Current Events in June 2013

According to at least one measure, people are feeling better about their financial condition than they have in several years.

The Consumer Reports (CR) Index trouble tracker is down sharply -- to 34.0 from 41.7 a month earlier -- the lowest level since April 2009. The trouble tracker measure focuses on both the proportion of consumers that have faced difficulties as well as the number of negative events they have encountered.

Negative events include: the inability to pay medical bills or afford medication; missed mortgage payment; home foreclosure; interest-rate increase, penalty fees, reduced lines of credit or other changes in credit-card terms; job loss; reduced health-care coverage; and, the denial of personal loans.

The trouble tracker has dropped more than 50 percent from its high-water mark in September 2009, when it hit 68.7. The greatest drop in financial difficulties over the past 30 days was among those in households earning less than $50,000, followed by the most affluent in homes -- those earning $100,000 or more. Amidst this general drop in financial difficulties, middle-income Americans experienced a slight rise in financial troubles.

“The data offer a glimpse that consumers may be starting to see and feel the progress of the economic recovery,” said Ed Farrell, director of consumer insight at the Consumer Reports National Research Center.

Other measures

• The index’s sentiment measure declined 1.9 points to 52.6 from its high point of 54.5 last month, but overall remains in positive territory. The drop was attributable to a drop in two segments: consumers in households earning less than $50,000 (-2.8), and those with a high school education or less (-4.7).
• The CR index’s employment measure showed that job gains outpaced job losses for the third straight month. The employment measure was little changed this month, rising slightly to 50.6 from 50.3 a month earlier. The uptick was attributed to an increase in the proportion of people starting a new job in the past 30 days, and job gains outpacing job losses by a widening margin. The only group that lost more jobs than it gained was among those with a high school education or less. “Despite the improvements, consumers are still frigid about robust spending,” Farrell said. “We are watching closely waiting to see how long it will take them to thaw out from the mindset created by the conditions of the past five years.”
• The past 30-day retail measure halted four straight months of decline, ticking upward to 9.2 from 8.7 a month earlier. Among the retail categories the index tracks, the gain was driven primarily by a large seasonal rise in the major lawn and garden equipment category, and a small uptick in major appliances. The Index also shows that consumers are still not comfortable with robust spending. Planned spending for the next 30 days, reflecting potential June activity, is at 6.0, its lowest level since first measured in April 2009.
• The level of stress that consumers felt was up slightly to 55.2 from 53.8 last month. The most stressed Americans: women (55.8), those in households earning under $50,000 (57.1), aged 18-34 (56.6), and those in the North East (57.6).

Owners of the businesses responsible for much of the job creation in this country were a more confident lot last month. But there seems to be something of a disconnect.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) its index of small business optimism increased by 2.3 points -- to a final reading of 94.4 in May. While that's the second gain in a row and the second highest reading since the recession started in December 2007, the index does not signal strong economic growth for the sector.

Eight of 10 index components gained momentum, showing some moderation in pessimism about the economy and future sales, but planned job creation fell 1 point and reported job creation stalled after five months of gains.

What about jobs?

“Small-business confidence rising is always a good thing, but it’s tough to be excited by meager growth in an otherwise tepid economy,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Washington remains in a state of policy paralysis, and while the stock market sets records, GDP posts mediocre growth.”

The unemployment rate remains in the mid-7s and it is departures from the labor force -- not job creation -- that is contributing to its decline when it does fall, he points out. “It’s nice to see confidence not shrinking, but there isn’t much to hang your hat on in this report,” Dunkelberg added. “We are back to where we were in May 2012. Two good months don’t make a trend, but we can’t have a trend without them, so it’s a start.”

Not much growth

The small business half of GDP is not generating growth beyond population gains. More businesses are being formed than lost, but too many existing firms have not yet started to replace the workers shed during the recession. The optimism index is at its May 2012 level, which is identical to the November 2007 level. Since then, the index has been higher in only three months, each time by less than 2 points.

Owners were asked to identify their top business problem: 24% cited taxes, 23% cited regulations and red tape, 16% cited weak sales and 2% reported financing/access to credit.

Index components

• Job creation. Jobs creation fell for the first time since November 2012. Small employers reported an average gain of negative 0.04 workers per firm -- essentially zero.
• Hard to fill job openings. Forty-seven percent of owners hired or tried to hire in the last three months and 38% (81% of those trying to hire or hiring) reported few or no qualified applicants for open positions.
• Sales. The net percent of all owners reporting higher nominal sales in the past three months compared with the prior three months was unchanged at a negative 4%. While this is the best reading in nearly a year, there are still more firms reporting declines than gains.
• Earnings and wages. Earnings trends improved 1 point over April’s reading, landing at a negative 22%. Three percent of small employers reduced worker compensation and 20% raised compensation, yielding a net 16% who reported higher worker compensation (up 1 point). A net 9% of owners plan to raise compensation in the coming months.
• Credit markets. Credit continues to be a non-issue for small employers, only 5% of whom say that all their credit needs were not met in May. This is down 1 point from April and the lowest reading since February 2008.
• Capital outlays. Owners put a few more dollars into capital expenditures in May; the frequency of reported capital outlays over the past six months rose 1 point to 57 percent in May. However, this is still 8 points below the average spending rate through 2007.
• Good time to expand. In May, only 8% of owners characterized the current period as a good time to expand. This is up 4 points from a very weak reading in April, but still a poor showing when compared with an average value of 16% pre-recession.
• Inventories. In May, a net negative 7% of all owners surveyed reported growth in inventories -- one point below that reported in April. Plans to add to inventories gained 3 points, rising to a net 3% of all firms.
• Inflation. The net percent of owners raising selling prices in May was 2%, down 1 point from April. Sixteen percent of NFIB owners reported reducing their average selling prices in the past three months, an increase of 1 point, and 19% of owners surveyed reported price increases (down 1 point). As for prospective price increases, 17% of small employers plan to raise average prices in the next few months.

