Joint consumer advocacy letter urges senators to support bipartisan FAIR fees provision – National Consumers League

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July 25, 2018

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Senate Majority Leader
United States Senate
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Charles Schumer
Senate Minority Leader
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

 

Dear Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer,

The undersigned 8 consumer advocacy organizations urge you to support the bipartisan FAIR Fees provision that was included in S.1405, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2017. This provision would help ensure that the ancillary fees which airlines are increasingly adding to the base cost of a ticket are reasonable.

Airlines often claim that the unbundling of fees for services like baggage and cancellation has reduced the cost of flying. However, an independent analysis by the Associated Press has found that base fares have increased by 5% once adjusted for inflation since 2010.[i] Likewise, the Government Accountability Office has found that the cost of flying has increased, once fees for checked baggage are included.[ii]

Under the FAIR Fees provision, section 3129 of the reported bill,[iii] airlines would be prevented from charging flight change and cancellation fees that are unreasonable and disproportionate to the cost of providing the service. The Department of Transportation would also develop standards for helping assess the reasonableness of other common airline fees.

Flight change and cancellation fees can range anywhere from $125, to as much as $750 for an international flight.[iv] While testifying before a US Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby admitted that change fees are “not a direct cost when somebody changes,” but rather are a revenue generator.[v] While airlines certainly need to maintain profitability, they should not do so by taking unfair advantage of consumers who must change or cancel travel plans due to unforeseen circumstances. Requiring that change and cancellation fees bear a reasonable relation to the cost to provide the service will improve competition by preventing price gouging and better incentivizing airlines to compete over the actual cost of fares.

For these reasons, the undersigned consumer advocacy organizations urge you to support keeping the bipartisan FAIR Fees provision in the FAA Reauthorization Act.

 

Sincerely,

Business Travel Coalition
Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America
Consumers Union
Flyers Rights
National Consumers League
Travelers United
U.S. PIRG

cc: Members of the US Senate

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[i] Mayerowitz, Scott and Koenig, David. "U.S. airports increasingly dominated by 1 or 2 carriers.” USA Today. July 15, 2015. Online: https://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2015/07/15/us-airports-increasingly-dominated-by-1-or-2-carriers/30152927/
[ii] Government Accountability Office. “Commercial aviation: Information on airline fees for optional services” September 2017. Online: https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/687258.pdf
[iii] Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2017. Online: https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/s1405/BILLS-115s1405rs.pdf
[iv] American Airlines. “Optional service fees.” July 17, 2018. Online. https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-service/support/optional-service-fees.jsp
[v] Senate Commerce Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation, Operations, Safety and Security. “Questions, answers and perspectives in the current state of airline travel. May 4, 2017. 01:28:55-01:33:48. Online: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=C3586801-EFA9-493C-B3FB-74779C0AC3D2

Coalition of consumer advocacy groups send letter DC Council regarding auto-renewal – National Consumers League

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July 19, 2018

The Honorable Charles Allen
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20004

Dear Councilmember Charles Allen,

The undersigned 9 consumer and community advocacy groups urge your immediate action and support for Title II of the Consumer Disclosure Act of 2017 (B22-0020). The bill, which has been pending before the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee since January 2017, will prevent District residents from unknowingly becoming trapped in a complex web of hidden automatic renewal contract clauses they did not knowingly consent to.

In order to participate in commerce, consumers must sign lengthy fine print contracts. These contracts often contain automatic renewal clauses which will cause the contract or membership to renew automatically if the consumer fails to notify a merchant of their desire to cancel prior to a date of the merchant’s choosing. When these clauses are clearly disclosed, they can help consumers avoid service interruptions. However, unscrupulous merchants slip automatic renewal contract clauses into the fine print of contracts without properly disclosing their presence in order to trap consumers into lengthy contracts. The proliferation of these hidden automatically renewing contract clauses has caused one in three Americans to be tricked into agreeing to an automatically renewing contract.[i]

In the coming years, the trend of unscrupulous businesses hiding automatic renewal clauses in the fine print of contracts is unlikely to change. Deloitte predicts that online media subscriptions, subscriptions, which almost always contain these clauses, will grow by at least 20% in 2018.[ii] Fortunately, the Consumer Disclosure Act of 2017 would prevent these unwelcome financial surprises by:

  • Requiring clear disclosure of any automatic renewal clause; and
  • Requiring that a notification be sent to enrollees 30-60 days prior to the deadline for canceling a multi-month automatically renewing a contract

The unplanned expense that these clauses inflict on their victims is of particular concern for the socio-economically disadvantaged members of our community who are less able to weather surprise bills. Action on this issue is long overdue. In the absence of legislative action, District residents will continue to receive surprise bills for products or services they no longer need or desire.

