Consumer News & Alerts

March 7, 2005

SAFETY DOESN'T COME IN SMALL PACKAGES
Small cars may be cute, easy to park, economical and easier on the environment. But there's one thing they're not. They're not safe in side-impact crashes, according to the latest tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Fourteen of 16 small cars tested were rated poor, with the Dodge Neon performing so badly that if the test dummy driver had been alive at the beginning of the test, it most likely wouldn't have been at the end.

Only two cars got acceptable ratings and that was with optional side airbags. Take away the bags and the Chevrolet Cobalt and Toyota Corolla also got poor ratings.

Safety - A Luxury Item? Carmakers apparently think that only the wealthy deserve the latest safety equipment. Side air bags, stability control and other proven lifesavers continue to be standard equipment only on luxury cars; they're options on more mundane vehicles. One of our associates certainly won't begrudge the few hundred dollars that safety equipment may add to the sticker price of his next car.

About Those Mileage Estimates ... A few Congressmen have noticed what everyone else already knows: those gas mileage estimates posted on cars' windows don't have a lot of grounding in reality. They've introduced legislation that would require the Environmental Protection Agency to make the test for fuel economy ratings more like real-world driving. That would mean more high-speed driving, more aggressive accelerating and stopping, more short trips, driving with air-conditioning on and testing at a variety of temperatures.

Texas Jury Rules Against Ford in Explorer Rollover In the latest personal injury verdict involving Ford Explorer rollovers, the company has been ordered to pay $31 million to the family of two occupants killed when their 2000-model Explorer overturned on a Texas highway in May 2003.

Hang Up and Drive! Safety equipment can only do so much. An alert driver is the best protection against accidents. Yet a study finds that fully eight percent of drivers are likely to be on the phone. That's up from four percent in 2000. The study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that motorists were more likely to be yakking on the phone when they were alone in their vehicle.

DELL WINS COMPLAINT DERBY
Anyway you look at it, Dell is #1 -- first in sales, first in growth, first in profitability and, yes, first in complaints. Market watchers tell us Dell had 17.9 percent of the world market last year and it contributed fully 58 percent of the computer-related complaints filed by our readers in the last year. H-P was a close second in sales with 15.8 percent but a very distant fifth in complaints. What does this all mean? Frankly, we don't know. One explanation might be that since Dell sells direct, it gets all the complaints that would otherwise be lobbed at Circuit City, Best Buy and so forth.

THE PILLS THAT MOTHER GIVES YOU
It wasn't too long ago that sedate chamber music groups like the Jefferson Airplane proclaimed that prescription drugs did next to nothing and that only the home-brewed variety packed any punch. Those were more innocent times. The latest prescription drug to come under scrutiny is Crestor, one of the popular statins that Americans are gulping in vast quantities to lower their cholesterol. The FDA last week issued an "advisory" that basically said the AstraZeneca potion carries about the same risks and benefits as other statins. But critics beg to differ: Public Citizen accused the FDA of "cowardice" and said its advisory read like an AstraZeneca marketing paper.

MS Drug Pulled After Death The multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri was involved in two serious "adverse events," one of them fatal. The manufacturer is suspending sales pending further investigation. That's what Public Citizen says should happen to Iressa, a lung cancer drug that has not been shown to prolong life.

FDA Seeks More Regulatory Authority Trying to get more lead in its pencil, the agency tells Congress it needs to be able to tell drug companies how to label their products. Currently, FDA basically is reduced to negotiating, wheedling and just plain asking drug companies to be forthright in warning users of the risks that accompany their products.

Rocket Fuel in Breast Milk Researchers have found a component of rocket fuel in breast milk. Levels were as high as 92 parts per billion - 20 times higher than the dose recommended as safe by a National Academy of Sciences committee. The contaminant could be supressing iodide content in breast milk, possibly impairing thyroid and neurodevelopment in infants. Where's it coming from? Good question. The answer's not clear.

COURT NIXES CITI'S ARBITRATION CLAUSE
In one of those pesky class action suits, a North Carolina judge has ruled that CitiFinancial's forced-arbitration clause is so lopsided as to be unenforceable. The judge's ruling means the class action case can go forward. It accuses CitiFinancial of predatory lending practices and, if successful, would mean major refunds for as many as 25,000 low-income North Carolinians, many of whom have lost their homes because of what the suit claims are excessive and hidden charges.

