A television advertisement for a heart stent that promotes the products potential benefits but seems to play down the medical risks may deceive the public and should be reviewed by U.S. regulators, according to an op-ed article published on Wednesday by a leading medicaljournal. The 60-second ad for the Cypher stent, made by the Cordis subsidiary of Johnson Johnson, failed to adequately warn consumers about the potential dangers of receiving a stent, according to the article published by The...

BOSTON: Reebok International and its corporate parent, Adidas Group, an Olympic sponsor, are dropping plans for a hospitality facility to host athletes, guests and journalists at the Beijing Games because of logistical demands made by the Chinesegovernment.

Reebok, which has a major marketing campaign built around Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball star and Reebok endorser, also said there was now only a slim chance that the brand would be able to host a public event with Yao in Beijing, as the company had initially planned, said Josie Stevens, Reeboks director of global publicrelations.

The company is considering other options, including holding an event in Houston. Yao, the center for the Houston Rockets, has been getting physical therapy there since an injury thisyear.

“It was proving a challenge on the ground in terms of getting all the logistics and practicalities being asked of us,” said Stevens, who declined to provide details. “It was a difficultdecision.”

Reebok typically has a hospitality facility at the Olympics to play host to about 100 people daily. The company, which is outfitting 250 athletes, initially planned to share a facility with Adidas at a local school, but neither company will be going ahead with theplans.

These logistical difficulties, along with controversy over human rights issues in China, also led Reebok to decide against making these athletes available for news conferences or one-on-one interviews during the Olympics. Instead, Reebok plans to hire a video news service to have a mobile film crew interview athletes and distribute programming to mediaorganizations.

“As a brand,” Stevens said, “we didnt want to put our athletes in the position when being interviewed of having to explain their personal views on the human rights issue, and we also didnt want to act as a censoreither.”

Adidas said Wednesday that Reebok had not yet decided about sponsorship activities during the Olympics. “Reebok, which is not an official partner to the Olympic Games, is still planning its brand activities,” said an Adidas spokeswoman, Anne Putz, according to Bloomberg News.

Don Hinchey, a spokesman for Bonham Group, a sports and entertainment marketing firm in Denver, said everyone involved in the Olympics was on “pins and needles” about how to conduct business in Beijing with more stringent restrictions than ever before in Olympic history for journalists, athletes and businesses sponsoring theGames.

Treasury prices plunged Tuesday, giving back gains after the biggest rally in three years. Traders went into sell mode after Citigroup landed a cash injection that soothed some fears over the health of the financial sector. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, will take a 4.9% stake in Citi through a $7.5 billion issue of preferred stock. It gives Citi fresh capital as it wrestles with credit liquidity issues stemming from the subprime mortgage...