percent. At the same time, the U.S. slowdown is combining with costlier credit, oil prices at about $100 a barrel and a stronger euro to curb expansion, the commission said.

“The risks to the growth outlook are mainly on the downside,'' European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters in Brussels yesterday.

Investors had increased bets on a cut in Europe after ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet on Feb. 7 withdrew a threat to raise rates and expressed concern that the outlook for growth had deteriorated. The yield on interest-rate contracts maturing in December fell as low as 3.31 percent on Feb. 11 from 4.18 percent at the start of the year. It was at 3.62 percent today.

The ECB has held off lowering interest rates as inflation accelerated to a 14-year high of 3.2 percent in January, above the bank's 2 percent limit for a fifth month. The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its main rate by 1.25 percentage points last month, and the Bank of England reduced its benchmark by a quarter point on Feb. 7 for the second time in three months.

Trichet has signaled he's in no rush to act. On Feb. 14, he said central bankers in the U.S. and U.K. based their decisions on a “very different'' economic outlook.

The ECB “is going to push back a rate cut as long as it can,'' said Sylvain Broyer, an economist at Natixis in Frankfurt.

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Citing concerns that "passion and prejudice" inflated the verdict, a judge slashed a $134 million jury award to three Nevada women who claimed a drug made by Wyeth caused their breast cancer.

Washoe County District Judge Robert Perry on Tuesday granted the drugmaker’s motion to find the damages excessive. He ordered them reduced to about $58 million total - $23 million in compensatory and $35 million in punitive damages.

The reduced judgment remains the largest personal injury award in Nevada history, lawyers for the women said, and it is the largest award to date against the Madison, N.J.-based company, which faces about 5,300 similar lawsuits across the country in state and federal courts.

All the cases involve the drugs Premarin, an estrogen replacement, and Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin. The drugs are prescribed to women to ease menopause symptoms.

Perry said the jury’s judgment of $35 million in compensatory and $99 million in punitive suggested the amounts were "the result of passion and prejudice."

"The court believes that this reduction in damages adequately compensates plaintiffs for the serious consequences which the jury found to have been caused by defendant, while also serving to punish defendant and deter others from similar conduct," he wrote.

Wyeth officials welcomed the ruling but still planned to appeal.

"While it’s encouraging the district court has acknowledged the excessiveness of the award to some extent, it doesn’t change the fact that the verdict was irreparably flawed and fraught with error," Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus said.

Lawyers for the women said the ruling did not diminish the company’s role in their breast cancer.

"Wyeth has been exposed for its role in causing countless breast cancers in thousands of women across the country, and today’s verdict reduction to just short of $60 million does nothing to change the gravity of Wyeth’s wrongdoing," Peter Wetherall said.

Wyeth lawyer Dan Webb had argued the jury verdict in October was "an extreme aberration" - 30 times greater than juries have awarded in four similar cases.

"It’s an injustice," he said online payday advance payday loans online. He argued for combined damages of about $5 million for the three women.

Petkus said that of five other similar cases that have gone to trial against Wyeth, four resulted in verdicts for Wyeth while the other was remanded for a new trial.

Jurors in the Reno case had awarded Jeraldine Scofield, 74, of Fallon; Arlene Rowatt, 67, of Incline Village; and Pamela Forrester, 65, of Yerington, a combined $35 million for medical expenses and physical and emotional pain and suffering. The same panel then awarded the women $99 million in punitive damages.

Perry’s new ruling awards Rowatt $7.6 million in compensatory and $10 million in punitive damages. Forrester was awarded $8 million compensatory and $13 million punitive, and Scofield gets $7.3 million compensatory and $12 million punitive.

Zoe Littlepage, a lawyer for the women, had argued the jurors’ award was "very reasonable" given they "found this company caused these three women to get breast cancer."

"But for taking this drug, they would not have gotten breast cancer," she said.

Perry said the women had offered "very limited evidence and argument in support of compensatory damages," limited primarily to past medical bills. But he said the punitive damages were different matter.

