Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had heart surgery on Tuesday and a source from his party said the operation went well. A hospital statement said Berlusconi had been placed in intensive care, as planned, but gave no more details. An official at Milan's San Raffaele hospital said the four-time premier would remain in intensive care for 48 hours and that he would be sedated at least until Wednesday.
By Carl O’Donnell and Greg Roumeliotis (Reuters) – Italian specialty pharmaceutical company Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA is close to an agreement to acquire some of Medicines Co’s cardiovascular assets for several hundred millions of dollars, according to people familiar with the matter. The transaction would allow Chiesi to expand its global footprint, while freeing up capital for Medicines Co to invest in its drug development pipeline. Based in Parsippany, New Jersey, Medicines Co has a market capitalization of $2.5 billion.
ROME (AP) — An Italian parliament-mandated health survey has confirmed higher-than-normal incidents of death and cancer among residents in and around Naples, thanks to decades of toxic waste dumping by the local Camorra mob.