An article published today in the New England Journal of Medicine accuses the makers of antidepressants like Prozac and Paxil of misleading doctors and consumers about the drugs' true effectiveness. An analysis of numerous unpublished studies submitted to the Food and Drug Administration by pharmaceutical companies finds that many popular antidepressants have little or no effect on patients. Dr. Erick H. Turner, a psychiatrist and former F.D.A. reviewer, says the selective reporting of favorable studies sets up patients for disappointment. "The bottom line for people considering an antidepressant, I think, is that they should ... not be so …

Procter & Gamble, which in recent years has focused on fast-growing businesses in areas such as health care and beauty, has decided to spin off its Folgers coffee business to shareholders rather than sell it, says a person familiar with the matter. A P&G spokesman had no comment. Since taking on P&G's top post in 2000, CEO A.G. Lafley has shed most of the company's other food businesses, including Jif, Crisc and Sunny Delight. Folgers's annual sales, at just under $2 billion, are growing between 2% and 3%. While it is the top-selling ground coffee in the U.S., …

Nonprofits like Inveneo and One Laptop Per Child, which are working to bring computing and the Internet to people in the Third World who have never touched a mouse pad, are a nightmare for Microsoft, Intel and Dell. Their ventures could blow a massive hole in computer prices and win over the next wave of new users. Inveneo's computers, for example, run a Linux-based operating system on a cheap chip made by Advanced Micro Devices intended for photocopiers and cost $400 or less. The most explosive growth in technology will come from "the next billion users"--the industry's label for …

Universal has signed a one-album deal with the The Rolling Stones to release a live CD that will accompany the release of Martin Scorsese's documentary--"Shine a Light"--of the band's concert tour last year. The announcement comes as the band considers its options after its 16-year deal with troubled EMI ends next month. A new deal would incorporate the Stones' back catalogue from 1971 onwards--which is owned by the band--as well as new recordings. The deal will trigger speculation that the Rolling Stones are considering following the lead of long-time contemporary Sir Paul McCartney, as well as Radiohead, in leaving the …

While bosses at UBS's Switzerland-based private banking activities for the Americas were pressing for higher targets, wealth managers have been finding their hands increasingly tied in dealing with U.S.-based clients. From looser rules in the past, the bank's most recent "Country Paper USA" of June 1 runs to more than eight pages of detailed do's-- and mainly don'ts--for traveling staff. One temptation in the traditional "offshore" Swiss banking model has been for Switzerland-based private bankers to help--or at least hint to--clients on how to transfer assets to Switzerland, regardless of the legal implications. Executives from a number …

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who has made his keynote presentation at the opening of the Macworld Expo trade show a consistent marketing tour de force in recent years, yesterday introduced an ultralight computer called the MacBook Air. He also announced that Apple would rent digital movies The MacBook Air is a three-pound notebook computer that will sell at a base price of $1,799. Jobs admits that in order to reach his goal of making the industry's thinnest computer, designers made trade-offs that the majority of laptop buyers may not appreciate. Responding to a question about the growing array of …

Honda could be called ascendant--boasting the most fuel-efficient fleet on U.S. roads and earning top marks in reliability studies--while its Accord sedan is the nation's fifth-most sold vehicle, not far behind Toyota's Camry and Corolla. The key to Honda's success is an abundance of caution, claims Aaron Bragman, an automotive industry analyst at Global Insight. "They are very measured ... and that is why you don't see them having the same kinds of problems that Toyota is having with its expansion," he says. Although Toyota and Honda both started selling cars in the United States in the late 1950s, Honda …

Despite the Food and Drug Administration's declaration that food from cloned animals or their offspring is safe to eat, it will take years for ranchers to produce and raise the animals. And many of the nation's biggest grocers say they are dead set against selling it. "Our intention is not to accept cloned products from our suppliers," says Meghan Glynn, a spokeswoman for Kroger Co., the owner of Ralphs, Food4Less and several other chains. Safeway Inc., the owner of Safeway and Vons, says it favors continuing a voluntary ban on the use of cloned animals for food. …

Procter & Gamble will soon roll out Perfect 10, a hair-coloring kit for use at home that company executives say will address such issues as timeliness (it's designed to work in 10 minutes); odor (it smells not unlike a shampoo), and quality (lower pH levels means less damage to hair). Perfect 10 represents the first real change to hair color technology since 1956, when Clairol launched at-home hair color, according to Patrice Louvet, P&G vice president global hair colorants. Even though Revlon launched a 10-minute hair color several years ago (High Dimension, which has been discontinued), Perfect …