News Briefs

Virginia targets dogs, underage drinking

Owners of dangerous dogs face tougher penalties and adults who serve booze to underage guests are targeted under new state laws that took effect July 1 in Virginia.

The dog-mauling death of 82-year-old widow Dorothy Sullivan prompted one of the session’s most high-profile initiatives, legislation imposing tough penalties on the owners of dogs that seriously injure others. Lawmakers approved legislation to make a felony certain dog attacks that result in serious injury, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Also starting July, it became illegal for Virginians to serve alcoholic beverages to guests under age 21 unless those guests are accompanied by a parent, guardian or spouse 21 or older. Previously, there was no law specifically prohibiting residents from serving alcohol to teenage guests in private homes.

“This needed, new law not only closes a loophole in Virginia law but also, hopefully, the door to the high school graduation kegger,” said Kurt Gregory Erickson, president of the McLean-based Washington Regional Alcohol Program.

States reject pharma laws

New York, Rhode Island and Delaware are the latest states to reject pharmacy benefit manager fiduciary and disclosure laws in 2006. According to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, 20 states have rejected bills in the first six months of the year.

Two bills – in Maine and the District of Columbia – have been enacted since 2003. However, the District of Columbia law has been blocked from taking effect by the U.S. District Court and is currently being litigated.