Guardian Media Group said its full-year profits more than tripled last year and confirmed it plans to buy the remaining stake in Auto Trader publisher Trader Media

Health Minister welcomes review of access to medicines safety data
Department of Health, July 21

An independent review of the the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's (MHRA) drug side effect reporting system - the Yellow Card Scheme - was welcomed by Health Minister, Lord Warner.

ProQuest Acquires SIRS Publishing
Proquest Press Release, July 21

Proquest has acquired SIRS Publishing, Inc. SIRS Publishing, Inc.'s online and CD-ROM reference databases include articles and Internet resources pertaining to social issues, science, government, the arts and humanities.

Microsoft Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings
Microsoft, July 17

Microsoft Corp. announced revenue of $8.07 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2003, an 11 percent increase over revenue of $7.25 billion for the same period in the prior year. Operating income for the fourth quarter came in at $2.19 billion, which included charges of $796 million primarily related to the settlement of the AOL Time Warner lawsuit. The company also announced revenue of $32.19 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003, a 13 percent increase over the $28.37 billion reported last year. Operating income was $13.22 billion, compared to $11.91 billion in the prior fiscal year.

American Medical Association - Doctor's use of the Internet is rising
AMA  press release, July 17

This press release publishes the findings of the 2002 AMA study of Physicians' use of the World Wide Web. - Two thirds of all US physicians online use the web every day.

80 percent of American Internet users searching for health topics online
Pew Internet, July 16

The Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that one in five Internet users has looked for mental health information, one in four has looked for health insurance information, and one in three has looked for drug information online. In all, 80% of Internet users have looked for at least one of 16 health topics.

F&W Publications announces its purchase of Adams Media Corp
Publishers Weekly, July 14

Adams, which has estimated sales of about $22 million and an operating margin of about 20%, brings total sales at F&W to approximately $250 million

Professional bodies issue new medical consent release form
British Medical Association, July 14

The BMA and the Law Society have produced a new consent form which will improve protections for the public when they agree to release their medical records

Reuters sues Bloomberg in Patent dispute
Financial Times, July 13 (print source)

Reuters has launched a lawsuit against Bloomberg over alleged patent infringement involving three patents.

Hays sells document storage unit
Yahoo News, July 12

Support services firm Hays says it is selling its document storage business, Information Management Services, to Iron Mountain Europe for 200 million pounds

Non European web retailers expected to pay VAT
The Western Australian, July 12

From July 1st, if web retailers want to keep selling into Europe, they have to register their business in one of the 15 member States of the European Union.

China claims world's largest condom
Yahoo News, July 12

A bright yellow condom covered the facade of a 20-storey, phallic-shaped hotel in the southern Chinese city of Guilin to mark U.N. World Population Day.