Our Impact
The work of the National Consumers League is making a difference in people’s lives across the country. Meet some of the consumers touched by our programs.
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Preventing yet another victim
Paige, 55, a Nashville wife and mother of two, answered an employment ad for secret shoppers. Before sending payment to the scammers, she reached out to NCL.
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Building a stronger generation
A grease fire flared up in Decklan’s kitchen. As his family scrambled and panicked, fearing that the whole house might erupt in flames, Decklan remained calm. He hurried over to the pantry, grabbed some baking soda, and dumped it on the fire quickly extinguishing the blaze.
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Script Your Future saved my life
Cincinnati resident Charles, 45, lost his computer business — and health insurance— during a time of economic downturn. A diabetic, Charles was now unable to afford his medication. He stopped taking it which made him seriously ill and put his life at risk.
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For a safer workplace
Jeremy is a fast-food worker who has been employed at a number of Chipotle restaurants in New York City. When he was just 20 years old, he took part in an NCL research project that revealed that management practices within the fast food chain were putting workers—and food safety for customers—at risk.
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Featured Content
Stopping the epidemic of catalytic converter theft
April 11, 2024: For many years, I drove a 2007 Toyota Prius. I loved my little fuel-efficient and quiet machine, getting 45 mph and putting almost 189,000+ miles on it. All went well until one night a few years ago.
Not so fast, PBMs: You aren’t fooling consumers
April 9, 2024: A recent op-ed, “It’s Time for Facts in the PBM Debate” by the president of one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), is at odds with the reality of what consumers are facing when we go to the pharmacy.
Legislation is needed to close the environmental health gaps in the Polluters Pay Principle
Today, more than 40% of Americans live in communities with unhealthy levels of air pollution and every year, millions of deaths and chronic illnesses have been found to be directly caused by various pollutant types.
My path from strawberry and blueberry fields to college
Imagine being a five-year-old child – happy and carefree. The age where you either attend pre-K or start kindergarten. But can you imagine a five-year-old working in farm fields in hot 90-degree humid weather with her parents? I was that child.
Gun violence is a public health problem
We live in a nation where children fear for their lives at school, racially motivated killings are pervasive, and mass shootings have become commonplace. The United States is in the midst of a gun violence epidemic. One promising avenue that could help address this crisis involves approaching gun violence from a public health perspective.
My Juneteenth federal holiday didn’t turn out the way I hoped. It was even better!
"Miss Opal?", I asked. Was this Miss Opal the same amazing lady who made it her life’s work to make Juneteenth a federal holiday?
Dispatches from Durban: May 15-20, 2022
Reflections on the 5th Global Conference on the elimination…
Leaders in Congress support safe OTC hearing aid standards
Mild to moderate hearing loss is a difficult reality that millions of Americans struggle with, which is why the availability of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids is exciting for those who are impacted by hearing loss. While making OTC hearing aids more accessible is a promising step for consumers, we at NCL would be remiss if we didn’t underscore our concerns around the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed OTC hearing regulations as they currently exist.
How to protect consumers from PBM greed
The rising cost of health care is a sore point for all consumers and nowhere is it more glaring than at the pharmacy counter. However, consumers are largely unaware that Pharmacy Benefit Managers – or PBMs – are the middlemen working behind the scenes with very little competition and accountability.
NCL Briefing: measuring the 340B program’s impact on charitable care and operating profits for covered entities
Join the National Consumers League for a panel discussion with experts from Health Capital Group, the Community Oncology Alliance, and Johns Hopkins on this new white paper, which analyzes 340B’s impact on hospital profit margins and charitable care spending and attempts to quantify the amount of program benefits accruing to covered entities, contract pharmacies and patients.
Breyault and Amazon’s Alyssa Betz discuss policing fake reviews and counterfeits
This week, John Breyault, our Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud, sat down with Amazon’s Director of Public Policy, Alyssa Betz. On this episode of NCL’s We Can Do This! podcast, Alyssa and John discussed fake reviews, Amazon’s product liability, and more. This has been the latest collaboration between Amazon and NCL in our partnership towards improving consumer safety and online experiences.
Consumers need accurate product names and labeling of plant-based meat products
About two-thirds of Americans consumed “plant-based meat alternatives” – or PBMAs – in the past year, with 20 percent eating them at least weekly, according to an August 2021 survey.