To better understand what a burglar looks for, SafeWise consulted Bob, a former thief.

You might be thinking, “Reformed, pfft! Who does this guy think he is?”

Bob’s usually someone you’ve seen before, like a handyman who visited your home for an emergency fix. Bob could also be that person you thought was a surveyor assessing a property, when in fact, he was just a basic burglar casing some houses. And since Bob’s changed his ways, he offered us thoughtful insights and anti-burglary suggestions to help prevent you from falling victim to burglary.

A Different Kind of Curb Appeal

Real estate agents aren’t the only ones who are keen to curb appeal: burglars are too. Your curb, yard, and daily behavior can tell burglars a lot about the goodies you’ve got behind closed doors. Below you’ll find a myriad of indicators that detail what a burglar considers to be welcome signs.

• Landscaping
  Burglars have a fine appreciation for woody front yards and lavish landscaping. You know that large, weeping blue pine you planted out front? Well, it doubles as a hiding spot. Plus, all that money, time, and effort you put into your lawn is an indicator that you’re willing to put money into other items.

• Hiding Spots
  Thieves love to fly under the radar. Any area that allows them to keep down low is of prime interest. Like your boxwood shrubs—great for keeping out of sight.

• Windows
  The movies might lead you to believe that thieves use high-tech scopes to see what you have lying around the house, but they actually prefer a more rudimentary method of spying—windows! Windows offer a top-quality view of your valuables and allow burglars to see whether or not you have a home security system or a dog.

• Toys
  Kids won’t always pick up after themselves, try as you might to get them to. Pricey-looking toys scattered throughout the front yard tell a burglar that you’re willing to spend the extra buck on playthings for your kid but are too busy to pick them up—meaning you’re also likely to leave the house unlocked or forget to arm your security system.

• Trash
  As the saying goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Rooting through your trash isn’t the most glamorous approach, but it gives a thief insight as to what you own. Recycling is of particular interest because they can see whether or not you’ve purchased any big-ticket items. Know how to make their pilfering easier? Don’t break down the boxes—that way they know exactly what to look for when they revisit your home.

• Buildup of Mail
  If you’re leaving town, ask a neighbor to pick up your mail for you. This prevents curious thieves from inviting themselves onto your stoop and into your home.
• Resident Behavior
  Humans are creatures of habit and routine. Unfortunately, this helps burglars figure out when to strike. They’ll pay attention to when you leave, how long you’re gone for, if you’ve locked the door, and whether or not you unload expensive items in your driveway.

How to Know If You’re Being Targeted

Now that you know what a burglar looks for as they peruse potential houses, we’ll break down what you should look for in a burglar.

• Odd Vehicles or People
  Be aware of strange vehicles or pedestrians acting out of the norm. Regardless of where you live, be it in a city, on a through-street, or on a cul-de-sac, you ought to keep your eyes peeled for vehicles or people loitering around for no particular reason. Don’t be afraid to call your local, non-emergency police number if you’re worried about something.

• A Random Request or Handy Work Offer
  What might seem like an innocent request or offer to work can be a means to see the interior of your home. Thieves are true opportunists, and they’ll strike whenever the iron is hot. They want to get an idea of what your demeanor is like too. So be wary should a person come to your door with a work-related offer that’s just too good to pass up or a slightly odd, yet plausible request for assistance.

• Subtle Changes
  Pay close attention to your home’s surroundings and front and backyards. Any small change can indicate that your house is being cased. Often, a thief will mark the house to see if anyone is home and will alter the mark to remind themselves to revisit that house. These marks can be as simple as an errant spray paint dot on the yard or house itself, a missing welcome mat, or even a miscellaneous item that’s repeatedly left outside of your home. The marks are often indicative of a “house draft.” A house draft occurs when a burglar places an item in front of your house. If you remove the item, you’re home. If you don’t, then burglars see that it’s time to seize the moment.