It’s easy to think that if we live in a good neighborhood, we don’t have to worry about burglaries but that’s really not the case. After all, like legendary famed bank robber Willie Sutton, criminals “follow the money” and home in better neighborhoods have more valuable loot.

So what’s the best way to prevent burglary? We asked Albert Gumbs, a retired Police Sergeant from Ramapo, an upscale town in Rockland County, north of New York City. His advice: “Use a wireless security system with a reputable national monitoring service, and be sure it’s always activated, whether you’re at home or not. Most residential burglaries occur during daytime hours when homeowners are at work.”

Gumbs also recommends making your home look occupied at all times. Burglars are looking for easy targets and the last thing they want is to trip an alarm or confront a home’s occupant.

Gumbs advises that the most common points of entry are the front and back doors. Often, all it takes is a good kick to splinter the door frame and gain entry.  Burglars may also pry the door open or strip the lock. A sturdy door and a high-strength deadbolt lock will foil most of these attempts.

Homeowners also need to beware of “smash and grab” thefts -- when criminals smash a window or door, grab a valuable item or two and make a quick escape. It’s important to keep doors and windows locked at all hours and to avoid placing jewelry, small electronics or other valuables within easy reach of doors and windows.

Good neighbors are a factor too. Gumbs advises working with your neighbors to pick up newspapers and bring in trash cans to keep your home looking lived-in when you’re at work or out of town.  If everyone keeps an eye out for their neighbors, it goes a long way towards reducing residential break-ins.

And while it’s important to have a good alarm system, Gumbs says it’s also essential to set it up properly and learn how to use it. False alarms are annoying to neighbors and the police and can get expensive, since many cities and towns will levy a fee when police respond to a false alarm.

It’s also important to have a wireless alarm since it’s much harder for criminals to defeat them by cutting the wires.

LifeShield Security is a high-tech digital home security system that can be customized to fit your home and your lifestyle, providing not only protection against burglaries and home invasions but also fire protection and all kinds of video and audio monitoring of your home.

For more information on wireless home security options call LifeShield today: 877.987.4435.

Ford is recalling 20 model year 2013 Fusion vehicles manufactured April 19, 2013, through April 23, 2013.

The steering gears may be missing an internal retaining clip. If the clip is missing, components inside the steering gear may become dislodged inside the gear assembly. That could cause the loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering gear, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in mid-June 2013. Ford's recall number is 13S06.

Owners may contact the Ford customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332.

If you want your child to crave less junk food, it might be best to watch your favorite shows in a different way.

According to researchers at the University of Michigan, watching programs that don't have food commercials will lower your child's desire to want unhealthy foods.

So it's best to view programs by streaming them or by using cable TV's On-Demand feature -- or any other way that doesn't include food commercials.

Media exposure

Researchers Kristen Harrison and Mericarmen Peralta spoke to 100 parents and asked them about their household routines, including how much their children were exposed to media.

Many of the parents who watched programing that included junk food commercials had children who couldn't distinguish a healthy food item from an unhealthy one.

In addition, Harrison and Peralta found children whose families had higher incomes were more likely to consume junk food as they got older because their families could afford it. And those families with limited incomes were less able to purchase all the junk food they saw on TV.

The role of advertising

Although there have been numerous studies on the relationship between junk food advertising and childhood obesity, Harrison and Peralta said there aren't any studies on the difference between watching regular TV and watching digitally-recorded TV with no food commercials.

The researchers wanted to take a look at the relationship between TV commercials and preschool-aged children as well. 

"Even though parents and other caregivers are the primary gatekeepers regarding your children's food intake, children are still learning about food as it relates to health from family, media, and other sources, and may use this knowledge later on to inform their decisions when parents or other adults aren't there to supervise them," explained Harrison.

In addition, the researchers said parents should be instilling healthy food habits in their children during preschool years, as waiting until children get older could be too late.

"The preschool years are especially important," said Harrison. "Because the adiposity rebound in kids who grow up to be normal weight tends to be around age 5 or 6, whereas for kids to grow up to be obese, it happens closer to 3. "We need to know as much as we can about the factors that encourage obesogenic eating during the preschool years, even if that eating doesn't manifest as obesity until the child is older."

Effect on Hispanics

A separate study called "Food Marketing to Children on U.S. Spanish-Language Television" reveals that Spanish-language television has a disproportionate number of junk food commercials compared with English-language TV.

Statistics show that more than 84% of all foods and beverages promoted on Spanish-language television are unhealthy, compared with 74% of the commercials on English programing.

Cause for concern

Dale Kunkel, lead study author and professor of communication at the University of Arizona, says the recent findings really have him concerned.

"All children and especially Latinos are bombarded with television ads that sell junk food and sugary drinks," he said. "These findings are particularly concerning given the high rates of obesity among Latino youths."

Other findings of the study show that 78% of food commercials that target children use well-known cartoon characters to promote products, while 49% of the commercials on English-language television do the same thing.

Kunkel says the promise by companies to change how they advertise isn't working, especially in the Latino community.

"Our findings suggest that the food and beverage industry pledge to self-regulate is not effective, especially on Spanish-language television," he said. "Most of the ads aimed at kids feature Whoa products, so clearly there's a big gap between the industry's definition of healthy and what nutrition experts say."

Over the last 18 months home prices have gained momentum to the point that some areas of the country have almost completely recovered from the 2009 housing crash.

Low interest rates and low prices have attracted investors, who are partly responsible for rising prices in some areas, as well as a sharp drop in available homes for sale.

Consumers who want to purchase a home still have an opportunity but are finding higher prices and fewer choices. That's leading some to take a look at so-called “handyman specials,” homes that need either cosmetic or structural repairs.

These homes are often available at well below the market price, and for good reason. It's going to cost something – either in money, sweat or both – to restore value to the property.

Do you have what it takes?

Should you take on one of these “project” properties? If you have the skill set, it might be a good opportunity. If you aren't very handy with a hammer, the risks are much higher. Still, it might be worth exploring.

