NCL statement applauding CA legislation to ban vaccine personal exemptions – National Consumers League

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May 15, 2015

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—On the heels of a California Senate move to ban the personal belief exemptions for vaccinations, the National Consumers League has issued the following statement, which may be attributed to Executive Director Sally Greenberg: 

“We applaud the leadership in California, where too many people had been choosing to go without vaccines based on personal belief – or, in many cases, misinformation – and where an outbreak of measles at Disneyland last December sickened 136 people. The science has been proven time and again. Vaccines are safe and effective—in individuals and for the greater community—and only those with health reasons should be exempted.

“Our own research has shown that Americans are confused about vaccines, and understandably so. For over a generation, we have lived virtually free from many of these diseases due to the effectiveness of the vaccines that have stamped them out. We have lost perspective on how deadly they can be. Now, we are dealing with a group of Americans who don’t appreciate the severity of these illnesses, are exercising personal choice to abstain from vaccinating, and are enabling these deadly diseases to start to infiltrate our communities once again. California is taking a step in the right direction by sending a very clear message about how narrow the exceptions should be in order to keep us safe as a community.”

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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.

Statement on Bostick v. Herbalife settlement – National Consumers League

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May 15, 2015

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The following statement can be attributed to National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg:

While yesterday’s decision is another reminder that Herbalife faces serious scrutiny of its business operations, the National Consumers League (NCL) is disappointed that the Court has approved an inadequate settlement in the case of Dana Bostick v. Herbalife International of America Inc et al.. We remain concerned about the allegations against Herbalife and if true, this settlement is woefully inadequate. Among other things the company was not required to make any substantive changes to its structure and will be able to continue to promote and operate the potentially deceptive business practices identified in the complaint. 

Additionally, the monetary relief that this settlement provides leaves the vast majority of the 1.55 million class members with vastly inadequate compensation. 
 
As an organization that advocates on behalf of consumers affected by consumer fraud, including pyramid schemes, particularly those that may be disguised as multi-level marketing businesses, NCL was the first consumer organization to call on the Federal Trade Commission to look into whether Herbalife is a sophisticated pyramid scheme or a legitimate MLM. We believe this investigation is critical  to protecting consumers hurt by frauds and fraudulent companies, and urge the FTC to continue looking into this and other companies to determine whether they are engaged in legitimate business practices or are illegal pyramid schemes.

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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 statement on settlement with Doctor’s Associates Inc. – National Consumers League

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May 11, 2015

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC-The National Consumers League (“NCL”) and Doctor’s Associates Inc. (“DAI”) are pleased to announce that they have resolved consumer-related litigation pending in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, NCL v. DAI, Case No. 2013-CA-006549 B. NCL and DAI recognize the importance of a focus on nutritional content in restaurant menu offerings and ensuring that customers have healthful menu options.

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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.

National Consumers League statement on introduction of Online Consumer Privacy and Data Security Act of 2015 – National Consumers League

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April 30, 2015

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League, America’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, today applauded the introduction of the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2015 by Senator Leahy and others.

The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud:

“It is critically important that Congress gets it right on consumer protections related to data breaches. One need only read the headlines to see the havoc that mega-breaches at our nation’s largest companies are wreaking on tens of millions of consumers. That is why we are pleased to support Senator Leahy’s efforts to craft strongly pro-consumer data security and data breach notification legislation. The Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2015 would create strong incentives for businesses to better protect the vast amounts of consumer data they are collecting. Importantly, the bill allows states to continue to serve as laboratories of democracy by innovating beyond the consumer protection floor set by this bill. We urge Chairman Grassley and the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to support this common sense consumer protection legislation.”

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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.

Blue Bell listeria recall too little, too late – National Consumers League

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April 22, 2015

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington DC— As of Monday, Blue Bell Creameries, a Texas based ice cream company, issued a voluntary recall of all of its products presently in stores, originating from any of its processing facilities. Blue Bell slowly expanded the recall when original clean up efforts to rid its production facilities of Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in vulnerable populations, were ineffective. Last month, Blue Bell issued its first recall, which covered ten varieties of its frozen desserts. On Monday, two tubs of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream tested positive for listeria, prompting the widespread voluntary recall. So far, three deaths and several illnesses have been linked to the outbreak. 

The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League:

“This is a sad outcome. Vulnerable hospital patients fell victim to this terrible listeria pathogen, which demonstrates the extreme importance of having stringent food safety standards in the United States. Consumers assume their food is safe. We applaud Blue Bell’s willingness to conduct a voluntary recall of products, however, we are disappointed by how long it took for the company and the federal government to address the situation.  It’s up to retailers and producers to do the right thing when a problem arises.”

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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.

