Getting a root canal, a crown replaced, or even a simple filling at the dentist can really drain your bank account, especially if you don’t have insurance. That’s why a growing number of dental offices are offering third-party financing to patients. But sometimes these loans offer terms that are too good to be true. [More]
Government Policy
You Can Now Rate And Review U.S. Government Services On Yelp
By 8.19.15
The wait time to get customer support from the Internal Revenue Service is stretching on into infinity. The Transportation Security Administration agents at one particular airport checkpoint always seem to have it out for you. There’s one particular bathroom at Yellowstone National Park that is the best and everyone should know about it. Whatever your experience with U.S. government services, you can now review it on Yelp. [More]
FDA Approves Addyi, Which Is Absolutely Not Viagra For Women
By 8.19.15
Late yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug flibanserin, which will hit the market under the brand name Addyi. You’ll see a lot of headlines and smirking news anchors using the phrase “Viagra for women” when talking about the drug, but that’s only correct in one sense. This drug wouldn’t be for sale to patients at all if it weren’t for the success of Viagra as a drug marketed directly to consumers. [More]
Drug Companies Agreed To Not Compete, Resulting In High Price For Generic Medication
By 8.18.15
Imagine that Bob and Mary are the only two kids in town allowed to sell lemonade. They could try to compete against each other, potentially resulting in lower prices, improved juice, or better service… or Mary could say to Bob, “How’s about you pay me some money so I don’t exercise my option to sell lemonade?” That means the price for lemonade is whatever Bob says it is, and he’s encouraged to keep it high because he’s paying some of that money out to Mary. Now imagine this isn’t about lemonade, but about prescription drugs. [More]
Why Don’t Huge Privacy Flaws Result In Recalled Smartphones?
By 8.18.15
When a car has a major flaw, like a potentially lethal airbag, it gets recalled. Same for a coffeemaker, or a surfboard, or a prescription drug. But when that major flaw is in a product’s software — like a huge exploit that puts literally a billion consumers’ privacy and personal data at risk — there’s no universal process out there for remedying the situation. Do we need one? And if so, how can we get one? [More]
IKEA Recalling 442,000 Nightlights Over Shock Risk
By 8.18.15
Ah, the nightlight: that beam of hope that cuts through the dark and soothed us when we were young and afraid. Or you know, old and also still not cool with complete blackness. In either case, you might want to check if your nightlight is one of the 442,000 IKEA is recalling after a child received a minor electrical shock when handling one. [More]
Exploding Airbag In Volkswagen Under Investigation
By 8.18.15
For the past year, federal regulators have been investigating shrapnel-shooting airbags, linked to at least eight deaths and hundreds of injuries. These devices, made by Takata, are used by 11 different automakers, but until this week, Volkswagen had not been part of the investigation. [More]
Company Fined $750K For Blocking WiFi Hotspots At Convention Centers
By 8.18.15
In Section 333 of the Communications Act, it states that “No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference” with any licensed or authorized radio communications. But a company that provides Internet service for hotels and convention centers around the country has admitted to deliberately preventing people from using their own, legal hotspots to go online. [More]
FCC To Dish: No, You Are Not A Small Business, You May Not Use Small Business Discounts
By 8.18.15
The FCC has an auction process to sell spectrum to businesses. The FCC also is charged with promoting competition. So there’s a credit available to small businesses who play in the auction. But this week, the FCC has had to tell one behemoth that small means small, and that no amount of pretending otherwise will actually change that. [More]
App Called RoboKiller Takes Top Prize In FTC’s Anti-Robocall Contest
By 8.17.15
The Federal Trade Commission’s vendetta against robocalls continued today as the agency announced the winner of a contest – and $25,000 – for building an app that blocks and forwards the annoying calls. [More]
IRS: Identity Thieves Accessed More Taxpayer Accounts Than We Thought
By 8.17.15
Almost three months after the Internal Revenue Service said identity thieves accessed more than 100,000 taxpayer accounts in its databases, the agency says that a review shows more accounts were exposed and there were more attempts to gain access to them than previously reported. [More]
Court Shuts Down Iowa Supplement Company Distribution Over Misbranding, Unfounded Safety Promises
By 8.17.15
There are about 200 fewer adulterated dietary supplements on the market today after a district court ordered an Iowa company and its owners to stop production of products over allegations the company sold potentially unsafe dietary supplements and falsely advertised them as treatments for diseases ranging from colds to cancer. [More]
Leaked NSA Documents: AT&T “Highly Collaborative” With NSA Spying, Has “Extreme Willingness” To Help
By 8.17.15
The NSA’s spying operations on regular Americans are the unwanted, terrible gift that just keeps on giving. Although most telecom and internet companies have cooperated with the surveillance efforts to one degree or another, at least some of them have the decency to act mildly chagrined about it. But not AT&T. [More]
Blue Bell Says Ice Cream Will Be Back In Some Stores On Aug. 31
By 8.17.15
The nightmare is over, Blue Bell fans: four months after a recall linked to a listeria outbreak saw the ice cream disappear from shelves, months filled with speculation over when the company would start churning out dessert again, Blue Bell will be returning to select stores starting Aug. 31. [More]
More Recalls Under A More Watchful Eye Is The “New Normal” For Auto Regulators
By 8.17.15
Back in January, newly appointed chief of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Mark Rosekind predicted that 2015 could see even more recalls than the recallapalooza that was 2014.While, the 32.4 million cars recalled in the first eight months of the year still pales in comparison to the more than 63 million called back last year, Rosekind wasn’t completely off on his forecast – namely that the agency would take a less forgiving approach to possible safety defects. [More]
Retailer That Overcharged, Then Sued Military Personnel Is Going Out Of Business
By 8.14.15
A year ago, Virginia-based USA Discounters was in the spotlight after the supposedly discount retailer — which had several locations adjoining military bases and directly marketed its financing to servicemembers — was criticized for charging ridiculously high prices on its products and then suing soldiers in such a way that they could rarely defend themselves in court. The retailer then changed its name to USA Living and promised to not be so evil, even though the lawsuits continued. Now comes news that the retailer is going to close up shop for good. [More]
Southwest Airlines, TSA Blame Each Other For Unusually Long Security Lines At Midway Airport
By 8.14.15
People traveling out of Chicago’s Midway International Airport on Friday aren’t getting very far, as travelers are said to be waiting an hour or more to get through unusually long security checkpoint lines. [More]
FCC Proposes Rules To Reduce TV Blackouts, Potentially (But Probably Not) Lower Prices
By 8.14.15
The FCC has proposed a kind of arcane-sounding rule change that on the surface might not seem to affect consumers very much. But if all goes well, the rule will prove to be the kind of upstream change that prevents all the you-know-what from flowing on downhill to everyone else, and makes one of the most annoying things about cable TV into ancient history. [More]
