See, orlistat is under investigation by the FDA again. Alli made an appearance in our disturbing side effects collection back in April. "... gas with oily discharge, an increased number of bowel movements, an urgent need to have them, and an inability to control them," we quoted. 7.7% of patients in one Xenical study experienced "fecal Incontinence." Other, less common, side effects are scarier and deadlier.

Send your orlistat side effect horror stories to tips@consumerist.com with "Orlistat" in the subject line, and we'll send them along.

Fuze Slenderize
Advertising for Fuze Slenderize energy drinks was allegedly misleading consumers with claims that the drinks would cause appetite suppression and/or weight loss. (Consumerist was suspicious of Fuze's advertising claims years ago.) If you bought a Slenderize drink between July 16, 2004 and April 6, 2009 (July 16, 2002 and July 15, 2004 in New Jersey) You can claim for fewer than ten bottles without proof of purchase. Fill out the form here. Deadline: July 10, 2009.

T-Moble Early Termination Fees
If you were charged a flat-rate early termination fee instead of a prorated one when canceling your T-Mobile contract between July 23, 1999 and February 19, 2009, you're eligible. However, you're also eligible if you happened to be under a T-Mobile contract with a flat-rate ETF during that period, whether you canceled the contract or not. The claim form is located here. Deadline: September 25, 2009.

450 Prescription Drugs
The suit alleges price-fixing among major pharmaceutical companies, and consumers who paid cash (between 8/1/01 and 1/23/09) or percentage-based co-pays (between 8/1/01 and 3/15/05) for any of 450 name-brand drugs (PDF link) are eligible. Evidence such as receipts or a doctor's letter is recommended, but not required. Get the claim form for your class here. Deadline: July 9, 2009.

Bextra and Celebrex
The suit claims that Bextra (which is now off the market) and Celebrex were marketed in a way that was not consistent with their FDA approval. If you paid cash or a co-pay for Bextra or Celebrex before July 29, 2005, you're eligible to file a claim. Deadline: October 23, 2009

GE Microwaves (warning: site immediately plays video with sound)
A number of GE microwave owners have experienced scary, scary problems with their appliances, including control panel failures, arcing, fires, pet deaths, property damage, and the microwaves turn themselves on for no reason. They are looking for other people who have experienced similar problems and are interested in a class action suit.

(Thanks to Top Class Actions for some of this info, and our lovely readers for the rest!)

(Photo: muffet)

Iron County Deputy Wade Lee says two of the men admitted to being illegal aliens. The driver said he's been delivering prescription drugs for a company called "Nevada Courier" for several months. Lee explains, "He said ‘I was sitting at home and somebody called me and paid me $150 and a tank of gas to drive these medications down here and drop them off.'"

Police say the men are from Las Vegas. They had made a delivery in Mesquite, two in Saint George, and their fourth delivery would have been in Cedar City. Lee says, "I called Wal-Mart and they said yeah they were expecting a delivery and the driver was late."

We called Wal-Mart with some questions. In an email statement, a Wal-Mart spokesperson writes, "This situation is unacceptable to Wal-Mart. We maintain strict standards for courier companies that transport products for us. As this was a situation involving a contractor, your questions would need to be addressed by the courier company or the police."

Iron County Sheriffs say what's frightening here is the safety of Wal-Mart pharmacy customers. Lee says, "You don't know if they opened the box, no tamper seals, nothing... so you never know what you're going to get I guess."

And now you know how Walmart keeps their drug prices so low.

Illegal aliens delivering drugs to Wal-Mart [ABC4]

A campaign will hit DC's streets too promoting comparative effectiveness research, which tests what which drugs, devices, and procedures are the most effective and the least risky.

If you're in DC you can get a free copy at Union Station or different Metro stops, or read it online for free.

Also, if you're in DC cruise by Union Station and gawk at two guys dressed in giant pill costumes on exercise machines getting monitored by Consumer Reports testers, representing our rigorous drug research and testing. Hey, laughter is the best medicine, right?

Best Drugs for Less [Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs]

"Times are tough," said Robin Michel, executive vice president for Giant Food, which is based in Landover. "If this is the way that we can help most people, why not?"

Shortly after the announcement, Wegmans, a chain of 72 stores on the east coast, announced their own free antibiotics program.

Wegmans' spokeswoman Jo Natale says the program has been in the works for weeks and called the timing of the announcements coincidental. She says the Wegmans program was not a direct reaction to Giant's program.

Customers will, of course, still need a prescription from their doctors.

Giant Food To Offer Free Prescription Antibiotics [WaPo]
Wegman's Joins Giant, Offers Free Antibiotics [WaPo]

As part of their inquiry, FTC staff made undercover purchases from the sites. No one asked the clandestine buyers to provide verification of a prescription and the shipped drugs did not include doctors' instructions or dosage information, officials said.

According to MSNBC, the sites used names like "Canadian Healthcare," were run by U.S. and New Zealand citizens, were hosted in China, sourced their drugs from India, and ran credit card purchases through Cyprus and the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The world of spam is flat, indeed (although there's probably an email in my inbox that promises to prevent that).

"FTC busts 'world's largest spam operation'" [MSNBC]
(Photo: Getty Images)

The report’s findings track with similar studies by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which has found that roughly seven million Americans are abusing prescription drugs. If accurate, that would be an increase of 80 percent in six years and more than the total abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy and inhalants.

The Florida report analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide. Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, it found, while legal opioids — strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin — caused 2,328.

Drugs with benzodiazepine, mainly depressants like Valium and Xanax, led to 743 deaths. Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179 of the dead and judged the cause of death of 466 — fewer than cocaine (843) but more than methamphetamine (25) and marijuana (0).

The study also found that while the number of people who died with heroin in their bodies increased 14 percent in 2007, to 110, deaths related to the opioid oxycodone increased 36 percent, to 1,253.

Florida doesn't track prescription drug purchases like other states, making life mindlessly easy for prescription drug addicts.

The lesson here is throw-out unused prescriptions, and be suspicious if your Xanax-munching friend keeps talking up impromptu trips to Disney World.

Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal, Florida Says [NYT]