New lab incidents fuel fear, safety concerns in Congress

Scientists wearing space-suitlike protective gear searched for hours in May for a mouse — infected with a virus similar to Ebola — that had escaped inside Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, one of the federal government's highest-security research facilities, according to newly obtained incident reports that provide a window into the secretive world of bioterror lab accidents.

During the same month at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, a lab worker suffered a cut while trying to round up escaped ferrets that had been infected with a deadly strain of avian influenza, records show. Four days later at Colorado State University's bioterrorism lab, a worker failed to ensure dangerous bacteria had been killed before shipping specimens — some of them still able to grow — to another lab where a worker unwittingly handled them without key protective gear.

Nobody was sickened in the incidents and the mouse was caught the next day. Yet in the wake of serious lab mishaps with anthrax and bird flu at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that prompted an uproar and a Congressional hearing this summer, these additional incidents are further fueling bipartisan concern about lab safety.

"As long as we keep having an ad hoc system of oversight in this country, we're going to keep seeing more and more incidents," said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight subcommittee that held the hearing in July.

Added subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy, R-Pa.: "These incidents underscore why the committee has been investigating the safety of high-containment labs."

Savile Row Super 120s Modern-Fit Wool Stretch Flat-Front Dress Pants - Men
Popcorn Scoop Box - 1.25 oz. - 500 pk.
Home Styles Bermuda Vanity and Bench, White
Roller Derby Falcon Girl'S Inline/Roller Combo Skate
Marmot Ashton Jacket - Women's Black, XS
Sbicca - Adelaide (Teal) - Footwear
ECCO - Chase Tie (Warm Grey Fuego Nubuck) - Footwear
E! Live from the Red Carpet - Inez (Quicksilver Vitello) - Footwear
GEOSTAR GS716 P245/75R16 109S B
Chaps Faux-Crocodile Embossed Leather Slim Card Case Wallet - Men
Bosch Glow Plug - 80035
Providence 6-Person Resin Wicker Patio Dining Set With Lazy Susan
Lockefield Wooden Stool
Tart - Adrianna Maxi (Tie Dye Chevron) - Apparel
Nike Michigan State Spartans Never Stop Tee - Men
Reebok Women's Red LES MILLS BODYPUMP Tank
Nike Girls' Grade School Jordan Flight SC-3 Basketball Shoes
Non-Iron Slim Fit Alternate Overcheck Dress Shirt
Sterilite Large Tall Modular Drawer, Set of 3
El Raton Pocket Holsters - Lcp Pocket Holster
ECCO - Birmingham Dress Lace-Up (Whisky) - Footwear
RedHead Stars and Stripes Shirt for Men - Short Sleeve
VIONIC with Orthaheel Technology - Zoe Casual Flat (Tan) - Footwear
Magnuson Supercharger System 1320 3.6L
Anne Klein - Bosu (Pewter Patent) - Footwear
Cerakote Ovencure Refills - Cerakote Oven Cure Refill, Dark Earth
American Tourister Luggage, Roadshow 4-pc. Floral Luggage Set
Trough, Firebox - Model G352-2100-W1
Dansko - Irene (Sand Nubuck) - Footwear
Aquatalia by Marvin K. 'Famous' Bootie Womens Military Green Suede 9.5 M
Thetford Toilet Riser-Bone
Home Classics Chelsea Standard Sham
Home Decor Print Fabric-SMC Designs Telescope / Eucalyptus
Lilly Pulitzer - Emmett Maxi Dress (Ariel Blue King Street Lace) - Apparel

The CDC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture jointly run the Federal Select Agent Program that oversees government, university and private laboratories working with dangerous viruses, bacteria and toxins called "select agents" because they're deemed to pose serious threats to people and agriculture and could potentially be used as bioweapons. Most of these facilities are "high-containment" laboratories operating at biosafety levels 3 and 4, the highest levels. Each level has increasingly sophisticated safety equipment and protocols to protect researchers from infection and keep deadly pathogens from being released.

The Government Accountability Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress, has warned for years that no single federal entity is responsible for oversight of high-containment labs and there are no national standards for their design or operation. It isn't even known how many high-containment labs are in operation nationwide because those working with dangerous pathogens that aren't on the federal "select agent" list — such as tuberculosis, MERS-CoV coronavirus and some potentially deadly bird flu strains — aren't required to register with the CDC-USDA program.

