The lower prices that come from competition when drug patents expire and generic versions hit the market is great for consumers, but do you know what’s terrible for consumers? Drugs that don’t work. Yet there may be drugs on your shelf at home right now that haven’t been proven safe, effective, and––in the case of generics–– equivalent to the original brand-name drug. The alleged poor practices by six chemists at one research company in Texas affected more than one hundred drugs on the market in the United States and Europe. [More]
INVESTIGATIONS
Stanton Optical Makes Blurry Glasses For Undercover TV Producer, Blames Doctor
By 11.15.12
Ace consumer reporter Kurtis Ming in Sacramento, California has received a lot of complaints from readers about glasses from Stanton Optical, a growing national chain. Customers reported blurry lenses that caused poor vision and pain. One customer said that looking through them was like “looking through a glass of water.” Another claims that they’ve had Stanton remake their glasses fourteen times, and they’re still blurry. So what did the consumer advocates of CBS Sacramento do? They got eye exams and took their eyeballs undercover. [More]
Department Of Justice Joins E-book Pricing Probe
By 12.8.11
The U.S Department of Justice has joined its counterparts in the European Union in looking into the pricing of e-books. A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed that the agency’s probe was concerned with the possible “anticompetitive practices involving e-book sales.” [More]
NYC Pet Stores Linked To Midwest Puppy Mills
By 11.10.11
An undercover video investigation shows that many New York area pet stores are getting their pets stocked by so-called “puppy mills” with a history of USDA violations. [More]
Shadow Economies: Harvest Organs From The Poor For The Rich
By 11.4.11
Living in abject poverty, $10,000 is a beguiling promise. All you have to do is give up one kidney. It’s ok, you have another one. But a Bloomberg Markets Magazine investigation shows how gangs around the world prey on the poor and use threats and violence to get them to give up their organs, which they can then resell for upwards of $150,000. This isn’t just happening in some ice-filled bath in China: this week, a Brooklyn man plead guilty to selling black market kidneys to people in New Jersey. [More]
McRib Pork Supplier Hit With SEC Filed Complaint Over Alleged Pig Abuse
By 11.3.11
Can you taste the tears in your McRib? The supplier of pork products to McDonald’s, Smithfield Farms, just got hit by a complaint filed with the SEC by animal rights group Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Citing their own shocking undercover investigative video, HSUS allege that Smithfield is making false and misleading claims to shareholders and consumers about how well they treat their pigs and that those claims are in violation of federal securities law. [More]
Private Equity Bets Big Bucks On "Buy Here Pay Here" Dealerships
By 11.1.11
In the second of a three-part series on “Buy Here Pay Here” dealerships, used car lots that target subprime borrowers with easy credit and triple the national average interest rates, the Los Angeles Times looks at how private equity firms have flocked towards the growing industry, lured by 38% margins. [More]
Maggots Found On Nursing Home Residents
By 11.1.11
The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs in Michigan has cited two nursing homes for violations after a survey found two elderly women in their care had maggots in their throat and pubic areas. Now a watchdog group is investigating. [More]
"Buy Here Pay Here" Dealerships Investigated
By 10.31.11
The Los Angeles Times has an excellent investigation into the national “Buy Here Pay Here” auto dealership phenomenon. These used car sellers purposefully target bad credit borrowers and offer them what no one else will: the chance to buy a car on credit. All they have to do is agree to 20-30% interest rates, a price well above the car’s Blue Book Value, and aggressive repo practices if they fail to pay up. But it’s not a big deal if they don’t. Borrower failure is baked into the business plan. [More]
4 Fannie Mae Staffers Placed On Administrative Leave Pending Investigation
By 10.31.11
Four Fannie Mae staffers have been placed on administrative leave while federal investigators probe a series of foreclosed apartments the enterprise sold. [More]
Fish Fraud: 10 Of 10 Samples Of "Lemon Sole" Were Actually Something Else
By 10.28.11
Consumer Reports investigators bought 190 pieces of seafood from retailers and restaurants in the tri-state New York area and sent them out for DNA analysis. The results confirmed what other recent studies have shown: More than 20 percent of the fish bought were different species, incompletely labeled or mislabeled. For example: [More]
Man Finds Parts Of His Stolen 1949 Ford Shoebox On Craigslist
By 10.21.11
Craigslist is a great place to find stuff. Like parts from the 1949 Ford Shoebox that was stolen from your driveway. [More]
DOT Investigates Airlines For Not Disclosing Fees On Their Websites
By 10.19.11
Starting August 23rd, airlines were supposed to start being more upfront on their websites about the fees they charge you. Guess what? They didn’t. [More]
Brass Thieves Stripping Chicago Fire Hydrants
By 9.26.11
Underneath the cap on many fire hydrants is a brass ring called the “port ring.” Firemen need it to connect fire hoses to the hydrants. But metal thieves in Chicago are popping open hydrants, prying off the ring, and selling it to scrap buyers for $15 a pop. If another cow kicks over a lantern there, having a city full of stripped fire hydrants could be deadly. [More]
US Accuses Full Tilt Poker Of Being Global Ponzi Scheme
By 9.21.11
Looks like Full Tilt Poker just went bust. The Department of Justice has accused the site’s proprietors of operating a “global Ponzi scheme” in which the owners got paid with money they told players was being safely held. [More]
Juvies Dosing Kids With Schizophrenia Meds To Keep Them Docile
By 8.3.11
An investigative report found that New Orleans juvenile detention centers are giving the kids potent antipsychotics four times as often as the conditions for which they were designed to treat, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, actually show up in the inmate population. People inside the system say the jails are dosing the kids because it’s easier to deal with them when they’re “little zombies.” [More]
Detroit Bureau Uses Money Meant To Feed Poor To Buy $314 Trash Cans
By 8.2.11
Three stainless-steel trash cans with motion-activated sensor lids: $314.93 each. A 500-lb capacity ottoman for the cafeteria: $469. Mahogany-finished conference room table: $3,000. The line items sound extravagant enough on their own. When you learn that they were to makeover a Detroit city office that handles the federal money for feeding and clothing the poor, and the credenzas and sofas and such came out of that money, it’s time to get livid. [More]
How The Biggest Sites Are Stalking You And Reselling Your Info
By 7.29.11
Most websites you visit are monitoring your behavior, even after you leave. They install little files like cookies, beacons, and flash cookies to see where you go, what you buy, even what text you’re typing. WSJ analyzed the tracking behavior of the top 50 websites online to see how each of them is watching your every step, and then reselling the info to the highest bidder. For instance, did you know that Dictionary.com gives its users up to 159 cookies, 23 flash cookies and 41 beacons for third parties? [More]
