What broadband privacy? – National Consumers League

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When you ask consumers about the kind of information that they’d like to keep private, location data is usually near the top of the list. That’s why Motherboard’s recent investigation into cell phone companies’ location data sharing services is so troubling.

In the sting, Motherboard reporters paid a bounty hunter $300 to locate a phone. The bounty hunter was able to find the phone without any hacking tools. Instead, he used real-time location data originally sourced from the phone’s wireless carrier.

Additional reporting revealed that approximately 250 bounty hunters and related companies had access to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint customer location data. To put this in perspective, one bail bond firm admitted to utilizing phone location services at least 18,000 times, and other companies used the services thousands or tens of thousands of times.

These kinds of abuses are exactly what NCL and other public interest groups were worried about when we supported the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 2016 broadband privacy rules. Those common-sense rules would have prohibited Internet service providers (ISPs) from sharing consumers’ location data and other types of sensitive information without their consent. In particular, NCL filed comments urging the FCC to create strong data security rules for ISPs.

When the FCC adopted its broadband privacy rules in October 2016, it was a victory for privacy and data security advocates. Unfortunately, those rules would be short-lived, thanks to Congress’ decision to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the rules in March 2017. By using the CRA to overturn the broadband privacy rules, Congress effectively precluded the FCC from ever passing “substantially similar” rules in the future.

The Motherboard investigation has not only sparked multiple responses calling for a more detailed investigation but also proves two important things: it has confirmed that ISPs have been irresponsible with consumers’ data and that broadband privacy rules are still needed.

House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, asking him to provide an emergency briefing explaining what the FCC has done to address the broadband privacy issue. Incredibly, Chairman Pai declined. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks commented on the recent findings saying, “the for-profit location data industry has flourished in the shadows without any government oversight.” Additionally, Motherboard’s revelations prompted calls from senators and FCC commissioners to investigate the cell phone companies’ data sharing practices. While investigations are a good start, real consumer privacy protections can only come through legislation. If you don’t think that cell phone companies should be allowed to sell your personal information without your permission, now is the time to call your Congressional representatives and tell them you want real broadband privacy protections.

Rubio’s bill is an empty promise – National Consumers League

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Last month, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined the growing list of Members of Congress, advocacy groups, and industry players who have released privacy bills. Rubio’s bill, the American Data Dissemination Act (ADD Act), exists primarily to relieve Congress of the January 20, 2020 deadline when the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) takes effect. Absent action by Congress, the CCPA, the subject of a furious lobbying campaign to weaken it, will become the strongest consumer privacy law in the United States less than a year from now.

To say that privacy advocates are skeptical of the Rubio bill is an understatement. For starters, the bill makes no mention of stringent enforcement, heightened transparency, or timely notification of violations. Other bills from Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Schatz (D-HI), however, implement sensible provisions. These include defining sensitive information and requiring the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish a Bureau of Technology, which would give the FTC more resources to investigate companies. However, Rubio’s bill maintains one stark difference: state preemption. Rubio has made it clear that his bill would preempt state privacy bills like California’s in favor of a federal privacy standard.

In comparison to the CCPA’s strict provisions, such as enforced rulemaking authority and timely notifications to consumers, Rubio’s bill would only give the FTC authority to craft privacy rules if Congress is unable to do so after more than two years of debate.

Rubio justifies this prolonged timeline by suggesting that Congress needs more time to make informed decisions to protect consumers and promote innovation. Rubio claims this approach is sensible because it ensures a non-partisan approach from the experts who are informed on the best course of action.

In reality, Rubio’s bill is a poor option for consumers and companies. For starters, the bill would only allow the FTC to craft privacy rules based on the guidelines in the Privacy Act of 1974. While the Privacy Act may have been timely back in 1974, it is hopelessly antiquated and unable to account for modern technological advancements. The Rubio bill fails to address issues like data minimization or data security standards and fails to broadly define personal information.

Ultimately, the Rubio bill exists to address industry concerns about a “patchwork of privacy bills.” It fails to add any substantive new consumer protections, despite the voluminous evidence that such protections are needed. Rather, the Senator suggests that in order to create a comprehensive data privacy bill, Congress needs more time—time which consumers, in this day of record-setting data breaches and privacy threats, simply do not have.

National Consumers League renews call for legislation requiring child vaccinations

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February 11, 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—After a harrowing account in a February 6, 2019 Washington Post article about the galloping rate of measles because of state laws permitting parents to forego – for personal or religious reasons — safe and effective vaccines for their children, the National Consumers League (NCL) is renewing its call for passage of strict vaccination laws.

