The U.S. Justice Dept. has filed a civil lawsuit in Massachusetts accusing Forest Laboratories of inappropriately marketing antidepressants Celexa and Lexapro for children and paying kickbacks to pediatricians who prescribed the drugs. The charges revolve around a promotion that included fishing trips, golf and spa outings as well as tickets for physicians to attend sporting events and Broadway theaters as well as meals at fine restaurants. Prosecutors says Celexa is no more effective than a placebo when taken by children or teenagers, and, in fact, more patients taking it report suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide. The Food and Drug …

All of a sudden, two-for-one offers are showing up in a variety of venues -- from restaurants to retailers to telecommunications companies -- in an attempt to entice consumers who are tightening their fists around the purse strings. It's a way to avoid conditioning consumers for discounts and to assuage the guilt that they feel about shopping in such difficult times. "People are more willing to make a purchase if they feel they're being responsible," says Thomas Hine, author of I Want That! How We All Became Shoppers. Some examples Horovitz cites are T.G.I. Friday's offer of two entrees …

Saks says it will not aggressively discount prestige brands in the year ahead as it did in the last quarter, Jonathan Birchall reports. CEO Stephen Sadove compares the price cuts of up to 70% that Saks rolled out in early December with the discounting produced by the slump in demand following the 9/11 attacks. He says the retailer had had no option but to cut prices and to cancel and return orders to its vendors. "It was an ugly period; we ruffled some feathers," he admits in a reference to the retailer's relationships with suppliers. The discounting reduced Saks' …

Vacancy rates at U.S. malls climbed to 7.1% in the fourth quarter, the highest rate since Reis Inc. started tracking the figure in 2000, and many are reinventing themselves to stay relevant, Kris Hudson reports. Weaker malls that struggled prior to the recession are recruiting unorthodox tenants, such as community colleges and libraries. Some are even welcoming big discounters, embracing the crowds they draw even as some tenants complain the discounters siphon sales away from small-shop operators. Many malls are rethinking their original anchor-tenant formats as department stores disappear. Luxury mall owner Taubman Centers recruited tenants such as …

A new campaign for a tired Old Navy centers on a group of "SuperModelquins" -- a dozen somewhat-creepy-looking, multi-ethnic mannequins with giant grins -- including a young family, a divorced mom and a few singles, Natalie Zmuda reports. It breaks tonight. The retailer hasn't posted positive sales results at stores open at least a year since March 2007. Last spring, Old Navy tried a high-fashion experiment that was quickly scrapped. Since then, it has retooled its target customer -- now 25- to 35-year-old females, predominantly moms -- and made management changes, including promoting Tom Wyatt to president. Wyatt says …