FROM CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM

• CreditReport.com
• Silver State Helicopter
• H&R Block Taxcut
• Homekeepers USA

~Sandy G.

Catalina Lighting Recalls Halogen Clamp Lamps Sold at Staples

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Field & Stream Camp Stoves Sold at Dick’s Recalled

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Golfer’s Billiard Games Recalled

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KTM ATVs Recalled Due to Brake Failure

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~Sandy G.

By Alan B. Krueger

After waiting more than an hour in a doctor’s waiting room, a friend of mine once presented his doctor with a bill for his time.

My friend’s frustration probably sounds familiar to anyone who has been kept waiting at a physician’s office. And while his response may seem a little extreme, perhaps he was on to something. After all, time is money. So, although it doesn’t currently enter into our national statistics, the time that patients spend getting health care services should be reflected in the way we calculate America’s national health care expenditures.

Any student of Econ 101 knows that economists measure costs by opportunity costs, meaning everything that is given up to get something else. Time spent interacting with the medical system could be used for other activities, like work and leisure. Moreover, spending time getting medical care is not fun. This time should be counted as part of the cost of health care.

Using the American Time Use Survey, I calculate that Americans age 15 and older collectively spent 847 million hours waiting for medical services to be provided in 2007. That’s a lot of bills to be delivered to health care providers.

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~Sandy G.

By Tara Parker-Pope

Multivitamins are the most commonly used diet supplement, but new research shows that daily multivitamin use doesn’t ward off cancer or heart disease.

In a study of 161,808 women who were part of the government-funded Women’s Health Initiative research effort, doctors from 40 centers around the country collected data on multivitamin use. While research shows that people who eat nutrient-rich diets filled with fruits and vegetables have lower rates of heart disease and cancer, it hasn’t been clear whether taking a daily supplement results in a similar benefit.

After following the women for about eight years, they looked at rates of various cancers and heart problems among the 42 percent of women who were regular multivitamin users, and compared them to those who didn’t take vitamins. The researchers found no evidence of any benefit from multivitamin use in any of 10 categories studied, including no differences in the rate of breast or colon cancer, heart attack, stroke, blood clots or mortality. The findings were published in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The finding that multivitamins produced no benefit in such a large, well-regarded study is disappointing, given that some earlier research has produced mixed results. While some earlier studies failed to show a benefit of daily multivitamin use, other research has suggested a possible benefit for colon and breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, those data were collected from less rigorous studies, and researchers say the lack of a benefit measured in the Women’s Health Initiative is a “robust finding.” In the tightly controlled W.H.I. trials, data from women were copiously collected, and participants actually brought vitamin bottles to W.H.I. centers so supplement use could be confirmed by researchers.

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~Sandy G.

Companies accused of monopolizing supplement sales

By Mark Huffman

The state of California and the Federal Trade Commission have filed an antitrust lawsuit against four pharmaceutical companies that conspired to monopolize the sale of a testosterone supplement in a “predatory move” to reap huge profits at the expense of consumers.

“The companies plotted to keep cheap generic drugs off the market, costing consumers millions,” said California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. “This was a predatory move pure and simple, increasing drug company profits at the expense of critically ill patients.”

Testosterone supplements like AndroGel can prevent muscle loss, fatigue or erectile dysfunction in critically ill patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and advanced age.

The lawsuit contends that Solvay Pharmaceuticals illegally colluded with three other pharmaceutical companies — Watson, Par and Paddock Laboratories — to keep the three companies from producing generic alternatives to its testosterone supplement.

In return, the suit charges Solvay agreed to pay Watson and the other companies millions of dollars over several years. With this agreement, the drug companies sought to protect the monopoly position of AndroGel, forcing consumers to pay artificially high prices for the drug while the companies shared the extraordinary profits, according to the complaint.

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~Sandy G.

FROM CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM

• Debt Recovery Solutions
• Cymax.com
• Miracle Ear
• Santa Barbara BankIronwood Homes
• LogoDesignCopyright.com
• Life Spas
• Pacific Pools & Spas
• HealthAmerica
• Adrenal Fatigue Institute
• 2daydietonline.com
• Arrow Financial
• Freebeegas.com
• Uggzone.com
• Ciplex
• Southwestern Electric
• Choice Home Warranty
• Two Of Us
• WholesaleFares.com
• Weaver Popcorn
• DSW
• Clearwire
• Virginia Broadband
• Poetry.com

TO SEE COMPLETE LIST OF ROGUES, PLEASE CLICK HERE. 

~Sandy G.

SQL injection attack reveals Kaspersky Lab’s customer database

By Gregg Keizer

Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based security company, admitted today that a database containing customer information had been exposed for almost 11 days and that it only learned of the breach when Romanian hackers told the firm about it last Saturday.

“This is not good for any company, especially for a company dealing with security,” said Roel Schouwenberg, a Kaspersky senior antivirus researcher, in a telephone conference call today. “This should not have happened.”

According to Schouwenberg, no customer data was accessed. “No real data has been accessed, and no data was revealed,” he said.

The hackers, who are presumed to be Romanian, went public early Saturday in a blog post. There, they claimed that after launching a SQL injection attack on Kaspersky’s U.S. support site, they were able to access a customer database that included e-mail addresses and software activation codes.

FOR COMPLETE STORY, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

~Sandy G.