Current Events in March 2005

The Mercedes E-Class sedan is the safest car on the highway, while the least safe is the two-door Chevrolet Blazer, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

The institute reached its conclusions about the Mercedes, Blazer and 197 other relatively popular vehicles by studying driver death rates of 1999 to 2002 model cars and trucks from 2000 to 2003.

Among four-door midsize cars, the Volkswagen Passat performed best, with an average of 16 driver deaths per million registered vehicles annually, but the Chrysler Sebring had 126 driver deaths.

Among midsize sport utility vehicles with four-wheel drive, the Toyota 4Runner had 12 deaths per million registered vehicles annually, compared with 134 for the two-door Ford Explorer.

The study focused on the rate of driver deaths in various types of crashes, including both single- and multiple-vehicle accidents.

The overall driver death rate, for 199 models studied during the 2000-2003 calendar years, was 87 per million registered vehicles annually, the institute said. The Blazer had an average of 308 driver deaths per million. It also had the highest rate of driver deaths in rollover accidents at 251 per million.

"Large cars and minivans dominate among vehicle models with very low death rates" while those with the highest fatality rates are "mostly small cars and small and midsize SUVs," the study said

The Results

Lowest Rates of Driver Death
Fewer than 30 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years (1999-2002 models during calendar years 2000-03)

Highest Rates of Driver Death
More than 160 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years (1999-2002 models during calendar years 2000-03)

Credit card issuers, banks and even home builders are applauding the Senate's passage of a bankruptcy bill that would make it much more difficult for Americans devastated by illness, divorce or job loss to wipe out their debts. The House is poised to pass the measure, probably in early April, after the Easter recess.

Spurred on by support from such heavy financial backers as MBNA, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Capital One Financial, the Senate beat back every amendment that would have cut any slack to members of the armed forces, those with serious medical problems and those working as unpaid caregivers to seriously ill or disabled family members

Senators even refused to show any sympathy to victims of identity theft.

The Senate has more sympathy for the wealthy, however. When Democrats tried to restrict the use of state laws that allow wealthy individuals to shelter their portfolios from creditors in several states, Republicans rejected it out of hand.

Not long ago, Democrats could be counted on to oppose turning the screws on low-income and middle-class Americans. In 2000, Congress passed a similar bill but then-President Clinton vetoed it.

This time around, things are different. Eighteen Democrats -- including both Democratic Senators from Delaware, MBNA's home state -- joined Republicans in voting for the measure. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada also voted with the Republicans.

Many Democrats in the House are also eager to demonstrate their loyalty to the financial sector. The New Democrat Coalition endorsed bankruptcy reform in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), urging that he bring the bill swiftly to the House floor.

"We believe that responsible bankruptcy reform embodies the New Democrat principles of personal responsibility, while at the same time adding important new consumer protections such as requiring enhanced credit card disclosure information and encouraging participation in consumer credit counseling," wrote coalition Chairwoman Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) and others.

With a straight face, the bill's supporters claim it will make it easier for low-income consumers to get loans.

"By reforming the system with this common-sense approach, more Americans -- especially lower-income Americans -- will have greater access to credit," President Bush said in a statement.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) was among the outspoken opponents of the bill, which he said "sacrifices the hopes and dreams of average Americans to the rampant greed of the credit card industry."

"It turns the United States Senate into a collection agency for the credit card companies reaching the long arm of the law into the pocketbooks of average Americans who have reached the end of their economic rope," Kennedy said. "This legislation breaks the bond that unites America, the bond that makes our country strong. It says the concerns of low and middle income families don't matter. They no longer have a voice in the United States Senate. What matters is the special interests."

Proponents say the bill is needed to curb the five- fold increase in personal bankruptcy filings from less than 300,000 in 1980 to almost 1.6 million in 2003. Utah Republican Orrin Hatch said that the number of personal bankruptcy petitions filed each year exceeds the 10-year total during the Depression of the 1930s.