“Vaccinations are proven safe and effective. They prevent diseases like measles, polio, smallpox, influenza, and diphtheria which used to terrify parents and send communities into panic. Vaccines should be seen as a gift of modern medicine. When you decide not to vaccinate your child, you’re endangering your child and your community,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg.  

NCL supports laws that restrict exemptions. Greenberg continued: “Legitimate and well-documented health conditions should be the only reason to not vaccinate your children. The loophole of `personal preference’ or ‘religious exemptions’ has caused the “current epidemic and traffic in fear mongering and unfounded pseudo science. The link between autism and vaccines has been debunked time and again and yet anti-vaxxers persist in spreading bad information and contribute to the dangerous spread of deadly illnesses in their communities.”  

NCL commends California, West Virginia, and Mississippi for allowing only medical exemptions to vaccine requirements. In 2016, NCL honored Dr. Richard Pan, a California State Senator, for his brave leadership on vaccine laws. In 2015, he authored landmark legislation abolishing all non-medical vaccine exemptions, legally requiring vaccines for school-aged children, thereby restoring community immunity from vaccine-preventable diseases. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Pan remarked, “Consumers need accurate guidance on medications that can improve their health, especially vaccines which benefit both patients and the public. NCL has been a strong partner as we strive to combat misinformation about vaccines.”

Unfortunately, most states permit religious exemptions from vaccines, and 17, including Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, currently allow philosophical exemptions. As a result of this policy, 7.9 percent of children in Clark County, WA were unvaccinated. NCL applauds Washington state Representative Paul Harris (R-Vancouver), who has introduced legislation that would ban personal or philosophical exemptions from the measles vaccine. To see where your state stands on non-medical vaccine exemptions, please click here.

NCL’s stance on vaccines

NCL admires the work of health advocates like Dr. Richard Pan and countless others who understand the vital role that vaccines play in protecting our communities. Vaccines are among the safest and most effective public health measures we have. NCL calls on all states to strike non-medical vaccine exemptions. Because of vaccines, we have the luxury of not worrying that our children or our families will contract these once devastating diseases. The measles outbreak is a wake-up call. Our message to parents and adults alike: get vaccinated!

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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 www.nclnet.org.

NCL expresses disappointment with CFPB decision to leave consumers vulnerable to predatory lenders – National Consumers League

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February 8, 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—This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) moved to gut its payday lending rule, which was scheduled to go into effect later this year. The agency, now led by Director Kathy Kraninger, is reversing a rule that would have protected consumers from predatory auto title and payday lenders and require them to only lend money to consumers who can afford to repay the loan. 

The following statement is attributable to Brian Young, Public Policy Manager of the National Consumers League: 

“Assessing a borrower’s ability to repay before making a loan is common sense. Whether a consumer is applying for a mortgage or borrowing to pay the electric bill, no one should be given a loan that they cannot possibly pay back. CFPB’s rollback of a rule that would require assessment of a borrower’s ability to repay is indefensible.

“The CFPB’s own data found that 4 out of 5 consumers who take out payday loans with interest rates in excess of 400 percent either default or take out additional short-term loans. A 400 percent interest rate loan is not a lifeline; it is a textbook example of exploitation. The CFPB’s mandate is to protect consumers, not the interests of a predatory industry. The CFPB should do its job and refrain from repealing this critical consumer protection.”

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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 www.nclnet.org.

Consumer groups, food industry jointly call on USDA/HHS to emphasize portion control in next Dietary Guidelines – National Consumers League

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February 6, 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–Three national consumer advocacy organizations and six leading food industry trade associations joined together to call on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to emphasize portion control in the development of the official 2020-2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

“One promising, and we think underutilized, strategy for tackling the obesity epidemic is helping consumers understand and implement appropriate portion control,” wrote the National Consumers League, the Consumer Federation of America, and Consumer Action. The consumer groups’ letter to USDA and HHS was cosigned by The Grocery Manufacturers of America, the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA), the American Beverage Association, the Sugar Association, the National Confectioners Association, and the American Frozen Food Institute.

A copy of the letter can be accessed here.

The consumer groups and trade associations reminded the government that, “The current version of the Dietary Guidelines merely discusses portion size as an afterthought in strategies to improve diets and fight obesity, with the concept not even mentioned in the guidelines’ executive summary.”

