The Federal Trade Commission announced this afternoon that it has reached a settlement deal with cosmetics giant L’Oréal regarding charges of deceptive advertising about its Lancôme Génifique and L’Oréal Paris Youth Code skincare products, which the company’s ad say provide anti-aging benefits by targeting users’ genes. [More]
Government Policy
Surprise! L’Oréal’s “Gene Boosting” Products Don’t Really Boost Your Genes Or Make You Younger
By 6.30.14
Doctors Call For End To Fattening Farm Animals With Antibiotics
By 6.27.14
While the beef, pork and drug industry likes to claim there isn’t enough science to merit a ban on the medically unnecessary use of antibiotics in farm animal feed, the nation’s largest group of physicians doesn’t quite see it that way. [More]
Air Conditioner Thief Sentenced To Prison On Clean Air Act Charges
By 6.26.14
It’s important to do your research and learn everything you can before embarking on a project so you can anticipate what things might go wrong. For example, your plan to steal air conditioners and disassemble them for parts could go wrong when you accidentally release freon into the air. That’s what happened to an Ohio man who recently took a federal plea deal…not for theft, but for violating the Clean Air Act with his ill-gotten ACs. [More]
Despite Regulations Most Consumers Don’t Understand Overdraft Penalty Plans; More Rules Needed
By 6.26.14
Since 2010, financial institutions have been required to obtain an opt-in confirmation from consumers before enrolling them in overdraft penalty plans, yet a new report found more than 50% of consumers who incurred such penalty fees in the past year don’t believe they opted into any such plans. This revelation, coupled with consumers’ concerns over fees and bank practices, has led to a call for federal regulators to improve rules governing financial institutions’ overdraft policies. [More]
Houston-Based Debt Collection Company Agrees To Stop Deceiving Consumers
By 6.26.14
Deceiving consumers is a trademark for some debt collection agencies. Shady collectors have been known to lie about debts, misrepresent themselves as officers of the law, threaten lawsuits, and in the case of a Houston company, charged by the Federal Trade Commission, bully people into paying unnecessary fees. [More]
GM Halts Sale Of Chevy Cruze Over Airbag Concerns; Recall Possible
By 6.26.14
General Motors is once again telling dealers to stop sales of existing inventory of the Chevy Cruze, which has already been the subject of a recall this year over drive shaft issues. This time, the car maker says some 33,000 of these cars could have airbags that were assembled with the wrong part. [More]
June Food And Supplement Recall Roundup: May Contain Metal Fragments
By 6.25.14
In our June Recall Roundup for food, supplements, and even a few over-the-counter drugs, the mint chocolate chip ice cream is packed with pistachios, more smoothie powders have contaminated chia seeds, and red yeast pills sold as an all-natural supplement to lower cholesterol contains cholesterol-lowering drugs. [More]
New Law Would Give USDA Authority To Recall Contaminated Meat & Eggs
By 6.25.14
The current, vague laws regarding what constitutes “adulterated” meat, poultry or eggs have hamstrung the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, leaving the agency unsure whether it has the authority to recall food that contains drug-resistant pathogens. A new law introduced in the House today aims to clarify what constitutes “adulterated” meat, thus giving the USDA the legal standing it needs to issue much-needed recalls. [More]
FDA Warns Of Rare, Potentially Dangerous Hypersensitivity To Popular Acne Products
By 6.25.14
Citing more than 100 reports — most of them since 2012 — of hypersensitivity to common acne medications like Proactiv, Neutrogena, Oxy, Aveeno, Clean & Clear and others, the FDA has issued a warning to consumers that these products can cause “rare but serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions or severe irritation.” [More]
FAFSA Twitter Account Sorry For Posting “I’m Poor” Tweet Aimed At Financial Aid Applicants
By 6.25.14
You know what isn’t always that funny to people who can’t afford say, college? Calling them out for being poor on social media. Oh, hello, Federal Student Aid’s twitter account. You seem to have made a mistake in that area. [More]
CarMax Should Be More Transparent About Selling Recalled Vehicles
By 6.24.14
When CarMax, the nation’s largest seller of used vehicles, claims each of its “Quality Certified” cars has undergone a “125+ point inspection,” and that only 1-in-3 of the cars it considers is accepted for sale, you might assume this means it isn’t selling recalled vehicles. This is not always true, and a coalition of consumer advocacy groups allege that it’s a case of deceptive marketing. [More]
Companies Settle Charges For Allegedly Scamming Millions With Work-From-Home Schemes
By 6.24.14
If many work-from-home opportunities seem too good to be true, that’s because they probably are. And the Federal Trade Commission put an end to two companies that allegedly scammed millions of dollars from consumers by promising substantial income through home-based businesses. [More]
For-Profit Corinthian Colleges To Sell Off Campuses, Phase Out Programs
By 6.23.14
Corinthian Colleges, the company that operates for-profit education chains like WyoTech, Everest, Heald Colleges, and others has been the subject of both state and federal investigations that have kept it from opening up any new campuses. Today, Corinthian announced it’s working on a deal with the U.S. Dept. of Education that would keep its schools operating while it sells off a number of campuses and phases out others. [More]
Mazda, Honda And Nissan Issue Recalls Of Nearly 3 Million Vehicles Related To Faulty Airbag Deployment
By 6.23.14
Nearly 3 million more Nissan, Mazda and Honda vehicles have been recalled related to potentially faulty, and painful, airbag deployment issues that are currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. [More]
June Recall Roundup – Space Heater May Overheat Your Space
By 6.20.14
In June’s recall roundup, we have the usual suspects: flammable kids’ pajamas, poorly wired lamps, self-firing crossbows, and collapsing ottomans. [More]
Pretty Much Everyone (Except The FCC) Thinks Internet Fast Lanes Are A Bad Idea
By 6.20.14
This morning the House Judiciary Committee held another hearing about net neutrality. While the members of Congress and expert witnesses are sitting on Capitol Hill arguing with each other over antitrust law, the public is clear on one thing: paid prioritization is a bad, bad idea. [More]
GE Capital To Give Back $225 Million To Consumers For Bad Credit Card Practices
By 6.19.14
One of the nation’s largest credit card companies, GE Capital (which changed its name to Synchrony Bank a couple weeks back) has agreed to the largest credit card discrimination settlement in U.S. history and will fork over a total of $225 million in relief to around 750,000 consumers for illegal and discriminatory credit card practices. [More]
ISPs Are Mostly Delivering The Speeds They Advertise, Just Not Consistently
By 6.18.14
What does it mean when a cable company advertises “blazing fast Internet” or download speeds “up to 15 Mbps”? Does that mean all the time for everyone, or just an average? And how far from those “up to” speeds can an Internet service provider be before they have some explaining to do? [More]