Bankruptcies cost "law-abiding, bill-paying citizens" an extra $400 a year because of people who stiff banks, credit-card companies and stores by erasing their debt, he said.

The rising price of gasoline appears to be stifling sales of large U.S. SUVs and pickups. If the trend continues, automaker profits are certain to suffer. Full-sized SUV and large pickup sales were both down last month. The sale of fuel-efficient cars gained more than two percent.

Large SUVs and full-sized pickups account for close to 80 percent of North American automotive profits at Ford and General Motors.

The average price U.S. drivers pay for a gallon of regular gasoline barely exceeds $2, according to the AAA motor club. The price is expected to shoot to a record high of $2.15 a gallon this spring, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The higher prices already have hit GM's mix of vehicles in the market, punishing it by $1 a share due to fewer sales of large trucks and SUVs. Ford Motor has lost 15 cents a share due to a similar decline in the segment.

GM's U.S. sales of light trucks declined 9 percent last month, while Ford's sales in the same segment slipped 8 percent. Overall, both the automakers lost U.S. market share again in February.

While sales of GM and Ford Motor trucks slipped in February, Toyota and other Asian automakers reported increased sales in the segment.

U.S. sales of the full-sized Toyota Tundra pickup, which has a V-8 engine, rose nearly 49 percent last month, while Nissan reported a similar rise in sales of its Titan pickup.

In addition to higher cash discounts, Ford extended its offer of interest-free financing for terms of as long as 60 months on the Explorer SUV, which suffered a sales decline of 19.1 percent, and the Expedition SUV, which dropped 13.8 percent last month.

GM, meanwhile, says it will offer extended warranties on its 2006 model Hummer SUVs, which on average have a fuel economy in the teens and whose sales have declined 8.3 percent this year.

British researchers recently reported finding that cell phone use can produce brain tumors, and warned parents that children under age eight should not use mobile phones. Their report says heavy use can lead to tumors in the brain and ears, and further states that up until now, the risk has largely been understated by most scientists.

The Firefly phone is a voice-only phone designed for the smaller hands of kids aged eight to 12 years old. With just five keys instead of a regular dial pad, parents use a PIN to program up to 22 outgoing numbers into the phone, including speed-dial keys for Mom and Dad. The patented phone lights up like a firefly when in use and intermittently when in standby mode. It is about the size of a small pocket calculator and weighs two ounces.

Firefly Mobile says that it conducted extensive market research with parents and children across the USA, and validated their belief that families need a mobile phone for eight to 12 year olds that performs basic functions, helps parents maintain financial control and connects kids with the most important people in their lives.

"Firefly Mobile is responding to the needs of the marketplace and dedicating our efforts to satisfying both parents' and kids' needs for a functional, controllable and fun mobile phone," said Robin Abrams, CEO, Firefly Mobile.

"Kids feel greater self confidence when they are able to communicate, whenever they need to, with important people in their lives," said Laura Davies, M.D., in a statement released by Firefly. "For a parent running a full life, it is reassuring to know that whenever there is a need, they can make direct contact with their child."

A study in the international journal Epidemiology in October last year found that people who have used cell phones for at least 10 years may have an increased risk of developing a rare brain tumor.

Thursday, March 3, started off as a routine day but it quickly spun downhill as my Dell laptop crashed and burned, bringing activities in my corner of ConsumerAffairs.com to a standstill.

The first sign of trouble came as the Inspiron XPS began showing uncharacteristic signs of hesitation. Purchased just a few months before from the Dell Outlet, from whence come all our office computers, the XPS is to laptops what a Porsche 911 is to lesser sports cars -- a blazing fast speed demon.

Hoping to clear up whatever was amiss, I rebooted and was promptly blitzed with arcane error messages warning of problems at hitherto unknown sectors, culminating in a sickening descent into what is known throughout geekdom as the Blue Screen of Death.