Citing bioterrorism laws, the Federal Select Agent Program doesn't publicly release details about accidents occurring in regulated labs. More than 1,100 incidents involving select agents were reported by labs from 2008 through 2012 and more than half were serious enough workers received medical evaluation or treatment, USA TODAY reported in August after obtaining copies of the program's annual reports to Congress. The reports, however, don't name the labs and provide few details beyond tallies of incidents by type.

The details of the May incidents were revealed in minutes of those labs' institutional biosafety committees and related reports obtained by Edward Hammond, former director of the Sunshine Project, an independent lab watchdog group that operated from 1999-2008, until it lost funding.

Hammond said it's difficult for policymakers and the public to judge the safety of labs and weigh the risks and benefits of proliferating bioterror-related research projects without data on how often incidents occur and details about what happened.

"We need to require reporting and for reporting to be public," said Hammond, now a researcher based in Austin.

Since August, Hammond has been requesting minutes of recent biosafety committee meetings from about 100 labs across the country and is in the process of reviewing the records to identify incidents. Entities that receive funding for recombinant DNA research from the National Institutes of Health are required to make certain records available to the public, including biosafety committee minutes.

Among the initial records Hammond has received and reviewed so far, he identified those at Colorado State, St. Jude and Rocky Mountain National Laboratories as among the most troubling and provided copies to USA TODAY.

Colorado State University

At Colorado State University in Fort Collins, home to the Rocky Mountain Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research, records show there were two significant lab accidents in May. The university blacked-out key information in the documents – such as the names of the pathogens and researchers involved in the accidents. Although the university cited select agent rules as the reason for the redactions, it routinely publishes on its website the names of researchers and the bioterror agents they study.

University officials answered questions about the incidents in interviews with USA TODAY.

On May 16, a researcher, in a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) lab boiled tubes containing specimens of Burkholderia pseudomallei that had been genetically modified to be resistant to the antibiotic kanamycin, records show. The bacteria, which can sicken people and animals with a variety of symptoms including pneumonia and life-threatening bloodstream infections, are classified as a Tier 1 select agent – a designation given by the federal government to a handful of pathogens deemed to present the "greatest risk of deliberate misuse with significant potential for mass casualties or devastating effect to the economy, critical infrastructure, or public confidence, and pose a severe threat to public health and safety." The university blacked out the name of the bacteria in the records it released, but missed one reference to "B. pseudomallei."

The heat from boiling was supposed to deactivate the bacteria so it could be safely worked with in a lower-level lab where scientists don't wear respirators and the rooms lack negative air pressure and other special equipment designed to contain dangerous germs.

As a check to ensure the specimens had been sterilized, the worker put a sample from each tube into an incubator to see if the bacteria would grow, the records show. But rather than wait for the results of that safety check, which can take a day or more, the tubes were sent the same day to the lower-level lab at the same facility where another lab staffer – whose only safety gear noted in the report was a pair of gloves – transferred them to new tubes.

"Based on past experience that all samples prepared and tested this way over the last 6+ years had been sterile, DNA samples were presumed to be sterile, and brought out of the BSL-3 that afternoon," the incident report says. But on May 19, two of the 20 the supposedly sterile safety-check samples showed signs of growth. The lower-level lab was decontaminated. As a precaution, the researcher who had worked with the bacteria without proper protective gear received antibiotics for three weeks and never showed signs of infection, according to the records and university officials.

House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., and ranking member Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., listen to testimony on Capitol Hill on July 16 during a hearing on an incident at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab that handles bioterrorism agents.(Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke, AP)

Earlier this summer the CDC in Atlanta also failed to confirm that anthrax spores had been deactivated before sending them to lower level labs at the agency – resulting in the potential exposure of dozens of workers to a particularly deadly strain of the bacteria discovered when growth was later seen on safety check plates. None have showed signs of infection. In June the CDC posted updated guidance to labs on its website about ensuring select agents are rendered inactive by using validated methods and safety checks.

Colorado State's vice president for research, Alan Rudolph, told USA TODAY that standard procedure was to ship Burkholderia samples out of the BSL-3 lab without confirmation of inactivation because the process had been 100% successful in the past. The lab now requires a 24- to 48-hour wait time to check for any growth, he said, and some researchers wait 48-72 hours "as an additional safety measure, but this is not mandated," he said.

Rudolph said it's a mystery why all the bacteria weren't deactivated in the May incident. "But we know this particular agent, Burkholderia pseudomallei, acts in unusual ways," he said, and that's one reason why it's important to study it so better tests and treatments can be developed against drug-resistant strains.

