Current Events in February 2014

Feeling a little more flush this year? If you've already filed your 2013 federal income tax return, there may be a good reason.

Tax filing statistics for the 2014 season showing 15% more refunds have been issued this year than during the same period in 2013. Additionally, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says the average federal refund is $3,211 -- up $190 from the same period a year ago.

The statistics, covering the period through Feb. 14, show that while the overall number of tax returns filed this year is down slightly )less than a percentage point), nearly 95% of all returns received were filed electronically.

The following table of statistics provides a complete picture

For more information on tax credits available for this filing season and other tax questions, try the Interactive Tax Assistant online tool on the IRS website. Up-to-date refund information can be found by using the Where’s My Refund? tool.    

There's potential good news for Los Angeles car owners due to an attempted federal class-action suit claiming that, while fines for people parked at expired parking meters might pass constitutional muster, “excessively” high fines do not.

Lead plaintiff Jesus Pimentel ran up a $63 expired parking meter fine, which is bad enough, but the city gave him only two weeks to pay before doubling the fine. Then there was a $28 "delinquent" fee and a $21 "collection" fee. Add it all up and Pimentel was out $175, which he thinks is so excessive it's downright unconstitutional, Courthouse News Service reported. 

Besides the money, Pimentel was miffed when the DMV threatened to withhold his car's registration if he didn't pay up, the city threatened to boot and impound his car while also holding out the possibility of civil litigation, damage to his credit rating and garnishing of his state tax refund. This, says Pimentel, violated the Due Process clause.

What's excessive?

Excessive fines are forbidden by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which says, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Due process is covered in Amendments Five and Fourteen.

Of course, banning “excessive” bail leaves room to debate: just how much is “excessive,” anyway? Here's how Courthouse News Service reporter Robert Kahn summed it up:

Hauling out his calculator, Pimentel's learned counsel Donald G. Norris, with Norris & Galanter, points out that Pimentel's ultimate fine was nearly 175 percent the daily median per capita income of an Angeleno (using 2009 figures from City-Data.com).
     The median per capita income in L.A. that year as $26,096; given 160 work days a year, the daily wage comes to $100.37. Pimentel's $175 fine, then, constitutes 174.4 percent of an Angeleno's median daily wage.
     And with the median per capita income for Latino Angelenos in 2009 $13,542 - or $52.08 a day for 260 work days - Pimentel's fines come to 336 percent of the daily median income for a Latino Angeleno.

A drop in consumer expectations pushed the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index lower in February.

After rising to 79.4 In January, the Index dropped to 78.1, due according to Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, “concern over the short-term outlook for business conditions, jobs, and earnings.”

Franco says while expectations have fluctuated over recent months, current conditions have continued to trend upward and the Present Situation Index is now at its highest level in almost six years. “This,” she adds, “suggests that consumers believe the economy has improved, but they do not foresee it gaining considerable momentum in the months ahead.”

How things stand

Consumers had a positive view current conditions for the fourth consecutive month in February. Those claiming business conditions are “good” increased to 21.5% from 20.8%, while those saying business conditions are “bad” declined to 22.6% from 23.4%.

Consumers’ assessment of the labor market also improved. Those who see jobs as “plentiful” rose to 13.9% from 12.5%, while those who believe jobs are “hard to get” dipped to 32.5% from 32.7%.

Looking ahead

Consumers’ expectations, which had been improving over the past two months, retreated in February. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased to 16.3% from 17.0%, while those anticipating business conditions to worsen increased to 13.3% from 12.2%.

Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also more pessimistic. Those expecting more jobs in the months ahead declined to 13.3% from 15.1%, while those anticipating fewer jobs increased to 20.6% from 19.0%.

The proportion of consumers who see their incomes increasing fell from 16.6% to 15.4%, while those anticipating a drop in their incomes also fell -- from 13.9% to 13.1%.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was February 13.

Home prices across the U.S. rose during 2013, but the rate of increase seems to be slowing.

Data released by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices show prices were up up 11.3% for all of last year, compared with an increase of 11.2% in 2012. For the fourth quarter of 2013, the National Index actually dipped 0.3%.

The 10-City Composite remained relatively unchanged in December while the 20-City Composite showed its second consecutive monthly decline of 0.1%. Year-over-year, the 10-City and 20-City

Composites posted gains of 13.6% and 13.4% -- approximately 30 basis points lower than their November rates. Chicago showed its highest year-over-year return since December 1988. Dallas peaked, posting its largest annual gain since 2000. Denver declined 0.1% and is now 0.7% below its all-time index level high set last September.

“The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index ended its best year since 2005,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “However, gains are slowing from month-to-month and the strongest part of the recovery in home values may be over.”