My machine, barely three months old, was toast. I tried to ignore the odd alignment of the stars: Just the day before, I had tallied the number of computer complaints in our database, correlating them with market ranking, finding that while Dell had about 18 percent of the worldwide market, it accounted for 58 percent of the complaints we'd received in the previous 12 months.

Being There

I met my first computer terminal back in 1974 or so, when technicians at The Associated Press bureau in Denver wheeled in a thing the size of a refrigerator and announced -- skeptically -- that these ungainly devices would soon replace not only our "telegraphers" (as they were quaintly called) but also our trusted typewriters.

In the intervening 30 years, I have been through just about every kind of computer catastrophe imaginable, probably two per year, on average. The initial human response to a computer crisis is universal -- panic. This nearly always leads to trouble.

I have learned the hard way that like hopeless freeway congestion, computer meltdowns are inevitable and should be dealt with calmly. Panic solves nothing and hasty action nearly always makes the situation worse. I thus went into my Zen mode, telling my associates I would be out of action the rest of the day and mentally dismissing any tasks that a few minutes earlier had been regarded as essential.

I ran through all the routine disaster drills -- trying to boot in Safe Mode and running a couple of simple tests. My initial diagnosis: hard drive failure. The XPS came with a 100-gb hard drive, much more than I need and, in fact, bigger than I wanted. A drive that large is highly compressed and more prone to failure but, other than the drive, the machine was set up the way I wanted it. (Buying from the Dell Outlet is like buying a used car: you don't get to pick the options).

I pondered the hundreds of complaints I had read about Dell's tech support. I considered getting into another line of work.

In any hard-drive failure, there is the potential of data loss. In my case, this would include the March 7 edition of Consumer News & Alerts, the weekly newsletter that may not look like much but involves quite a bit of writing and proofreading and a pretty substantial dose of link-building and checking. Then there was the strategic plan I had just about finished for a consulting client (no, the consulting's not a conflict of interest and it helps pay the rent and bandwidth bills). It, like the newsletter, was due Monday.

Just about everything else on my machine was backed up, either on our Web servers or on an external hard drive that exists to make daily backups easy. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I do them daily, now does it?

The Call

Able to put it off no longer, I copied my Service Tag and Service Code numbers from the bottom of the XPS, swallowed, took a deep breath and called Dell Tech Support. Navigating the voice-mail maze wasn't all that bad and in less than five minutes I was on the phone with Zach, #0172679.

Like all the Dell techs I have encountered, Zach spoke fluent Texan and exuded the same confidence as old-style airline captains explaining the "little problem" involving the landing gear or engine flame-out. We went down the same road I'd already traveled and reached the same destination -- trashed hard drive.

By this time, it was after 5 p.m. for me -- Eastern time. Sorry, Zach said, but that meant my replacement hard drive probably wouldn't reach me til Monday (even though it was still only 4-something in Texas). I had by now fired up another machine that had most of the programs and data I needed and resigned myself to several days of being in-between computers.

That evening, not quite ready to abandon hope, I recruited a neighbor who is an IT consultant to see if we couldn't salvage my data -- specifically, the newsletter and the strategic plan. Anyone who writes for a living will do anything to avoid having to re-lasso words that have previously been corralled. We're only born with so many words in us, you know, and I am already pushing the envelope.

Our resident barrister having left for the day, we invaded her office and swiped her new (from the outlet, that is) Dell Optiplex slim desktop machine, yanked the cover off and ripped the ribbon cable from the CD drive. Using a handy adapter the IT consultant fished out of his kit bag, we took the damaged hard drive from my laptop and convinced the Optiplex to regard it as its new D:/ drive.

Like all those 1950s TV shows that went out into space, data on a hard drive is still there, even after the drive self-destructs. You just can't get to it because the drive won't boot up. But by using the damaged drive as a secondary drive, booting up the Optiplex with its own C:/ drive, we were able to get a look at my Documents and Webs folders.