One of the university's top Burkholderia researchers, Herbert Schweizer, has said the "strict regulations imposed on researchers in the United States but not in other parts of the world" impedes genetic research into these select agent bacteria, according to a 2008 article he co-authored in an infectious disease journal. Schweizer, whose research is part of the NIH grant number cited in the incident report, was unavailable for comment, the university said.

"We have a great track record of safety," Rudolph said, noting that the university has worked safely for years with select agents. "This is an incident, as we reported, and we should learn from it."

About a week after the Burkholderia mishap, there was another serious incident at one of the university's high-containment labs experimenting with bacteria that cause tuberculosis. The May 28 incident was considered by the university's biosafety officer to be "a severe incident because it potentially put several others in jeopardy," according to the university's biosafety committee minutes for July.

Yet the researcher failed to mention the TB incident to the biosafety officer for about three weeks "because the individual was tired and forgot," the minutes say. "Once they were notified the BSO decontaminated the room" and sent e-mails to everyone who may have been exposed "during this time frame," the minutes say, noting that risks of infection were deemed minimal because of the use of protective gear by lab workers.

The minutes don't say what the researcher did wrong and the university blacked out information that identifies the incident as occurring in a TB lab.

Rudolph said the issue involved pus from a dead guinea pig getting outside of a special biosafety cabinet when a TB researcher was removing a lymph node from the animal. He said the interior and exterior of the cabinet were immediately disinfected but because of the nature of the incident "there was the possibility that the bacterium had been aerosolized."

"In research it's very difficult to envision a zero-risk environment," Rudolph said. The key, he said, is to balance working as safely as possible while still pursuing work that is critical to protecting public health.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

At St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, which has an internationally recognized influenza research facility, a worker in an enhanced BSL-3 lab on May 12 discovered that five ferrets had escaped their cage. The ferrets had been inoculated a week earlier with the deadly H7N9 avian influenza virus but didn't show any symptoms, according to the hospital's incident report.

H7N9 is a strain of bird flu that in 2013 was first identified as having seriously sickened some people in China. Contact with infected poultry or contaminated environments is believed to be the source of most H7N9 infections in people, according to the CDC, but there has been limited spread of the virus from person-to-person in rare instances. Most people sickened by the strain have suffered severe respiratory illness and about one-third have died.

Human infections with the H7N9 strain of avian influenza virus were first identified in China in early 2013.(Photo: CDC)

As the worker at St. Jude corralled the ferrets and put them back in their cage, she noticed that she'd gotten a tear in the double gloves on her right hand, and she later found she had sustained a small cut to her index finger.

Although the occupational health physician concluded her risk of exposure to the H7N9 virus was "very low," the tech was offered a five-day course of an anti-viral drug and underwent blood tests to look for signs of infection and none were found. After reviewing the report filed by the lab, NIH wrote a letter saying the hospital responded appropriately to the incident. H7N9 is not among the pathogens on the federal government's select agent list.

According to the hospital's incident report, the H7N9 virus being used in the experiment was created through reverse genetics and "made to be the same as the wild type viral sequence with no introduced mutations." The research was being overseen by Richard Webby, according to the records, which did not redact his name or the names of pathogens.

In June, when St. Jude's biosafety committee reviewed the ferret escape incident, it also approved a new project proposed by Webby to do a controversial type of researchthat the minutes say has the "high likelihood of conferring enhancements" – in other words making more dangerous – strains of avian influenza virus that currently only have a low ability to produce disease.

"After assessment of the biosafety risks, the committee had no biosafety concerns" about Webby's proposed research and approved the project, the minutes say.

Hammond said the ferret escape incident would be even more concerning if it occurred with a lab-created strain that is engineered to be more dangerous because of the potential for an infected lab worker to spread it in the community. Such "gain of function" experiments, he notes, are highly controversial.

In August 2013, Webby was among nearly two-dozen co-signers of a letter in the journal Nature arguing that controversial experiments are urgently needed to see what changes in the genome of the H7N9 virus could make it more deadly so scientists can better understand its potential to cause a future pandemic among people if it were to mutate naturally.

Other scientists oppose the work as too dangerous and of limited value when balanced against what may be learned.

Officials from St. Jude declined to be interviewed and did not answer many of USA TODAY's questions. In an e-mailed statement, St. Jude said: "We have a robust biological safety program that meets and exceeds all federal standards." The hospital did not answer questions about Webby's new research project, but said: "The project has not been started at St. Jude."