Items Thieves Look For

Burglars want to spend as little time in your house as they possibly can, which is why they have a list of go-to items. The following items detail what a thief looks for when they’re inside your home—and where they know they can find it!

• Identity-Related Information
  Remember that passport application you’ve been meaning to mail out? You left it on the dining room table to remind yourself that it needs a stamp. If a thief gets their hands on your sensitive information, they can do a lot of damage.

• Liquor
  Teenagers aren’t the only ones who raid liquor stashes—thieves often beeline to the liquor cabinet when you’re not home, so be mindful of where you hide that nice bottle of single malt scotch. We recommend leaving out a decoy bottle that’s easy for them to find: simply rinse out an empty bottle of spirits, and refill it with similar-looking liquid.

• Home Goods and Decorations
  Burglars like a fast steal and an even faster turnover sale. So those decorative plates above the mantle are headed out the door.

• Cash
  Thieves love cash. It’s impossible to reclaim, and a burglar gets immediate gratification from it. Not to mention, you store it in the most obvious of places—the sock drawer, a small safe, side table, bookcase, or even the medicine cabinet. Speaking of which . . .

• Prescription Drugs
  These pint-sized items go a long way in terms of usage and resale value. And they’re easy to find—burglars often head straight to the medicine cabinet.

• Jewelry
  Like you, thieves also value family heirlooms. You’ll need a creative spot to stash them other than the back of your underwear drawer—something like a safety deposit box would be more effective.

• Tech Devices and Electronics
  This is a bit of a no-brainer. Computers, smart devices, TVs, and other electronic items offer a premium trade-in or resale value, and usually they’re left out in the open.

• Firearms
  Criminals don’t like messing with a gun safe or locked cabinet, but if they need to go the extra mile for the sake of resale value, they will.
• Tools
  If a thief can’t get into your house, they’ll try the garage, which likely is laden with tools that will bring in a nice wad of money.

How to Prevent Burglary

Burglars are predictably unpredictable, but there’s a bevy of ways you can proactively protect yourself. Below you’ll find a variety of suggestions to assist in anti-burglary defense.

• Start a Neighborhood Watch System
  A neighborhood watch system is a resident-run surveillance arrangement that’s intended to thwart crime in your neighborhood. This civilian-based system is a great way to keep your community united and on the same page regarding issues like homelessness, new construction, and general resident safety. Ultimately, multiple eyes on the block mean fewer chances for crooks to steal from you.

• Invest in a Security System and Cameras
  Give yourself peace of mind with a home security system. Your options vary from indoor or outdoor security cameras (without monitoring services) to well-reviewed security systems.

• Keep Quiet on Social Media
  Vacation is exciting, but don’t showcase your absence on social media—you never know who is watching.

• Make Your House Look Lived In
  When you’re out of town, make sure you put a hold on your mail. Put your lights on a timer, or ask your neighbors to intermittently park in your driveway. Give your home a lived-in look and feel.

• Get a Smart Lock
  If you have kids, lose your keys frequently, or want to automate your home, look no further than a smart lock or deadbolt. Some smart locks allow you to lock or unlock the door from your phone, which is ideal for on-the-go or forgetful folks. It’s also important to hire a commercial locksmith Rockingham to ensure the security of your premises and valuable assets.

• Don’t Open the Door for Just Anyone
  Don’t feel obligated to answer the door—especially if you don’t know the person. If you prefer to screen your visitors like you screen phone calls, check out our handy guide on smart doorbells.

• Rely on Man’s Best Friend
  Regardless of how cute Fluffy might be, dogs are a formidable presence—a thief will hesitate to mess with their turf. If you’re dog-less, pick up a “Beware of Dog” sign to hang in your front window or porch.

• Use Privacy Film
  Line decorative windows with privacy film for added defense against nosy neighbors or thieves. Privacy film keeps inquisitive eyes from seeing your valuables, yet still lets natural light seep through.

• Close Your Blinds
  Late afternoon light is wonderful, but leaving your blinds raised opens up your home to passersby and therefore thieves.