There is a very good reason why a home in need of a lot of repair is priced lower. It's not just the work and the expense it requires, but the difficulty in obtaining financing. Lenders ordinarily avoid financing property that needs major work.

Since the foreclosure crisis – when many homes needing repairs were abandoned – the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 203(k) renovation loan has become very popular. It's one way that a consumer without any handyman skills can pick up a handyman special.

"With a 203(k) loan, the lender looks at the home as though the improvements needed are already completed,” said Brandon Davis, branch manager at Residential Finance, a lender based in Columbus, Ohio. “For example, if a buyer is looking to purchase a home that has a leaking roof, the 203(k) loan amount is based on the value of the home as if the roof had been repaired."

Loan covers repair costs

Before the loan closes the lender obtains estimates to complete the repairs. The loan includes the repair money, which is set aside to pay for the repairs, which must be completed in a specified time. In that way, FHA is assured that it is financing a house that has the stated value.

The consumer wins because she ends up with a nice house that she can afford. The lender wins because they are able to move a house they might otherwise couldn't. The neighborhood wins because an empty, run-down house has new occupants who will probably take care of their new home.

Ohio is handyman heaven

Where can you find a handyman special? Your chances are better if you happen to live in Ohio. A new report from RealtyTrac, a foreclosure marketing company, found that five Ohio cities made the "Top 15 List" of cities where homebuyers can find fixer-upper bargains.

In fact, the list is dominated by Midwestern cities, claiming 10 of the top 15 spots. Detroit came in first and Chicago ranked second for cities where homebuyers can find the best deals on fixer-uppers. The state of Ohio had the most cities – Cleveland ranked at number three, Cincinnati at number five, Toledo at number nine, Dayton at number 11 and Columbus at number 12.

Investors need not apply

These cities continue to offer opportunity for real estate investors, but keep in mind if you are buying homes as rental property, you cannot use the FHA 203 (k) program. That's only for owner occupants and its one place where consumers have an advantage over investors.

Many investors purchase distressed property for cash because lenders have very tough standards for investors, who are usually required to put 25% or more down and pay higher interest rates.

What about getting a loan and living in the house for a few months before renting it out? Not a good idea.

The law allows someone to convert a property to rental after living in it for one year without losing their consumer financing, but lenders are very leery of this practice and may reject you if they think that's what you are doing. Allison Clark, a mortgage broker in Richmond, Va., told us that some investors engaging in this practice could face fraud prosecution if it can be shown their intent, all along, was to use the mortgaged property to produce income.

But if you are looking for a place to live – whether you are good with tools or not – a handyman special could be your entry into home ownership.

New cars continue to offer improved gas mileage as carmakers respond to rising CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards. But what about consumers who are shopping for a used car? Are they stuck with gas hogs? Not at all.

As it turns out, there are plenty of high-mpg used cars in the $10,000 to $20,000 price range as well as below $10,000. Most are either hybrids or models equipped with standard transmissions. We're highlighting five of them and telling you what our readers say about them.

Toyota Prius

On all the high-mpg lists we reviewed, the Toyota Prius hybrid holds a very lofty position, particularly its 2004 through 2008 models. The car was redesigned in 2004, when it topped out at an estimated 45 mpg.

A clean base 2004 model, with 120,000 miles, can probably be purchased for under $10,000. A clean base 2008 model with 80,000 miles would probably sell for $12,000 to $15,000, according to Edmunds.com.

Cindy, of Ocean Springs, Miss., says she loves her 2006 Prius but has experienced headlight problems since it was new.

“I have received two warning tickets from the police over the years,” she writes in a ConsumerAfffairs posting. “The funny thing is that one light will be out, and I turn the lights off and on again, and amazingly, the light bulb is back on. The police are surprised because they thought the headlight was burnt out.”

A bigger concern for consumers purchasing a used Prius, however, may be the battery itself.

“I have a 2005, 110,000-mile Prius and my HV battery just died,” writes Danielle, of Upper Marlboro, Md. “Toyota wants me to buy a new battery for $5,000! My car is only worth $5,000!”

Another reader, Eric, of Spring Tex., reports the battery on his 2007 Prius died at 134,000 miles.

Honda Civic Hybrid

Another used hybrid, the Honda Civic Hybrid, makes our list. Like the Prius, you can find its 2004 base model below $10,000 while its base 2008 model will sell for well under $20,000. Both get an estimated 42 to 45 mpg.

Since the Civic Hybrid carries an eight-year, 80,000-mile warranty, many of the vehicles in the 2006-2008 model years may still have some warranty left.

Honda Civic

Plenty of four-cylinder used cars also offer impressive fuel economy without the concern about complex hybrid technology. The Honda Civic remains one of the most sought-after used cars because of both its fuel economy and its reliability.

The 2004-2008 Honda Civic's EPA mileage rating clocks in at between 34 and 39 MPG. The '04 base model with 120,000 miles can be purchased at a dealer for under $7,000 while the similar '08 with 80,000 miles can be found at just above or just below $10,000.

While the used Civic earns high marks for performance and reliability, there have been a few complaints about the paint job.

“Bought brand new 2007 civic, took very good care of the car which is obvious inside and out,” Krista, of San Francisco, Calif., wrote in a ConsumerAffairs posting. “Paint on the hood and front fenders crackled, Honda repainted it, paying 80% of the cost. Paint on the roof and top of the trunk started fading about a year and a half ago, it looks awful, and is causing the value to drop dramatically, which completely negates the reason I purchased the car. My family has had eight Hondas (Accords and Civics) and not one has had this issue previously.”

Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla has been a leader in gas mileage and reliable transportation since the 1970s. With its four-cylinder engine, the Corolla sedan gives consumers good gas mileage on a budget.

The 2004 Corolla, clean and in a base trim with 120,000 miles, costs around $6,000 at a dealer. The 2008 model, with 80,000 miles, is around $8,000. Both get a combined 31 MPG.

Complaints about Corollas seem to be few and far between. Most have to do with airbag deployment and oil leaks.

