The path to mental health reform – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

By Stephanie Sperry, NCL health policy intern

Mental illness in the United States is a public health crisis. On March 7, 2018, the Center for American Progress hosted a discussion between Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray, covering the efforts of cities and states on the path to mental health reform.

Mental illness is not limited by age, gender, race, or geographic location, and proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act will severely limit treatment options for those in need. Research done by the National Institute of Mental Health showed that annually, 1 in 6 adults in the United States experience mental illness. In the absence of national leadership efforts and support on the mental health front, First Lady McCray pioneered the ThriveNYC framework in 2015 to initiate an agenda for mental health reform, while Mayor Steinberg set about to change the delivery of mental health services by authoring the California Mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63) in 2004.

ThriveNYC aims to “reduce the toll of mental illness, promote mental health, and protect New Yorkers’ resiliency, self-esteem, family strength, and joy.”  It was built on 6 guiding principles: changing the culture of mental health; acting early with interventions; closing treatment gaps with wider access to care; partnering with communities to create solutions; using data better to provide accurate information and tools to City agencies, treatment providers, and others; and strengthening the government’s ability to lead through expectations of accountability and responsibility. First Lady McCray gave examples of current efforts, including the incorporation of screening for maternal depression during physician visits and training 250,000 people in mental health first aid. She explained that early detection is valuable, because 50% of the time, symptoms of mental illness emerge by age 14, and 75% of the time by age 24.  Early treatment can greatly reduce the long-term adverse consequences of mental illness, while saving both time and money.

Sacramento Mayor Steinberg called mental health the “under-attended issue in our time and in our society.” After both the Community Mental Health Act, signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, and the Lanterman–Petris–Short (LPS) Act, signed by Governor Ronald Reagan in 1967, failed to deliver on their promises to address mental health for over 50 years, Steinberg took action. He was instrumental in the creation and passage of the California Mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63, 2004). This Act imposed a 1% tax on personal income more than $1 million, with revenue going into the “Mental Health Services Fund”. This Fund aims to support county mental health programs and monitor progress toward statewide goals, with an emphasis on prevention, early intervention, and the expansion of programs serving affected or at-risk individuals.

In addition to dedicated funding, technology has a unique part to play in strengthening mental health reform. Mayor Steinberg noted the innovative work of Mindstrong Health, which uses digital phenotyping to collect biomarker measurements from smartphone use to provide information about an individual’s mood, cognition, and behavior. This can deliver insights to patients and providers, helping to diagnose and manage mental illness by establishing a baseline and spotting and analyzing deviations from it.

The discussion between Mayor Steinberg and First Lady McCray was a fascinating snapshot into state and local efforts to tackle the monumental challenge that mental illness presents in society. The National Consumers League applauds these two local leaders – and their counterparts across the country – for launching initiatives to improve prevention, detection, and treatment of mental illness, and laying the groundwork for better mental health outcomes.

NCL statement on ‘inexcusable’ United Flight 1284 pet death

/in imported/by

March 13, 2018

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay carolm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2831

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL) today condemned the poor training and lack of oversight that contributed to the reported death of yet another beloved family pet on Monday’s United Airlines Flight 1284 from Houston to New York. The following statement is attributable to NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg:

“Incidents like this one are inexcusable, and every member of the flying public should be outraged at United’s callous disregard for the safety of this family’s beloved pet. Consumers whose pockets are already being pinched by billions of dollars worth of add-on fees should not also have to worry about whether their pets will survive a flight. United was right to quickly apologize and take responsibility for this shocking event, but more needs to be done to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. United should invest in better training for its flight attendants so that they follow proper procedures regarding the safe transportation of pets and other animals. For the past two years, United has had the worst record on pet safety in the airline industry. The Department of Transportation needs to take seriously the issue of pet safety on United and other carriers and conduct a full investigation of this and other incidents of pet injuries and deaths on board the nation’s airlines.”

###

About the National Consumers League
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 https://nclnet.org.