Despite an array of consumer education efforts, including mandatory nutrition labeling on food packages and, more recently, on restaurant menus, obesity is still a dire problem. More than two out of three Americans remain overweight or obese, despite such efforts.

The consumer and industry groups noted that, “Larger portion sizes clearly contribute to increases in the rates of overweight and obesity . . . [we] therefore urge the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, once they are appointed and convened, to focus on portion control as a key strategy to address the rise of obesity and related dietary diseases.”

The National Confectioners Association has launched the Always A Treat Initiative. A central aspect of this voluntary industry effort is providing consumers with more choices in smaller portion sized packages. The founding members of the SFPA have taken similar steps.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association has long supported the need for portion recommendations when developing achievable and practical dietary guidance.

The American Beverage Association has committed to offering a wider variety of smaller portion sizes. Members of the American Frozen Food Institute offer a large variety of portion-controlled meal options, and the Sugar Association has publicized that sugar is best enjoyed in moderation.

The consumer advocacy groups and trade associations concluded, “These programs represent cost-effective measures to combatting obesity, but this is only a start. . . . [We] look forward to participating in the deliberations that will lead to the new Dietary Guidelines.”

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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 www.nclnet.org.

Why nutrition labeling on alcoholic beverages can reduce binge drinking – National Consumers League

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Shaunice Wall is NCL’s Linda Golodner Food Safety and Nutrition Fellow

Alcohol – like everything else we eat and drink – is best enjoyed in moderation. If consumed to excess, drinking alcoholic beverages can lead to addiction and increased risk of certain chronic diseases, but also weight gain, because these drinks are often dense in calories and devoid of nutrients.

One of the problems consumers face, however, is that there is virtually no information on the nutritional content in the alcoholic beverages they consume. NCL has been working to change this for more than 30 years, but progress on this front has been very disappointing. Does lack of a label cause binge drinking? Of course not, but evidence indicates that caloric and nutritional labeling encourages healthier choices when consumers read and understand the labels.  

What is binge drinking anyway? 
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. For men, it means consuming 5 or more drinks – and for women – it’s consuming 4 or more drinks in about 2 hours. 

A “drink” defined 
A “drink” refers to half an ounce of alcohol (e.g., a 12oz. beer, a 5oz. glass of wine, or a 1.5oz. shot of distilled spirits). 

The impact of alcohol consumption and binge drinking 

In 2015, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 86.4 percent of people in the United States aged 18 or older drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime. 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, binge drinking is the most common, costly, and deadly pattern of excessive alcohol use in the United States. More than one in six U.S. adults, or 38 million people, are binge drinkers, and they binge an average of four times a month.

In 2010, alcohol consumption cost America an estimated $249 billion in workplace productivity losses, health care expenditures, criminal justice costs, and other expenses — binge drinking was responsible for 77 percent of these costs, or $191 billion.  

Some nutritional consequences of binge drinking 
In 2018, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that young adults who frequently binge drink were more likely to have cardiovascular risk factors, including higher blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar at a younger age than non-bingers. In addition to malabsorption of several nutrients in the gut, binge drinkers are at risk of malnutrition because alcohol contains calories that may substitute for those in more nutritious foods. Another more common consequence of binge drinking is weight gain, which in turn contributes to the nation’s obesity epidemic.   

The link between alcohol and obesity 

Researchers suggest a positive correlation between calories derived from alcohol and obesity. Alcohol also has an effect on hunger levels and food preferences.  

Alcohol cannot be stored in the body, however, its conversion to acetate in the liver and subsequent release into the bloodstream inhibits the amount of fat the body burns.  

The problem with binge drinking and misleading nutrition labels 

A pint of beer may contain as much as 200 calories – the same as a doughnut. Yet, in the United Kingdom, one study found that 85 percent of the population is unaware of or underestimates calories from alcohol. This problem is universal, and–in the United States–this is due in part to misleading nutrition labeling proposals by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which regulates and collects taxes on trade and imports of alcohol. 

Labeling of alcohol can reduce binge drinking 

As noted above, one strategy to increase awareness and reduce the risk of excessive alcohol use is to label alcoholic beverages with serving facts. Listing the ingredients alerts consumers to the presence of any potentially harmful or problematic substances while providing nutritional information–such as energy content–allows consumers to monitor their diets and makes it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  

The impact that such a move could have was illustrated by a small experiment conducted in a UK pub, in which customers presented with caloric information consumed on average 400 fewer calories than those who had access to no such information.  

