Two dynamos of women’s rights law crashed through the glass ceiling—part 1

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Marcia Greenberger, the founder and co-president of the National Women’s…

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National Consumers League opposes ‘unethical and unjustified’ Grinch cuts to the SNAP program, causing hundreds of thousands of children to lose nutrition assistance

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December 9, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—Despite widespread opposition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it would tighten work requirements for able-bodied Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants without dependents. The National Consumers League joins 140,000 other Americans who overwhelmingly oppose this cruel and unnecessary slashing of an effective safety net program.

Under current regulations, able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) can receive food assistance no more than three months out of every three years, unless they work at least 80 hours per month or meet other education or workforce training requirements. Previously, states could waive work requirements when jobs were unavailable or didn’t match workers’ skills, but the rule will make it more difficult to do so, causing an estimated 688,000 people to lose benefits.

The vast majority of the more than 140,000 comments submitted to USDA in response to the rule were written in opposition, including those submitted by NCL Board member National Farmers Union (NFU).

Sally Greenberg, NCL’s executive director:

“More than 37 million Americans will experience food insecurity this year in the richest country in the world. SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, eases that pain and helps ensure that those in need can put food on their tables. Among our national safety net programs, food stamps is among the most effective. It provides that essential nutrition safety net for American families and especially children– yet this administration has done everything it can to slash gaping holes into that net, preventing hundreds of thousands of children and adults from getting rightful access to these programs. To add to the pain, these work requirements will erode food security in rural and urban communities alike.

“NCL joins with the NFU in believing that these new rules reflect the cold indifference to the struggles of our fellow Americans; we believe it is unethical and unjustified. We continue to call on the administration to rescind this rule, and we stand with the anti-hunger community and the many national, state, and local organizations who seek to support and protect our most vulnerable citizens.”

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

NCL announces new action center to help patients steer clear of deadly counterfeit drug websites

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December 5, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL), America’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization, today launched Fraud.org/FakeRx, a new digital consumer education campaign to address the growing global crisis of harmful counterfeit medications. The World Health Organization estimates that one in every 10 medical products circulating in developed countries is either substandard or fake, and nearly $83 billion in counterfeit drugs are sold annually. Counterfeit drugs can be, at best, a waste of money and, at worst, fatal.  The Partnership for Safe Medicines has found counterfeit pills made with fentanyl in 48 states, with deaths attributed in 33.

“Counterfeit drugs are everywhere, and they are dangerous. Going to the Internet to buy medicines is a bad idea if you don’t know how to protect yourself from illegal pharmacies selling counterfeit drugs. Consumers do not realize how common counterfeits are; our campaign aims to provide the tools and resources to help consumers steer clear of illegal products and protect themselves and their families,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “NCL is launching Fraud.org/FakeRx to serve as a hub for reliable information for consumers and law enforcement.  Our action center helps consumers learn how to spot the red flags of counterfeit drugs and report issues to law enforcement.”

With the growth of Internet sales of medications, the problem of illegal pharmacies hawking counterfeit drugs is a growing risk to consumers. Visitors to Fraud.org/FakeRx can arm themselves with information to:

  • Reduce the chances they’ll encounter counterfeit drugs and shop safely for medications online
  • Learn to spot harmful counterfeit drugs if they do; and
  • Report counterfeit drugs and the websites offering them to the authorities fighting the problem.

“Criminals posing as legitimate online pharmacies are a serious threat to our nation’s drug supply and to unsuspecting consumers who purchase contaminated or potentially deadly counterfeit medications,” said George Karavetsos, former director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations. “Policymakers, regulators, and manufacturers have clear roles for doing their part to protect our drug supply, but having informed consumers is essential to shutting down this illegal online market. This campaign gives consumers the tools they need to stay safe and keep criminals from lining their pockets with consumers’ money.”

NCL has worked with victims of suspected and confirmed counterfeit drugs to capture their experiences and report them to authorities. Two mothers who each lost their adult children to tainted counterfeit medications have lent their stories to the new campaign in hopes of helping others avoid falling to the same fate.