Public interest groups’ letter to Congress in opposition of Moolenaar pyramid scheme rider

/in imported/by

March 9, 2018

The Honorable Paul Ryan
Office of the Speaker
United States House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Democratic Leader
United States House of Representatives
H-204, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

RE: Public interest opposition to including Moolenaar pyramid scheme rider in the omnibus appropriations bill

Dear Speaker Ryan and Leader Pelosi,

Last year, the undersigned consumer advocacy organizations, civil rights groups, and academic experts wrote you to express our strong opposition to an amendment[i] sponsored by Congressman John Moolenaar (R-MI) which was included in the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.[ii] In addition to the undersigned organizations, the Moolenaar amendment is opposed by a broad and bipartisan coalition, including current and former FTC chairmen, commissioners, and bureau chiefs[iii][iv] and leading members of the direct selling industry itself.[v] [vi] [vii] We understand that this amendment may now be considered for possible inclusion in the FY18 omnibus spending bill. We urge you to oppose its inclusion.

The Moolenaar amendment, modeled after H.R. 3409, the so-called “Anti-Pyramid Scheme Promotion Act of 2016,”[viii] would severely weaken the Federal Trade Commission’s ability to police pyramid scheme activity in the multi-level marketing (MLM) industry. Under the guise of consumer protection, the amendment would blur the line between legitimate direct selling opportunities and illegal pyramid schemes.

For more than forty years, the courts have consistently stated that the critical difference between a legitimate MLM business and a pyramid scheme is that a legitimate MLM’s revenues must come primarily from the sale of products and services to retail customers unaffiliated with the business opportunity. By contrast, a pyramid scheme generates its revenue primarily from the recruitment of new members into an endless chain business opportunity. The FTC recently reiterated this concept to the MLM industry in an updated guidance report.[ix] As the FTC has clearly communicated to Congress, the agency already has sufficient legislative authority to effectively protect consumers from pyramid schemes operating in the MLM industry. As Commissioner McSweeny has pointed out, the Moolenaar amendment would fundamentally weaken the FTC’s ability to police fraudulent conduct by MLMs.[x]

Given these serious concerns, we urge you to oppose the inclusion of this language in the appropriations bill when it is considered by the House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America
Consumers Union
Consumer Watchdog
MANA, A National Latina Organization
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients)
National Consumers League
U.S. PIRG
William W. Keep, PhD, The College of New Jersey School of Business
Peter J. Vander Nat, PhD, Senior Economist (retired), Federal Trade Commission

cc:  The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen
The Honorable Nita Lowey
The Honorable Tom Graves
The Honorable Mike Quigley
The Honorable Greg Walden
The Honorable Frank Pallone
The Honorable Bob Latta
The Honorable Jan Schakowsky
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
The Honorable Charles Schumer
The Honorable Thad Cochran
The Honorable Patrick Leahy
The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito
The Honorable Christopher Coons
The Honorable Bill Nelson
The Honorable Jerry Moran
The Honorable Richard Blumenthal

———–

[i] House Committee on Appropriations. “AMENDMENTS ADOPTED TO THE FINANCIAL SERVICES APPROPRIATIONS BILL FOR HY 2018,” July 13, 2017. Pg. 37. Online: https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20170713/106248/HMKP-115-AP00-20170713-SD005.pdf

[ii] National Consumers League. “Consumer groups call on House to oppose pyramid scheme promotion amendment,” press release. July 18, 2017. Online: https://nclnet.org/moolenaar_amendment

[iii] McSweeny, Terrell. “Congress should crack down on predatory ‘pyramid schemes,’ not look away,” The Hill. August 3, 2017. Online: *https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/finance/345073-congress-should-crack-down-on-predatory-pyramid-schemes-not-look

[iv] National Consumers League. “Former senior FTC officials call on Congress to oppose pyramid scheme promotion bill,” press release. September 13, 2017. Online: https://nclnet.org/ftc_alumni_moolenaar

[v] Vandersloot, Frank. “Anti-pyramid measure is really a pro-pyramid bill,” The Hill. September 6, 2017. Online: *https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/349537-anti-pyramid-measure-is-a-step-in-the-wrong-direction-for

[vi] Rosen, Eric. Letter from Herbalife to the Honorable Marsha Blackburn and the Honorable Marc Veasey. July 28, 2017. Online: https://www.scribd.com/document/356458302/Blackburn-Veasey-072817

[vii] Bell, Jeff. “Direct Sales Industry Should Commit To Consumer Protection,” Law360. October 26, 2017. Online: https://www.law360.com/articles/977942/direct-sales-industry-should-commit-to-consumer-protection

[viii] Online: *https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/5230?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22hr+5230%22%5D%7D&r=1

[ix] Federal Trade Commission. “Business Guidance Concerning Multi-Level Marketing,” January 2018. Online: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/business-guidance-concerning-multi-level-marketing

[x] McSweeny, Terrell. “Congress should crack down on predatory ‘pyramid schemes,’ not look away,” The Hill. August 3, 2017. Online: *https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/finance/345073-congress-should-crack-down-on-predatory-pyramid-schemes-not-look

 

*Links are no longer active as the original sources have removed the content, sometimes due to federal website changes or restructurings.