Through Title II of the Consumer Disclosure Act, the D.C. Council has a real opportunity to improve the lives of Washingtonians by granting District residents the tools they need to avoid becoming ensnared by unwanted automatically renewing contracts. We urge you to quickly take action and to provide District residents with this long overdue protection which is already enjoyed in several states across the country.

Sincerely,

Allied Progress
American Family Voices
Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of California
DC Fiscal Policy Institute
National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders
National Consumers League
Tzedek DC
Workplace Fairness

Cc: Members of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety

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[i] Porche, Bradley. “Poll: Recurring charges are easy to start, hard to get out of,” Creditcards.com. August 21, 2017. Online: https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/autopay-poll.php

[ii] Deloitte. “Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions,” Pg. 41. 2017. Online: https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/gx-tmt-predictions-press-release.html

National Consumers League applauds the Department of Justice for bringing phone scam perpetrators to justice – National Consumers League

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July 24, 2018

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

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League (NCL), America’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, today commended the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for its crackdown on impersonation scams targeting vulnerable Americans. Last week, following their arrest in 2017, 24 perpetrators of a phone scam in which fraudsters extorted money from victims by impersonating IRS agents, or employees of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. The following statement is attributable to James Perry, Customer Services Coordinator and John Breyault, Vice President, Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud, both of the National Consumers League:

“Imposter scams consistently rank amongst the most prevalent scams reported to NCL’s Fraud.org campaign. Last year alone, Americans lost a whopping $327 million to scammers who were impersonating individuals or government agencies. With the DOJ’s announcement that they have ended a massive operation that extorted hundreds of millions of dollars from vulnerable consumers, Americans can feel a little bit safer from a threatening phone call from a scammer. While we applaud the DOJ for this hard-won victory, we must all continue working hard to both educate consumers about this scam and redouble our efforts to put other perpetrators of this scam behind bars.”

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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 https://nclnet.org.

National Consumers League deeply concerned about Kavanaugh’s anti-consumer, anti-labor record – National Consumers League

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July 12, 2018

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

Washington, DC—The nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization today expressed its deep concern about the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat of retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. According to the National Consumers League (NCL), this is a critical moment in American history where the rights of consumers and workers hang in the balance.

“After reviewing his extensive record, we believe that Judge Kavanaugh is an extremist who is out of step with American values and in conflict with our mission to protect consumers and workers,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “We are particularly concerned about Kavanaugh’s record on crucial healthcare access decisions. We can’t afford as a country to step backwards when it comes to providing care for our nation’s families.” 

On the issues: consumer concerns

Abortion access. Kavanaugh consistently votes to limit access to abortion services. Just last year he dissented from a decision to allow an undocumented pregnant teenager in federal custody access to abortion. Judge Kavanaugh wrote that the majority’s reasoning was “based on a constitutional principle as novel as it is wrong: a new right for unlawful immigrant minors in U.S. government detention to obtain immediate abortion on demand.”

Affordable Care Act. When ruling on Seven-Sky v. Holder, Kavanaugh dissented from the majority opinion on the Affordable Care Act, which upheld its constitutionality.

Contraception coverage. In 2015, Kavanaugh dissented from the Court of Appeals’ decision not to rehear a case upholding an accommodation offered by the Obama Administration on access to contraception for employees of religious organizations.

Net neutrality. Judge Kavanaugh dissented from a full DC Court of Appeals decision on net neutrality. Judge Kavanaugh rejects the idea that Internet providers should remain neutral. His dissent included the following arguments: “The government can no more tell internet service providers what content to carry than it can tell bookstores what books they can sell,” and “The net neutrality rule is unlawful because the law impermissibly infringes on internet service providers’ editorial discretion.”

