For many of us who live in cities or suburbs, doctors and hospitals are plentiful and nearby. That’s not true for much of rural America, where medical care can be harder to come by. New broadband technology could help bridge that gap, providing care to people everywhere, but it’s of little use if the folks who need it most aren’t able to get online. [More]
Government Policy
FDA Requests Opioid Painkiller Be Removed From The Market, Citing Abuse Risks, HIV Outbreak
By 6.8.17
The Food and Drug Administration has asked Endo Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Opana ER, an extended-release semi-synthetic opioid painkiller, to remove the drug from the market, after the agency concluded that the drug’s potential for abuse outweighed its therapeutic value. [More]
GOP Doesn’t Just Want To Weaken Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; They Want To Sell Off Its Offices
June 8, 2017
The Financial Choice Act, which just passed through the House on a party-line vote, doesn’t just seek to prevent the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from regulating banks, credit card companies, debt collectors, and payday lenders. A last-minute amendment to the bill could strip the Bureau of its offices. [More]
House Passes CHOICE Act In Move To Roll Back Consumer Financial Protections
June 8, 2017
The House of Representatives voted today to pass the Financial CHOICE Act, a piece of legislation that, if enacted, would strip away a number of consumer protections put in place following the devastating collapse of the housing market. [More]
Where Can I Get A Contact Lens Exam Online?
By 6.8.17
People who wear contact lenses face the same ritual, annually or however long they can stretch it out: They have to visit their optometrist or ophthalmologist to have their vision checked and their eyes examined before they can buy more lenses. A few startups are out to change this routine by giving users an eye exam on their computer or smartphone. But is that legal? It depends on where you live. [More]
Workers Say Chipotle Owes Them Overtime Pay
By 6.7.17
Last year, a federal court issued an injunction that put the brakes on a Department of Labor rule that would expand overtime pay to millions of workers. While the government isn’t enforcing the rule because of the court order, a new lawsuit filed against Chipotle argues that that shouldn’t stop employers from abiding by the terms. To that end, employees of the fast casual restaurant in New Jersey are seeking to recoup overtime pay they would have earned under the rule. [More]
Did FDA Illegally Delay Menu Labeling Rules?
By 6.7.17
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would be delaying the implementation of a rule requiring calorie counts and other nutritional information on the menus of many restaurants for the third time. That decision didn’t sit well with some consumer advocates, including two groups that have filed a lawsuit challenging the delay. [More]
1-In-4 Families Don’t Seek Medical Attention Because Of Financial Worries
By 6.7.17
With the latest reports suggesting that the American Health Care Act — a budget resolution intended to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act — would leave more than 23 million consumers without insurance and facing higher out-of-pocket costs, it’s no surprise that consumers are a bit uneasy when it comes to their healthcare. In fact, a new survey suggests that in the face of rising costs, some families are foregoing medical care to save a few — or a few thousand — bucks. [More]
AGs Blast Financial CHOICE Act, Urge Congress To Reject Proposed Bill
By 6.7.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
With legislation to roll back consumer protections and gut the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act expected to be discussed by the House as early as this week, several states are urging lawmakers to reject the legislation. [More]
Seattle City Council Passes Soda Tax That Doesn’t Include Diet Drinks
By 6.7.17
Taxes on sweetened beverages are a hot new trend among cities, sweeping progressive spots like Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland, the Chicago area, Boulder, and now Seattle. Like other cities, Seattle will charge the tax at the distributor level, but it will not include “diet” drinks with non-nutritive sweeteners. [More]
800 Kids Have Died In Hot Cars: Why Aren’t Alert Systems Standard?
By 6.7.17 — Updated: 6.8.17
Since 1990, more than 800 children have died from heatstroke in hot cars, including nine children so far just this year. But despite the severity of this problem, technology that’s already available that can remind parents when their child is still in the back seat is not yet standard for all cars. Lawmakers, safety advocates, and parents who have experienced tragic losses want this to change. [More]
Is Getting Twitter-Blocked By The President A Violation Of Your First Amendment Rights?
By 6.7.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Many of the strange situations we encounter thanks to the digital media era are really just old problems in new clothes: Your employer was able to find out if you got drunk and embarrassed yourself at a party long before Facebook, for example. But some of the questions of our modern age really are unique. Among them, now: If the President of the United States gets annoyed enough with you that he blocks you on Twitter, has the government just violated your Constitutional rights? [More]
Trump Administration Will Allow Nursing Homes To Strip Residents Of Legal Rights
June 7, 2017
The Trump administration has proposed revising a rule that hasn’t even gone into effect yet, with the goal of making sure that nursing home residents and their loved ones can not sue these long-term care facilities in the event that something horrible happens. [More]
Report: Financial CHOICE Act Would Harm Servicemembers
By 6.6.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Since its creation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has worked to protect servicemembers from ne’er-do-wells that aim to line their own pockets by taking advantage of those who protect us; from fining auto lenders for failing to issue refunds to servicemebers to ordering banks to pay for their bad debt collection practices. But with a bill to gut the agency’s power making its way through the legislature, these types of protections come to a screeching halt. [More]
Maine Gov. Vetoes Bill That Would’ve Required Deposit For Mini Alcohol Bottles
By 6.5.17
In an effort to cut down on roadside litter and give people a chance to make some spare change, Maine lawmakers approved a bill that would require retailers to collect a $0.05 bottle deposit on those mini bottles of booze known as “nips.” But the state’s governor has vetoed the measure, and has offered a few ideas of his own to deal with the litter the bottles create — alternatives that some in the alcohol industry objected to, even before he declined to sign the bill. [More]
Law Professor Files Discrimination Complaint Over Women-Only ‘Wonder Woman’ Showing
By 6.2.17
Alamo Drafthouse, a small movie theater chain known for its anti-texting stance and general coolness, scheduled a special women-only showing of the summer superhero film Wonder Woman. This seemed like a fun one-off idea, but the idea has met some resistance, particularly online. Now a law professor who specializes in employment discrimination and sexual orientation law is filing a complaint with the city, claiming that the showing may be violating the city’s own laws. [More]
Google, GE, Apple, Dozens Of Other Companies Denounce Withdrawal From Paris Climate Accord
By 6.2.17
The biggest news of the week, so far, has been President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris Agreement. And while politicians’ support or condemnation of the withdrawal is predictably split along party lines, one surprising consensus has emerged: The business world, including the corporations that run basically everything, really wish we would stay in. [More]
HHS: Taxpayers May Have Overpaid $1.27 Billion For EpiPens
By 5.31.17 — Updated: 6.1.17
Even though drug company Mylan agreed to pay $465 million to quickly settle a Justice Department investigation into allegations that it deliberately overcharged Medicaid for its EpiPen emergency allergy injector, a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services indicates that taxpayers may have overpaid more than twice that amount over ten years. [More]