• Use Smart Bulbs and Motion Sensitive Lights
  Burglars want to be incognito, and smart bulbs or motion sensitive lights prevent that from happening. Smart bulbs can be controlled from a home security smart hub too.

• Always Lock Your Doors and Windows
  An unlocked door is an open invitation. If you want to go the extra mile, outfit your windows and doors with motion sensors.

• Beware of Oversharing
  Be cognizant of who you invite into your home and how much information you share with that person. That friendly handy worker might have ulterior motives.

• Get a New Hiding Spot
  Burglars know the ole sock drawer hiding spot. Get creative—hide valuables in your kid’s toy basket or the canning supplies cabinet. Or better yet, buy yourself a safe.

While there’s no surefire way to prevent a burglar from casing your house, remaining vigilant and aware and taking precautionary measures will help protect your home and family in the long run. So whether you choose a dog, motion sensitive lights, or a professionally monitored home security service, trust that you’ve made the effort to protect your home from thieves.

The post How to Outsmart a Burglar and Keep Your Home Safe appeared first on Citizens Report.

A $3 million award for an elderly woman who sued McDonald’s after spilling hot coffee on her lap has led to a widespread misconception about nonsense lawsuits.

The idea of absurd, unnecessary lawsuits became widespread in the ’90s when 79-year-old Stella Liebeck spilled hot coffee on her lap, sued McDonalds and was initially awarded almost $3 million in damages.

Although most people have heard about the case, few know the real facts. Developing an understanding of what happened and how the case unfolded will help consumers realize the difference between nonsense lawsuits and legitimate causes for legal action.

How The Hot Coffee Case Began

In 1992, Liebeck bought a McDonald’s coffee at a drive-thru in Albuquerque. While sitting in the passenger seat in a parked car in the McDonald’s lot, she attempted to add cream and sugar to her coffee.

Placed between her knees while removing the cup’s lid, the hot liquid covered her lap. The car was not in motion when the the coffee spilled.

The coffee was stifling hot, soaking through her sweatpants and scalding the skin and flesh on her legs, inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, genitals and groin. Liebeck suffered third-degree burns and needed skin grafts on her inner thighs. Over 16 percent of her body was burned.

Her grandson, the driver of the vehicle, took her to the emergency room after she went into shock from the severity of the injury. She was hospitalized for eight days.

Liebeck wasn’t the only one injured by the scalding hot coffee. McDonald’s corporate policy allowed the coffee to be served at 180 and 190 degrees fahrenheit, a temperature that could cause serious burs. Coffee brewed at home is usually between 135 to 140 degrees.

In the legal proceedings, the quality assurance manager at McDonald’s acknowledged that an injury is possible with any substance served at 140 degrees or above, making it more than likely that the coffee would burn the mouth and throat.

The restaurant had received more than 700 previous reports of third-degree burns and other injuries from its coffee. Despite the fact that McDonald’s had already paid injured plaintiffs, the company didn’t alter the standard temperature of their brew. 

The Decision To Sue

Liebeck and her family made the decision to sue after McDonald’s refused to pay her medical bills in full.
Image: Liar City

Liebeck reached out to McDonald’s requesting assistance with medical bills, which amounted to over $10,000. Because of the incident, she was permanently disfigured and partially disabled.

She asked for $20,000 to cover her medical expenses and lost income. McDonald’s offered her a maximum of $800, which prompted her to go to trial.

McDonald’s refused to fix the temperature policy despite hundreds of injuries, and the jury awarded Liebeck the money from McDonald’s coffee sales for two days.  The million-dollar amount that Liebeck was initially awarded in punitive damages spread like wildfire throughout media platforms.

Because Liebeck was partially at fault for her injuries, the original award of $2.86 million was reduced by 80 percent, which prompted Liebeck and McDonald’s to come to a confidential settlement in order to avoid the lengthy appeals process.

