Consumer Watchdog

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Anthem Blue Cross patients with HIV/AIDS may "opt-out" of a program that would have required them to obtain their medications by mail order under a settlement announced today by Consumer Watchdog and Whatley Kallas LLC. The lawsuit, ... read more

DANVILLE, Calif., May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by Consumer Watchdog: The father of a seven and ten year old killed by a drug addicted driver who received thousands of pills she should never have had called on the California Medical Association to apologize ... read more

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A recent change in the way Google presents its privacy policy violates the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) and the policy is "fundamentally deceptive," Consumer Watchdog told Attorney General Kamala Harris. "You have been a leader in the fight ... read more

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today praised Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) for introducing a bi-partisan bill that would increase consumer privacy protection on mobile devices. The bill, H.R. 1913, is known as the Application Privacy, Protection and Security (APPS) Act of 2013. Among its co-sponsors ... read more

SANTA MONICA & DANVILLE, Calif., May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California's Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg told injured patients and their families gathered on the Capitol sidewalk last week that he would hold hearings into the state's nearly 38-year-old cap on victims' recovery. Jerry Brown signed the ... read more

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The $7 million deal announced today ending a multi-state investigation of the Google Wi-Spy scandal does virtually nothing to thwart the Internet giant's repeated privacy violations, Consumer Watchdog said. The public interest group said Google should pay an ... read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog called on the legislature to pull the plug on the Medical Board of California at hearings to renew it in Sacramento today because the board has failed in its duty to protect patients from drug dealing, over-prescribing and other dangerous doctors. ... read more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today praised Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W VA) for introducing a Do-Not-Track bill, which would charge the Federal Trade Commission with establishing standards by which consumers could tell online companies, including mobile applications, that they do not want their information ... read more

Public Interest Group Also Asks California Attorney General to Investigate Dial into news conference at 2 pm ET (11 am PT): 800-920-7487 - Dial-In Code: 65248697# SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today called on the Federal Trade Commission to act immediately against Google's most recent privacy violation ... read more

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to consumer complaints and a class action lawsuit on behalf of HIV/AIDS patients in California, Anthem Blue Cross has agreed to suspend a program that would have barred patients from purchasing certain specialty medications at local pharmacies. ... read more

Consumers' Health Insurance Premiums Rise Even As Medical Spending Slows Because California Can't Reject Excessive Rate Hikes SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The California Department of Insurance announced today that a 17.9% average health insurance rate increase paid by 630,000 Anthem Blue Cross customers ... read more

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leading consumer advocates today called upon the legislature to hold hearings and investigate strong new laws in response to recent Los Angeles Times reports on widespread drug overdoses due to physician overprescribing and the recent case of a convicted ... read more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog Friday outlined three priorities focused on consumer privacy that must be emphasized by the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission as Jon Leibowitz stepped down from the agency after four years on the job. "Jon Leibowitz made the FTC ... read more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog Wednesday called on the Federal Trade Commission to ask Congress to pass Do Not Track legislation because "the self-regulatory effort to design Do Not Track is virtually dead in the water." In a letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, John ... read more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Google and Facebook continued to pump record amounts of money into their lobbying efforts during 2012 with Facebook's spending soaring 318 percent in the fourth quarter, while Google's was up 70 percent for the year. "Google and Facebook would have you believe that they are ... read more

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog praised Attorney General Kamala D. Harris for releasing guidelines to protect privacy in the mobile ecosystem and said the key recommendations in her Privacy on the Go report released today should be enacted into law to fully protect ... read more

Says Action Necessary To Restore Faith in Agency As Effective Antitrust Enforcer WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today called on the Federal Trade Commission to release the 100-page staff report on the 19-month Google investigation as the only way to "restore a modicum of public ... read more

Department of Justice, State Attorneys General Must Press To End Search Bias WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Federal Trade Commission's settlement with Google fails to end its most anticompetitive practice, Consumer Watchdog said today and the public interest group called on the Department of Justice and ... read more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today called on the U.S. Department of Justice to take over the ongoing federal antitrust probe of Google after the company's chairman in a news interview equated it with antitrust poster child Microsoft in the 1990s. The Federal Trade Commission appears ready ... read more

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog Wednesday called for a Senate hearing into what they consider Google's "morally bankrupt" tax policies that force taxpayers "to make up for the Internet giant's unwillingness to pay its fair share." Consumer Watchdog called for the hearing in ... read more