"There was substantial evidence from which the jury could conclude that Wyeth knew that its product could cause breast cancer, that it intentionally failed to conduct adequate tests, that it financed and manipulated scientific studies and sponsored articles in professional and scientific journals that deliberately minimized the risk of cancer while over-promoting certain benefits and citing others which it knew to be unsubstantiated," Perry wrote.

Wyeth’s (WYE, Fortune 500) shares closed 4.5% higher Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.  

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China's inflation accelerated to the quickest pace in more than 11 years after the worst snowstorms in half a century disrupted food supplies.

Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in January from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today, after gaining 6.5 percent in December. That was more than the 7 percent median estimate of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Food prices soared 18 percent after blizzards paralyzed transport systems and destroyed crops. The government faces the challenge of curbing inflation without derailing the expansion of the world's fastest-growing major economy.

“Inflation is likely to have further legs to run even after the snowstorm effects subside because of fast growth in money supply,'' said Liang Hong, senior economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in Hong Kong. February's rate “might even get close to double-digit levels.''

The yen rose against the dollar and the euro on speculation China will raise interest rates and seek a stronger yuan, aiding Asian currencies. The yuan traded at 7.1551 versus the dollar at 4:29 p.m. in Shanghai from 7.1544 before the data.

Snowstorms in provinces including Zhejiang and Guangxi killed 107 people and caused 111 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) of damage, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Feb. 13.

Pork, Cooking Oil

Pork climbed 59 percent, edible oil rose 37 percent and vegetables jumped 14 percent. Inflation has soared since last year on food and fuel costs and a surging money supply poses the risk of broader price gains. Non-food prices rose 1.5 percent.

Economists are split on whether interest rates will rise this year after six increases in 2007, a Bloomberg News survey showed last month. The key one-year lending rate is 7.47 percent.

“The economy faces a serious short-term inflationary threat,'' said Stephen Green, senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank Plc in Shanghai. “The central bank will have to move on rates before too long.''

Raising rates when the U.S. Federal Reserve has been cutting them may attract unwanted money from abroad into the Chinese economy. Higher borrowing costs would also be an extra drag on growth when China faces lost production from the snowstorms and the prospect of weakening export demand as a recession looms in the U.S.

Faster February Inflation?

The world's fourth-largest economy may grow 10 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, down from 11.4 percent in 2007.

Deutsche Bank AG and China International Capital Corp cash advances fast cash advance. expect a higher February inflation rate. The snowstorms' impact on prices may be more pronounced this month because of feasting at Lunar New Year celebrations.

Soaring prices have the potential to lead to social instability, as illustrated by the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown of 1989. The World Bank estimates 300 million Chinese people live in poverty.

“Periods of significant social instability in China have always been prefaced by sustained food inflation,'' said Glenn Maguire, Hong Kong-based chief Asia economist at Societe Generale SA. “Food inflation and its consequences are most acute in low-income rural areas and the inland mega-cities.''

Consumer prices in cities and towns rose 6.8 percent in January from a year earlier while those in rural areas jumped 7.7 percent.

There's pressure for prices to keep rising. Producer prices, the cost of goods as they leave the factory, jumped 6.1 percent in January, the biggest gain in more than three years, on oil and raw materials.

Central Bankers' Choice

In the 1990s, China swung between deflation and an annual inflation rate as fast as 24 percent in 1994.

Central banks across Asia face the choice of tackling slowing growth or rising inflation. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. last week cut its forecast for 2008 growth in the region, excluding Japan, to 7.3 percent from 7.6 percent and raised its inflation estimate to 4.6 percent from 4.2 percent.

China's government may use more currency gains and curbs on bank lending to restrain price increases. It has also imposed food and energy price controls.

So far, the government is letting the yuan gain at a faster pace versus the dollar than it did last year. The currency has climbed 2 percent after rising 7 percent in 2007. A stronger currency would push up export prices and make imports cheaper.

Economists expect the government to keep raising banks' reserve requirements, the survey last month showed. The central bank has ordered lenders to set aside more deposits as reserves on 11 occasions since the start of last year, pushing the ratio to 15 percent, the highest ever.

The trade surplus rose more than forecast in January and money supply grew at the quickest pace in 20 months.

January's consumer prices climbed 1.2 percent from December.