Rocky Mountain Laboratories

Around 11 a.m. on May 16, scientists in one of Rocky Mountain Laboratories' biosafety level 4 labs in Hamilton, Mont., thought they had fully anesthetized several mouselike rodents called Mastomys.

The animals had been infected with a strain of Lassa virus 21 days earlier, according tothe lab's incident report.

Lassa virus causes a type of hemorrhagic fever which has symptoms similar to Ebola, such as bleeding from the gums, eyes or nose, and repeated vomiting. According to the CDC, crude estimates are that about 100,000 to 300,000 people are infected with Lassa fever each year in West Africa and about 5,000 die from it. Lassa virus is considered by regulators to be a select agent.

Rocky Mountain Laboratories is operated by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of NIH.

The space-suit clad scientist was reaching into the cage to remove a sedated mouse to undergo a procedure as part of research to understand the infectious process of Lassa fever virus. That's when another of the rodents jumped out of the cage, ran down the procedure table and dropped to the floor. It was last seen running behind the table, before it disappeared.

For "1-2 hours" the scientists in the bulky, pressurized protective suits searched for the mouse in and around the table and throughout the procedure corridor – but couldn't find it, records show.

Live traps containing food were placed around the room, a "Do Not Enter" sign was posted and the bottom of the door was barricaded to prevent escape, the records say. Staff were also instructed "to visually make eye contact with the floor surrounding the door to ensure the rodent did not attempt to leave the room as the door was opened/closed." Yet when scientists went back into the room at 3:30 p.m., they still couldn't find the rodent.

Lassa virus causes Lassa fever, a severe viral illness common in West Africa. While symptoms are mild in most people, the virus can be deadly for others. In 20% of infected people the disease may progress to include hemorrhaging, including from the gums, eyes and nose, as well as severe vomiting, neurological problems and organ failure, according to the CDC.(Photo: CDC)

In the wild, Mastomys are considered a natural host of Lassa virus and once infected are able to shed the virus in their urine and droppings.

The next morning when staff entered the BSL-4 lab suite they captured the animal in the necropsy room, where dead animals are dissected. "The animal was disposed of," the records say, and surfaces were decontaminated in the animal procedure corridor, the necropsy room and a support room.

Lab officials didn't initially believe they needed to report the incident to the select agent program as a possible release, the incident report says. However CDC select agent officials told the federal lab it needed to be reported.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the agency that runs the lab said: "The animal could not exit the BSL-4 laboratory and, as expected, was found the following morning. At no time was there a hazard to other parts of the facility or to the surrounding community." It was the first time a rodent had escaped inside the maximum-containment lab, the agency said.

Because 21 days had passed since it was infected with Lassa virus, researchers believe it would have already cleared the animal's system and it would not have been shedding virus at the time of the escape. "Regardless, the risk of virus exposure to laboratory workers is extremely low because of the protective, positive-pressure suits they wear, all of which functioned properly during this incident," the agency said.

Despite such assurances from all the labs, some in Congress remain wary.

"It used to be we only had a few labs doing this very high level and risky research. Now we have them at places like St. Jude and academic research institutions like CSU and other places," said DeGette. "It appears none of these breaches have lead to any kind of infection. But it's only a matter of time."

Corporate inversions mean tax hit for shareholders

For an investor who says he just dabbles in stocks, Minnesota doctor James Allen has succeeded far better than most.

By his estimate, Allen has accumulated a more than $1 million stake in Medtronic (MDT), the world's largest medical technology firm, headquartered not far from his home in the Twin Cities area.

He intended to continue holding the stock long-term, for retirement or other special needs. But his plan was unexpectedly upended in June. Medtronic announced it would undergo a corporate inversion by reincorporating its headquarters in Ireland after buying Dublin-based rival Covidien (COV) in a $42.9 billion cash and stock transaction.

The pending deal is expected to help Medtronic avoid billions of dollars of U.S. taxes on future foreign profits if the company opts to invest them in the U.S., such as by building new plants, funding research or buying back stock. The transaction could be complicated by new restrictions on inversions announced Monday night by the Obama administration.