Students from Jacksonville, FL take 2015 National LifeSmarts Championship – National Consumers League

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April 20, 2015

Contact: Carol McKay, (724) 799-5392, carolm@nclnet.org

Seattle, WA—The student team from Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville, FL, coached by Kathie Logie, was crowned national LifeSmarts champions in Seattle on Monday, April 20 at the 21st annual National LifeSmarts Championship. In a historically tight final match against the second-place team from Rhode Island’s Barrington High School, the teens from Florida outplayed their opponents in an exciting end to the 4-day competition. The Paxon team took the national title in 2013 as well.

Teams from Honolulu, Hawaii, and Fenton, Michigan placed third.

“We are so proud of these students from Florida, who represented their state program with class and pride,” said LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “They played hard and demonstrated their consumer smarts throughout the four-day event. They are true LifeSmarts champions.”

LifeSmarts is a program run by the Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization. It competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of consumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology, and the environment. LifeSmarts is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in partnership programs with student leadership programs FBLA and FCCLA.

Teens from each of the 34 state champion teams represented at nationals competed as individuals, and the top five scorers received scholarships from NCL. This year’s winners were:

  • Environment: Chris Biesecker, Pennsylvania
  • Personal Finance: Matthew Lamontagne, Rhode Island
  • Health and Safety: Taylor Heslop, Kansas
  • Consumer Rights and Responsibilities: Steven Forte, Rhode Island
  • Technology: Teddy Ni, Rhode Island

Kelsey Becker, from North Dakota, and Matthew Lamontagne from the Rhode Island team, were named the 2015 Students of the Year. Jennifer Bearchell, from Flagstaff, AZ, was named LifeSmarts Coach of the Year. Long-time State Coordinators Bill Wilcox and Joan Kinney, from Wisconsin, earned the Coordinators of the Year honor.

“NCL’s LifeSmarts program is allowing us to rear a generation of consumer-savvy teenagers who often outsmart their parents on issues related to avoiding fraud, credit and debt, and complicated healthcare decisions,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. In the 21 years that LifeSmarts has been educating high school and middle school teens on consumer issues, it has grown dramatically, with more than 3 million consumer questions answered at www.lifesmarts.org in the online competition during the 2014-2015 program year.

For team photos, event schedules, grid standings, and more, log on to www.facebook.com/LifeSmarts

All winners at the national LifeSmarts Competition received valuable prizes donated by sponsors to the National Consumers League, including scholarships, savings bonds, gift cards, and more. To learn more about the program, contact NCL’s Lisa Hertzberg at 202-835-3323.

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About LifeSmarts and the National Consumers League

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: www.lifesmarts.org, email lifesmarts@nclnet.org or call the National Consumers League’s communications department at 202-835-3323.

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 Commerce Committee markup of the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015 – National Consumers League

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April 15, 2015

Contact: NCL Communications, Carol McKay (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC – Today, the House Energy & Commerce Committee approved HR 1770, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015. NCL had previously hoped that this bill would be improved in committee. Unfortunately, as today’s partisan vote made clear, that has not happened. The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, NCL Vice President, Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud:

At a time when millions of consumers are increasingly at risk of identity theft due to massive data breaches, it boggles the mind that Congress is contemplating reducing data security protections. Unfortunately, that is exactly what will happen if H.R. 1770, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015, becomes the law. The bill, which today passed out of committee on a party-line vote, would actually weaken existing consumer protections in 38 states. No major consumer groups are supporting this bill. Even Congressman Welch, who co-sponsored the bill, did not vote to move it to the floor.

Despite massive breaches at companies like Target, Home Depot, Anthem, Primera and countless others, it seems clear that the majority in Congress is intent on crafting a bill that weakens consumer protections by reducing or removing businesses’ data security obligations. Any Member of Congress who claims to be pro-consumer should oppose this bill in its current form. 

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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.

FTC report highlights continuing threat of identity theft to millions – National Consumers League

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March 3, 2015

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC – The release of the Federal Trade Commission’s annual Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book once again highlights the harm that identity thieves are inflicting on millions of American consumers. For the 15th consecutive year, complaints about identity theft topped the Commission’s annual list of top scams.

“Identity theft, and the data breaches that fuel it, must be a top concern not only of regulators at the FTC, but policymakers throughout Washington and beyond,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “The message from 332,000 identity theft complaints to the FTC is clear: more needs to be done to protect consumers from this fraud.”

The Data Book identified tax-related identity theft as a top source of identity theft complaints to the FTC. While there is no fool-proof way to prevent tax ID theft, NCL has published a step-by-step guide to spotting and recovering from this fraud.