Some tips for using money and experience wisely traveling abroad – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

I just returned from a weeklong tour of Morocco. While on the plane I overheard two women who appeared to be veteran travelers discussing currency exchange. One told the other she gets $100 of the local currency from her bank before leaving town. I cringed. Banks charge hefty fees and lousy exchange rates even though they tell you they don’t. I stopped doing that years ago when ATM machines sprung up in airports all across the world.

Sure, having a wad of local cash brings peace of mind. And naturally, you’re always worried the foreign ATM machine will eat your card and then—boom—you’re out of cash for the entire trip. But relax! That’s never happened to me. I’ve traveled the world in the last few years and in cities as diverse as Cape Town, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Ho Chi Min City, Beijing, Tokyo, Athens, and Casablanca, and ATM machines at the airports abound and they work great. (Cuba is the only exception; you have to exchange currency in official government outlets). I just make sure they have a logo and name of a local bank, then I stick that card in and voila! get the best rate of exchange.

How do I know? Because I have an App called CurrencyPlus that I use to test the rate. ATMs are close to the exact exchange rate. I often compare ATMs with those ripoff currency counters you see at airports. They gouge fees from you—sometimes 20 percent—while advertising “no commission.” Don’t believe it!

By the way, make sure your bank doesn’t charge you for ATM transactions. It shouldn’t! Mine (PNC Bank) has no ATM fees in the United States or abroad, and that brings huge peace of mind.

Once on terra firma, using credit cards also gets you a good rate of exchange when you are buying stuff. (But make sure you’re not in debt to your credit card company and paying 27 percent interest on outstanding balances!) And don’t pay foreign transaction fees on your credit card. None of my cards have those anymore, but boy did they make me mad when they did. Those charges added up: if I spent $1,000 traveling, that was $30-40 extra just for using my card! Such chutzpah! And I felt compelled to carry a card abroad I never used at home, like Capital One, that didn’t charge for foreign transactions. Fortunately, because of healthy competition in this part of the industry, my Amex and Visa cards no longer have foreign transaction fees.

Another piece of advice while traveling. Don’t buy keepsakes (rugs, jewelry, potter, clothes, lotions, spices) your first few days into the trip. Take your time to compare the prices and merchandise. On our first day in Morocco the guide took us to a beautiful rug merchant in the Fez Souk; they had beautiful stuff but also hugely inflated rates we didn’t understand. While my friend was negotiating for a rug she fell in love with, I decided to Google the place on Trip Advisor. I learned that tourists bargained in some cases $2,000 less than asking for a $3,400 rug; they did even better when they walked away. It’s the same everywhere—almost no offer is insulting. Three days later we went to a village in the Atlas Mountains outside Marrakesh, and I bought a Berber kilim made by local women. It was a fraction of the Fez Souk’s asking price and still I overpaid. But I was much better informed and knew what I was doing. One funny reality check: on my last day in Casablanca, I ventured into a supermarket and saw every one of the items we had shopped for in the Souk or in the mountains for 1/10 of the price. Pottery, rugs, lotions, oils, spices, clothing. I can’t speak to the quality of those items, but I suspect some were pretty similar to the stuff we bought for far more money. So if you want trinkets to bring home to friends, try the local supermarket where the locals shop. They know what they are doing.

NCL statement on Association Health Plans – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

March 8, 2018

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League is deeply concerned by the Trump Administration’s proposed rule that would broaden the purview of Association Health Plans (AHPs) and significantly alter the way in which they are regulated. This directive is another step towards the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) under the guise of promoting “consumer choice,” and counteracts efforts to realizing a health system in which every American has access to quality, affordable health care.

Association Health Plans allow affiliated small businesses and employer trade associations to band together to sell low-cost plans to the individuals they represent. The proposed rule expands the definition of “employer,” which will allow businesses, associations, and self-employed individuals — regardless of affiliation — to join together for the sole purpose of offering health insurance.