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Specialty retailer Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. on Friday said it will close up to 160 stores and cut 1,002 jobs as part of a cost-cutting move.

The remaining 100 stores in its mall division will be remodeled into a new "Studio" concept focused on fashion accessories for women. All Wilsons (WLSN) stores should be remodeled by August.

About 938 store-related jobs and 64 positions at the company’s corporate headquarters, overseas offices and distribution center in Brooklyn Park, Minn., will be cut. Wilsons Leather Outlet Division will not be affected quick payday loan faxless payday loans. –>.

"We expect the cost reduction initiative will enable us to reduce our working capital needs and strengthen our business, as well as provide capital for our remodel efforts to convert all remaining mall stores into our new ‘Studio’ concept," said Mike Searles, company chief executive, in a statement. 

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke indicated that policy makers are prepared to lower interest rates further to revive the economy as banks make it more expensive to borrow.

The Fed “will act in a timely manner as needed to support growth and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks,'' Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee in Washington today.

Bernanke and his colleagues are trying to steer the economy through a credit crunch that began with rising delinquencies on subprime mortgages and is now in its seventh month. He acknowledged a widening impact on households and consumers from financial volatility, even after the central bank “aggressively'' lowered interest rates.

“More-expensive and less-available credit seems likely to continue to be a source of restraint on economic growth,'' Bernanke said. “The outlook for the economy has worsened in recent months, and the downside risks to growth have increased.''

Bernanke provided less of a sense of urgency than in remarks last month, which preceded the fastest easing of monetary policy in two decades. Today, he left out the line from Jan. 10 and Jan. 17 speeches that the Fed stood ready to take “substantive additional action.'' The chairman also omitted comments that policy makers “must remain exceptionally alert and flexible'' and act in a “decisive'' manner.

`Slowing the Pace'

“He's setting the stage for at least slowing the pace of accommodation, but definitely not stopping it anytime soon,'' said Mike Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. The firm expects a quarter-point reduction in the benchmark rate when policy makers next meet on March 18.

Futures markets show traders expect another half-point reduction, to 2.5 percent, by the end of the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on March 18.

Treasury securities, which had fallen before Bernanke's testimony, were little changed after. Ten-year note yields rose to 3.78 percent at 10:52 a.m. in New York, from 3.73 percent late yesterday.

“They are still willing to be in a risk-management mode, lowering rates if the risks are elevated rather than waiting,'' said Julia Coronado, senior U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. Barclays forecasts another half-point cut in the federal funds rate in March. “There is nothing here that leads us to change that forecast.''

Bernanke said his own prediction calls for the economy to avoid a recession this year.

Bernanke `Baseline'

“My baseline outlook involves a period of sluggish growth, followed by a somewhat stronger pace of growth starting later this year as the effects of monetary and fiscal stimulus begin to be felt,'' the 54-year-old Fed chairman said. “Although the baseline outlook envisions an improving picture, it is important to recognize that downside risks to growth remain.''

Bernanke said “in the months ahead'' Fed officials will be monitoring inflation closely. Over the year, the central bank will need to “assess whether the stance of monetary policy is properly calibrated'' to meet the objectives of full employment and price stability, he said http://fcrwizard.com payday loans.

“To date, inflation expectations appear to have remained reasonably well anchored,'' Bernanke said. “Our policy stance must be determined in light of the medium-term forecast for real activity and inflation, as well as the risks to that forecast.''

The worst housing slump in a quarter century has combined with lower stock prices and elevated inflation to sap household wealth.

Job, Stock Losses

The economy lost 17,000 jobs in January, the first drop in more than four years. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has fallen three consecutive months, and is down 7.3 percent so far this year. Residential investment subtracted 1.2 percentage point from growth last quarter, the eighth straight decline, according to government statistics.

“The softer labor market, together with factors including higher energy prices, lower equity prices, and declining home values, seem likely to weigh on consumer spending in the near term,'' Bernanke said.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, testifying with Bernanke and Securities & Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox at today's hearing, said in his testimony that the $168 billion stimulus package enacted this week will help buttress the economy.

Tax Rebates

Paulson said in his testimony that tax rebate checks will be sent to more than 130 million Americans beginning in May. The measure also includes investment incentives for businesses.