USATODAY

Treasury to crack down on corporate tax 'inversions'

Trina Turk Multi-Color Exotic Print Tankini Top
Vance & Hines Cruzers - Spirit 750 - V31463
Apt. 9 Pleated Crepe Top - Women's
Pour La Victoire - Elie (Black/White Napa Patent) - Footwear
Fossil 'Sydney Patchwork' Leather Clutch Wallet Raisin One Size
Frill Pillow in Elephant design by Oromono
Natural Reflections Knit Dress for Ladies
South Shore Versa 5-Drawer Chest and 2 NightStands Set, Ebony
Cocoon CoolMax Mummy Liner
Gucci 'Elizabeth' Peep Toe Pump Black 7.5US / 37.5EU
Tropiculture Plus Size Black Draped Mesh Halter Swimsuit
kate spade new york 'gabe too' pointy toe flat Black/ White Houndstooth 7.5 M
Totes Rain Hat with Buckle One Size Fits Most, Black
Kelloggs Bite Size Cereal/Frosted Mini Wheats In A Cup, 2.5 oz., 6/Pack
JR AUZZELLE PRINTED JCKT
Michael Stars - Scallop Lace 3/4 Sleeves Boatneck Dress (Black/Nude) - Apparel
Visual Comfort CHA8646ALB-NP Chart House 1 Light Contemporary Balustrade Table Lamp in Alabaster with Natural Paper Shade
Han Kjobenhavn Tapered Jeans - Hand Dye Raw
Frenchi Woven Swing Tank (Juniors) Grey Rabbit X-Small
Victoria Classics Kendall 9-pc.Bed Set - XL Twin
Avalon Eyewear 1814 - Safari - Size: 51 - 18 - 24 - 135
Marc Fisher Women's 'Sushi' Man-Made Dress Shoes (Size 6.5)
TRIBECCA HOME Floral 62-inch Silver Crystal Floor Lamp
Go Dog Barnyard Buddies Cow Mama Plush Toy with Chew Guard Technology
Tyler Rodan Orion Tote - Pewter Pewter
Wearever Ceramic Brake Pads - Front (4-Pad Set) - CNAD 702
Million Bullpup Polka Dot Boho Tunic MT1014
Jessica Simpson - Annie Tote (Black) - Bags and Luggage
Mudd Tribal Hooded Cardigan - Juniors
Sony ICF-CS20BT Bluetooth Clock Speaker With NFC, Black
All-Clad - MC2 3 Qt. Saut Pan With Lid (Brushed Aluminum) - Home
Boston Traveler Leather Multi-pocket Neck ID Holder
Seventeen Zebra Darling Comforter Set

For investors like Allen, the deal, if completed, means a more than 33% federal and state tax hit on capital gains — hundreds of thousands of dollars in all. Other shareholders of firms undergoing inversions also face tax bills of varying size.

Why? Because under federal tax laws the IRS considers such deals taxable events, treating them as if long-term shareholders sold their stock and booked gains — even if they opted to exchange their holdings for shares in the newly incorporated company.

"It wasn't in my planning," said Allen. "I think it's reasonable to have taxes in a country as wonderful as this one. But I don't always like paying them."

Allen is among many U.S. shareholders who face unexpected financial consequences from inversion plans being pursued or under consideration roughly a dozen U.S. firms. The companies, which would benefit from lower taxes overseas while maintaining much of their U.S. operations, include such familiar names as banana market giant Chiquita Brands International (CQB) and the Burger King Worldwide (BKW) fast food chain.

As the transactions move forward, shareholders who, like Allen, have seen the value of their shares appreciate or even skyrocket over time, are consulting with financial planners and lawyers and seeking ways to ease the capital gains bite. Separately, Medtronic said it will provide tax-planning services to its shareholders.

"It just goes to show you, you have to plan for all possible contingencies," said Laurie Laner, a Minneapolis-based financial planner advising a client who faces a tax hit on the $54 billion proposed inversion by AbbVie (ABBV) the North Chicago biopharmaceutical firm buying Dublin-based rival Shire (SHPG).

An estimated 47 U.S. firms reincorporated overseas via inversions during the last 10 years, more than in the previous two decades combined, according to an analysis by the Congressional Research Service.

Corporate America cites a market-driven rationale: The top U.S. tax rate on businesses is 35%, the highest among industrialized nations, and domestic firms need lower taxes to keep competitive with international business rivals.

Many of the U.S. firms pursuing inversions also tout projections of long-range growth, lower taxes and higher earnings per share — benefits that could make the transactions good deals for shareholders in the long run. In a recent presentation at a Morgan Stanley healthcare conference, AbbVie CFO Bill Chase said his company's annual dividend is expected to rise more than 15% when the Shire transaction is completed.