Hostility towards workers

Limiting collective bargaining. In 2007, Kavanaugh gave the Defense Department a temporary win against its 700,000 civilian workers, represented by a union coalition led by the Government Employees (AFGE). Kavanaugh wrote that the 2004 Bush-era Defense Department law gave Bush’s DOD temporary authority to curb civilian defense workers’ collective bargaining rights. Dissenting justices said Kavanaugh would let the government “abolish collective bargaining altogether.”

Undocumented workers’ right to organize. Kavanaugh, dissenting in a 2008 case involving Agri Processor, Inc., a Brooklyn kosher meat packer, said undocumented workers can’t unionize under the National Labor Relations Act. The appeals court majority said they could. 

Right to picket. In 2015, Kavanaugh gave the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas a win in a fight with union organizers over the right to picket on a public sidewalk. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled they could, under their constitutional rights to freedom of expression and freedom assemble peaceably. The NLRB also tossed out the casino’s claims that the sidewalk, which was temporary due to road construction, was private property. The walk was on the Venetian’s land. “Where employers assert a private property right and ask the police to enforce that right against demonstrators, the employers are ‘seeking redress of wrongs committed against them.’”

“This is the most important Supreme Court vacancy in many years,” said Greenberg. “NCL stands with consumers and workers and with those groups who see the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court as a threat to our values and our mission.”

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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 https://nclnet.org.

National Consumers League statement on US opposition to breastfeeding at World Health Assembly – National Consumers League

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July 9, 2018

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

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer organization, is expressing its disappointment at reports of actions taken by the U.S. delegation to the United Nations’ World Health Assembly opposing a resolution meant to promote breastfeeding worldwide. *According to reporting by the New York Times and others, the U.S. delegation demanded that language encouraging governments to “protect, promote and support breastfeeding” be removed from a resolution – introduced by Ecuador — that had been expected to pass without issue.

The resolution, based on established research about the significant health advantages of breastfeeding to both mother and baby,  encouraged countries to promote breastfeeding and “strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes.”

“The United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations,” reported The Times.

The National Consumers League (NCL) has long advocated for the promotion of breastfeeding for health and economic reasons, as well as for policies that support women’s ability to breastfeed, including in public places.

A study from the journal Pediatrics found that breastfeeding could save 900 lives a year and billions of dollars if 90 percent of women breast-fed their babies for the first six months of life. Research has determined that breastfeeding could prevent hundreds of deaths and many more illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, ear infections, stomach viruses, or even childhood leukemia.

The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director:

Breastfeeding has long been hailed as the best source of nourishment for infants, providing the perfect mix of nutrition in an easily digestible form and lowering the risk of certain syndromes, diseases, and allergies.

That the United States delegation to the World Health Assembly would be compromised by the interests of infant formula manufacturers is a disgrace – and going so far as to threaten Ecuador with retaliation for introducing this fundamental resolution is an utter embarrassment.

It is troubling that corporate or other interests might be undermining America’s policy stances on basic health issues such as this. We are disappointed at the U.S. delegation’s void in leadership but pleased that the World Health Organization’s long-standing policy of encouraging breastfeeding prevailed.

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

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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 *https://nclnet.org.

National Consumers League statement on Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME – National Consumers League

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June 27, 2018

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy group, has announced its disappointment in today’s narrow 5-4 anti-worker and anti-union ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME, in which the Court ruled that unions cannot collect “fair share fees” from workers who have not joined the union but receive the benefits of organizing.

The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director:

Janus v. AFSCME is the unfortunate capstone of a decades-long assault on working Americans who choose to collectively stand up to improve their workplaces and their communities and is the result of a right-leaning court that favors business interests over workers.

The potential harm caused by this decision is great and will not only be felt by union members. Millions of individual consumers who rely on government services will feel the consequences of this decision as public servants choose to leave in search of better opportunities and as the ones who remain face greater workplace insecurity.  

The Supreme Court today sided against working families. We call upon Congress to step in to correct this injustice. Powerful lobbyists may have won today, but in the end working Americans understand the importance of joining together to create better working conditions. While this decision is disappointing, we will continue to fight alongside our labor allies for a fair and just workplace and marketplace.