According to a documentary about the case, called Hot Coffee: Is Justice Being Served?, the facts are as follows:

• McDonald’s operations manual required the franchisee to hold its coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Coffee at that temperature, if spilled, causes third-degree burns in three to seven seconds.
• The chairman of the department of mechanical engineering and biomechanical engineering at the University of Texas testified that this risk of harm is unacceptable, as did a widely recognized expert on burns, the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, the leading scholarly publication in the specialty.
• McDonald’s admitted it had known about the risk of serious burns from its scalding hot coffee for more than 10 years. The risk had repeatedly been brought to its attention through numerous other claims and suits.
• An expert witness for the company testified that the number of burns was insignificant compared to the billions of cups of coffee the company served each year.
• At least one juror later told the Wall Street Journal she thought the company wasn’t taking the injuries seriously. To the corporate restaurant giant those 700 injury cases caused by hot coffee seemed relatively rare compared to the millions of cups of coffee served. But, the juror noted, “there was a person behind every number and I don’t think the corporation was attaching enough importance to that.”
• McDonald’s quality assurance manager testified that McDonald’s coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured into Styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn the mouth and throat.
• McDonald’s admitted at trial that consumers were unaware of the extent of the risk of serious burns from spilled coffee served at McDonald’s then-required temperature.
• McDonald’s admitted it did not warn customers of the nature and extent of this risk and could offer no explanation as to why it did not.

Jurors commented that the original award was so hefty because McDonald’s had a “callous disregard for the safety of the people.”

Legal action is often more legitimate than you think. Before you assume a case is unwarranted, don’t forget to learn the facts.

The post Legitimate or Nonsense Lawsuits: Liebeck V. McDonald’s appeared first on Citizens Report.

Republicans and Democrats each want to achieve the same goal

Unless you’re a politician or a lawyer, it’s pretty hard to read all of the jargon and make any real sense of it. In an effort to try and catch you up to speed, and without going into the vast amounts of bullet points each one contains, here is the core difference between the two plans.

A shared goal

First, you’ve got to understand that the healthcare debate is such a hot one because both sides of the aisle have fundamentally different ways of pursuing efficiency. Both Republicans and Democrats want the same thing, which is to tackle the problems within healthcare and arrive at a solution that balances quality of care with fair pricing, but each has a different opinion of how to get there.

With different strategies

Conservatives believe that a competitive market is the way to go. They would use taxpayer money to create a system where American consumers would benefit within a marketplace where insurers would offer very different options. Healthcare coverage and pricing would then be driven by consumer’s choices. Republicans also feel that the federal government’s role in healthcare should be much smaller than it is now. They believe individual states should be responsible for making individual plans easier to get.

Liberals believe the answer lies not in the competitive marketplace but in a centralized design where purchasing decisions are in the hands of the government. Individuals purchase coverage from state and federal insurance exchanges instead of traditional private market providers, and the affordability of plans comes from subsidies.

There. You are now educated on the main difference between the competing plans.

The bottom line is, both the Republicans and Democrats have some good ideas and not so good ideas in each of their healthcare bills. Ideally, for the American people to truly be served and offered affordable healthcare coverage, ideas from both sides of the aisle would be combined into one cohesive plan that would make the most sense.

Will this ever happen? Time will tell.

The post What are the Fundamental Differences Between the GOP’s Healthcare Plan and Obamacare? appeared first on Citizens Report.

The reactor being planned at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai will be the first operational reactor powered by thorium instead of uranium, making it safer and cheaper than the current generation of uranium reactors. The project is still in the design and planning stages, but the Indian Department of Atomic Energy is adamant that a thorium reactor is a necessary first step toward energy independence.

Why it’s Better: The Nuclear Reactor of the Future

Using thorium as a fuel source fundamentally changes the nature of nuclear power. A thorium-powered reactor would generate about 1% of the waste produced by its uranium-powered counterpart. Thorium nuclear waste is not especially radioactive, and decays within a few hundred years. By comparison, nuclear waste from uranium-powered plants takes tens of thousands of years to stop emitting lethal levels of radiation. Thorium is also more abundant and easier to mine than uranium, with one quarter of the world’s thorium reserves found in India. Best of all, because thorium is much less reactive than uranium, the risk of a catastrophic meltdown is practically nil.