Ending the streak

After 26 months of consecutive gains, Phoenix was down 0.3% in December, its largest decline since March 2011. Phoenix once led the recovery from the bottom in 2012, but Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco were the top three performing cities of 2013 with gains of over 20%.

The Sun Belt, with the exception of Dallas, Miami and Tampa, saw lower annual rates in December when compared with their November numbers. The six cities with the highest year-over-year figures saw their rates decline (Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Diego and Detroit) and most cities ranked at the bottom improved (Denver, Washington and New York). Charlotte and Cleveland were the two exceptions.

A bleaker picture

Recent economic reports suggest a bleaker picture for housing. “Existing home sales fell 5.1% in January from December to the slowest pace in over a year,” Blitzer noted. “Permits for new residential construction and housing starts were both down and below expectations. Some of the weakness reflects the cold weather in much of the country. However, higher home prices and mortgage rates are taking a toll on affordability. Mortgage default rates, as shown by the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Index, are back to their pre-crisis levels but bank lending standards remain strict.”

FHFA house price index

Separately, the Federal Housing Finance Agency  (FHFA) reports house prices rose 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013 -- the tenth consecutive quarterly price increase.

“Home price appreciation in the fourth quarter was considerable, but more modest than in recent periods,” said FHFA Principal Economist Andrew Leventis. “It is too early to know whether the lower quarterly growth rate represents the beginning of more normalized price appreciation patterns or a more significant slowdown.”

The agency's House Price Index (HPI) is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Report highlights

• The seasonally adjusted, purchase-only HPI rose in 38 states during the fourth quarter of 2013 (10 fewer than during the third quarter). The top five states in annual appreciation were Nevada, California, Arizona, Oregon and Florida.
• Of the nine census divisions, the Mountain division experienced the strongest increase in the fourth quarter, posting a 2.4% increase and an 11.7% gain since last year. House prices were weakest in the New England division, where prices inched up just 0.1% from the prior quarter.
• As measured with purchase-only indexes for the 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the U.S., fourth quarter price increases were greatest in the Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) where prices increased by 7.2%. Prices were weakest in the
• Charleston-North Charleston, S.C., MSA, where they fell 6.5%.
• Fifteen of the 20 MSAs with the highest annual appreciation rates were in California.
• The monthly seasonally adjusted purchase-only index for the U.S. has increased for 22 of the last 24 months (November 2013 and January 2012 had decreases).

The complete report is available on the FHFA website.

For years health policymakers have undertaken a campaign to discourage people from using tanning salons. A number of states have regulated the industry to either prevent or discourage young people from using ultraviolet light to darken their skin.

The regulations are in response to growing evidence that ultraviolet exposure can increase the risk of skin cancer. Currently California, Illinois, Nevada, Texas and Vermont ban the use of tanning beds for all minors under 18, and at least 33 states and the District of Columbia regulate the use of tanning facilities by minors.

Despite these regulations and repeated warnings, consumers – young white women in particular – continue to flock to tanning salons each winter to keep that fresh-from-the-beach look. Jerod L. Stapleton, a behavioral scientist at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, has just received a nearly $700,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute to try and learn why.

An addiction?

The answer might appear obvious and arrived at without the aid of a $700,000 study. Isn't it likely that young people tan because they think it makes them look more attractive? Perhaps the answer isn't quite that simple.

Researchers at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) have looked into the phenomenon and concluded that some who engage in excessive tanning may also be suffering from obsessive-compulsive (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorders (BDD). They too were intrigued by the question “why?”

When confronted with warnings that tanning increases their cancer risk, why do some consumers continue to frequent tanning salons? Could it be an addiction?

“While more research is needed regarding to idea of tanning as an addiction, this study suggests that some people who tan also experience mental health symptoms that warrant further assessment,” said Dr. Erin Bonar, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Addiction Research Center and a BGSU alumna. “Although tanning behavior could be separate and distinct from these concerns, it’s possible that the symptoms of OCD or BDD are contributing to the tanning in some way. For these people, prevention messages and public health campaigns may not be as helpful, but further assessment and treatment could be.”

Next phase of research

Stapleton plans to dig deeper into the question. While previous research suggests improving mood and appearance as reasons to go tanning, Stapleton plans to explore why frequent indoor tanners view this behavior as meaningful, socially important, and useful. The study will focus on understanding just exactly how a user perceives the benefits and consequences of indoor tanning, as well as identifying the types of personal or social events that serve to promote it.

“It is clear that tanning is seen as attractive and desirable among many young women and that having a tan can provide a self-esteem boost. However, when it comes to frequent users, going tanning is likely to take on a significant importance at personal, social, and even emotional levels,” said Stapleton.