Still, economists such as Harvard University's Martin Feldstein said the plan may not keep the U.S. out of a recession.

“Even if it isn't avoided, will it be enough to cause this to be a modest downturn?'' Feldstein, president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Feb. 12. “We can't be sure because of the problems in the credit markets,'' he said, estimating the chance of a recession at “close to 50-50.''

The Federal Open Market Committee cut the benchmark lending rate a half-point to 3 percent last month, after an emergency 75 basis point reduction in the federal funds rate Jan. 22.

Still, credit markets remain under stress. The extra yield investors demand to buy investment grade U.S. corporate bonds rose to 2.37 percentage points Feb. 12 from 2.24 percentage points on Jan. 21, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. data.

Fed rate cuts are “coming when banks already have a significant number of impairments and are trying to protect their own balance sheets,'' said Joshua Rosner, managing director at the New York research firm Graham Fisher & Co. “They aren't interested in passing on that cut to most borrowers.''

Writedowns and credit losses at the world's largest banks and securities firms have exceeded $146 billion since the beginning of 2007.

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Community Memorial Medical Commons at North Hills, a new $30 million, primary care clinic, will open in Menomonee Falls Feb. 18 with occupants Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin's North Hills Primary Care Clinic, Dynacare Laboratories and the Center for Diagnostic Imaging.

The clinc is south of West Good Hope Road along Appleton Avenue. The primary care clinic will be staffed with physicians from the Medical College of Wisconsin and include obstetrician and gynecological services as well as internal medicine. Dynacare Laboratories-Milwaukee will offer a variety of clinical laboratory services, and the Center for Diagnostic Imaging of Minneapolis will provide medical imaging services free credit report.com cash advance loan.

Community Memorial Hospital's cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and the Froedtert & Community Health Workforce Health programs will move to the site in May. There are also plans to add physicians and services for urgent care, orthopedics and endocrinology.

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The Group of Seven nations said the U.S. economy may slow further and erode global growth, while stopping short of proposing specific measures in response.

“Downside risks still persist, which include further deterioration of the U.S. residential housing markets,'' tighter credit conditions and heightened inflation expectations in some countries, a statement by G-7 finance ministers and central bankers said in Tokyo today. They kept up pressure on China to allow the yuan to appreciate and said they'd cooperate on foreign exchange “as appropriate.''

The G-7 nations are at odds on how to tackle a global slowdown sparked by a U.S. housing recession. The U.S. has encouraged its counterparts to use fiscal policy to revive growth. Japan and Canada say they won't follow suit and Germany argues attention should be paid to the causes of last year's credit- market rout rather than how to limit the economic damage.

A house-price collapse has pushed the world's largest economy close to a recession and the U.S. this week urged the G-7 to follow its example and take “prudent'' action to protect their economies. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has negotiated a package, including tax rebates, worth $168 billion with Congress, and the Federal Reserve last month cut its key interest rate twice in nine days to 3 percent, the fastest easing of policy since 1990.

Slowing Growth

“In all our economies, to varying degrees, growth is expected to slow somewhat in the short term,'' the statement said. In the U.S. “risks have become more skewed to the downside.''

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck and U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said yesterday that scope for coordinated action to shore up the global economy is limited.

The group consists of the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Italy, France, Germany and Japan. China didn't attend the main talks at this gathering.

The G-7 agreed that China should do more to defuse global trade tensions, reflecting European and Canadian concern that their currencies are bearing too much of the burden of the dollar's slide.

While the yuan has climbed 6 percent against the dollar since the October statement, it's risen just 2 percent against the euro in the same period. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said today that the stronger euro “continues to pose difficulties for European exporters.''

China's Yuan

“We welcome China's decision to increase the flexibility of its currency, but in view of its rising current account surplus and domestic inflation, we encourage accelerated appreciation of its effective exchange rate,'' the statement said payday loans quick payday. The language is similar to that used by the G-7 at their last meeting in October, when they singled out the yuan.

China overtook the U.K. as the euro area's biggest supplier last year. The euro has gained 11.5 percent against the dollar in the past year.