Sure enough, everything was there. We copied it all to a new folder on the Optiplex and, when that was finished, jammed the lid back on and put the machine back in the lawyer's office. She was blissfully unaware that her desktop would be, in effect, eating for two for a day or two.

The next day, as I prepared to head for the office I was irate to see a box resting on the flank of my Alfa Romeo. Despite my constant hectoring, my family insists on treating my priceless heirloom as a table. Irritation waned, however, as I realized this was my replacement hard drive -- dropped off by AirBorne Express barely 16 hours after I hung up my call to Zach.

A New Beginning

Installing the replacement hard drive was a snap, consisting of removing one screw, unplugging the connector and inserting the new drive. Then, of course, there is the all-day project of reloading all the programs and trying to remember all the passwords for all those Web sites.

Several hours into it, a glitch developed. My dual-band wireless card was not working, meaning I was chained to my desk -- unable to lug the laptop to Starbucks, roam around the office or retreat to the family room to sit by the fireplace. I reloaded the drivers and ran the diagnostics. Verdict: bad memory on the wireless card.

I frankly didn't buy this and suspected that Microsoft was up to its old tricks -- loading its drivers on top of the manufacturer's. Zach had sent me an e-mail confirming the hard-drive shipment and his e-mail invited me to call or e-mail him if I had any further problems.

I did so Sunday afternoon and, by mid-morning Monday, had a reply from Zach directing me to the spot on the Dell site where I could find an updated driver. Five minutes later, I had again slipped the surly bonds of my desk and was free to roam anywhere I was able to lug the 12-pound XPS and its brick-like power supply.

Verdict: Any hard drive crash you can walk away from is a good one. Zach was knowledgeable, patient and responsive, my IT consultant neighbor had just the right IDE connector and other than a little time and trouble, I was none the worse for wear.

Don't Try This At Home

However -- and it is a big however -- most consumers would not have had such a good outcome. They would most probably have lost all the data on their hard drive and, in many cases, been frustrated and annoyed at having to take screwdriver in hand and spend time on the phone.

Despite a lackluster college experience that left me branded an English major, I am quite comfortable being up to my elbows inside a computer. Those who aren't -- which is most normal people -- should avoid frustration and needless data loss by doing a few of of the following:

• Separate task from technology. Sure, you paid $3,000 for the machine and yes, you need to finish that report -- you know, the one you told your client you mailed her yesterday. But like a blown hose on your BMW, the price you paid and the urgency of your daily chores has nothing to do with the snafus that complicated machines encounter. And make no mistake -- your computer is very complicated. It is more powerful that the entire computing capacity of the United States government just a few decades ago; you can't expect it to work perfectly 24/7 and 365.

• Back up your stuff. There is no substitute for making back-ups. Whether you use an external hard drive, a tape drive or another machine on your network, make copies of all your important stuff. And keep track of passwords and activation codes for essential Web sites and programs.

• Buy the on-site warranty. Don't want to get your hands dirty? Spend a little upfront and Dell will send someone to your home or office to solve your problem.

• Buy your computer from a local geek-owned computer store. Sure, you'll probably pay more for the machine but you'll be able to take it back to the store when problems arise -- and, count on it, problems will arise.

• Adopt a geek. The world is full of people who understand computers and like fiddling with them. Get to know one of these people. Call them when you have problems and reward them very handsomely when they bail you out. A few hundred dollars is not too much to pay a friend who pulls you back from the brink.

Finally, learn to chill. Yes, a computer problem is bad but it's far from the worst thing that can happen to you or someone near and dear. The right degree of detachment will go a long way towards helping you solve the present problem without creating new ones.

Asian vehicles continue their domination over domestic and European brands in the latest Consumer Reports owner satisfaction survey.

The Toyota Prius won near-unanimous praise with 94 per cent of respondents saying that they would definitely get one again. The Lexus LS430 scored almost as high with 92 per cent of owners and lessees affirming their loyalty.