The Obama administration, however, says companies that pursue inversions are unpatriotically "gaming the system" and potentially eroding the federal tax base while continuing to take advantage of the U.S. economy and domestic services. Congressional Democrats have joined the attack, introducing several proposed lawsaimed at halting inversions.

Congressional Republicans say the issue should be addressed in a broad revision of the federal tax code that includes a reduction in the top U.S. levy on businesses. However, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Senate finance committee's ranking Republican, agreed that inversions erode the U.S. tax base and could be addressed by temporary, bipartisan action.

In a Sept. 11 speech for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Hatch predicted legislation could be enacted if it served as a bridge to comprehensive tax reform, was not retroactive, was revenue neutral regarding the federal budget and helped shift the U.S. away from taxing companies on worldwide income, rather than what they earn domestically.

Amid continued Capitol Hill gridlock in a congressional election year, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew Monday night announced new restrictions that are expected to make corporate inversions harder to complete and less profitable.

"Now that it's clear that Congress won't act before the Lame Duck session (after the November elections) we're taking initial steps that we believe will make companies think twice before undertaking an inversion to try to avoid U.S. taxes," said Lew. "Inversion transactions erode our corporate tax base, unfairly placing a larger burden on all other taxpayers, including small businesses and hard-working Americans."

The announcement drew applause from Democrats and criticism from Republicans. Medtronic said it was studying the Treasury action and would "release our perspective on any potential impact on our pending acquisition of Covidien following our complete review."

Permanent restrictions on the transactions would ensure that $19.5 billion in projected corporate tax payments are not lost to the U.S. treasury over the next decade, according to a May estimate by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Some economists and tax experts have questioned that estimate. Allan Sloan, Fortunemagazine's senior editor at large, called it "way, way low" in July testimony to the Senate Committee on Finance.

In contrast to the heavy national focus on the broader inversion issue, somewhat less attention has been devoted to the tax impact on shareholders.

"The market as a whole seems to be less sensitive to shareholder-level tax than one might expect," said Edward Kleinbard, a law professor at the University of Southern California and author of the forthcoming book "We Are Better Than This: How Government Should Spend Our Money."

Some investors who hold shares of inverting companies through mutual funds may not yet realize they could face capital gains taxes. Dan Wiener, CEO of Adviser Investments and editor of the Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors, said the cumulative capital gains tax payment due could total millions of dollars. The individual hit won't be known until the end of the year, when mutual funds complete annual reports, he said.

"From an investor point of view, nobody's talking about this," said Wiener. "That's ludicrous. It's potentially a lot of money."

Joel Dickson, a senior investment strategist at Vanguard, said Wiener's projections might be inflated. He said any capital gains assessed to mutual fund shareholders of companies that undergo inversions could be offset by losses also carried on the funds' books.

That wouldn't help Allen. The father of three says he's exploring the possibility of donating some of his Medtronic shares to charity, and gifting some of the stock to his children. Those moves would help offset the capital gains hit.

"If you've had any large charitable bequests you'd want to make, this would be the time to do it," said John Gustavson, of CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors in Minneapolis. But he cautioned "it's not like there's a magic bullet to make it (the capital gains levy) go away."

Still, there is one group of investors for whom some inversion-related taxes won't be an issue. Several companies pursuing the transactions said they plan to pay excise taxes that officers and directors face as a result of the deals. The excise levy was approved by Congress as a way to discourage corporate inversions.

Medtronic estimated its cost at $63 million late last month. The company said the decision was made to ensure that the officials' evaluation of the inversion deal with Shire wouldn't be tainted by the specter of a personal bill for excise taxes. The levies are imposed in addition to the capital gains taxes all shareholders pay in inversion transactions.

"The tax is almost prohibitive in terms of its amount," Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak said at the company's annual shareholders meeting in August.

Allen said he was angered by the payments, and the explanation.

"How do they get away with easing their own tax burden but not that of the hoi polloi?" he asked. "It's like the federal government declaring that Congress should not be subject to income taxes because it might taint their tax policy."

Disputes over religion return to Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — A Muslim prisoner in Arkansas, a Christian pastor in Arizona and an 11-year-old Jewish boy born in Jerusalem will present the Supreme Court with three chances in the next few months to rule on cases with religious overtones.

It won't be anything new to the justices, who divided 5-4 on two controversial religious freedom cases in their last term. The court's conservative majority upheld the practice of opening government meetings with a prayer, even when nearly all the clergy are Christian. And it exempted family-owned businesses with religious objections from having to pay for contraceptives in their insurance plans under Obamacare.

