MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'consumer protection'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:23:59 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975833&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFJsb-MgrxMU%2F By Walter OlsonLast December the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted new standards for crib design, a step mandated by the famously overreaching Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The commission decided to go well beyond a set of voluntary design standards that had been widely adopted the year before; it also chose to make the new rules retroactive, rendering unlawful the sale of many existing cribs whose overall safety record is otherwise acceptable—no one would think of subjecting them to a recall, for instance. Commissioner Nancy Nord: The day care industry did protest that the rule, as proposed, would result in approximately a $1/2 billion hit to a group that could not immediately absorb costs of such magnitude, especially on the heels of having ju... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975833 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:26:01 +0100 4975833 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734081&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=38113&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.consumerreports.org%2Fmoney%2F2011%2F04%2Fftc-lawsuit-acai-berry-juice-fake-news-websites-deceptive-marketing.html The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is taking a harsh legal stand against 10 companies and individuals marketing acai berry weight-loss products online by using fake news websites which imply endorsement from major media outlets—including Consumer Reports. According to the FTC, the defendants' deceptive online practices involve creating "news" that seem to be from legitimate organizations such as ABC, CBS, Consumer Reports, CNN and others. And although the fake online news sites may contain headlines ("Acai Berry Diet Exposed: Miracle Diet or Scam?") and logos from major news organizations, they really are just advertisements, says the FTC. David Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in today's news release: Almost everything about these sites is f... Consumer Reports Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734081 Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:30:00 +0100 4734081 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676776&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=38113&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.consumerreports.org%2Fmoney%2F2011%2F04%2Fcost-of-health-care-down-for-2011-retirees.html Couples who retire this year can expect to pay 8 percent less in health-care costs over the course of their retirement, thanks in large measure to health-care reform, according to an estimate from Fidelity Investments. It’s the first drop since 2002, when Fidelity first started making the estimate. Fidelity says retiring couples around the age of 65 will need an average of about $230,000 to cover medical expenses for their retirement years, excluding nursing-home expenses. The decline stems from the Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, both of which were signed in 2010 and are expected to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses for many seniors who purchase prescription drugs. Until this year the estimated cost had increased an average of 6 percent a... Consumer Reports Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676776 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:45:00 +0100 4676776 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4134255&cid=t_181527_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FrFuvnfgIfB4%2F After months of reviews and meetings, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a whistleblower program that was mandated by Congress as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. And the agency describes its approach as “a simple, straightforward procedure for would-be whistleblowers” to provide information. To be considered for an award, the SEC says that a whistleblower must “voluntarily provide the agency with original info about a violation of federal securities laws that leads to the successful enforcement by the SEC of a federal court or administrative action in which the SEC obtains monetary sanctions totaling more than $1 million.” The issue is of concern to the pharmaceutical industry, given that many drugmakers hav... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4134255 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:41:59 +0100 4134255 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3648472&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYrCpVrDzsKE%2F By Mark A. CalabriaToday begins the televised political theatre that Barney Frank has been waiting months for:  the first public meeting of the House and Senate conferees on the two financial regulation bills.  While there are a handful of important differences between the House and Senate bills, these differences are overshadowed by what the bills have in common.  The most important, and tragic, commonality is that both bills ignore the real causes of the financial crisis and focus on convenient political targets. As our financial system was brought to its knees by an exploding housing bubble, fueled by government mandates and distortions, one would think, just maybe, that Congress would roll back these distortions.  Despite their role in contributing to the crisis and the size of ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3648472 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:35:23 +0100 3648472 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3595588&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Femergency-cares-ambiguity-in-the-affordable-care-act%2F2010.05.24 There’s just so much hidden and buried in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that it’s like trying the find all the goodies in an Easter egg hunt. ACEP News pointed out one hidden goodie, nicely illustrated in this article from Kaiser Health News: Under the new health law, insurance companies must extend several new protections to patients who receive emergency care. One of the biggest guarantees: Patients who need emergency treatment will have their costs covered at the same rate, regardless of whether they are treated at “in-network” or “out-of-network” hospitals. The law also bars health plans from requiring prior authorization for emergency services. And it mandates that plans follow the “prudent layperson” rule. For example, if a person goes ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3595588 Mon, 24 May 2010 18:00:00 +0100 3595588 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3538076&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5P7uroEV4wg%2F By Mark A. CalabriaWhen it comes to banking policy, there are few people I respect more than Jonathan Macey and Arnold Kling; so when these two, independently, argue that we should be breaking up the largest banks, it is idea that merits consideration.  