By better understanding the motivation, he says, a more effective intervention strategy can be designed.

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 77,000 cases of melanoma -- the deadliest of skin cancers -- were reported in 2013 in the United States with 9,400 deaths from the disease. Previous research has shown an association between the use of ultraviolet indoor tanning beds and melanoma risk, with more frequent users at the highest risk.

Despite these findings, approximately 30 percent of Caucasian women aged 18 to 25 years old engaged in indoor tanning in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There's this long-standing theory that the Internet is a miracle of free enterprise, a parallel universe in which the most innovative products and services just naturally rise to the top.

No one likes this theory better than the cable and telecommunications company, since they own the "pipes" through which flow the bits and bites that make up the Internet. For years, they have been enjoyed a steady geyser of cash from home and business customers signing up for "last-mile" Internet access as well as telephone and cable TV service.

Their only frustration has been that they have not been able to get their mitts fully into the pockets of what for lack of a better term are called the "content providers" of the Web -- Google, Netflix, Amazon and so forth. 

In another parallel universe, of course, it works just the opposite. The cable and telephone companies pay the TV stations and cable channels for their programming. After all, the reason people subscribe to cable is so they can watch "Breaking Bad" and other classics of Western civilization, no?

So why wouldn't Verizon and Comcast pay Google and Netflix for putting up all that great content that people are willing to pony up for? After all, without content, who would want a broadband Internet connection?

Hand on the spigot

Ah, but the telecom giants don't see it that way -- and the reason is that they have their hand on the spigot that controls the flow of products. Turn the spigot counterclockwise a few cranks and things start to slow down. Instead of watching "House of Cards" unfold, we watch it freeze while the little "Loading" box grabs the screen. (There is a more vulgar way of expressing what the telecom companies have their hands on but we'll stick with the spigot analogy for now).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to its credit, has been trying to codify the "Net Neutrality" principle, which roughly holds that products flow freely across the Web, with the end user picking up the delivery tab and the producer paying the cost of uploading ("shipping") to the Web. The "peering" -- as it's called -- that goes on in the guts of the Internet, as companies hand off online traffic to one another, has typically not involved payment from one carrier to another.

That's all changing as the telecoms and cable companies see their dreams of becoming content titans dashed on the shores of their ineptitude. So if they can't be Rolex-wearing Hollywood executives, a suitable consolation prize is squeezing content providers and consumers to the maximum extent possible.

Besides reflecting the human propensity for greedy behavior, this reflects the reality of consolidation, exemplified most recently by the proposed Comcast acquisition of Time-Warner Cable.

Netflix pays up

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that it was shotguns across the table for a few minutes as each side tried to stare down the other. But as Comcast twisted the spigot a few more turns, Netflix blinked and agreed to ransom its content.

No one is saying how much Netflix is paying but you can be sure there are several zeroes involved.

It's always possible the FCC will manage to get a handle on all of this and impose some regulations that would retain the free exchange of bits that have made the Internet the hotbed of innovation it has become. But big bucks are involved and lobbyists are out in force, circling the wagons and working to keep the telecom and cable companies living the good life to which they've become oh so accustomed.

The carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning death of a restaurant manager on Long Island points up the need for carbon monoxide detectors in homes and businesses.

Steven Nelson, 55, died and more than two dozen others were sickened when a faulty flue pipe in the heating system of a Legal Sea Foods restaurant in Huntington Station, N.Y. malfunctioned Saturday evening.

Fire department officials said the lethal, odorless gas built up when a flue pipe from a gas water heater in the basement became clogged. Gas levels were "extremely high" by the time rescue workers arrived, Huntington Manor Fire Department Chief Fred Steenson Jr. said.

Zero is normal

"Normal levels should be at zero. There shouldn't be any carbon monoxide anywhere," Steenson said, according to Newsday. "On a scale from one to 10, it was probably nine and a half." At that level, it could take as little as five minutes for a person to pass out.

Nelson's body was found in the restaurant's basement. An assistant general manager was found collapsed in the basement, where she had apparently gone to look for Nelson.

More than 20 rescue workers and customers were treated on the scene and at local hospitals.

There are annual campaigns to encourage homeowners to install and maintain smoke detectors but carbon monoxide detectors don't receive as much attention.

A simple carbon monoxide detector costs as little as $15. Combination smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are available; newer Internet-connected devices like the Nest smoke alarm cost a bit more but will also call your smartphone if they detect problems. 

Because carbon monoxide generally builds up slowly and is odorless and colorless, it often goes undetected until it is too late. Early symptoms of CO poisoning include lightheadedness, confusion, headaches, vertigo, and flu-like effects.