Suit Accuses EBay of Shilling Another class-action suit accuses eBay of enabling "shill bidding" -- artificially inflating bids placed by buyers on the site. The suit argues that when a bidder increases his maximum bid limit, eBay sometimes illegally submits a bid on his behalf, even if he was already the highest bidder. The suit covers only Californians but we've heard similar complaints from consumers like Chris of Pocahontas, Arkansas.

In corporate corruption news ...

• Aon Settles For $190 Million The nation's second largest insurance broker will pay $190 million to policyholders to settle a corruption case brought by the attorneys general of New York, Connecticut and Illinois. The agreement with Aon was modeled after an earlier agreement reached January 31 with the nation’s largest insurance broker, Marsh & McLennan Companies. Real role models, aren't they?

• You Don't Say A study finds -- hold on, now -- insurance consumers often don't get what they pay for. Not only that, but paying more for an insurance policy doesn't mean the coverage or service will be any better. Amazing what these researchers can find out these days, isn't it?

• Tenet Accused of Racketeering Florida accuses Tenet Healthcare of inflating charges for medical procedures, thereby draining money from the state's Medicare fund, which non-profit and charity hospitals rely on. "The evidence will show that Tenet gamed the system to enhance its profit margin at the expense of public hospitals," said Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist.

• Connecticut Settles With Alyon The Internet company billed consumers for services they did not order or, in some cases, use. "Alyon's actions were appalling: The company deployed deceit and deception to trick consumers - some who owned no computer - into signing up for its services," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

• Enforma System Settles Up Infomercial producers made deceptive claims made to sell weight-loss products.

• Texas Cleans Up Colonic Therapy Promoters "Alternative health" providers like to sell something called colonic hydrotherapy. This is completely useless and possibly harmful in almost all cases, the state of Texas charged.

• Spitzer Sets Simon Straight Simon Mall Group has agreed to obey New York State laws governing gift cards. Generous of them? No, it's the only way the nation's largest operator of shopping malls could squirm out of a lawsuit filed by the Empire State's attorney general.

• Canadians Charged In Business Directory Scam Small businesses were bilked into paying for listings they did not order.

TRAVEL NOTES

• Cells Aweigh If you haven't been prone to seasickness before, that may change soon. Ericsson and a Norwegian communications company have signed a contract to deliver cell phone service to ships at sea. Yes, including cruise ships.

• Can Cruise Ships Discriminate Against the Disabled? Good question. It's gone all the way to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments last week on whether foreign-flag cruise ships can ignore the Americans With Disabilities Act. That great public-service institution, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce inserted itself into the case. And which side do you think it was on?

In New Jersey ... The state has sued a major theater chain, seeking better assistive devices for hearing and visually impaired. The state says the ADA requires theaters to enable hearing- and visually-impaired patrons to enjoy first-run films in the same theater and at the same time as other patrons.

• A Lump of Coal The U.S. Transportation Department looked into the horrendous US Airways snafu over the Christmas holidays. Its startling conclusion? US Airways made a complete mess of things.

• Then there's Amtrak. Conservatives in Congress are always itching to derail it. Now a former Amtrak executive is on board with the idea. The whole thing is a big waste of money, says Amtrak-executive-turned-travel-writer Joseph Vranich in a new book. All Amtrak does is drag down the commuter lines that serve the nation's high-density corridors, he notes.

RECALLS & SAFETY ALERTS
• Children's Metal Charms The lead content is dangerously high.
• Soother Baby Pacifiers The nipple can come off and be swallowed.
• Flying Saucer Toys They can overheat while charging.
• Dorel Dreamride Child Safety Seats Children may not be properly restrained and could be injured in a crash.
• First Years Car-Based Baby Bottle Warmers they can overheat.
• Stuffed Yarn Bunnies The eyes and other decorations can come off, posing a choking hazard to infants.
• J.C. Penney Infant and Toddler Sweaters The zipper-pull mechanism can detach, posing a choking hazard to children.
• Lands’ End Zipper Pulls on Children’s Outer Wear ditto.
• Whirlpool & Kenmore Dishwashers They can start a fire.
• Mitsubishi, Chrysler SUVs The Mitsubishi's parking brakes and the Chrysler Pacifica's headlights may fail.
• Kawasaki Brute Force ATV The steering could fail.

CHOICEPOINT - SLEUTH OR SNITCH?
Much attention has been given to ChoicePoint's letting criminals get hold of consumers' personal data. Not as much attention has been paid to the targets the thieves were after -- quite a few top military and government brass. But even more significantly, there's little recognition that ChoicePoint is basically a government contractor. It gathers information on Americans that the government is not allowed to gather. Then, it sells it. To the government.

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