Preventing Disaster: Not Another Fukushima

Current reactors rely on a constant circulation of water to keep the uranium fuel rods from overheating and melting through the concrete walls of the reaction chamber. A uranium reactor “goes critical” when the water supply is disrupted or the arrangement of the fuel rods is disturbed, both of which happened at the Fukushima reactor complex in March 2011. When the pumps fail or the uranium fuel rods are out of alignment, fission inside the core speeds out of control and a meltdown begins.

Indian engineers are working hard on the design’s inherent safety to solve the “Not In My Back Yard” problem. They hope to design a reactor stable enough and safe enough to build within city limits. They have taken lessons from Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, emphasizing passive safety systems with multiple layers of redundancy. Coolant circulates through the core naturally, so there are no pumps to fail. A massive water reservoir above the reactor uses gravity to deliver water to the core in the event of coolant loss. The reactor itself has two independent shut-off systems that can be triggered either actively or passively: boron carbide rods inserted into the core manually will absorb radiation; if this can’t be done, the resulting overpressure passively pushes a “neutron poison” into the core, shutting down the reactor.

Designers boast that the new reactor will be able to withstand blackouts, earthquakes, loss of coolant, and run continuously without an operator for months at a time, if necessary. “It is designed to have a life of 100 years,” says the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Sekhar Basu. Before heading up the research centre in Mumbai, Sekhar Basu designed the compact reactor at the heart of India’s new fleet of nuclear submarines.

The post The Nuclear Reactor That Will Change the World appeared first on Citizens Report.

According to a new government report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1 in 5 Americans has unpaid medical debts, and much of it, apparently, could be avoided. The report also states that about half of individuals carrying medical debt have no other financial distress in their life or on their record, and the average debt is only $579.

Even if your debt is that low and the only debt on your credit report, it’s still enough to lower your score by up to 20 points (and raise your blood pressure by even more).

Medical Debt – Confusion-itis

Consumers with medical debt tend to be much more reliable bill payers and normally meet their other financial obligations, the report also stated. These otherwise responsible citizens become confused by the multiple notices they receive from various providers. Costs also have a tendency to change depending on whether the consumer has insurance and whether the doctor is in that insurer’s network.

It gets even more confusing because the amount owed can change depending on whether the individual has met their annual cap on the deductible or what they are required to pay out-of-pocket. Then, many of these same consumers get a nasty surprise when they go for a home or auto loan and find their credit score has taken a hit.

And, just to make things worse, there is no standard practice of when overdue debt is sent to a collector or credit report agency. Certain debt collectors will immediately “park” the debt on someone’s credit report as a means to get them to pay up. Some healthcare providers send unpaid bills to collectors after only 30 days out from initial billing, others wait 180 days.

What You Can Do To Fix Medical Debt

Even responsible people with coverage and savings can find themselves with medical debt, which is different from other types of debt because getting sick or injured comes with unexpected costs.

Consumers are advised to pay off the debt as quickly as possible. Make payment arrangements if you have to, and see if you are eligible for Medicaid assistance. Although it’s not the most ideal situation, if need be, put your debt on a low-interest credit card to keep it out of collections and keep your credit from taking a hit.

Then take two aspirin and wait for the throbbing cranial pains to subside.

The post Credit Report Killer: 1 in 5 Americans Has Unpaid Medical Debt appeared first on Citizens Report.

1. The program operates with no additional revenues from either the local or Federal governments.
2.  The program is supported by both Democrats and Republicans with a history of them working together.
3. The program is run successfully in states across the country from red Oklahoma to blue California.
4. The program helps low income families increase their intake of fresh produce.
5. The program, helps states lower health cost expenditures by contributing to better health among its citizens.
6. The program supports local farmers in selling their fruits and vegetables thus increasing revenues.
7. The program enables large institutional purchasers of food to buy from local farmers via the establishment of “food hubs”.
8. The program creates new jobs with some 61,000 in 2008 alone.
9. The program strengthens local economies.
10. The program demonstrates how creative thinking can solve problems.