“I lost my son, Jerome, himself a loving big brother and father of three beautiful children, to a counterfeit drug laced with fentanyl. It took one single pill to take Jerome away from us,” said Natasha Butler, whose son was one of a wave of victims of counterfeit drug deaths in Sacramento in 2016. “We had no idea that these dangerous drugs, manufactured to look exactly like the real thing, are out there and could be the last drug someone ever takes. Anyone who takes medication or fills prescriptions needs to be aware of the risks of counterfeits, and that where you get drugs is so crucial for your safety and health. Everyone should visit Fraud.org/FakeRx to learn about the risks and how to avoid being the next victim.”

 “On June 11, 2018 my phone rang at 7:24 am. The voice on the other line told me that my beautiful daughter, Ashley, was dead. Ashley had been given a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl. I was told by the coroner that she probably died instantly,” said Andrea Thomas, a Colorado mother who, since her daughter’s death from a counterfeit drug, co-founded Voices for Awareness Foundation. “The deadly pill Ashley took looked just like her normal medication. This is an epidemic in our country that I previously knew nothing about. It is time to take action. The National Consumers League’s new resources for consumers will help spread awareness and will make a difference to many.”

To hear from additional victims who know the issue firsthand, visit the new Fraud.org/FakeRx. The site also includes tips for consumers about ways to save on prescription drugs without increasing their risks of purchasing counterfeits. 

NCL thanks its partners for providing support for the new campaign: Allergan, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, and PhRMA.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

NCL statement on nomination of Hahn to head FDA

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December 3, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization, welcomes Dr. Stephen Hahn’s nomination to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The statement below is attributed to Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director:

“Dr. Hahn is a veteran doctor and cancer researcher who served as chair of radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and most recently as chief operating officer and medical executive at MD Anderson in Houston. He holds rare dual board certifications in both medical oncology and radiation oncology and has authored more than 200 academic works. He also brings a wealth of experience supervising and facilitating clinical trials. In an era where science is under attack, Dr. Hahn brings a welcome commitment to evidence-based medicine, science, and research. The FDA is the gold standard across the globe for ensuring the highest standards of safety and efficacy of medications and devices, and for the safety of our food supply. Consumers are being barraged by a plethora of untested products claiming health and safety. The FDA needs a strong leader who will bring an evidence-backed approach to protecting consumers and ensuring a clear pipeline for new therapies that are tested for safety and efficacy and hold true promise for treatments and cures.

“If confirmed, we look forward to working with Dr. Hahn to improve consumer protections in a number of areas, including regulation in the CBD product marketplace, addressing the clear health hazards of e-cigarettes, especially to underage users, and fully implementing the Food Safety and Modernization Act to reduce foodborne illness, which kills an estimated 3,000 people each year. We need a well-funded FDA that can offer a pipeline for medications to treat diseases while protecting the public from unsafe products, including drugs, devices, and foodborne illness.”

Greenberg is a board member of the Reagan Udall Foundation, created by Congress, to support the work of the FDA.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Enough is enough! It’s time for the FTC to protect consumers from deceptive automatic renewal clauses

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Brian Young

If you’re like most Americans ,you have probably had a bad experience with an automatic renewal or—as they are sometimes referred to—a negative option clause. Regardless of the name they go by, these clauses cause contracts and subscriptions (ranging from equipment leases to gym memberships) to renew if a consumer fails to cancel the contract. Unfortunately for consumers, these clauses are increasingly being slipped into the fine print of contracts or misleadingly disclosed to customers during the checkout process.  

Some companies take this practice a step further by offering a free or low-fee trials to a customer only to later lock them into an expensive and lengthy contract without obtaining their informed consent. One survey found that this has happened to 59 percent of consumers, and that number appears to be growing. A Better Business Bureau study of FTC complaint data found that complaints about free trials doubled between 2015 and 2017. With the average loss rates for deceptive free trials reaching $186 per incident, it is clear that action is sorely needed.