Mini Cooper

Finally, the Mini Cooper offers value and efficiency, along with a healthy dose of fun and style. The 2004 base model hatchback, in clean condition with 120,000 miles, is well under $10,000 at a dealer and gets 28 mpg. The 2008 model, with 80,000 miles, will sell for around $12,000 and gets even better mileage, clocking in at 32 mpg.

While many people love their Minis, we've heard from consumers who have experienced transmission problems.

“As mentioned by thousands of other unsatisfied owners of Mini Cooper, I am also a victim of the dreaded CVT transmission,” writes Margaret, of Greenwich, Conn. “Had I known about the unreliability and short term of CVT transmission in ’06 (apparently BMW did), I would not have wasted my money on a Mini.”

A used car is, after all, a used car and buying one can be something of a crap shoot. But there are plenty of choices for the consumer looking to save both money on the purchase and on fuel.

Keep in mind the models reviewed here are base modes, which are typically hard to find. Available models may come with more options and cost more.

CT scans can be lifesavers when a diagnosis is in doubt. But a new study suggests that their growing use in children poses an increased risk of cancer later in life, estimating that 4,870 future cancers could be caused by the 4 million pediatric CT scans performed each year.

“The increased use of CT in pediatrics, combined with the wide variability in radiation doses, has resulted in many children receiving a high-dose examination,” the study notes.

In an accompanying editorial, researchers said minimizing unnecessary scans and using the lowest possible dose of radiation should be high priorities. “Uncertainty can be unsettling, but it is a small price to pay for protecting ourselves and our children from thousands of preventable cancers,” the editorial concluded.

Noting that the use of CT -- or computed tomography -- scans involving children more than doubled during the years from 1996 to 2005, researchers said the radiation associated with the scans is likely to increase the risk of radiation-induced cancer in these children in the future. The study was published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

Increased risk

The radiation doses delivered by the CT scans are in ranges that have been linked to an increased risk of cancer, the researchers noted. And they said children are more sensitive to radiation-induced cancers and also have many years of life left for cancer to develop.

“[M]ore research is urgently needed to determine when CT in pediatrics can lead to improved health outcomes and whether other imaging methods (or no imaging) could be as effective. For now, it is important for both the referring physician and the radiologist to consider whether the risks of CT exceed the diagnostic value it provides over other tests, based on current evidence,” the study concludes.

Diana L. Miglioretti, Ph.D., of the Group Health Research Institute and University of California, Davis, and colleagues conducted the study, using data from seven U.S. health care systems.

CTs doubled 

The authors note the use of CT doubled for children younger than 5 years old and tripled for children 5 to 14 years of age between 1996 and 2005 before remaining stable between 2006 and 2007 and then beginning to decline.

The projected lifetime attributable risks of solid cancer were higher for younger patients and girls than for older patients and boys. The risks were also higher for patients who underwent CT scans of the abdomen/pelvis or spine than for patients who underwent other types of CT scans, according to the results. 

The estimates also suggest that for girls, a radiation-induced solid cancer is projected to potentially result from every 300 to 390 abdomen/pelvis scans, 330 to 480 chest scans, and 270 to 800 spine scans, depending on age. The potential risk of leukemia was highest from head scans for children younger than 5 years of age at a rate of 1.9 cases per 10,000 CT scans, the results show.

The Harm in Looking

In a related editorial, Alan R. Schroeder, M.D., of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, and Rita F. Redberg, M.D., editor of JAMA Internal Medicine and of the University of California, San Francisco, write: “Thus, minimizing radiation exposure by eliminating unnecessary scans and by using the minimal dose necessary to achieve a satisfactory image for necessary scans is a high priority.”

“But we can still do more to decrease the use of unnecessary scans (for which the benefit does not outweigh the risk) and to decrease the level of radiation exposure from necessary scans. This will require a shift in our culture to become more tolerant of clinical diagnoses without confirmatory imaging, more accepting of ‘watch and wait’ approaches and less accepting of the ‘another test can’t hurt’ mentality,” said.

As a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to keep Congress out of the henhouse whenever possible but a dispute over the working conditions of egg-laying hens has roosted in Congress' lap.

The dust-up concerns the working conditions of hens, specifically whether California can block the import of eggs from states that don't allow hens sufficient room to spread their wings.

You can thank California voters for putting the wind beneath the wings of this barnyard dispute. Back in 2008, they passed Proposition 2, an initiative that requires California farmers to give hens enough room to stand up and spread their wings.

Two years later, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation to that effect. When the measure takes effect in 2015, it will require that all eggs sold in California come from farms that meet the California standard.

Feathers ruffled

Chicken ranchers in Iowa and other egg-producing states are madder than the proverbial little wet hen. Egged on by his constituents, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has taken up the battle on their behalf. He has added a section to the farm bill that would prohibit states from imposing how other states produce their agricultural products. The measure is expected to come before the full House later this month.

This is not just chicken feed we're talking about here. The stakes are huge. California is the nation's most populous state and its inhabitants wolf down more than 9 billion eggs each year, slightly more than half of them produced in California, the rest coming from Iowa and other states that are net egg exporters, the Los Angeles Times reports. 

The discussion in Congress has gotten messy, with arguments about states' rights, Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce and warnings that unless it's handled carefully, the entire affair could scramble the egg market as we know it.

But some spillage is to be expected. After all, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

Ask any woman who has ever experienced morning sickness and she'll tell you it is a hideous experience that she'd do nearly anything to avoid.

But “anything” can be very dangerous, according to a UCLA study. Researchers have found that women with a severe form of morning sickness who take antihistamines to help them sleep through the debilitating nausea are significantly more likely to experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, including low-birth-weight babies and premature births.

This is an important finding as babies born before 37 weeks often stay in the hospital longer than full-term babies, can experience problems breathing and feeding, are more prone to infection and can suffer from developmental problems. Women with this condition considering taking such medications should know the risks, said study lead author Marlena Fejzo, an assistant professor of research in obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA.

