With the holidays approaching and many Americans scrambling to buy presents, we get many questions from consumers who are interested in shopping responsibly. Newly released data suggests that there are about 40 million individuals in forced labor and 152 million children who are trapped in child labor around the world today. How can one avoid buying products that may contribute to this rampant exploitation?
This blog was originally published on LifeSmarts.org.
We are excited to launch a new community service project today: the LifeSmarts OTC Medicine Safety Mentoring Project, which provides materials and curriculum that are bolstered by educational resources produced by Scholastic.
In August 2017, the National Consumers League, WomenAgainstAlzheimer's, AARP, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, and several other women's health advocacy organizations met with Dr. Janet Woodcock, FDA’s Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), to discuss treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
This blog post was originally published in the Huffington Post.
While the public is laser-focused on the fate of healthcare, consumer advocates are watching with horror as Congress works to unravel, piece by piece, many long-standing consumer protections, taking actions that favor big industry over the little guy. With the backing of industry, federal legislators are attacking rules that protect seniors from ripoffs and scams and blocking agencies from using their powers to prevent illegal activity or set sensible safety standards.
With all the doom and gloom coming out of Washington these days, it is easy to miss the victories consumers have earned. Most notably, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) turned 6 last Friday! In that time, defenders of the CFPB have helped it ward off countless attacks from Wall Street and allowed the agency to focus on its mission of protecting consumers from predatory lenders and unethical financial industry practices. Last week was no exception. After years of study, deliberation, and research, the CFPB followed through with its Congressional mandate under the Dodd-Frank Act by passing rules to rein in the abusive practice of forced arbitration in financial contracts. Thanks to this rule, consumers will be protected from “rip off clauses” hidden in financial contracts designed to deny Americans their day in court.