Compared with those cases, the new trio are flying under the radar. One focuses on prison inmates. Another deals with outdoor signs. The third affects Americans born in Jerusalem.

All three cases will bring the delicate issue of religion back to the court chamber, along with questions about politics, public safety and Middle East peace.

"It shows how intertwined religion is with political life," says Marc Stern, general counsel for the American Jewish Committee. "As much as one talks about separation of church and state, it's not so simple to disentangle sometimes."

Here's a look at the cases in the order they will reach the court:

JVC TS-CL110UAA Lamp Replacement
AB Studio Space-Dyed Tiered Top - Women's
REI Camp Stowaway Low Chair
Michael Antonio - Garabi Low (Black) - Footwear
msi GT 15.6" Gaming Notebook, Intel Core i7-4800MQ 2.7 GHz, Brush Aluminum Black
Vaneli - Pluto - Printed Snake Wedge Sandal
New Balance - MX20v3 Mid (Red) - Footwear
Tisco Solenoid, TP-AR54991
Nike 'Junior Tiempo Genio' Leather Soccer Cleat (Little Kid & Big Kid) Total Crimson/ Silver/ White 4 M
Calvin Klein - Vivian SS Nappa/Herringbone (Black) - Footwear
StarTech Black USB3SDOCKHD Universal USB 3.0 Laptop Docking Station - Dual Video HDMI DVI w/ Audio Ethernet
Dr. Scholl's - Sofia - Original Collection (Noce) - Footwear
10X1090 - Continental V Belt/Drive Belt
Fuji 1GB SD Memory Card, Camera Case, Mini Tripod & Accessories
Argento Vivo Small Teardrop Earrings
Culture Phit - Ayden Dress (Light Purple Tye Dye) - Apparel
Reebok Phoenix Coyotes Dri-Tek Tee - Boys 8-20
Steve Madden - M-Orbitt (Navy) - Footwear
Safavieh Elizabeth Aubusson Rug, 2' x 3'
WLLE Western Style Fashion Floral Print Shirt Collar Long Sleeve Colorful Shirts
Itech JP610W Women's Power Sports Bra
Steve Madden - Tandee Tote (Black) - Bags and Luggage
Edmonton Oilers Old Time Hockey NHL Floyd Flex Cap
Officine Creative Brown Leather Strapped Apuana Sandals
Women's Sleeveless Pattern Ponte Welt Pocket Dress - Sarsaparilla Dots, 12
Apt. 9 Touch N Go Polka-Dot Universal Cell Phone Wristlet Case
1911 Auto Magazines - .45 Govt/Comm S/S 7 Rd. Round Follower W/Welded Base
Hillsdale Cameron Parson Counter Height Stools - Set of 2
Regency Seating Glass Computer Corner Desk, Black
Kohler K-16102-4 Revival Widespread Faucet with Scroll Lever Handles
Dickies Sanded Duck Sherpa Land Jacket - Men
Patagonia Print Bottom Turn Bikini Top - Women's Takiyah: Desert Turquoise, XL
Adidas Outdoor Terrex Solo Approach Shoe - Men's Light Scarlet/Black/Solar Slime, 9.5

A DEVOUT MUSLIM'S BEARD

Say this much about Gregory Holt, also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad: He convinced the Supreme Court to hear his case with a 15-page, handwritten petition, something the justices wouldn't normally look at.

Holt's grievance stems from the Arkansas Department of Corrections rule prohibiting beards unless medically required — a policy more than 40 other prison systems do not share. Muslims wear beards as part of their religious faith; Holt has agreed to keep his no longer than a half-inch long.

"This is a matter of grave importance, pitting the rights of Muslim inmates against a system that is hostile to these views," he wrote in his petition. "It can affect thousands of inmates and is creating unnecessary attention between Muslims and their keepers."

Prison officials call Holt "a Yemen-trained Muslim fundamentalist" who threatened to kidnap and harm President George W. Bush's daughters. He is serving a life sentence as a habitual offender for aggravated residential burglary and domestic battery after stabbing a former girlfriend in the neck and chest.

The state argues that long beards can be used to hide weapons and contraband. But last month, the state admitted its brief to the court mistakenly said a prisoner had committed suicide with a razor hidden in his beard. The razor had been supplied by prison officials.

