Year 2006 Crash and Rollover Tests

Several Vehicles Receive Top Honors in First Group of Model
Year 2006 Crash and Rollover Tests

The first round of government crash tests for new model year 2006 passenger vehicles have resulted in five getting top honors. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently completed its first round of front and side impact crash tests on new vehicles already in dealer showrooms and found five vehicles–the Honda Odyssey minivan, the Hyundai Sonata four-door sedan, the Hyundai Tucson sport utility vehicle, the Mercedes Benz ML Class SUV, and the Subaru B9 Tribeca SUV all worthy of five-star ratings. The Pontiac G6 two-door Coupe took top honors in NHTSA’s rollover rating program.
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Asthma Medication Warnings

Serevent Diskus (salmeterol xinafoate inhalation powder),
Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate & salmeterol inhalation powder),
Foradil Aerolizer (formoterol fumarate inhalation powder)

Today, FDA requested manufacturers of Advair Diskus, Foradil Aerolizer, and Serevent Diskus to update their existing product labels with new warnings and a Medication Guide for patients to alert health care professionals and patients that these medicines may increase the chance of severe asthma episodes, and death when those episodes occur. All of these products contain medicines belonging to the class known as “long-acting beta 2-adrenergic agonists” (LABA), which are long-acting bronchodilator medicines. Bronchodilator medicines, such as LABAs, help to relax the muscles around the airways in the lungs. Wheezing (bronchospasm) happens when the muscles around the airways tighten. Even though LABAs decrease the frequency of asthma episodes, these medicines may make asthma episodes more severe when they occur.
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FTC Halts Bogus Business Opportunity Scam

Foreign Nationals Used Technology to Make it Appear They Were Based in the U.S.

A Costa Rican operation that used Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, shell corporations, aliases, and shills to con U.S. consumers into investing in a bogus business opportunity has been halted by a U.S. District Court at the request of the Federal Trade Commission. The court has issued a temporary restraining order barring the false claims, freezing the defendants’ assets, and appointing a receiver, who shut down the toll-free and U.S. phone lines used to market the scheme.
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FTC Stops Bogus Post Office Job Offers

Three corporations and their officers have been barred from making false promises to consumers concerning employment with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) under the terms of a temporary restraining order issued by a U.S. district court judge at the request of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC alleged the defendants promised consumers help in registering for and obtaining postal employment in the consumer’s area, and guaranteed them job placement if they obtained a score of 90 or above on the USPS employment examination. In reality, the defendants are not connected with the USPS, and postal jobs are not available through them.
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Ortho Evra birth control warnings

FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients of revisions to the label for Ortho Evra, a skin patch approved for birth control, that includes a bolded warning about higher exposure to estrogen for women using the weekly patch compared to taking a daily birth control pill containing 35 micrograms of estrogen. A woman on Ortho Evra may be exposed to approximately 60% more estrogen than if she were taking a typical 35 microgram estrogen birth control pill. Estrogen use is linked to blood clots in the legs and lungs and other clotting problems such as strokes and heart attacks. It is not known if women using Ortho Evra have a higher risk of serious side effects than women taking the typical 35 microgram estrogen pills.

Sweepstakes Scammers May Impersonate Government Agencies

The Federal Trade Commission has issued an alert for consumers warning that sweepstakes scam artists may be impersonating government agencies in an effort to convince consumers that they have won a monetary “prize.” The alert says that scammers, claiming to be from the non-existent National Sweepstakes Bureau, the “national consumer protection agency,” and even the FTC, tell consumers that the supposed government agency is supervising the distribution of sweepstakes winnings. They also may give consumers a phone number at an actual government agency or use Internet technology to make it appear that they are calling from Washington, DC.
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Georgia Lender Targeting Seniors Settles with FTC

Stewart Finance Company, seven related companies, and their principals have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the companies deceived consumers, many of them elderly, by, among other things, packing optional products such as accidental death and dismemberment insurance and membership in roadside assistance clubs onto small personal loans of $500 or less. The settlement requires the companies to shut down and to agree to the entry of a $10.5 million judgment in the FTC’s case. The companies will liquidate their assets in federal bankruptcy court and through a federal district court receivership. Because the companies also owe amounts to other creditors, the FTC does not expect to collect the full amount of its judgment against the defendants. Monies the FTC receives through the bankruptcy and receivership will be combined with amounts due from certain individual defendants and directed to a consumer redress fund.
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FTC Stops Bogus Ads for Bio Trim and Other Weight-loss Products

Under the terms of a consent agreement approved by the Federal Trade Commission and announced today, Tustin, California based Natural Products, LLC, All Natural 4 U, LLC and their owner, Ana M. Solkamans, are permanently prohibited from making false and misleading claims about weight-loss products, including a dietary supplement they marketed as “Bio Trim,” “Body-Trim/Bio-Trim,” and “Body-Trim.”
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HHS Releases Pandemic Influenza Plan

Plan Provides Guidance to Prepare Nation’s Health Care System for a Pandemic

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today released the HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan, a detailed guide for how our nation’s health care system can prepare and respond to an influenza pandemic. The HHS plan is the medical and public health component of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, announced by the President yesterday.
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Scammers May Impersonate Government Agencies

New Spin on Sweepstakes Scams

The Federal Trade Commission has issued an alert for consumers warning that sweepstakes scam artists may be impersonating government agencies in an effort to convince consumers that they have won a monetary “prize.” The alert says that scammers, claiming to be from the non-existent National Sweepstakes Bureau, the “national consumer protection agency,” and even the FTC, tell consumers that the supposed government agency is supervising the distribution of sweepstakes winnings. They also may give consumers a phone number at an actual government agency or use Internet technology to make it appear that they are calling from Washington, DC.
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