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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 https://nclnet.org.

National Consumers League Announces Data Security and Technology Policy Fellowship – National Consumers League

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June 27, 2018

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League, America’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, is pleased to announce the creation of the NCL Data Security and Technology Policy Fellowship. The fellowship, made possible through a generous unrestricted educational grant from Google, will be part of NCL’s ongoing #DataInsecurity Project, a consumer awareness and advocacy campaign to raise awareness in Washington and beyond about the impact of data breaches on consumers.

“Too often, the impact on users of technology policy decisions made in the halls of Washington, DC is an afterthought,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director. “Through this new fellowship, our goal is to raise awareness of the need for user-centered decision-making in Congress, at federal agencies, and in the states, particularly regarding data security, privacy, and online safety policy.”

NCL is delighted to announce that Sean Davis, Jr. will be the inaugural Data Security and Technology Policy Fellow. A 2017 graduate of George Washington University Law, Sean comes to NCL after stints with Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

“We are thrilled that Sean is joining our team,” said John Breyault, NCL vice president, public policy, telecommunications, and fraud. “His passion for the public interest in technology will be an amazing asset to our mission of promoting user-centric policymaking.”

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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 https://nclnet.org.

Leading consumer organizations decry ‘mutual fund industry giveaway’ by SEC – National Consumers League

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June 6, 2018

Contact: Consumer Action’s Linda Sherry (202) 544-3088, NCL’s Sally Greenberg (202) 207-2830

Washington, DC–Despite overwhelming opposition to abandoning the default paper format delivery method for mutual fund disclosures, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday voted behind closed doors to ignore investor sentiment and allow funds, as of Jan. 1, 2021, to deliver shareholder reports online, with a paper notice of online availability sent by mail. The adoption of Rule 30e3 flips the current process on its head—investors who already have chosen to receive paper mutual fund reports will now have to take the trouble to reach out to funds to request that paper versions (continue to) be mailed to them.

The National Consumers League (NCL) and Consumer Action have worked for more than two years to ensure that the delivery of paper fund disclosures wasn’t flipped. The organizations have filed comments opposing Rule 30e3, spoken at SEC Investment Advisory Committee meetings, and urged investors to press for the paper default. They were expecting to hear a public discussion of the rule at the SEC’s public meeting on June 5, before it was pulled from the agenda the evening before and circulated for written consent from the commissioners in lieu of a meeting.

Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League, said: “We are very disappointed in the 4-1 vote—taken behind closed doors—from the SEC to make it more difficult for mutual fund investors who want paper documents to get fund disclosures delivered in paper; an SEC survey in 2011 found that one-third of consumers say they prefer paper copies of their mutual fund reports. The mutual fund industry trade association estimated in 2016 that this will save investors $2 billion in printing and mail costs over 10 years. The winners are clearly the companies, the losers are those consumers who need or want access to paper versions of fund disclosures and will have to know to sign up for paper delivery. We are disappointed the SEC didn’t take into account the extensive evidence that the change is likely to reduce investor readership of key disclosures.”

Linda Sherry, director of Consumer Action’s DC office, said: “More than 90 percent of the comments submitted to the SEC in 2016 opposed the idea to make electronic delivery the default delivery method for shareholder reports. Despite the concerns raised, which included lack of access to the internet by vulnerable populations, exposure to online fraud and difficulty of reading reports on mobile devices, the SEC chose to vote on its proposal before the public was able to read it.”

Currently (and for close to 20 years) investors have the option of requesting e-delivery. Some estimates say as many as half of all mutual fund investors have chosen e-delivery already. Those who have chosen to keep paper delivery will, under the new rule, be bothered to act to ensure paper reports keep coming. The new measure is an example of “negative consent—or “passive consent”—which means failure to take action is interpreted as agreement. This method of notification is know to decrease consumer participation and likely will reduce investor readership of important disclosures about fund performance, costs and makeup.

While the rule offers the switch to e-delivery as an “optional” method for delivering shareholder reports, it is highly unlikely that the mutual fund industry will choose to leave the status quo of paper statement delivery.

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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 https://nclnet.org.