Asian and European brands fill all but 1 of the 32 slots within CR's list of Most Satisfying vehicles. Asian manufacturers lead with 25 of their vehicles in the list, followed by European brands with six. The only domestic car in the list is the Chevrolet Corvette.

The owner satisfaction survey is part of the Consumer Reports annual survey, which asked its subscribers if they would buy the car or truck they own again, considering its price, performance, comfort, and reliability.

This year CR received more than 250,000 responses to this question for 2002 to 2004 models, which were used to determine owner-satisfaction ratings and lists of Most and Least Satisfying vehicles.

Among other survey findings:

• The second-generation Toyota Prius becomes the first hybrid to top the list, sending the Lexus LS430 luxury sedan down to second place. The sporty Honda S2000 was in third place.

• Satisfaction doesn't always track with reliability. The Mini Cooper and Mercedes-Benz SL are among the most satisfying, even though their reliability records are below average.

• Among the cars that were least satisfying, domestic vehicles accounted for 12 of the 20 in the lineup; Japanese nameplates accounted for 7. The Land Rover Freelander SUV was the sole European vehicle in the least-liked lineup.

Here are Consumer Reports' lists of Most Satisfying and Least Satisfying vehicles. Most Satisfying vehicles are those with scores of 80 percent or higher. Least Satisfying vehicles are those with scores of 50 percent or lower. Models are listed within categories in order of percentage of owners who said they would definitely get them again:

Even for the least satisfactory cars, a majority of owners were positive.

A North Carolina judge struck down a mandatory arbitration clause, which had been placed in consumer contracts by CitiFinancial Services, a division of Citigroup, Inc. Judge Ronald Stephens ruled that two North Carolina women have the right to bring a lawsuit against CitiFinancial for predatory lending practices in state civil court and will not be forced into arbitration as requested by CitiFinancial.

The lawsuit was filed as a class action, so the ruling affects thousands of consumers across North Carolina.

In June 2002, Raleigh attorneys John Alan Jones and G. Christopher Olson filed a class action on behalf of Fannie Lee Tillman and Shirley Richardson. Tillman and Richardson contended that they were victims of predatory lending practices by CitiFinancial. Their lawsuit sought compensation for thousands of North Carolina borrowers who were sold a now-outlawed type of credit insurance known as single-premium credit insurance (SPCI).

Consumer groups have complained about SPCI for years.

The beneficiary of the insurance policy is the bank, not the borrower. Jones explained. With SPCI, the entire insurance premium is paid in a lump sum when the loan is made. SPCI is an extremely expensive type of insurance. The bank pressured customers to buy the insurance and then financed the premium and added it to their loan."

"Folks like Ms. Richardson and Ms. Tillman ended up borrowing more money than they needed or wanted and were then forced to pay interest on the premium over the life of the loan," Jones said. "This lending practice also led to an increase in closing costs such as points and origination fees. So the bank is the beneficiary of the insurance. The bank gets to loan more money. The bank earns more on closing costs. And by the way, usually the bank also earned a big commission on the insurance premium, sometimes approaching 50 percent.

The suit, which was filed in Superior Court in Henderson, North Carolina, alleges that Tillman and Richardson were never told that the SPCI had been added to their loans or that they could be forced into arbitration. Both women testified that they were rushed through their loan closings and simply told where to sign their names or place their initials on the loan documents.

After Tillman and Richardson filed their lawsuit in civil court against CitiFinancial, the bank, which had included an arbitration clause in their closing documents, tried to force Tillman and Richardson into arbitration. Judge Stephens held that the CitiFinancial arbitration clause should be struck down because it was so one-sided and unfair to CitiFinancial borrowers.

In theory, arbitration clauses are intended to provide an efficient and inexpensive way to resolve disputes, without going into the courts, explained Jones. Unfortunately, CitiFinancials arbitration clause was so one-sided and expensive that few, if any, North Carolina consumers could afford it. CitiFinancial drafted an arbitration clause which essentially immunized it from the victims of its predatory lending practices. Thanks to Judge Stephens, North Carolina borrowers victimized by CitiFinancials predatory lending practices will have their day in court.

