A 135-page class-action-complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Los Angeles alleges that the major car manufacturers are liable because their keyless ignition systems create a carbon monoxide hazard. This story by Jonathan Stempel explains: Ten of the world's biggest automakers were sued on Wednesday by U.S. consumers who claim they concealed the risks of carbon […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
Want to know which drugs, medical devices, foods, cosmetics, dietary supplements, etc. may be contaminated, defective, or mislabeled? The Food and Drug Administration regularly issues safety alerts through its MedWatch system. For instance, go here, for the agency's July 2015 safety alerts. The MedWatch home page is here. You can report a problem here, and […]
The article was written by Reuters' reporters Alison Frankel and Jessica Dye. Here's a little taste of it: In the little known world of medical lending, financiers invest in operations to remove pelvic implants from women suing device makers – and reap an inflated share of the payouts when cases settle. * * * Previously […]
That's the name of Brian McFadden's comic strip on how consumers can sensibly offset the negative health effects of sugary drinks through exercise (not really). McFadden's comic reminds me of Coke's funding of the oddly-named Global Energy Balance Network.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today issued a statement of principles on enforcement of its "unfair competition" authority under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Four commissioners voted for the statement, and one commissioner dissented. Go here to get all of the agency's info on the topic. The agency summarized its statement as follows: […]
Read this analysis by Gallup. Not surprisingly, the uninsured rates are dropping in states that opted for the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. Perhaps more surprising is that states that have set up their own health-care exchanges (or have state-federal partnerships), as opposed to states that depend on the federal exchange, generally are the states […]
That's the title of this article in yesterday's NY Times by Anahad O'Connor. Coke is the world's largest marketer of sugary drinks. O'Connor explains that Coke gives "financial and logistical support" for "a new nonprofit organization called the Global Energy Balance Network." (The group's name — The Global Energy Balance Network — is more inscrutable […]
The ability of hackers to hijack cars' computer systems has been in the news recently. (Go here for instance.) Fiat Chrysler is recalling 1.4 vehicle susceptible to hacking. The recalled vehicles are in these models: • 2013-2015 MY Dodge Viper specialty vehicles • 2013-2015 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups • 2013-2015 Ram 3500, 4500, […]
To find out, go down on the pizza farm by clicking here or on the embedded video below.
Throwing away food — huge amounts of perfectly good food — is part of our culture — at least for now. Each year, Americans throw away enough food to fill 730 large football stadiums. John Oliver says that two easy legal changes — a tax credit for certain companies and sensibly regulating food "use-by" and […]