Violently ill

This severe morning sickness, called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), is the same condition that Kate Middleton, wife of Britain's Prince William, recently experienced. Its cause is unknown and the symptoms are intense -- the continuous nausea and vomiting can be so violent that women in the study reported suffering from detached retinas, blown eardrums, cracked ribs and torn esophagi, Fejzo said. The symptoms can last for several months or the entire pregnancy.

“It was surprising to find the link between antihistamines and adverse outcomes as these are over-the-counter medications that are used commonly by women with HG during pregnancy,” said Fejzo, who had undiagnosed HG during her first pregnancy and nearly died during her second, losing the baby at 15 weeks gestation. “Women and their healthcare providers should be aware of the risk for adverse outcomes when deciding which medications to take to treat their HG symptoms.”

The study appears June 10, 2013 in the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology.

Outcomes compared

The six-year study compared pregnancy outcomes in 254 women with HG who were sick enough that they needed treatment for dehydration with intravenous fluids, with 308 women who had normal or no morning sickness during pregnancy. Fejzo said they found women with HG had four times the risk of adverse outcomes. The link between HG and adverse outcomes has been shown in several previous studies.

Fejzo took it a step further, comparing women with HG who suffered adverse outcomes to women with HG who had good outcomes. They then looked at more than 35 medications and treatments commonly used by women with HG to determine if any were linked to bad outcomes. She found that antihistamines, like those found in Unisom and Benadryl, were taken by more than 50% of HG patients who experienced adverse outcomes.

Fejzo also found that the medications were reportedly effective in less than 20% of the women who took them.

“Some doctors will suggest that their HG patients take Unisom to help them sleep through their nausea,” Fejzo said. “Our findings show not only that the use of antihistamines is linked with adverse outcomes, but also that they’re not that effective. Women with HG should be aware of that so they can make educated decisions on how to treat their HG symptoms.”

Horrible experience

Adrienne Downs of Culver City, Calif., experienced some nausea and vomiting during her first two pregnancies, but nothing out of the ordinary. In her third pregnancy, she soon began suffering from constant nausea, vomiting around the clock every 20 minutes or so. She was hospitalized twice, five days each time, to get intravenous fluids to treat her severe dehydration and malnutrition.

“I literally could keep nothing down for months,” said Downs. “I couldn’t even get up out of bed and take care of my family. It was horrible. I was very scared for my baby. How would it get any nutrition if I couldn’t eat or drink?”

Downs lost 12 pounds in three weeks early in her pregnancy. Her mother had to move in to take care of Downs’ sons, 4 and 2, and try to find something her daughter could keep in her system. Now at 21 weeks gestation, Downs’ symptoms have subsided somewhat, although she still can only keep down fluids. She had gained back some of the weight she lost.

Downs said she did not take antihistamines to treat her HG symptoms, but she said the findings are important.

“As pregnant moms, we want to be the best ‘house’ for our babies that we can,” she said. “I had never heard of this condition before I got it, so I’m glad that UCLA researchers are studying HG and may one day find the cause.”

Rarely diagnosed

Fejzo said HG is diagnosed in 0.2 to 2 percent of pregnant women, although rates are higher in China. She said much more work needs to be done to study the short- and long-term outcomes of medication use during pregnancy.

She and her team currently are studying outcomes in HG pregnancies to determine if the violent nausea and vomiting have any effects on the children later in life.

“We desperately need support for research into HG to determine its cause so that medications can be designed that are safe and effective,” Fejzo said. “The greatest risk factor for HG other than a previous HG pregnancy is having a sister who had HG, which increases the risk by 17-fold. This suggests a genetic component is at work.”

No problem. One of the guys you've been out on the prowl with has said he'll be the designated driver tonight. But are you sure?

A new study by researchers at the University of Florida found that 35% of designated drivers had been boozing and most had blood-alcohol levels high enough to impair their driving.

Adam Barry, an assistant professor of health education and behavior at UF, and his team interviewed and breath-tested more than 1,000 bar patrons in the downtown restaurant and bar district of a major university town in the Southeast. Of the designated drivers who had consumed alcohol, half recorded a blood-alcohol level higher than .05 -- a recently recommended new threshold for drunken driving.

"If you look at how people choose their designated drivers,” Barry said, “oftentimes they're chosen by who is least drunk or who has successfully driven intoxicated in the past -- successful meaning got home in one piece ... that's disconcerting."

Results of the study are published in the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

College students studied

The researchers recruited patrons as they left bars between 10 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. across six Friday nights before home football games in fall 2011. The mean age of the 1,071 people who agreed to be tested was 28. Most were white male college students, while 10% were Hispanic, 6% were Asian and 4% were black.

After completing a 3-5 minute interview about demographic data and alcohol-related behaviors, participants had their blood-alcohol content tested with a hand-held breath-testing instrument.

The non-driving participants had significantly higher levels than the designated drivers, but 35% of the 165 self-identified designated drivers had been drinking. Seventeen percent of all those drivers tested had blood-alcohol levels between .02 and .049, while 18% were at .05 or higher.

The National Transportation Safety Board last month recommended all 50 states adopt a blood-alcohol content cutoff of .05 compared with the .08 standard now used to prosecute drunken driving. The American Medical Association made the same recommendation in the 1980s, Barry said.

Why do they drink?

Barry said he doesn't know why a designated driver would consume alcohol, but factors could include group dynamics or the driver's belief that one or two drinks won't impair his skills if he is an experienced drinker.

Some field-based research suggests designated drivers might drink because the group did not consider who would drive before they started drinking. Barry also suggested that it's tricky for anyone to accurately evaluate his own sobriety.

"That's the insidious nature of alcohol -- when you feel buzzed, you're drunk," he said.

There is no universally accepted definition of a designated driver, according to the research. Although most U.S. researchers say drivers should abstain completely, international researchers believe they can drink as long as his or her blood-alcohol level remains below the legal limit. However, the U.S. limit is much higher than in most other countries.

At .08, the U.S. has one of the highest allowable legal limits of any developed country. Countries such as Denmark, Finland and Greece use the .05 level; Russia and Sweden are at .02; and Japan has a zero tolerance.