While AHPs are less expensive, these savings are achieved through eliminating vital consumer protections and offering significantly less coverage. Under the proposed rule, AHPs will not have to adhere to the same standards as ACA-compliant plans, including the provision of essential health benefits that guarantee coverage of items and services such as mental health treatment, maternity and newborn care, and prescription drugs. They would also be exempt from cost-sharing rules that cap out-of-pocket spending on deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. Unfortunately, many consumers who buy these plans for their low premiums often do not realize until their healthcare needs change that they have purchased a plan that will not cover certain services. Consumers may be forced to forgo necessary care because of a prohibitive price tag or be left with astronomical debt due to the cost of uncovered services.  

Moreover, bolstering AHPs as a suitable alternative to ACA-compliant plans undermines and destabilizes the individual marketplace through heightening adverse selection. AHPs would likely attract younger and healthier individuals, exacerbating the risk pool, and leaving older, sicker individuals who need more robust care vulnerable to skyrocketing premiums and insufficient plan choice. The proposed rule also allows AHPs to establish rates or preclude coverage of certain services based on health status, work industry, age, or gender, which unduly places a broad range of consumers at risk for higher out-of-pocket costs.  

Prior to regulations established by the ACA, AHPs were historically wrought with fraud and predatory practices that left consumers with a litany of pervasive negative financial and health outcomes. The National Consumers League worries that the Trump Administration’s proposed rule would once again expand the pathway for AHPs to operate in a manner that puts consumer protection on the backburner and affordable health care out of reach for so many among us.  We remain committed to ensuring every American has meaningful health coverage and will continue to work with our colleagues to explore ways we can expand access to care without compromising quality.  

###

About the National Consumers League
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 https://nclnet.org.

Knowledge is power: What consumers need to know about safe use of pain treatments – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

Sally GreenbergThe National Consumers League has long worked to inform consumers about the safe use of medication. Sadly, today many American communities are struggling with an epidemic: the misuse of prescription opioids, which seems to know no socioeconomic or demographic bounds. In 2016, more than 11 million people misused prescription opioids in the United States, and the latest data show that 115 Americans die each day* from an opioid overdose.

The explosion of opioid abuse has complicated roots, but among them is the mistake of keeping unused prescriptions in the medicine cabinet long after they are prescribed. In that vein, NCL recommends specific steps consumers, families, and the public can take to mitigate the chances of opioid abuse.

Since as many as one in four people* prescribed opioids long term struggle with addiction, the conversation about treatment and safe use must start before a medicine is prescribed.

Consumers should engage their healthcare provider and/or pharmacist before they take home a prescription opioid.

Be prepared ahead of medical appointments or surgery.

We have all walked out of a doctor’s office failing to ask important questions. Before your next doctor’s appointment, write down all your questions ahead of time and include an updated list of the medications you are taking. If you are prescribed a painkiller, ask about safe use and ask whether it’s habit forming. Some drugs are, while some are not.

Understand the risks and benefits of any new medicine.

If opioids are truly needed to manage pain, understand the potential benefits, risks, and side effects associated with them.

Here are a few questions to ask your healthcare provider when prescribed a new medicine:

  • What side effects should I expect and what should I do about them?
  • Will this medicine interact with any other medicines I am taking?
  • How should I safely store this medicine?

We recommend checking out the National Council on Patient Information and Education’s Talk Before You Take website.

Ask about partial-fill options.

When prescribed a prescription painkiller, consider asking to only partially fill your prescription, an option available in some states. If you need to fill the rest of the prescription, you can pick up the remaining dose at the pharmacy.

Use opioids only as prescribed — do not share your prescription.

About 40 percent of those who misused prescription opioids in the past year said they obtained the medicine from a family member or friend for free, according to a national survey.  That’s a problem; opioids should only be taken as prescribed by your healthcare provider and stored in a secure place.

Immediately dispose of unused pills.

As noted in my December blog post, disposal of unused prescription medications is critical.  Allied Against Opioid Abuse* has compiled a list of national and state resources to assist you.

Consumers using the strategies outlined here have gone a long way toward reducing the chance of opioid abuse and misuse, which is one of the country’s biggest public health challenges.

Knowing your rights, risks, and responsibilities with prescription opioids can help all of us prevent abuse and misuse before it occurs.

 

*Links are no longer active as the original sources have removed the content, sometimes due to federal website changes or restructurings.