So what is this amazing program? It’s actually a creative twist on a rather old one; Food Stamps. The Food Stamps program is far from being new. It was first implemented in 1939 to assist low-income American families in obtaining nourishing food items. The program received a new name on October 1, 2008: SNAP or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

In 2005, grassroots activists saw the emergence of a new growing trend in the US: farmers markets. Here healthy organic fruits and vegetables were becoming available to the public. The question was how might this produce, obviously healthy but often more expensive than readily available processed foods, be made available to SNAP participants. The creative answer was to boost the purchasing power of SNAP “money” via the infusion of private corporate donations. A $10 stipend would now be worth $20 at the local farmers market. Hence the name of one such program successfully operating across Michigan: Double Up. Double Up partners with major organizations across the state such as the Michigan Farmers Market Association and the Michigan Fitness Foundation. Currently more than 110 farmers markets in Michigan participate in Double Up and accept these “boosted” SNAP food bucks. In Michigan alone, major corporations such as Aetna and Bank of America are partners in providing funding for the boosted stipends.

The USDA (the United States Department of Agriculture), via the 2014 Farm Bill, has announced the availability of $52 million in grants for programs similar to Double Up. These grants additionally support local organic farming via the creation of “food hubs” or virtual marketplaces. As Allison Aubry and Dan Charles point out in a 10/4/2014 article, food hubs connect “…local farmers with large-scale institutional purchasers of food who’d like to buy local but aren’t set up to deal with lots of small farmers.”

So here is a successful program that owes its success to the cooperative effort of many: from the grassroots activists like John Hyde in Langley Park and Takoma Park, MD and his collaborator Gus Schumacher, a former top official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; to market managers like Michelle Dudley, also of Maryland; to farmers like Mike Appell in Tulsa, OK; to Oran Hesterman of Double Up; to state representatives like Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat and Oklahoma Representative Frank Lucas, Republican.

In national supermarkets across the country such as Publix, we routinely see BOGO or Buy One, Get One (free). Obviously these programs benefit both us, the consumer, as well as the retailer. The SNAP “boosted bucks” program is just a creative twist on these very popular programs. And to think, our government, our politicians actually pulled it off. Now that’s truly amazing!

The post Our Government Did Something Truly Amazing appeared first on Citizens Report.

            Devices that gather information from millions of phones are being flown

over the United States by the government, according to a report by the Wall Street

            The device, also known as a “dirtbox,” works by imitating the signals of a

cell phone tower.

            Cell phones actively look for these signals. When the cell phone connects to

what it thinks is a tower, it sends its unique registration information and location to

the dirtbox instead.

            Now these are the pressing questions: under what law is the government

allowed to do this, and what are they doing with the data?

            The U.S. Department of Justice refused to confirm or deny the report.

            It is not clear how close the program is being supervised by the justice

department either.

            “What is done on U.S. soil is completely legal,” said one person familiar

with the program. “Whether it should be done is a separate question.”

            The primary targets for these devices are criminals, but thousands of

innocent Americans are caught in the fire.

            Those close to the operation say that the dirtboxes are being flown out of at

least five major airports. The operation has been reportedly running since 2007.

            The dirtbox has a reported accuracy of 10 feet. This is enough to pick out a

specific room in a building. The flying range of the dirtbox can cover most of the

U.S. population.

            That’s about 319 million people.

            The WSJ report also claims that newer versions of the system can download

files, store pictures and jam signals from devices.

            These devices are similar to the Stingray devices used by cops. The Stingray

is used in regions across the country, from Florida to California. It works by

mimicking cell phone towers to track the locations of all phones in a given area.

