This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2001, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Legality of Clinic's Therapies Questioned
The South Jordan-based company's shares fell $2.07 the past two trading days to $5.50. BioPulse's shares are listed on the OTC Bulletin Board.
Mexican health officials from Baja California say they will visit the clinic to check on the legality question. The clinic's license permits it to perform only ambulatory therapy.
"Although we haven't done a recent inspection, we've heard that they are conducting treatments that, to be benevolent, I would call novel," Alfredo Gruel, head of regulation at the Baja Public Health Service Institute, told Bloomberg News.
BioPulse therapies are unusual and include inducing daily comas in patients over periods of six to 12 weeks, injecting vaccines made from a patient's urine and giving massive intravenous doses of vitamin C.
He said such treatments were not mentioned in BioPulse's license request. BioPulse referred all questions to the company's investor relations consultant in San Francisco, who did not return phone calls.
Bloomberg News reported BioPulse's therapies haven't been proven effective, and may be dangerous, according to U.S. cancer experts.
Apartment Vacancies Dip
The overall vacancy rate of Salt Lake area apartments was down in the third quarter of 2000, according to a quarterly report from Hendricks & Partners, a research firm for the multifamily housing industry. The vacancy rate for apartments tightened from 5.2 percent in 1999 to 3.9 percent.
Hendricks & Partners reported the most improved area was downtown Salt Lake City, where vacancies fell from 8.2 percent to 2.4 percent in the same period. Another strong area was West Valley City, which marked a low 2.5 percent vacancy rate.
Healthcare Partnership
Salt Lake City-based CompHealth Inc., a provider of healthcare recruiting and staffing services, has announced a partnership agreement with AmeriNet Inc., the nation's largest healthcare group purchasing organization.
CompHealth will provide temporary physician staffing services to AmeriNet's members in all 50 states. Physicians who contract with CompHealth will have access to 15,000 new opportunities in AmeriNet's clinics, HMOs and hospitals.