About Consumer Action

Consumer Action has been a champion of underrepresented consumers nationwide since 1971. A non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Consumer Action focuses on consumer education that empowers low- and moderate-income and limited-English-speaking consumers to financially prosper. It also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers to advance consumer rights and promote industry-wide change.

 

 

National Consumers League announces winners of seventh annual Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge – National Consumers League

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May 31, 2018

Contest saw participation by 73 health profession schools hosting 350+ events in 17 states and reaching 1.5 million consumers nationwide

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242

Washington, DC — Today, the National Consumers League (NCL) and its partners announced the winners of the seventh annual Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a competition designed to engage health profession students and faculty across the nation by encouraging teams to develop creative ideas, events, and initiatives to raise public awareness about the importance of medication adherence. This year’s winners are University of Charleston School of Pharmacy, University of the Sciences Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, Touro University California College of Pharmacy, and Pacific University School of Pharmacy.

The 2018 Medication Adherence Team Challenge is part of the national Script Your Future public awareness campaign coordinated by NCL with support from its partners and the Challenge sponsors—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). “The Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge continues to be an innovative method for our future healthcare professionals to engage with their local communities,” said Executive Vice President and CEO at AACP Dr. Lucinda L. Maine. “The communications and events held in these communities provide essential information and strategies for patients to improve their medication adherence and ultimately their health outcomes.”

Research shows that nearly three out of four Americans do not take their medications as directed. This may lead to devastating results, particularly for people with chronic conditions. National health advocacy leaders have recognized poor medication adherence, the outcome of which leads to more than one-third of medicine-related hospitalizations and at least 125,000 U.S. deaths each year, as a public health priority. Improved medication adherence leads to better health outcomes and reduced total healthcare costs, and it was for these reasons that NCL launched the Script Your Future awareness campaign in 2011. The Team Challenge was established as a way to extend campaign messages into medical and other health profession schools, and to nurture adherence-minded values in future generations of professionals entering the workplace.

“Once again, the robust outreach the student teams conducted to promote medication adherence in their communities was not only impressive, but also highlighted the integral role the entire health professional team plays in achieving positive health outcomes,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “We continue to be encouraged by the collaboration and creativity of the next generation of healthcare professionals and are honored to provide a platform in the Team Challenge that promotes an interprofessional approach to quality, adherence-minded care.”

Top performing teams are honored with a National Award for overall outstanding team achievement, or a Focused Award, which recognizes outstanding team achievement in the specific areas of health disparities/under-represented community outreach, media/communications outreach, or creative interprofessional team event. This year, the Script Your Future National Awards went to the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy and University of the Sciences Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. This is the third win in a row for the University of Charleston, and the first National Award win for University of the Sciences, who was recognized as the Rookie Award winner last year. The focused awardees were: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (Health Disparities), University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy (Creative Inter-professional Team Event), and Touro University California College of Pharmacy (Media Outreach). Finally, the Rookie Award—which recognizes an outstanding team in their first or second year of the Challenge—went to Pacific University School of Pharmacy.

“The Script Your Future Team Challenge is the perfect vehicle to inspire the imaginative thinking that is going to drive greater medication adherence, which in turn will produce better health outcomes, while lowering overall spending,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA. “Pharmacists are clinically-trained medication experts. They should and do play a prominent role in this event. We applaud all the Script Your Future participants for their efforts and suspect that some of their ideas will gain traction with a larger audience going forward.”

This year, more than 3,000 future healthcare professionals and volunteers held more than 350 events in 17 states, directly counseled more than 14,000 patients, and exposed 1.5 million consumers nationwide to Script Your Future messaging. Since the Challenge began in 2011, more than 15,000 future healthcare professionals have directly counseled nearly 65,000 patients and reached more than 24.5 million consumers.

“The Script Your Future campaign provides an opportunity to engage student communities in developing collaborative, interprofessional teams to address medication non-adherence and improve population health. This initiative continues to advance patient care and foster collaboration all across the country. The NACDS Foundation is proud to be a part of this unique opportunity for students to share their talents and make a difference in their communities,” said NACDS Foundation President Kathleen Jaeger. 