            The big difference between the Stingray and dirtbox device is that the

Stingray can only be attached to the back of a car or van. It could only track the

phones in a specific area around the tracker.

            With the dirtbox being in the air, its range is limitless.

            When referring to the more limited range of the Stingray, Principal

Technologist Chris Soghoian from the American Civil Liberties Union said:

“Maybe it’s worth violating privacy of hundreds of people to catch a suspect, but is

it worth thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of peoples’

privacy?”

The post Spy Planes Over America appeared first on Citizens Report.

   Big Pharma should not be trusted blindly. Pharmaceutical companies have shown they are willing to put profits before people: lying about side effects, faking clinical trials to get drugs approved and even selling contaminated medicines. One such case of Big Pharma’s greed began in the early 1980s, and involved an emerging disease known as AIDS. Cutter Biological, a division of Bayer Corporation—that’s right, the company that makes your aspirin—discovered in 1983 that some of the blood plasma it was selling to hemophiliacs contained the AIDS virus. Baxter International, the second-largest manufacturer of blood products, discovered the same year that its blood plasma was also infected.

   The contaminated product was Factor 8, a blood-clotting protein. Hemophiliacs are unable to produce Factor 8 on their own, which leads to excessive and unstoppable bleeding. Hemophiliacs need regular infusions of blood plasma to supplement Factor 8, or a minor cut can cause them to bleed to death. Baxter International and Bayer Corporation were the two largest manufacturers of Factor 8, and hemophiliacs in the US had no where else to turn to get this medicine.

   The Center for Disease Control warned in 1983 that blood products like Factor 8 were infecting hemophiliacs with AIDS. An outbreak of AIDS among hemophiliac children in the US was traced straight back to Bayer’s Factor 8 product. Ryan White was diagnosed in 1984, at the age of 13, with HIV. Ryan was a hemophiliac who had taken contaminated Factor 8. He was one of 10,000 Americans, mostly children, who contracted HIV/AIDS after taking contaminated Factor 8 made by Bayer and Baxter.

Profits Before People

   Documents later revealed that Bayer and Baxter made a practice of getting blood serum from high-risk groups of people. They put profits before people, taking blood from groups at a high-risk of having infectious diseases in order to save money. On top of this, Bayer and Baxter violated federal law by not testing the blood for diseases.

Taking Lives For Money

   At the same time, Bayer and Baxter made a “voluntary agreement” with the FDA to stop selling the contaminated serum. Despite this, Bayer and Baxter continued to sell their remaining stocks of the contaminated Factor 8 to Asian and Latin American countries. When FDA regulators found out that Bayer and Baxter were still selling the AIDS-infected products, instead of filing criminal charges, they offered to help hush it up. In a meeting with Bayer and Baxter executives, Harry Meyer, the FDA’s chief regulator in charge of blood products, said he wanted to resolve the issue “quietly … without alerting Congress, the medical community and the public.”

   Executives at Bayer and Baxter knew the blood plasma was contaminated yet they continued selling it across the world. The FDA, supposed to protect consumers from dangerous medicines, conspired with Bayer and Baxter to keep the public and Congress in the dark about the contaminated blood plasma. In a meeting with Bayer and Baxter executives, Harry Meyer, the FDA’s chief regulator in charge of blood products, said he wanted the crisis to be resolved “quietly … without alerting Congress, the medical community and the public.” Bayer and Baxter kept selling contaminated blood plasma and the FDA helped them cover up the facts. Harry Meyer, the man in charge of defending the public, told Big Pharma executives he wanted the matter dealt with “quickly and quietly.”

No Justice

   Nobody knows exactly how many people outside the US were infected by Bayer and Baxter’s contaminated blood plasma, but there was hell to pay. The leaders of health departments and drug company executives in Argentina, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Portugal and Singapore were sent to jail for negligence, while the real criminals—the FDA and Bayer and Baxter’s top executives—walked away. Despite the tens of thousands of people whose lives were cut short by this conspiracy, no criminal charges have been filed against Bayer, Baxter, the FDA or anyone else in the United States.

