Business in Brief

Teva Animal Health is expanding its U.S. recall of a ketamine hydrochloride injection, which it distributes in 10-ml. vials to veterinarians. Earlier the Teva Pharmaceutical Industries unit issued a recall only to distributors. The drug is an anesthetic for cats and also used to dope monkeys. Teva said, in a statement on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site, it is expanding the recall because of an uptrend in serious adverse events, including lack of effect, prolonged effect and death. (TheMarker)

The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court yesterday extended the remand of bankrupt high-tech entrepreneur Eli Reifman for six days. He was arrested Monday for allegedly forging documents in order to borrow $6 million. There is evidence connecting Reifman to the suspected misdeeds, said Judge Gila Ravid, and gave the police space to investigate. Reifman, founder of high-tech group Emblaze, is suspected of presenting forged documents to companies in the United Kingdom, stating he owned $6 million worth of Emblaze shares. Reifman yesterday denied the allegations and blamed everything on Eitan Erez, the special receiver in charge of selling Reifman's assets. (Yaniv Kubovitz)

No, an insurance company can't force an accident victim to undergo plastic surgery that would reduce the damages she claims, a Tel Aviv court has ruled. The plaintiff, today 30, suffered a broken jaw and multiple injuries six years ago in a traffic accident. She sued Eliahu for compensation, noting the ugly and severe distortion and scarring of her jaw and lips and appended opinions from experts that she needed reconstructive surgery. A court-appointed expert said that if she declined, her aesthetic disability should be 15%, which would drop to 5% if she underwent surgery. Saying she couldn't cope with more operations, she sued for 15% disability. The court said she was not duty-bound to reduce the damage, given the potential risks. (Nurit Roth)

Yisrael Perry, the lawyer convicted in 2008 of embezzling DM 320 million worth of insurance premiums from Israelis claiming German retirement benefits, has appealed to the Supreme Court for a retrial. Perry bases his request on recent affidavits and recordings that show the absolute faith placed by the court in the state's chief witness, Perry's chief financial officer, was misplaced. Perry says the witness admitted to perjury after the ruling against him was handed down. Perry also says that German courts are set to hand down their ruling in an indictment against the witness for defrauding him of NIS 20 million. (Nurit Roth)

The Web site Hamichraz Ha'Amiti, which sold products by online auction, has shut down and left consumers who bought products but hadn't received them yet, bereft of their money and of their purchase, too. As of Monday, nobody has been taking calls at the company and its office on Hamaskit Street, Herzliya, is closed. Over several months the Consumer Council has fielded dozens of complaints about bid123, the company that runs the site. Most of the complaints said the company didn't return money when a purchase was voided (it is the consumer's right to cancel a deal within 14 days). In fact, it usually did return money, just not in time. (Barr Hayoun)

Ukrainians and Israelis may be able to visit each other's countries without a visa by mid-2010. Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov says the deadline is June. The Israeli authorities were impelled to accelerate moves to cancel the visa requirement following the positive experience with Russia. This year 400,000 Russian tourists visited Israel, some just for the day, after the visa requirement was abolished. The Tourism Ministry estimates the potential from Ukraine is up to 200,000 visitors a year. (Irit Rosenblum)