Obstacles for nutrition labeling of alcohol in the United States 

Labeling requirements for alcoholic beverages are woefully inadequate. The proposals offered by TTB are too little, and they don’t support public health.  

In 2003, a petition by several special interest groups (including NCL) to TTB, claimed that there were substantial disparities in the labeling requirements applicable to different kinds of alcoholic beverages. Wine and distilled spirits labels are required to reveal the beverages’ alcohol concentration – expressed as a percentage of alcohol by volume (additional proof-level statements are optional) – but labeling alcohol content on beer and other malt beverages is entirely optional. Only those alcoholic beverages that make nutritional claims, such as “light” or “lite” beers must disclose calorie content and certain nutrition information. 

There has been no rationale published by TTB for these differences.  

The National Consumers League’s petition  
NCL, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), and 67 other organizations continue to advocate for mandatory content and nutritional labeling on all alcoholic beverages. While it may not eradicate binge drinking, consumers who want to consume alcohol in moderation deserve to know what’s in that drink. A label like the Nutrition and Supplement Facts on alcoholic beverages is long overdue.

Love hurts: New fraud report shows concerning increase in romance scams

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February 1, 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—With Valentine’s Day a few short weeks away, those who are looking for love online should also be on the lookout for imposters who want something besides affection: your money. According to the National Consumers League, which is issuing its annual Top Ten Scams report today, so-called “romance scam” complaints showed a big spike in 2018. Whereas such scams made up only 1.54 percent of complaints to NCL in 2017, in 2018 they made up 2.81 percent of complaints, a greater than 45 percent jump, year-over-year. For those who fall prey to these scams, the consequences can be devastating. The average loss reported by victims of these scams in 2018 was $18,831, by far the most financially devastating of the scams reported to NCL.

“Scammers will stop at nothing to separate victims from their money,” said John Breyault, NCL’s vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud. “They depend on the people they prey on to act on emotions, not reason. There’s no stronger emotion than love, and scammers are all too eager to use supposedly romantic connections to defraud their victims.”

The annual report, which is compiled from more than 5,300 complaints filed by consumers at NCL’s Fraud.org website, identified another additional worrying trend: for the third year in a row, complaints about phishing and spoofing scams rose. NCL attributes this trend to fraudsters being able to identify and target their victims better with email and robocalls.

“With data breaches putting more financial information in the hands of criminals than ever before, it’s unsurprising that the scammers are sending more convincing-looking phishing and spoofing emails,” said Breyault. “In fact, our own staff at NCL were nearly taken in by one of these scams recently. It just goes to show you that no one is immune to these scams.”

The overall top complaints in 2018 remained unchanged from 2017, with bogus Internet merchandise scams, fraudulent prizes and sweepstakes, and fake check scams making up the three most common types of complaints received at NCL. Other top scam categories included refund/recovery scams, scholarship and grant scams, and imposter scams.

An additional trend that advocates like Breyault are concerned about: the growing use of gift cards as a preferred method of payment by scammers. Although wire transfer and credit cards continue to be the most popular ways for scammers to get paid by their victims, 2018 saw a 25 percent increase in the use of alternative methods, including gift cards, as a payment method.

Read the full 2018 Top Scams report from NCL.

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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 www.nclnet.org.

Are the olives used to make your olive oil contaminated with herbicides?

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Shaunice Wall is NCL’s Linda Golodner Food Safety and Nutrition Fellow

Olive oil and the Mediterranean are almost synonymous. Extra virgin olive oil, or EVOO, has been an unrivaled staple in the gastronomy of the health conscious. It has also been long time dubbed as “heart healthy” due to its high antioxidant and monosaturated fats, which can help lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and raise “good” HDL cholesterol. In fact, the Mediterranean diet was recommended as one of the healthiest diets in the latest edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

However, fraud in the marketing of EVOO has plagued consumers for decades. Too often, EVOO on the shelves of our grocery stores are low quality and falsely marked as high-quality virgin or extra-virgin olive oil. An additional common fraudulent activity of olive oil production is the mixing of fresh extra virgin olive oil with inferior, cheaper olive oils or oils of another botanical origin. In 2015, the National Consumers League (NCL) tested 11 different olive oils purchased at various supermarkets and discovered that six of them, despite being labeled “extra virgin,” in actuality did not meet the standards set by the International Olive Council (IOC).