   American hemophiliacs have been left on their own, forced to sue Bayer and Baxter in civil courts. The saddest part is that many hemophiliacs must still buy Factor 8 from the same companies—Bayer and Baxter—that infected and killed thousands of their fellow sufferers throughout the 80s and early 90s. They have no alternative, and can only hope the medicine they need to survive isn’t tainted or contaminated by Big Pharma, with the FDA turning a blind eye.

The post Killing For Profit – Selling AIDS appeared first on Citizens Report.

Unfortunately, the above story is just one of the many cases where drug companies’ funding lead to biased findings.

The post Big Pharma Influencing Med Students and Doctors appeared first on Citizens Report.

While you are watching television, browsing through the Internet or simply listening to the radio on your way to work, chances are you will be bombarded by drug advertisements. The level of pharmaceutical advertising in our country is so extreme that the average American television viewer will watch 16 hours of these ads in a given year.

Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) is an attempt made by pharmaceutical companies to promote prescription products directly to patients. As of today, the United States is only one of two countries in the world–along with New Zealand–that allow DTCPA featuring product claims. Now, with only two countries allowing these types of drug ads, you may be thinking that there are a lot more opponents than supporters. However, the debate is surprisingly balanced between pros and cons, which we will go into more detail in a little bit.

America the Unique

“Product claim ads” are what we are used to in America. These ads not only tell the audience the name of their drug, but the ad also indicates what the drug can be used for. In nearly every other country in the world, product claim ads are illegal.

In most of the world, pharmaceutical commercials can only mention the drug’s name or a medical condition, but not both. For instance, in England there could be a commercial for Lipitor, but the ad couldn’t tell you that Lipitor is a cholesterol medicine. Or an ad could tell you to speak to your doctor about high cholesterol, but the ad couldn’t tell you to take Lipitor.

Arguments in Support of DTCPA

• DTCPA supporters claim that it educates patients as it allows them access to a wide range of information sources about drugs and medical conditions.
• DTCPA advocates say that the ads motivate patients to approach health care providers about medical advice.
• DTCPA are claimed to educate patients and help them develop more thoughtful questions when consulting physicians. This also limits the risk of under-diagnosis as more patients are knowledgeable about what to expect about certain conditions.
• DTCPA studies show an increase in patient obedience to treatment instructions and drug use. This is very important, as the average patient does not strictly follow a doctor’s orders.
• DTCPA raises awareness of diseases that have certain stigmas associated with them, making it less embarrassing for patients to discuss their concerns with physicians.

Arguments Against DTCPA

• DTCPA opponents state that the ads misinform patients, mainly through the omission of necessary information.
• DTCPA are said to overemphasize the benefits of drugs advertised. The FDA (during 1997 to 2006) agreed that the exaggeration of a drug’s effectiveness has been a common issue (84% of the regulatory letters concerning DTCPA related to this problem).
• DTCPA promote new drugs even before all the health risks are fully known. This is especially true for “first-in class” drugs, which have an even shorter safety profile than most other drugs.
• DTCPA opponents blame pharmaceutical ads for creating an overmedicated society; opponents claim drug ads increase the expectations of drug benefits and, ultimately, cause distress in patients.
• DTCPA leads to faulty prescriptions when health care providers are not fully informed of the drugs asked for by patients.
• DTCPA is not regulated strictly enough; critics complain that FDA rules don’t prevent violations because pharmaceutical companies are held responsible only after a violation has occurred.

Conclusion

There is a pretty obvious division between support and opposition of DTCPA. But, one thing both of these groups can agree on is that action should be undertaken to increase the benefits and decrease the risks of consumer drug advertisements. Suggestions include the delay of advertising for new products, pre-clearance requirement by the FDA, and improve patient understanding of health risks involved.

It is hoped that these remedies will allow for more control of DTCPA for the improvement of public health.

What do you think? Share your opinion in the comments below.

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