CitiFinancial, formerly known as Commercial Credit Loans, Inc., began including the mandatory arbitration clause in its loan agreements in 1996. CitiFinancials customers were in the subprime lending market, meaning that their credit ratings were below average and the interest rates charged were very high. Both Tillman and Richardson were charged rates of 15-20 percent by CitiFinancial.

CitiFinancials arbitration clause prevented them from bringing a lawsuit in civil court, but included exceptions which allowed CitiFinancial to continue to sue borrowers in civil court. To illustrate how one-sided CitiFinancials arbitration clause was, Olson cited evidence indicating that CitiFinancial had brought 3,700 lawsuits against North Carolina borrowers in civil court since the arbitration clause was adopted in 1996, but no borrower had gone into arbitration.

Jones and Olson told the Court that the arbitration clause was so expensive it would prevent Richardson, Tillman, or any other CitiFinancial borrower from going into arbitration. In his ruling, Judge Ronald L. Stephens cited evidence that CitiFinancial arbitration process could cost the borrower more than $10,000 if they lost, plus costs and attorneys fees.

Jones emphasized, This is not some coupon class action. We believe that as many as 25,000 North Carolina borrowers are entitled to a refund of their insurance premiums, as well as the closing costs and interests caused by those premiums. If we prevail, CitiFinancial will be required to pay back many North Carolinians the thousands of dollars which was wrongly taken from them.

CitiFinancial is appealing the ruling.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has won court judgments against six defendants involved in the unlawful selling and clinical use of prescription "colonic hydrotherapy" devices in five Texas cities.

Colonic irrigation without physician oversight poses potential dangers to patients, Abbott said, prompting him to seek the court-ordered agreements from the alternative health providers. In the agreements, the defendants pledge to ensure proper cautions will be strictly observed when they sell, promote or provide these treatments.

"Patients health and safety must be the first priority in using of this type of treatment, and a licensed physician should oversee its use," said Attorney General Abbott. "I am pleased that these businesses have agreed to comply with state law and protect their patients health."

The six defendants agreeing to the Attorney Generals terms are:

• Jeri Tiller and Tiller Mind Body Inc., a colonic hydrotherapy device manufacturer based in San Antonio, which also provides treatment;
• Lisa Ramoin, who does business as Alternative Health, and Janice Jackson, who does business as InsideOut and Within, both of Houston;
• Lifestream Purification Systems, L.L.C. of Austin, a hydrotherapy device manufacturer;
• Jennifer Jackson, who does business as Body Cleanse Day Spa of Dallas;
• Soledad Herrera, who does business as Body Matters of El Paso.

The treatments consist of using prescription nozzles and systems to thoroughly cleanse the colon, all of which requires physician oversight under federal and state law. In addition, the purchase, possession and use of the devices must be done with the approval of a physician.

The treatments, when prescribed and supervised by a physician, must be consistent with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. The only use cleared by the FDA is for treatments conducted prior to a patient undergoing radiologic or endoscopic examinations.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a public health advisory outlining the identified risks and benefits of Crestor, a cholesterol-lowering drug. But critics say the agency didn't go far enough.

The Astra-Zeneca product has been plagued by claims that it can cause rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle fibers that can lead to kidney damage. This is a well-known, rare adverse effect of all statins.

The FDA's advisory says an extensive review of the data indicates that patients taking recommended doses of Crestor have a risk similar to patients on other statin cholesterol treatments.

David Graham, a safety researcher at the FDA, had singled out the drug as deserving closer safety scrutiny during congressional hearings last fall. The advocacy group Public Citizen has also targeted Crestor and issued a blistering denunciation of the FDA's action, calling "another example of the agencys dangerous cowardice in failing to adequately protect people in this country from uniquely dangerous prescription drugs."

"Like statements from AstraZeneca, the FDAs statement is replete with false and misleading information," said Sidney M. Wolfe, MD, Director, Public Citizens Health Research Group.