“Pharmacists are medication experts, and nearly all Americans live within 5 miles of a community pharmacy. Yet, almost 50 percent of people prescribed medications for chronic diseases do not take their medication correctly. Pharmacist-provided care services help improve adherence and optimize the effects of prescription medications. The Medication Adherence Team Challenge increases awareness of the pharmacist’s role, promotes interdisciplinary care teams, and, most importantly, helps patients,” said APhA CEO Thomas E. Menighan, BSPharm, MBA, ScD (Hon), FAPhA.

The recognized schools, selected from dozens of applications and 73 participating educational institutions, are listed below.

National Challenge Award: University of Charleston School of Pharmacy, Charleston, WV
The University of Charleston School of Pharmacy partnered with the University’s Nursing Program, Physician Assistant Program, several student organizations, and numerous community partners to sponsor 34 innovative medication adherence events. In addition to directly counseling nearly 2,000 patients, the team expanded their reach beyond West Virginia, reaching more than 33,000 people via social media, collecting over 3,000 “I Will” pledges through online and in-person distribution, and hosting a BlogTalk radio series that reached more than 200,000 people. The team also coordinated a Pharmacist’s Day at the Legislature, where 280 student pharmacists educated more than 1,500 legislators and Capitol guests on the importance of medication adherence and provided point-of-care testing. In addition to interventions addressing cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes, many of the Charleston team’s activities focused on educating the community on prescription drug misuse and abuse, given West Virginia’s opioid crisis. These activities included providing naloxone training to high school students, and continuing their “Generation Rx” program, which educated 300 elementary school students on medication adherence, medication safety, and proper medication disposal.

National Challenge Award: University of the Sciences Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, PA
University of the Sciences Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (USciences) continued to build upon their award-winning work from last year, reaching nearly 8,000 people through 19 community events and social media outreach. Students from USciences’ Colleges of Pharmacy and Health Sciences comprised the interprofessional team. In addition, they partnered with Temple University’s Schools of Dentistry and Medicine, medical, physician assistant, and nursing students from Drexel University and Jefferson University, along with several community organizations. The team directly counseled over 600 patients, collected over 600 “I Will” pledges, and expanded upon the medication adherence wallet cards by creating a larger, color-coded medication schedule to aid patients with physical or visual impairments in appropriate medication administration. Other activities included regular patient education tables at Sunray Drugs, Philadelphia’s largest cohort of independent pharmacies; inclusion in the West Philadelphia Weekly newspaper; visits to assisted living facilities in the Philadelphia region; and participation in numerous health fairs, including the “Know Your Numbers” Men’s Health Initiative of 2018, Philadelphia’s largest screening event for men. The team also created two excellent videos: one highlighting their outreach efforts during the Challenge, and a PSA emphasizing the importance of medication adherence.   

National Challenge Award: Finalists
The following schools were named Finalists under the National Award category: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy (LECOM), Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, University of Cincinnati James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, Touro University California College of Pharmacy, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, and University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy.

Rookie Award: Pacific University School of Pharmacy, Hillsboro, OR
Pacific University School of Pharmacy, in conjunction with the university’s College of Optometry and Schools of Graduate Psychology and Dental Hygiene, made an excellent showing in their second year of competing in the Team Challenge. Their activities included participation in several health fairs, outreach to psychology and optometry clinics, an excellent animated video about the importance of medication adherence, and the distribution of Script Your Future wallet cards at “Potluck in the Park,” a program that serves free hot meals and other services to the transient population in Portland.  

Rookie Award Finalist: South College School of Pharmacy, Knoxville, TN
South College School of Pharmacy in Knoxville, TN also made a very strong showing in the Team Challenge as a first-time competitor.  

FOCUSED AWARDS
Health Disparities/Under-represented Community Outreach Award: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), Erie, PA and Bradenton, FL
Pharmacy, medical, nursing, and dental students from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) addressed barriers to medication adherence through robust outreach to pediatric, elderly, and homeless populations in Erie (PA) and Manatee (FL) Counties. LECOM’s efforts included participation in the “Give Kids a Smile” event, which targets children from low-income families with no access to dental care or dental insurance; the “Project Rainbow” event which promotes safe medication use for pediatric patients with disabilities, presentations to seniors in retiree homes and mobile home parks; and providing blood pressure and glucose screenings for the homeless.