Though the mislabeling of extra virgin olive oil is cause for major health concern, this year, a court in France has sketched an alternative alarm for consumers as they have now banned the use of the world’s most widely used weed killer in its country’s olive groves.

The controversy

Roundup Pro 360, which is the product brand name developed by Monsanto and now owned by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer, has grown to dominate the herbicide market and lists glyphosate as its active ingredient. A French court has ruled that based on scientific studies, Roundup Pro 360 is “a potentially carcinogenic product for humans, suspected of being toxic for human reproduction and for aquatic organisms.”

In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) had classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Despite this warning, the European Commission had approved a 5-year license renewal for the substance in November 2017. Partial and total bans of glyphosate also have been issued in about a dozen other countries since the release of that statement, including several other members of the European Union, Brazil, Canada and New Zealand.

Bayer (used interchangeably as Monsanto throughout this article) is appealing the French court’s decision, citing studies that prove glyphosate is safe. Bayer is currently facing more than 9,300 lawsuits over the negative health effects of Roundup and related products.

A European Parliament report revealed that the European Commission’s 2017 decision to extend the license for glyphosate was based on text that had been copied and pasted from Monsanto studies and included in an assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that concluded the substance is safe to use.

What one Greek study revealed 

The persistence of glyphosate and its primary metabolite AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid) was monitored in two areas in Southern Greece with a known history of glyphosate use, and the levels of residues were linked to spray operators’ activities. During a 3-year monitoring study, a total of 170 samples were collected and analyzed from both areas. Differences in the level of residues between areas, as well as sampling sites of the same area, were identified. AMPA persisted longer than the parent compound glyphosate in both areas. To translate: the olives contained residual amounts of Roundup Pro 360.

Infographic of Olive Oil imports to the U.S. and the use of herbicide.

How widespread is herbicide use? 

Weed control in olive groves is needed to prevent weeds from soaking up the moisture the olive trees need to thrive. As a result, herbicide use has become a common practice, especially in Spanish olive groves, and has rapidly increased in the past 20 years. In very mountainous regions, close to 90 percent of the olive groves are in a system using no-tillage and herbicides for weed control.

Why should the American consumer beware?

Olive oil is made by crushing olives into a paste with steel blades. The olives are stirred to release the oil droplets in a process called maceration before being spun in a centrifuge to pull out the oil and water. After the water is removed, what is left is olive oil. If the olives used in this process are contaminated with Roundup Pro, the consumer may be potentially ingesting dangerous cancer-causing (otherwise known as carcinogenic) chemicals.

Each year Americans consume more than 300,000 tons of olive oil and less than 5 percent of it is produced in the United States. The bulk of U.S. olive oil imports come from Europe, North Africa, and especially Spain, which accounted for 62 percent of all olive oil imports in 2016.

The EPA’s alleged collusion with Monsanto 

Studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. agency that regulates the use of herbicides and pesticides, claims the effects of glyphosate dietary exposure contradicts the declaration that it poses carcinogenic hazards by the World Health Organization. This inconsistency in study findings is subject to an ongoing investigation by EPA’s watchdog that is currently investigating allegations that former agency official Jess Rowland colluded with Monsanto during the review process to counter suggestions it endangers human health.

Exactly how much glyphosate is needed to pose the risk of cancer?

The limit in Europe is currently set at 0.5 milligrams (or 500 mcg) of glyphosate daily per kilogram of body weight, which works out to about 34 milligrams, or 34,000 mcg, for a 150-lb. person. The U.S. daily limit, set by the EPA, is 3.5 times as high as Europe’s, although some have called for a lower limit. We think the United States should adopt the stricter standards embraced by Europe.

What is NCL doing?

While regulatory agencies come to a common consensus on the use of Roundup Pro in the cultivation of olives, we at NCL continue to hold olive oil producers accountable for truth in labeling violations. We endorse the use of authentic organic products and believe in its long-term value. NCL aims to monitor product safety and continues to foster the economic protection of the consumer.

Script Your Future launches eighth annual student competition for innovations in medication adherence

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January 21, 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—Today marks the launch of the eighth annual Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a two-month-long intercollegiate competition among health profession student teams and faculty for creating solutions to raise awareness about medication adherence as a critical public health issue. The Challenge, hosted by the National Consumers League (NCL), is returning to university campuses across the country after seven years of successful student competition and innovation.   