Holt brought suit under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), passed unanimously by Congress in 2000. Like the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act of 1993 — the basis for the successful challenge to the contraception mandate by Hobby Lobby and other family-owned corporations — the statute is intended to protect religious rights.

Both the federal district and appeals courts ruled against Holt, even though a magistrate who heard testimony said it was "almost preposterous" to think he could hide a weapon in his beard. The judges reasoned that Holt had been granted several other religious rights, such as a prayer rug, a special diet and holiday observances, and they deferred to the state's judgement about its security needs.

The case is scheduled to be heard Oct. 7. The federal government and 16 religious and law enforcement groups have lined up behind Holt, and the Justice Department cited what it called the state's "exaggerated fears or mere speculation" about security.

A HOLY CITY'S LOCATION

Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky was born in Israel in 2002 — or so his parents thought.

Actually, the young man was born in Jerusalem, a holy city claimed by Israelis and Palestinians — and not recognized by the U.S. government as part of any country.

Under long-standing U.S. policy, Zivotofsky's birthplace was listed on his passport as "Jerusalem" — period. His parents went to court in 2003 to change it to "Jerusalem, Israel." They later agreed to settle for simply "Israel."

For more than a decade, the family has been at the center of a legal battle between the executive and legislative branches that has had judges digging through founding documents and researching policies dating back to George Washington's administration.

"The status of the city of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues in recorded history," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit noted last year. "For more than two millennia, the city has been won and lost by a host of sovereigns."

Congress passed a wide-ranging foreign relations law in 2003 requiring that Israel be recorded as the place of birth for Americans born in Jerusalem, if they request it. President George W. Bush signed the law but indicated he would not abide by that provision, which runs counter to U.S. policy in the Middle East. President Obama has stuck by that position.

Until now, federal courts have sided with the president and against Congress — and the Zivotofskys. Though Congress has a role to play in passports and immigration, courts have ruled that presidents have the power to recognize foreign nations.

The law passed by Congress "runs headlong into a carefully calibrated and long-standing executive branch policy of neutrality toward Jerusalem," the appeals court ruled.

The Zivotofskys' brief to the court belittles fears of foreign policy retaliation if some of the estimated 50,000 Americans born in Jerusalem get their passports altered. They note that for 20 years, the same treatment has been accorded Americans born in Taiwan, even though the United States does not recognize Taiwan's sovereignty.

"Nobody is going to look at this and say, 'Ah, it's a political statement about Jerusalem,' " argues Steve Freeman, director of legal affairs at the Anti-Defamation League.

A CHURCH'S 'SIGN' LANGUAGE

Good News Presbyterian Church in Gilbert, Ariz., lives on a shoestring. Its Sunday services are held at a senior center. In the past, it used an elementary school in the city next door.

The church, which has only a couple of dozen members, is heavily dependent on signs posted around town that advertise its service hours and location. Under Gilbert's sign code, those temporary directional signs are dwarfed by others that can be much larger and stay on public property much longer — political campaign signs, for instance.

For six years, the church and its pastor, Clyde Reed, have waged a legal battle against the town for equal treatment. Its free speech claim is that non-commercial signs should be treated similarly. Although political signs can be 32 square feet and stand for up to five months in some cases, the church's signs are limited to 6 square feet and 12 hours before each service.

Though the dispute focuses only on a town sign code, the church's lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom, which focuses on religious freedom issues, says it applies to billboards, news racks, picketing, cable broadcast signals and video games.

The town says the restrictions are not based on content; politics, for instance, isn't favored over religion. Rather, it says, the differences are due to the reasons for posting signs — and elections are different from directions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided with the town in a divided ruling. "Each exemption is based on objective criteria, and none draws distinctions based on the particular content of the sign," a three-judge panel ruled last year. "It makes no difference which candidate is supported, who sponsors the event or what ideological perspective is asserted."

Judge Paul Watford, who was named to the bench by President Obama and is a potential Supreme Court nominee, dissented. He noted that the time limitation on Good News' signs relegates them mostly to darkness.

The town treats political and ideological speech as more valuable, Watford said, "and therefore entitled to greater protection from regulation than speech promoting events sponsored by non-profit organizations. That is precisely the value judgment that the 1st and 14th Amendments forbid Gilbert to make."

The Supreme Court has been particularly sensitive to the perception that religious speech is discriminated against, says Paul Smith, chair of the Supreme Court and appellate practice at Jenner & Block. That could mean good news for Good News Presbyterian.