Adobe of San Jose, Calif., is recalling about 500 high-powered magnets distributed with Adobe Connect “Effective Collaboration is Magnetic” promotional materials packages.

When two or more magnets are swallowed, they can link together inside the intestines and clamp onto body tissues, causing intestinal obstructions, perforations, sepsis and death. Internal injury from magnets can pose serious lifelong health effects.

The firm has received no reports of incidents or injuries. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received 80 reports of incidents involving ingestion of other high powered magnets, resulting in 79 reports seeking medical intervention.

This recall involves high-powered magnet sets distributed with Adobe “Effective Collaboration is Magnetic” promotional materials. The promotional materials were distributed in a green box with a black lid and contain 12 high-powered magnets which are magnetically affixed to a laminated green cardboard sheet. The spherical silver magnets are about 5 millimeter in diameter. The text “With Adobe Connect it all just clicks” is printed in a circular shape around the magnets.

The magnets, manufactured in China, were distributed nationwide by Adobe as part of a promotional package for its “Adobe Connect” product during November 2012 at no cost to consumers.

Consumers should immediately stop using the magnets and either discard them or contact Adobe for instructions on returning the magnets.

Consumers may contact Adobe Recall collect at (503) 382-8500 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, ET.

The news that Amazon is about to spring its online grocery service, AmazonFresh, on a waiting world may not have sent consumers dashing to their keyboards to order a quart of milk but it certainly got the attention of supermarkets and big box retailers.

Costco and Walmart both said they'll be watching how the AmazonFresh roll-out progresses but claimed to find little consumer interest in online grocery shopping. But Relay Foods, a small, Virginia-based online grocery service said Amazon's rising tide would lift all boats.

"We're in the forefront of a movement that has not even really begun," said Arnie Katz, Relay Foods president and co-founder. "Relay has been fighting in the online grocery space for over five years now, is already using technology to change the way people eat for the better, improving local economies by linking people to local food, and building a model company." 

Whether Relay Foods is the next Netflix that destroys Blockbuster remains to be seen and is something we'll explore next week. 

Costco, Walmart and Target, on the other hand, have a much bigger stake in the game, at least for now. Amazon has already taken a big bite out of the apparel and general merchandise market. If it can awaken consumer demand for online groceries and grab a big piece of the market, it could be a headache for the big box stores.

A skeptic

But Jeff Brotman, Costco’s co-founder and chairman, said in a Bloomberg article that he's skeptical home grocery delivery can ever be profitable, but he said Amazon doesn’t really have to make it work perfectly in the short term: “He can spend a billion dollars experimenting and putting televisions on a truck and delivering them the same day with apples and oranges. That’s a research and development experiment that competitors and normal online businesses can’t do.”

Walmart, the largest grocer in the United States, is also taking a wait-and-see attitude about AmazonFresh, although it is conducting its own online grocery delivery service in a test market in California. Perhaps surprisingly, Walmart's Asda subsidiary is the seconed-largest grocery delivery business in the United Kingdom and also delivers groceries to customers in China.

But other than its test in San Francisco and San Jose, Walmart is "not  making any announcements about other markets for grocery delivery in the U.S. right now," Neil Ashe, the president and chief executive officer of Walmart Global eCommerce, told reporters on Thursday afternoon, a day before the company's annual shareholder meeting, Reuters reported.

He said the test in San Jose and San Francisco has proven that the company "can serve a market effectively from our existing supercenters ... we'll have to wait and see whether the customer wants it," he said, according to the Reuters report.

Does anyone care?

And that, of course, is the $64 billion question: do consumers want to routinely order their groceries online?  

Those who are already in the space, like Relay Foods and Peapod, say it's clear that consumers want the convenience of online ordering and home delivery. 

Peapod, founded way back in 1989, is now wholly-owned by Royal Ahold, the worldwide grocery giant that owns Stop & Shop and Giant supermarkets on the East Coast. Its finance aren't known but Peapod is generally regarded as a successful strategic asset for Ahold, giving its supermarkets a leg up on the Safeways and Harris Teeters of the world. 

Rick Tarrant, CEO of MyWebGrocer, a company that manages digital connections for retailers, says it's more a question of availability than lack of demand that is holding back online grocery shopping.

“The issue is not consumer demand,” Tarrant told Marketing Daily. “We know through the success of businesses like drugstore.com and diapers.com that people want to shop this way. It’s about access. Unless you live in a market with ShopRite, Ahold’s Peapod or Fresh Direct, you just don’t have access to online groceries.” 

Tarrant's company and FGI Research recently surveyed 30,000 consumers and found five distinct kinds of digital shoppers:

• New Digital Shoppers (35%)  Younger urban professionals and early tech adopters, they prefer shopping for groceries in stores but are open to online ordering.
• Traditioanal (24%) An older group, 63% of them Baby Boomers. They may look at specials online but are less interested in shopping online.
• Passionate Planners (17%) They earn the least and live the farthest from stores. They research prices online and are more likely to use a mobile phone to help when shopping.
• Affluent Shoppers (12%)  A combination of young professionals and urban retirees. They're not particularly budget conscious and prefer online ordering options.
• Reluctant Shoppers (12%) They dislike shopping and wish they didn't have to do it.   

More competition coming

Tarrant says he expects to see more competition and innovation as companies size each other up and consumers become more aware of the advantages of shopping online. 

Peapod has put together some interesting applications aimed at commuters. In the Philadelphia area, it has installed large menus at commuter rail stations, allowing customers to use their smartphones to scan barcodes of the items they want, which are then delivered to their homes later in the day.

In London, Tesco operates a similar service at Gatwick Airport. Consumers can scan the items they want and have them delivered on the date they return from their trip. In South Korea, Tesco operates at commuter rail stations, much as Peapod does in Phialdelphia. 

Relay has set up a series of pick-up stations throughout its service areas. It parks its trucks near major schools, offices and transit points and customers stop by and pick up their orders on the way home.