"Rather than responding in a public health-positive manner to our March 2004 petition and banning this drug, the FDA has done exactly what AstraZeneca wanted with minimal labeling changes and surely has pleased one of the drug companies contributing to the $150 million in drug industry funding that the FDA is receiving this year for drug review." Wolfe said.

Besides the FDA advisory, Crestor's manufacturer Astra-Zeneca Pharmaceuticals has revised the package insert for Crestor, based on discussions with the FDA. These changes re-emphasize recommendations made in the original label about the need for physicians to consider using lower starting doses of the drug in some individuals as a means of reducing the risk of rhabdomyolysis.

"The FDA is committed to providing Americans with the latest and most comprehensive information on the medicines they use," said Dr. Steven Galson, Acting Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).

Galson says the advisory "is part of an ongoing effort to notify the public of potentially significant emerging safety data so that they can make more informed choices about their medical care."

The revised labeling notes that this may be particularly important for treating Asian American patients, since clinical trial data suggest that they (along with patients on cyclosporine or patients with severe renal insufficiency) may have higher drug levels and therefore be at greater risk for muscle injury due to Crestor than the general population.

But Public Citizen said that since October 2004, when it petitioned FDA to clamp down on Crestor, there have been an additional 52 U.S. cases of life-threatening muscle damage (rhabdomyolysis) reported to the FDA and an additional 12 U.S. cases of kidney failure or impairment in people not having rhabdomyolysis reported to the agency up to the end of January of this year.

"The total of such U.S. cases reported since the drug was first marketed in September 2003 is now 117 cases of rhabdomyolysis and 41 cases of kidney failure, both higher than seen with the other currently marketed statins," Wolfe said. "Because of concerns about the safety of Crestor, several countries, including Germany, Norway and Spain, have not approved the drug."

Overall, FDA said it believes that potential benefits of statin drugs (including Crestor) when used as labeled and indicated for the treatment of elevated cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) outweigh their potential risks and provide an important treatment option for millions of Americans at risk of heart disease.

We frequently hear from readers who aren't satisfied with the real-life stories they read in our pages. They want to see some hard numbers. One such skeptic is Rachel of Lexington MA, who wrote:

I am concerned that there appears to be no attempt to adjust for size of firm. Very large firms (e.g., Dell) with many customers may generate many complaints but still have only a small percentage of dissatisfied customers. It's the percentage that really matters, since that's the best predictor of the experience a reader may have. Readers may not be aware of this bias and just look at the number or frequency of complaints. Even if aware of the bias, they have no "overall size" number to use in judging whether the number of complaints is high or low.

OK, but we'd say the fallacy here is in assuming that those who complain to us and to similar sites are a representative sample. They very obviously are not and therefore anything numerical is of no more value than the anecdotal consumer complaints that we publish.

Obviously, not everyone will encounter the same problems as those who write to us, but it's worthwhile for consumers to see what could happen so that they can plan accordingly.

The Numbers

Last we heard, Dell was #1, with 17.9 percent of the world P.C. market in 2004 according to market-research firm IDC. It did considerably better in piling up complaints from our readers -- a whopping 633, or 58 percent of 1,087 computer complaints -- in the last 12 months.

Dell, up a full percentage point from the year before, is obviously doing something right. On the other hand, with 55% of the complaints it must also be doing something wrong.

However, the downside of direct marketing and low prices is minimal service. We'd suggest those who require hand-holding buy an Apple or an IBM from a local computer shop that provides personal support. Apple complaints have been rising but their machines are still the simplest for those who could care less about what goes on inside the box. IBM machines are targeted to business clients and priced accordingly.

There are so many different kinds of consumers using computers for so many different things that, interesting though these numbers may be, we don't think they're all that useful. We recommend browsing sites like ours, finding consumers who seem to mirror your general state of geekiness and taking their experiences to heart. If they had trouble with Dell or eMachine, maybe you will too.