NCL statement on demise of ATC privatization bill – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

March 1, 2018

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay carolm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2831

Washington, DC – On Tuesday, House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) announced that his proposal to privatize the Federal Aviation Administration’s critical air traffic control (ATC) function will not receive sufficient support to move the bill forward. The National Consumers League (NCL), which has long opposed the proposal to hand control over critical ATC infrastructure to an unaccountable body dominated by the nation’s largest airlines, welcomed the development.

The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director:

“We are glad to see Chairman Shuster dropping this ill-conceived plan to allow the nation’s largest airlines to take over America’s air traffic control system. This is a win for the flying public. Congress should instead focus on restoring consumer rights and protections to the flying public. We urge the House to take up the Senate’s FAA reauthorization bill, which includes bipartisan support for the pro-consumer FAIR Fees Act that would help balance the scales and curb the industry’s ever-expanding appetite for fees and penalties that come at the expense of the flying public.”

###

About the National Consumers League
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 https://nclnet.org.

Let’s all get out and glean – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

The Bible is replete with calls for it, our glut of food in America calls for it, and yet few of us do it. I’m not talking about praying! I’m referring to the term “gleaning.” NCL has an active campaign to reduce food waste, since Americans toss out 40 percent of the food we produce. That takes a huge toll on our farmers—who work so hard to grow our crops—and on the environment, when wasted food stuffs landfills, and it leaves the 60 million food-insecure families in America behind, when we could be feeding millions more.

But in Belle Glade, FL, it turns out, they are heeding the call to glean. Thousands of people from November through July get up at the crack of dawn and drive to local fields to package up unused crops—butternut squash, bok choy, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, green beans—and ensure they get to the distribution centers at the local food banks. According to Susan Salisbury, who wrote about the cleaning efforts for the Palm Beach Post, an estimated 20 percent of crops never make it to our tables. It’s either “ugly” or doesn’t meet retailers’ standards. Another 20 percent is thrown away at home or in restaurants, something the National Consumers League has worked to reduce.

Amidst a lot of abundance and wealth, there is another side of Palm Beach County. If you drive off the main roads you see it, but few of us make those detours. It turns out that 200,000 people in the county are food insecure, according to the head of the Palm Beach County Food Bank.

In fact, 90 percent of the crops that are gleaned come from Palm Beach County, with up to 3,000 volunteers working closely with growers. Last year they recovered 497,000 pounds of produce. A whopping 3.7 million pounds, statewide, has been saved. Kids come with their parents to participate in gathering produce. What a great lesson for them.

I was surprised to learn that this food recovery program may be the only one of its kind in the nation. Kudos to the farmers who work with the community to ensure this donated food—millions of pounds of it—gets to those in need. This program should go national.

And by the way, this notion that I hear so often that you can’t give food away because if people get sick, you’ll get sued, is a red herring! Ever heard of the Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act? It’s the federal law that protects those who donate, recover, and distribute excess food from fear of lawsuits.

Three hours later, volunteers fill up bins that provide food to the many in Palm Beach County who don’t have enough to feed their families. This is the side of America that I love. Forget military parades— let’s get Americans out gleaning fields across the country. Palm Beach County has taught us how.

Cancer death rate is falling, but we still have work to do – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

Janay JohnsonHave you or someone you love been affected by cancer? Chances are the answer is yes. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in men and women in the United States, and knows no boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, gender, or wealth. More than 1.7 million people will be diagnosed with the disease this year alone, while over 600,000 people are estimated to die from it.

Nonetheless, the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) new report, Cancer Statistics 2018, shows that the cancer death rate in the United States has maintained a steady rate of decline, plummeting 26 percent since its peak in 1991 – translating to 2.4 million fewer cancer deaths over the last quarter century. This progress is largely driven by sharp declines in mortality rates in the four most common types of cancer – lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate. Conjointly, innovations in cancer treatment, better early detection and management practices, and a societal reduction in tobacco use have also played a role in this statistical shift.

Despite this good news, ACS’ report also reveals that, though narrowing, disparities in cancer mortality rates with respect to gender, race, and age still exist. Fundamental differences in the types of cancers men and women develop, and higher rates of smoking, excess alcohol consumption, and other cancer-related factors in men have created a huge gender gap – with the death rate for men 40 percent higher than that of women. Racial disparities are even more pervasive. Though the overall racial disparity in cancer death rates is decreasing, blacks still have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial group in the United States for the majority of cancers. Black men have an overall cancer death rate 24 percent higher than that of white men, and in fact, have the highest death rate of any other group. Black women, despite having lower cancer incidence rates than white women, have a cancer death rate 14 percent higher than their white counterparts. Beyond that, the racial disparities for some cancers, notably breast, are actually increasing. When accounting for age, the disparity in the death rates of blacks and whites 65 and older is significantly smaller than the disparity in death rates of blacks and whites under 65 – which is likely attributable to a higher proportion of insured Americans in the Medicare population.