Yet I still have my doubts. First, lets start with what we are fairly certain of.  There is a large empirical literature that suggest most US mega-banks are beyond their efficient size.  There is a good survey of the literature by former Fed Economist Allen Berger .  So, at a minimum, the academic literature suggests the largest banks are beyond a size that is justified by the social benefits. However, there is also a small literature that suggests more concentrated banking systems are more stable, and less prone to crisis.  Some of t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3538076 Wed, 05 May 2010 18:30:52 +0100 3538076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3482949&cid=t_181527_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F19%2Fde-capturing-the-fda%2F Harvard Law Student, Jason Iuliano, recently posted his forthcoming article, “Killing Us Sweetly: How to Take Industry Out of the FDA” (forthcoming Journal of Food Law and Policy) on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * For more than a century, the Food and Drug Administration has purported to protect the public health. During that time, it has actually been placing corporate profits above consumer safety. Nowhere is this corruption more evident than in the approval of artificial sweeteners. FDA leaders’ close ties to the very industry they were supposed to be regulating present a startling picture. Ignoring warnings from both independent scientists and their own review panels, FDA decision makers let greed guide their actions. They approved carcinogenic sweeteners such ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3482949 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:01:50 +0100 3482949 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096789&cid=t_181527_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F17%2Frecent-statutory-instruments-relating-to-healh%2F SI 2009 No. 3222 Medicines, Fees And Charges. Consumer Protection. The Medicines (Products for Human Use) (Amendments to Fees for Variations) Regulations 2009 Posted in Legislation, Pharmacy, Statutory Instruments Tagged: Consumer Protection, Legislation, Medicines, Statutory Instruments (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096789 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:00:53 +0100 3096789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3003735&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FlSdGW8IzYj8%2F I wrote on the Tech Liberation Front blog a couple of months ago about the shady practice among a few Internet retailers of handing off customers who accept a “special offer” to a company that charges people a monthly fee for some kind of credit monitoring service. And I argued hopefully that maybe technologists and the Internet community could generate a response to this problem: Being a smart, informed, and aggressive consumer is each person’s responsibility if a free market is to operate well. The alternative is a negative feedback loop in which government authorities protect us, we rely on that protection and stop policing retailers. Thereby we abandon the field of consumer protection to government authorities, who—try as they might—can never do as good a job for us as we can... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3003735 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:33:15 +0100 3003735 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2814398&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtcvdtgSnctw%2F In a debate with Larry McNeely in the L.A. Times, Cato’s Michael Cannon suggested “eliminating barriers to competition by nurse practitioners and other mid-level clinicians.” McNeely responded, “By ending all state licensing and monitoring of physicians…not only qualified nurses but also any quack with a scalpel and some drugs would be able to set up a shingle, call himself a doctor and start cutting.” Does McNeely pick his doctors at random? How does he know his cardiologist has any relevant experience or training? Licensing creates the impression that all licensed physicians are adequate. Not true. Ask any medical malpractice insurance underwriter. A state medical license does not restrict a physician’s practice to any particular specialty. If McNeely wa... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2814398 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:38:14 +0100 2814398 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2645269&cid=t_181527_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fq8DOqyA2Dec%2F Over the last week, speaking at a variety of events, I heard three different representatives of the Left; first a Democrat US Senator, then a senior member of the Obama Administration, and finally a “consumer” advocate, all repeat the same narrative:  all was fine in the housing market until predatory lenders forced hard-working honest families into foreclosure, which reduced house prices, bringing the economy to a crash.  That’s correct, apparently the Left believes we all would still be seeing double-digit home price appreciation if it wasn’t for those evil lenders. Undoubtedly foreclosures, especially those that result in houses that remain vacant for a considerable amount of time, have an adverse impact on surrounding property values.  Many constitute a serio... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2645269 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:32:12 +0100 2645269 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1971065&cid=t_181527_125_f&fid=38161&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fdentalheroes%2F%7E3%2F343140762%2F New Series: Site of the Week If you’ve been following the Dental Heroes blog for a while now, you’ve probably noticed my freestyle approach to topic selection. Up to this point, I’ve been writing about anything related to dental care that’s on my mind at the time - with little direction. To be honest, I hate that I haven’t been more organized with my articles-writing. Unfortunately, this will only become more important as this blog continues to grow. So, what am I going to do about it? Well, I’ve decided to begin writing a series each day of the week, with the next part in the series falling on the corresponding day each following week. For example, Tuesdays are going to be “Site of the week” days. Each Tuesday hereafter will also be “Site of the week” days. This way, y... Dental Heroes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1971065 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:56:21 +0100 1971065