Communication and Media Outreach Award: Touro University California College of Pharmacy, Vallejo, CA
This year’s Media/Communications Outreach Award went to Touro University California College of Pharmacy, who through several media platforms reached close to 10,000 people. Touro’s team produced an exceptional animated video educating patients, friends, and caregivers on how to broach the subject of medication adherence. The team also educated thousands of people through social media and published an Op-Ed providing tips for caregivers and patients with chronic disease to use when speaking to a healthcare provider.

Creative Inter-Professional Team Event Award: University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, Pittsburgh, PA 
The University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy partnered with every health and science school at their institution — including the Schools of Dental Medicine, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Public Health, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work — to conduct several outstanding events that raised the importance of adherence in their community. In addition to patient counseling and point-of-care testing, other activities included tabling in various inpatient and outpatient locations, distributing pill boxes, conducting medication reconciliations, and participation in the University’s SilverScripts program, which targets the geriatric population in Pittsburgh. Ultimately, the team conducted over 2,000 one-on-one patient encounters.

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About Script Your Future
Launched in 2011, 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. As an advocacy organization, NCL is working to educate consumers and key health stakeholders on the importance of taking medication as directed. For more information about the Script Your Future campaign, visit ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information on NCL, please visit nclnet.org.

National Consumers League: Supreme Court ruling in Epic Systems v. Lewis et al a ‘disaster for workers’ – National Consumers League

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May 21, 2018

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

Washington, DC—In a controversial 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today sided against workers and with powerful corporations. In Epic Systems v. Lewis et al., the high court today said it is okay for companies to require workers to sign forced arbitration clauses as a condition of employment. These clauses have the effect of nullifying the rights of workers to band together in class action suits when a company engages in systemic wrongdoing or breaks the law. Because the right to bring charges into a public court is waived by signing these clauses, allegations end up behind closed doors in secret proceedings where companies overwhelmingly win.

“This is a gift to America’s corporations and a disaster for workers,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “Allowing companies to break the law and not have to worry about being held accountable creates a toxic work environment where wrongdoing runs rampant. We’ve seen it at Fox News, where Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly sexually harassed female employees for decades and *hid behind forced arbitration clauses. We’ve see it, too, at Sterling Jewelers, parent company to Jared and Kay Jewelers, which required employees to sign forced arbitration clauses and where more than *250 women allege rampant sexual harassment.”

Protecting corporate wrongdoing, whether it’s wage theft, discrimination, or sexual harassment, is bad policy and as history has proven, is ultimately bad for business. Companies like Microsoft understand that. “The silencing of people’s voices has clearly had an impact in perpetuating sexual harassment,” *Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer told the New York Times last year.

In *an op-ed article in the New York Times in October 2017, Gretchen Carlson, who was sexually harassed at Fox News when she was a reporter, wrote that “reforming arbitration laws is key to stopping sexual harassment.” As Carlson recently stated, “If a woman’s being sexually harassed in the workplace and she has an arbitration clause, she’s screwed.”

Few workers are able to take on their employer by themselves and risk termination, abuse, or worse. Few workers can afford to spend thousands of dollars to pursue an individual case. Collective and class actions exist for this very reason; so that regular people can pool their claims and get a lawyer to pursue their case.

An estimated 60.1 million workers in America – 56 percent of private-sector nonunion employees – have been subject to forced arbitration clauses, and of those, nearly one in three (30 percent) have lost the right to challenge wrongdoing through collective legal actions. If it is not already in place, today’s decision will mean that becomes standard employer practice. Sadly, with this decision the Supreme Court in Epic Systems v. Lewis et al. has given corporations the right to further tilt the legal system to their favor.

A spirited and lengthy dissent in Epic Systems, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and joined by Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Breyer, called the decision “egregiously wrong,” a “destructive result,” and said, “the inevitable result of today’s decision will be the underenforcement of federal and state statutes designed to advance the well-being of vulnerable workers.”

“We agree with Justice Ginsburg and her colleagues,” said NCL’s Greenberg. “Now we must demand from Congress a legislative solution that restores the fundamental right of workers – including women fighting sexual harassment – to band together.”

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

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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 https://nclnet.org.