…is the subtitle of a damning report issued last week by the Center for Effective Government. The report (full title: "Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards") finds "compelling evidence that increasing social inequality is linked to environmental degradation and that the health of people of color and those living in […]
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His column is headed Why is the food industry dead set against warning labels? And he has another interesting piece on cell phone scams.
As NPR reports, insurance decisions about which drugs to cover present patients and doctors with an unfair choice: pay exorbitant prices or settle for a medication that may not work right. Dropping drugs leaves patients in a bind and ignores the fact that different drugs work better for different patients. Why drop some drugs? Insurers say they are trying to […]
The FTC will conduct a week of events to raise awareness about the threat posed by tax identity theft, which (it notes) puts thousands of people at risk every year. Check out the schedule and related educational materials here.
That's what it took less than two pages for the Supreme Court to say today to the Idaho Supreme Court in James v. City of Boise. Under 42 U.S.C. 1988 and many other similar civil-rights-type fee-shifting statutes, a court "may" "in its discretion" award attorney's fees to the prevailing party. Many years ago, the Supreme Court […]
by Paul Alan Levy Over the past couple of weeks, several bloggers, most impressively Rebecca Tushnet, have published their analyses of a decision by Judge Jesse Furman granting summary judgment dismissing a lawsuit by Louis Vuitton Malletier against a tiny company called “My Other Bag” which produces a line of canvas totes that poke gentle fun at […]
As one mega-brokerage firm puts it, "[f]aced with mounting pension costs and greater volatility, companies are increasingly offering their current and former employees a critical choice: Take a lump sum payment now or hold on to their pension," which would be paid out periodically over the beneficiary's lifetime. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has put […]
That's the name of this column by consumer reporter David Lazarus.
Ars Technica asks this question amid concerns that the move may have motivated by contributions from the healthcare company whose poor track record prompted the drafting of standards in the first place: [A] 2014 medical review and a June 2015 report by CNN, which found that one particular medical facility, St. Mary’s Medical Center and Palm Beach […]
A slate of five candidates running for Harvard's governing board thinks Harvard's endowment is big enough that it can afford to great free tuition for all undergrads. The candidates — an interesting left-right alliance, including Ralph Nader on the left and four opponents of affirmative action on the right – also raise the concern that the current admission […]