Socioeconomic disparities, reflecting a lack of access to health care, work opportunities, wealth, education, and social support networks, are at the root of many of the disparities in cancer mortality. These social determinants of health are all indicators of whether an individual might have access to cancer prevention resources, early detection, or quality cancer treatment. Lack of health insurance, or underinsurance creates a barrier to comprehensive healthcare and increases the likelihood of later stage cancer diagnosis, when treatment is often more intense, costly, and frankly less successful.

If we are to continue the progress we have made in lowering the death rate of this horrible disease, we must recognize that it is as inextricably linked to policy as it is to one day finding a cure. The National Consumers League continues to advocate to preserve the consumer protections established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including preventing discrimination based on preexisting conditions, ending annual and lifetime limits on essential health benefits, and removing co-pays for key cancer prevention and early detection services like mammograms and colonoscopies. NCL also advocates to protect Medicaid, which puts health coverage within reach for the most vulnerable and disenfranchised among us. We all have a critical role to play in saving lives from cancer – and it starts with promoting good health in our communities, ensuring every consumer has access to quality and affordable health care, and improving the quality of life for every consumer and their families.

President’s Day: A time to celebrate two great men and modern medicine – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

Happy President’s Day! Given who is currently sitting in the White House, let’s change the subject and celebrate modern medicine as it affected the two American Presidents we are celebrating this holiday. Reading the news this week about the flu virus, I was reminded about how lucky we are in 2017 to avoid the scourge of infectious disease that afflicted both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, two of my favorite presidents and the two this holiday is named for. 

As the flu season is in full tilt and a deadly one this year, if I had a nickel for every person who said, “I don’t get a flu shot because I think it gives you the flu,” I’d be a millionaire. No, flu shots don’t make you sick; and though they say the flu shot this year is only 36 percent effective, I’ll take those odds. According to reports, an estimated 4,000 people have died this year. The vast majority haven’t been vaccinated.

A headline in The Washington Post this week was overly grim. The article was great but the headline was misleading, focusing on the 36 percent statistic.

Read deeper and you find that administering the flu shot in children younger than 9 offers much greater protection to them, reducing by more than half the risk of becoming so sick that they need to see a doctor. That data comes against the backdrop of at least 63 kids dying from flu since October 1. As in past winter flu seasons, about three-quarters of children who have died were not fully vaccinated, officials said. That is critically important information for parents! My headline would have read:

“Flu shot provides unusually high protection to children this year”

This tracks with history. A new analysis of seasonal flu deaths in U.S. children in the six seasons since the 2009 pandemic found that children ages 2 and younger are most at risk. Of the children who died during those years, less than a third had been vaccinated. In other words, vaccination gives your kids a much better chance of fighting the virus.

But back to my favorite presidents—George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Washington would have lived longer—and Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln would not have been so terribly broken by the deaths of their young children from typhoid fever—had they been living today. Now, thanks to modern medicine, we get a shot that protects us from typhoid fever. NCL history tracks similar tragedy. Florence Kelley, NCL’s first general secretary, wrote often about the deaths of her siblings in the late 1800s, calling them the “dark days of diphtheria.” Today we get a shot to prevent diphtheria.

George Washington, it turns out, suffered from a host of infectious diseases in his lifetime. “There are many points before and after the Revolutionary War when he could have died,” said Dr. Howard Markel, director of University of Michigan’s Center for the History of Medicine. “He was really quite ill, even when he was president.” Today, Washington would have had a preventive shot for diphtheria and taken antibiotics for the tonsillitis that likely killed him at the ripe old age of 67; his body was weakened by fending off infectious disease after disease.

So consumers, don’t let anyone tell you NOT to get the flu shot—and don’t believe the urban myth: it will NOT give you the flu. There’s nothing the shot will do but increase your odds—and those of your children—from succumbing to the virulent virus. The Presidents we celebrate this week would have relished this chance to stave off disease. Let’s appreciate all that they did for America and at the same time thank modern medicine for the leaps and bounds we’ve made in fighting deadly infectious diseases.