According to Javelin Strategy & Research, nearly 1 in 3 data breach victims will also experience identity fraud.  As information on tens of millions of consumers affected by data breaches continues to fall in to the hands of cybercriminals, it is likely that millions more consumers will suffer from identity fraud.

For policymakers, the need for reform should be clear. Ensuring that companies collecting consumers’ data protect it critical to bringing down rates identity fraud. However, without leadership from Washington, businesses and other entities that amass vast troves of consumer data will have little incentive to put data security ahead of profits.

Unfortunately, real reforms to improve data security have languished in Congress while hackers and other cyber-crooks have had a field day at consumers’ expense.  That’s why NCL has called on policymakers to adopt NCL’s Congressional Data Security Agenda. The agenda calls for reforms that:

  • Create a national data breach notification standard, while protecting strong state laws like California’s;
  • Require data holders to abide by reasonable data security requirements;
  • Clarify and strengthen the FTC’s data security authority;
  • Promote robust cyber-insurance underwriting standards;
  • Increase federal civil and criminal penalties for malicious hacking; and
  • Strengthen international anti-cybercrime partnerships.

“While the 300,000-plus identity theft complaints may seem like a huge number, it is just a drop in the bucket given the fact that most ID theft victims don’t report the crime, if they’re even aware of it,” said NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud John Breyault. “While consumers can take steps to mitigate their risk of ID theft, they can’t prevent it entirely. That’s why we need leaders in Washington to help make sure that the companies that profit from consumers’ data protect it to the greatest extent possible.”

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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 Statement on White House Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights discussion draft – National Consumers League

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March 2, 2015

Contact: Ben Klein, NCL Communications (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League today expressed its hope that the White House’s proposal for a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights will be just the beginning for a negotiation to enshrine strong consumer privacy protections in law. Unfortunately, should the proposal released last week be passed, it would in many ways actually weaken existing privacy and data security protections.

The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, NCL Vice President, Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud:

“The President has rightfully made protecting the privacy and security of consumers’ personal data a top priority of his Administration. Unfortunately, the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights released on Friday fails to create a robust framework for consumer privacy and data security protection. Instead, it relies on industry-created codes of conduct without effective enforcement mechanisms. What’s worse, it would preempt laws in nineteen states, many stronger that the proposed standard, that provide data security protections for their citizens. We hope that this draft proposal will serve as the starting point, not a high water mark discussions about how to better protect consumers’ privacy and data security in the digital age.”

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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.

National Consumers League, FDA, National Alliance for Hispanic Health partner to distribute medication adherence radio PSAs in Spanish – National Consumers League

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February 26, 2015

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC—Thanks to a partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Consumers League (NCL) has created a new Spanish-language radio public service announcement (PSA) to encourage consumers to take their medications as directed. The new PSAs are the latest tool released by NCL’s Script Your Future campaign and features the National Alliance for Hispanic Health (the Alliance). Script Your Future is a multi-media public awareness campaign, coordinated by NCL, the nation’s pioneering consumer group, to educate consumers and key health stakeholders on the importance of taking medication as directed.

“Poor medication adherence is a huge public health problem, resulting in 125,000 deaths per year, not to mention hospitalization and costs to our health care system of $300 billion annually,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the NCL. “We are pleased that this partnership with the FDA and the Alliance has enabled us to reach Hispanic communities with these crucial patient messages about the importance of improving one’s personal adherence and working with their health care professionals to better manage chronic conditions.”

The new Spanish radio PSA features the voice of Dr. Jane Delgado, president and CEO of the Alliance reminding patients with chronic conditions of the importance of taking medications as prescribed and refers listeners to the Script Your Future website and the Su Familia helpline for more information. The Script Your Future website now also features information on medication adherence, along with resources and tools for patients with chronic conditions, all in Spanish.

“The National Alliance for Hispanic Health is proud to partner with NCL and FDA to raise awareness in the Hispanic community about the importance of taking your medicines in the recommended way,” said Dr. Delgado. “Helping people take their medicines as directed will benefit individuals, our families, our communities, and our healthcare system as a whole.  Working with NCL and its Script Your Future program is a natural fit for our Su Familia helpline, which offers Hispanic consumers free, reliable and confidential health information so they can make informed decisions about their health.”

“Making sure patients have the information they need to fully understand their medicines and the importance of taking them as prescribed is critical to ensuring healthier futures for Americans as well as our health care system,” said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which supports the partnership with NCL. “We are pleased these messages will now be able to reach people through the Spanish-language radio stations in their communities.”

For more information, visit ScriptYourFuture.org. To access the PSA, click here.

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Script Your Future, launched in 2011, is a three-year national public awareness campaign about medication adherence coordinated by 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 Futurecampaign, visit www.ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information on NCL, please visit www.nclnet.org.