While states like California and the District of Columbia have taken steps to protect their residents from these disreputable “gotcha” clauses, a majority of Americans still lack adequate protections. Some businesses will not only utilize deceptive negative option clauses, but also place unnecessary barriers in the cancelation process to prevent consumers from managing or canceling their subscriptions and contracts. Indeed, nearly 42 percent of Americans have complained about the difficulty companies have created  in the cancellation process.

Thankfully, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is finally considering improving consumer protections in this space. While the FTC already offers a few modest protections through laws and regulations like the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act (ROSCA), a series of loopholes exist, allowing companies to mask rate hikes, roll consumers into lengthy trials without their informed consent, and hide these clauses in the fine print.

To help encourage the FTC to require meaningful protections, NCL recently filed a comment letter urging the Commission to:

  • Require clear and conspicuous disclosure of any automatic renewal clause, regardless of where or how the consumer enters into it;
  • Require companies to provide meaningful notifications prior to any contract or subscription renewal;
  • Ensure that businesses receive a consumer’s consent for their free or low-fee trial to be rolled over into a contract; and
  • End the practice of businesses making it difficult for consumers to amend, manage, or cancel their subscription.

NCL believes that the FTC has a real opportunity to extend long overdue automatic renewal protections to all Americans. As more companies incorporate the use of negative option clauses in their contracts, consumers need meaningful notifications and protections that ensure that they remain in control of their financial decisions. A strong FTC negative option rule will ensure that businesses compete over quality and price, not over who can create the most painful cancellation procedures or earn the most revenue by slamming consumers with unexpected and costly contracts. The time is now for the FTC to act.

Read NCL’s full comment filing here (PDF).

How consumers must respond to the security threat inside nearly every computer

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Nearly two years ago, researchers revealed flaws in the chips of virtually every computer made since the mid-1990’s. The flaws—primarily found in Intel’s chips—create a vulnerability that can be exploited by allowing hackers to obtain unauthorized access to privileged information.

Since the initial exploits were first exposed, new versions have continued to be discovered—the most recent of which was found this past November. While software “fixes” have been released, they tend to reduce the speed and performance of computers—as much as 40 percent, according to some reports. In addition, since the flaw is hardware-based, the “fix” is only good until the next exploit is discovered. 

At the time of the discovery of one of the “worst CPU bugs ever found,” there was significant alarm expressed in the news as well as across the cybersecurity community. Since that time, public attention has waned. Unfortunately, the problem has only grown worse. And while there has been considerable discussion of the impact these flaws have on businesses, the impact on consumers has been somewhat overlooked. 

That’s why NCL’s #DataInsecurity Project recently released a paper detailing the threat that these bugs—with scary names like Meltdown, Spectre, and Zombieload—pose to consumers, their data, and the performance of their computers.  

Every organization or individual running a server or computer with affected hardware should take action to protect themselves. Unfortunately, consumers are less likely to know what to do or have the resources to do it, leaving them more exposed.  

For example, consumers are more likely to be running older or outdated software. Consumers are also likely to keep their computers much longer than a business, making their hardware older as well. The way these flaws work, older hardware generally sees a greater slowdown when the security patches are applied. 

Additionally, the small businesses that consumers interact with may also be running “legacy” hardware or software. These businesses may not be able to afford the high cost of additional servers to offset the speed loss from the patches or of entirely replacing old systems. This difficult choice for small businesses could mean that some decide against applying patches – with potentially severe consequences for consumers’ data security.  

Google has taken preemptive steps to protect consumers, but it also warned that as a result of these security measures, “some users may notice slower performance with some apps and games.” Apple, conversely, has offered software patches but left other security measures as an “opt-in” for consumers.  

So, while consumers may not face the same type of risk as businesses, they do face a lot of challenges when it comes to addressing these exploits. Consumers already live in a heightened threat environment, filled with phishing emails and computer viruses. They shouldn’t have to choose between the security of their data or the performance of their computers.  

To learn more about these issues and the best way to protect yourself, you can find NCL’s white paper here.