For years consumers have complained about abusive treatment at the hands of payday lenders. Triple-digit interest is just one area of complaint.

Jenna, of Phoenix, Ariz., who discovered her identity had been stolen, said the first question the investigating police officer asked her was if she had taken out any loans recently.

“I replied with, 'Well yes, of course, with Speedy Cash,'” Jenna wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. “As the officer sighed in disgust, he said, 'We're basically having an epidemic with these companies as well as the one you're speaking of not keeping people's identification secret or even protected.'"

The Center for Responsible Lending says the typical payday loan borrower is indebted for more than half of the year with an average of nine payday loan transactions at annual interest rates over 400%. It notes that since 2005, no state has authorized this high-cost loan product.

“Additionally, the District of Columbia and six states - Arkansas, Arizona, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon and Montana – have all enacted meaningful reforms,” CRL says.

Stiffing the lenders

Because payday loans – particularly online payday loans – are illegal in a number of states, consumers who have taken out these loans have begun to defy payday lenders by basically telling them, “tough luck.”

John, of Bronx, N.Y., applied for an online payday loan from Cash Jar, borrowing $1,000 and agreeing to pay back $1,300. But when he said the company didn't live up to its end of the deal, taking money from his account before it had agreed to, he got angry and decided that, since the loan was illegal to begin with, he wouldn't pay it back.

“They lied to me and so I stiffed those idiots,” he writes. “They shouldn't be offering payday loans in New York anyway. They're illegal in New York and not enforceable. They should have played fair and they may have made $300 off of me rather than lose $470.00. They keep calling, but because of New York law, I highly doubt I will ever see them in court."

Amy of Seward, Neb., said she went through a similar experience with Cash Call. She said she took out a loan for $2,500, paying a stiff fee up-front. Then, she said, she called the state attorney general's office.

Sue me!

“I found out after a call to my state's attorney general that Cash Call is not even licensed in the state I live in,” Amy writes. “I filed a complaint with the banking and finance commission for my state. I was informed by the state to close my account ASAP so that they can't withdraw any additional funds from my account. I've been harassed multiple times by this company. I've been reminded that I signed an agreement and that they gave me funds and that I owe them. I said that I understand that and if they want their money, they can take me to small claims court. If a judge says that I must pay then I will, but until that time I will not be paying another dime to these people.”

Are John and Amy on solid legal ground? It may be up for the courts to decide but they obviously feel confident the lenders aren't going to take them to court over what they see as an illegal loan. 

What an attorney says

Robert Weed, a bankruptcy attorney in Alexandria, Va., tells his clients that online payday loans are illegal in Virginia and that any firm making a payday loan must have a licensed office within the borders of the state. 

“Since the people behind the Internet payday loans could be sent to jail in Virginia, the Internet payday loan companies are careful to stay beyond the limits of Virginia law,” he wrote on his blog last December.

And Weed maintains that any legitimate debt collector who tries to collect an illegal payday loan opens themselves to a lawsuit.

Still, before blowing off a payday loan you consider illegal, make sure you are on firm legal footing. Start with your state attorney general's office, finding out whether the company is licensed to do business in the state. It may also be advisable to speak with an attorney. Many attorneys offer a free or reduced-cost initial consultaiton. 

Over the past couple of months, there's been a lot of talk about caffeinated gum. And at the center of that talk has been Wrigley's Alert Energy Caffeine Gum.

The Food and Drug Administration expressed concern and planned to  investigate whether caffeinated gum is safe, especially since kids love gum and they can easily get their hands on it. It turns out that no investigation wasn't necessary, as Wrigley pulled the gum off shelves, as we reported last month. 

But that's not the end of the story. There's plenty of other caffeinated gums out there and they show no signs of following Wrigley out of the retail market. 

Rob Di Marco, co-founder of X8 Energy Gum, says he doesn't understand what all of the controversy is about, and thinks people should be able to decide whether they'll use a product or not.

"Let's be real here, caffeine products have been safely consumed by adults for hundreds of years," said Di Marco in a statement. "Our product and the likes of Red Bull, Monster and so many others are not made for kids. Parents need to parent and this nanny-state mentality must stop infringing on the choices Americans can freely make."

Based on Marco's statement, it doesn't seem like he'll be removing X8 from shelves anytime soon.

Give it a try

So since it's still on the market, I figured I'd give X8 a try, especially since I recently reviewed Alert Energy Gum, which I found hard to keep in my mouth. It gave me the jolt that caffeine usually gives, but it tasted horrible.

I popped in a piece of X8 during the afternoon, since that's when I'll sometimes make a Crystal Light energy drink, which comes in different flavors, is sugar-free and tastes darn good. 

Right away I noticed the taste of X8 was far better than the Alert gum. Not only did it have a minty, sweet taste when I first popped it in, the taste remained longer than I expected.

You can get a pack of X8 with a minimum of six pieces for about $5 on the company's website. And the gum has no sugar, only 2.5 calories per piece and it's supposed to be long lasting, so you won't have to keep chewing piece after piece, says the company.

As far as how well the gum worked in the energy department, it worked just fine. It didn't give me a rush of energy like the Crystal Light Energy drink usually does, it gave me a boost that was gradual and not overpowering, which I liked.

But I didn't want to give X8 a good grade too quickly. It was important for me to see how the taste held up as I continued to chew it. Plus, I needed to see if the energy it gave me lasted a long time.

On both fronts, X8 did well. The one piece I chewed kept me going for the remainder of the afternoon and I was able to forge through my workday without feeling a crash, which was great.

As far as the taste, the gum lost its minty flavor in about 10 minutes or so, but afterwards it still tasted pretty decent.

The biggest challenge with the Alert gum was keeping it in my mouth. But that wasn't the case with X8. Although it lost its flavor after a while, like most gums do, I was still able to chew it. And it left me with minty breath when I spit it out, which was a definite plus.

So it seems X8 can be used to freshen your breath a little too. Who would have thought?