Global price pressures are making it harder for central banks to coordinate interest-rate policy. While the Bank of England this week cut its benchmark rate for the second time in three months and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet dropped a threat to raise rates, both central banks stressed inflation risks. October's statement contained no mention of global inflation risks.

May Coordinate Action

The G-7 omitted a commitment made at the last meeting in Washington to “fiscal discipline.'' The group said it was possible they may agree to coordinate action to spur growth and ensure financial stability in the future.

The ECB and the Fed moved in concert with three other central banks in December to alleviate the credit squeeze in the biggest act of international cooperation since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“Going forward, we will continue to watch developments closely and take appropriate actions, individually and collectively, in order to secure stability and growth in our economies,'' the statement said.

The G-7 pledged to act on the recommendations of the Financial Stability Forum of regulators, which today proposed measures to prevent a repeat of last year's credit crisis.

Italian central bank Governor Mario Draghi, who drafted the report, said banks should publish more information about their losses and improve risk management.

The report also said authorities must address “potential conflicts of interest'' at credit-rating companies and improve understanding of banks' off-balance sheet positions, according to the statement.

The G-7 also asked the International Monetary Fund and the Basel, Switzerland-based Financial Stability Forum to report at the next meeting in April “on their respective roles in identifying potential vulnerabilities and enhancing early warning capabilities,'' it said.

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The University of Hawaii has its highest number of spring semester students in more than a decade.

University officials said Monday that 48,246 students are enrolled in credit courses at its 10 campuses statewide. That’s nearly 2,000 more than last spring, an increase of 4.2 percent.

"The increase in enrollment is gratifying because the campuses have made a commitment to increasing the educational attainment of Hawaii’s citizens and their efforts to recruit are paying off," said Linda Johnsrud, UH vice president for academic planning and policy.

All UH campuses except UH Manoa posted increases in enrollment over last spring faxless payday advance creditscore.

With 18,818 students, UH Manoa saw a decrease of 141 students, or 0.7 percent, compared to last spring.

Meanwhile, UH West Oahu saw the largest percentage increase, 18.3 percent, for a total of 970 students.

UH Hilo enrollment increased to 3,445 students, a 4.8 percent gain over last spring.

UH officials said enrollment at the seven community colleges is at 25,013, an increase of 7.6 percent, or 1,771 students, over last spring.

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Eli Lilly and Co. and federal prosecutors are exploring a settlement of an investigation into the drugmaker’s marketing of its top seller, the anti-psychotic Zyprexa, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The Times reported on its Web site that the company could wind up paying more than $1 billion to state and federal governments. The report said several unidentified people involved in the investigation confirmed the settlement discussions.

Indianapolis-based Lilly said in a statement that it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania seeking Zyprexa-related documents. Lilly spokeswoman Tarra Ryker declined to elaborate on the possibility of a settlement when reached by phone.

"We are cooperating with the government in these investigations, and the discussions around those are confidential," she told The Associated Press. "We’ve said pretty much all we’re going to be able to say on this."

She also declined to comment on the payment amount.

"We don’t know where the information came from," she said.

The Times reported that federal prosecutors in Philadelphia are leading the settlement talks for the government, in consultation with Justice Department headquarters in Washington.

Patty Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, declined to comment on the report.

Zyprexa was Lilly’s top selling drug last year bad credit payday loan free credit report online. It rang up $4.8 billion and accounted for 25 percent of the company’s total sales, but it also has brought the company many legal headaches.

Beginning in late 2006, a series of articles in the Times, based on confidential documents, said Lilly downplayed the drug’s risks and marketed it for uses unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Attorneys general from 30 states have subpoenaed documents detailing Lilly’s sales, marketing and promotional practices for Zyprexa as part of a civil investigation under state consumer protection laws.

Lilly (LLY, Fortune 500) said in a statement that it promotes its medications "only for approved uses and consistent with all federal and state laws."

The drug also has faced thousands of product liability claims from patients, many alleging the company did not adequately warn patients taking the medication of a heightened diabetes risk. Lilly announced earlier this month that it settled 900 claims, including five scheduled for trial next month.

The company has settled more than 25,000 product liability claims and has more than 1,200 still pending, according to Ryker. 

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