The Challenge is an integral part of Script Your Future, a campaign launched by NCL and its partners in 2011 to combat the problem of poor medication adherence in the United States, where nearly three out of four patients do not take their medication as directed. 

“With the aging of America’s baby boomer generation and the complexities of our healthcare system, the role of health professionals in helping patients preserve and improve their own health is more critical than ever. The Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge uniquely encourages an interprofessional approach and lays the foundation for adherence-minded care among future professionals before they enter the workforce,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director. “For seven years, we have been blown away by the ingenuity of our student teams, their commitment to reaching patients with our messages of adherence, and their interest in positively impacting their communities. We look forward to seeing what this year’s Challenge will contribute to the discussion.” 

The Challenge is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).   

Starting today through March 22, inter-professional teams—including student pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and others—will implement creative outreach approaches in their communities to raise awareness and improve understanding about medication adherence. At the end of the Challenge, teams submit entries for review by national partner organizations, and winners are recognized for their efforts to improve medication adherence. 

“The Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge has provided a tremendous opportunity for health professions students to demonstrate how they can work collaboratively to improve patient care through better medication adherence,” said Dr. Lucinda L. Maine, Executive Vice President and CEO at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. “This Challenge, now in its eighth year, is a powerful example of the impact health professions teams can have on the public health issue of medication adherence.” 

Since the Challenge began in 2011, more than 15,000 future health care professionals have directly counseled nearly 65,000 patients and reached more than 24.5 million consumers about the importance of medication adherence. Last year’s National awardees were the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy and the University of the Sciences Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. Pacific University School of Pharmacy earned the Rookie Award for their outstanding contribution during their second year of participation in the Team Challenge.  

In addition to the national-level awards, the Challenge also honors teams with focused awards in the areas of health disparities, communications and media outreach, and creative inter-professional team. In 2018, the Challenge honored the following schools with focused awards: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM); Touro University California College of Pharmacy; and the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, respectively.   

To learn more about last year’s winners, visit the Script Your Future website.  

For more information on the Challenge, visit the Challenge Community website at https://syfadherencechallenge.ning.com/. Tweet along with us during the Challenge using #SYFchallenge, and follow the campaign @IWillTakeMyMeds. 

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About Script Your Future 

Script Your Future is a campaign of the National Consumers League (NCL), a private, non-profit membership organization founded in 1899. NCL’s mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information about the Script Your Future campaign, visit ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information on NCL, please visit nclnet.org.

Federal government shutdown a boon to scammers

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With the partial government shutdown about to enter Day 27, there is no shortage of stories about the shutdown’s impact on everyday citizens. With the shutdown hurting millions of Americans and costing the economy billions of dollars, one group is undoubtedly rooting for the shutdown to go on as long as possible: scammers.

That is because one of the agencies currently shut down is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is one of the government’s biggest cops on the beat against scam artists. In 2017, almost a quarter million consumers reported to the FTC that they lost nearly $1 billion to scammers. While those are certainly big numbers, we know that fraud is a historically underreported crime, so those losses are likely only the tip of the iceberg. 

Screenshot of the FTC's website with and alert showing that it is shutdown.

The FTC relies greatly on consumer complaints to drive its investigations. In 2017, the Commission collected 2.7 million such complaints, giving it the evidence it needed to take down scams of all kinds, from phony debt collectors, to identity thieves, to imposter scams to dozens of other types of cons. Unfortunately, for the past 27 days, the agency has been unable to accept complaints from consumers. That means that for the past 3+ weeks, scammers have been free to defraud Americans without having to worry about getting caught by the FTC. 

Consumers can file their complaints with other organizations, though none of them have the resources or investigative reach of the FTC. For example, state attorneys general typically take fraud complaints, but their investigative reach is often constrained by limited resources and they may lack expertise on the types of fraud that the FTC has investigated for decades. There are also a number of great nonprofit organizations, including the Identity Theft Resource Center, AARP’s Fraud Watch, and NCL’s own Fraud.org that collect complaints and provide counseling to fraud victims. For Fraud.org’s reports, we also typically amplify our impact by sharing our complaints with the FTC, which can and does investigate. With the FTC shut down, that information isn’t currently happening. 

With the FTC absent, scam artists’ jobs are made much easier. The plight of hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers – many living paycheck–to–paycheck – is rightfully getting plenty of attention. However, Congress, the White House, and the media should not ignore the millions of consumers who are being put at greater risk of fraud while the government remains shuttered.