The size of each piece of gum is pretty much the same size as the Alert gum, which is slightly bigger than an Altoid mint. Gum size is important, because most adults don't want to chew a big wad. For most of us, that desire went away with junior high.

Caffeine is caffeine

Look, caffeine is caffeine, and whether it's in a cup of coffee, a bottle of juice or a piece of gum, it'll definitely give you an energy boost.

But what separates caffeinated products from each other is how they taste. Yes, a strong cup of coffee will get you through the morning, but no one wants to sacrifice taste to feel more awake.

It seems the folks at X8 understand this, as they've made a brand of gum that doesn't taste bad and gives you a bit of a lift with no crash.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying X8 will win any flavor contests any time soon, but I was able to chew it and I wasn't put off by the taste. And that's way more than I could say about the Alert gum.

The downside of X8 tasting pretty decent is that kids may not be put off by the flavor. Maybe part of the reason Alert tasted so bitter is that the company didn't want children to take a liking to it?

So parents will have to make sure to keep X8 out of children's reach, because if kids start chewing it, they probably won't mind the taste. And next thing you know you'll have a caffeinated child bouncing around the room or worse, which of course isn't any good.

While the world economy mostly just marked time in the first quarter of 2013, the “hacker economy,” populated by operators who use a large number of threats to compromise corporate and consumer computers, did quite well.

Security software maker McAfee reports hackers continued to make inroads in their increasingly sophisticated efforts to gain access to everything from your online banking account to the space on your hard drive. It all makes today's computing environment very different from the late 1990s, when most of the threats were of a more benign nature.

“Ten years ago we were still at that transitional point, transitioning from geeks trying to prove a geeky point to a Mafia-dominated black market trying to infect people in order to get their information,” said Adam Wosotowsky, Messaging Data Architect at McAfee.

While it is true that today's protections are better and more robust, the threat is even more dangerous. The stakes are higher. After all, ten years ago almost no one used online banking.

“The targeting level, the amount of information and their willingness to try financial fraud to get money out of you is much more aggressive and dangerous today,” Wosotowsky said.

Koobface

In the first quarter of 2013 MacAfee found a big spike in the presence of a social networking worm called Koobface. In fact, it found almost three times as many samples of Koobface as it found in the previous quarter. Almost anyone who has spent much time on social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter has seen examples of Koobface.

“It's something that works very well in a social networking environment,” Wosotowsky said. “They put up a message that says something like 'hey, I found naked pictures of you on the Internet, click here.' Someone clicks on that and they try to do a drive-by download or some sort of Javascript that either infects their machine or tries to do something with their account in order to send the same message to more of their friends and then more of their friends.”

If you haven't come across a message like that, it's because the social networking companies monitor what's in their system. When they see something like that, they remove it. But they can't be everywhere at once and many of these bogus messages manage stay up for a while.

“As a way to distribute malware, it's a pretty good one,” Wosotowsky said.

When you see messages that make you feel even slightly nervous or uncomfortable, Wosotowsky said the best course of action is to simply ignore them. If they are malware the social networking site will at some point remove them.

Low profile

With organized crime more heavily involved in today's malware, the hackers' footprints are harder to detect. In the past many viruses and malware might “brick” a machine. In other words, it might make your machine run slower or grind to a halt altogether. It was a dead giveaway that your computer had been infected. But times have changed.

“Operators in the Mafia-dominated malware area don't want to brick a machine,” Wosotowsky said. “They want to make money off those machines, whether it's sending spam, doing denial-of-service attacks or engaging in financial fraud. “If you've been infected with a really professionally-made virus, your computer might even run better afterward.”

In spite of early predictions that 2013 would be the year of mobile malware, MacAfee reports the evidence has yet to emerge. In fact, growth of mobile malware declined slightly during the period. However, there was an alarming 40% increase in Android malware.

“What we've started to see are attempts to do drive-by downloads on the Android operating system itself,” Wosotowsky said.

That means the threat isn't just from downloading a suspect app, as it was in the past. It all points to the need to be more careful online, whether you are at your desk or on the go, and taking advantage of every security measure available.

“Having up-to-date anti-virus on you system is important but people should understand that it is your last line of defense,” Wosotowsky said. “Once hackers get past your anti-virus, they're going to have their way with your machine.”

"Mechanically tenderized" meat will have to be clearly labeled if a proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture rule goes into effect.

Why? Well, it turns out that the process of tenderizing meat by using needles or sharp blades to break up muscle fiber not only makes it more tender. It can also push any germs or toxic substances that are on the meat's surface into its interior, where it won't be removed by washing and where it may survive high cooking temperatures, since the inside of meat doesn't get as hot as the outside while it's cooking.

“Ensuring that consumers have effective tools and information is important in helping them protect their families against foodborne illness,” said Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, USDA’s Under Secretary for Food Safety. “This proposed rule would enhance food safety by providing clear labeling of mechanically-tenderized beef products and outlining new cooking instructions so that consumers and restaurants can safely prepare these products.”

The proposal is being praised by food safety and consumer advocates, including Sarah Klein, senior food safety attorney at the Center For Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). She called it "a common sense remedy that can protect consumers."

Klein said most consumers don't realize the meat industry uses mechanical means to tenderize meat.

"This little-known but widespread industry practice can push surface pathogens to the interior of the meat, making those bacteria much harder to kill unless a consumer cooks the meat to well done." she said. "Consumers and restaurants should exercise more care when cooking these products and use a meat thermometer to ensure an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees, plus a three-minute rest period, or even 160 degrees."

Klein said USDA should accelerate the requirement and make labels mandatory by January 2014. In the meantime, she said, consumers should ask at the meat counter if the products they are buying have been mechanically tenderized and select intact cuts if they prefer meat rare or medium rare.

There have been at least a half dozen food poisoning outbreaks since 2003 that are believed to have occurred because tenderized beef was not cooked to a high enough temperature for a long enough period of time.

The USDA hopes to phase in the rule after a 60-day comment period that begins with the proposals publication in the Federal Register.