With fewer new smokers and more people kicking the habit – along with restrictions on advertising and marketing – cigarette sales are in decline. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported a 10% decline in U.S. cigarette sales in 2009, following a 62-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax.

In 2012 Lorillard, the nation's third-largest tobacco company, acquired Blu, a brand of e-cigarettes that has experienced rapid growth from former smokers, who say e-cigarettes give them many of the pleasures of smoking, including a nicotine kick. The move was followed last year by Altria Group's release of its own e-cigarette brand, Mark Ten.

A new study in the journal Tobacco Control looks at tobacco company advertising on the Internet and finds that their campaigns now focus for the most part on e-cigarettes, snus and cigars. 

$2 billion in sales

According to the public health foundation Legacy, which conducted the study, annual sales of smokeless tobacco products now exceed $2.93 billion globally and sales of e-cigarettes continue to grow, reaching $2 billion globally in 2011. For now, e-cigarettes are unregulated in the U.S., though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is said to be preparing regulations.

Public health and anti-tobacco groups have expressed alarm at the growing popularity of e-cigarettes and have pushed for tight controls. But are e-cigarettes as harmful as tobacco cigarettes have been shown to be? One medical researcher, at least, thinks the jury is still out.

In an editorial in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine entitled “The Promise and Problems of E-cigarettes, Jerome S. Brody, of the Department of Medicine and Pulmonary Center at Boston University, calls for more study. 

Though research is in its infancy, he notes the known problems with e-cigarettes, which deliver the nicotine without many of the other harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke. He notes that nicotine itself is problematic; it's addictive and has been implicated in a number of cancers.

Ingredients list needed

“There is sufficient evidence about the toxicity of nicotine and other components that have been found in e-cigarettes, including tobacco itself, for regulatory agencies to require a list, with concentrations, of all e-cigarette ingredients,” Brody writes.

On the other hand, he doesn't rule out that e-cigarettes might be a preferable alternative to smoking cigarettes. He notes there have been a few studies that have suggested that very thing. It's time, he says, to find out.

“There clearly is a need for a multicenter clinical trial of the value of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation programs,” he writes.

Legacy says its study shows that not only is e-cigarette advertising widespread on the Internet the ads were placed on websites with the highest average percentage of a youth audience, with some websites having a youth audience as high as 35%.

Pushing the product, not smoking cessation

The study also found that e-cigarette ads were most likely to feature themes of harm reduction; use as an aide to quit smoking; being more environmentally-friendly alternative to cigarettes; or as an alternative to cigarettes when someone cannot smoke. However, Legacy says, when you click on the ad, you typically go to a site that tells you about the product but nothing about how to quit smoking.

Legacy's concern, says CEO Robin Kovel, is e-cigarettes are not being used solely by people who want to quit smoking. Rather, she says they're hooking a whole new generation of consumers on nicotine.

"Any encouragement to use their first tobacco products and initiate a nicotine addiction could potentially lead to them becoming lifelong tobacco users and undermine our efforts to achieve a 'Generation Free' of tobacco use," Koval said.

Polio has been eradicated but something very similar to it has afflicted five California children over the last year and researchers are trying to identify it.

"Although poliovirus has been eradicated from most of the globe, other viruses can also injure the spine, leading to a polio-like syndrome," said case report author Keith Van Haren, MD, with Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "In the past decade, newly identified strains of enterovirus have been linked to polio-like outbreaks among children in Asia and Australia. These five new cases highlight the possibility of an emerging infectious polio-like syndrome in California."

Van Haren said he and his colleagues noticed several of these cases at their medical centers and decided to look for similar cases in California. They reviewed all polio-like cases among children who had samples referred to California's Neurologic and Surveillance Testing program from August 2012 to July 2013.

Cases were included in the analysis if the children had paralysis affecting one or more limbs with abnormal MRI scans of the spinal cord that explained the paralysis. They did not include children who met criteria for Guillain-Barré syndrome and botulism, which can cause similar symptoms.

"Our findings have important implications for disease surveillance, testing and treatment," said Van Haren. "We would like to stress that this syndrome appears to be very, very rare. Any time a parent sees symptoms of paralysis in a child, the child should be seen by a doctor right away."

The five children experienced paralysis of one or more arms or legs that came on suddenly and reached the height of its severity within two days of onset. Three of the children had a respiratory illness before the symptoms began. All of the children had been previously vaccinated against poliovirus.

The children were treated but their symptoms did not improve and they still had poor limb function after six months. Two children tested positive for enterovirus-68, a rare virus previously associated with polio-like symptoms. No cause was identified in the remaining three children.

Polio is a contagious disease that sometimes caused paralysis. The United States experienced a polio epidemic in the 1950s, until a vaccine was introduced.

A federal court has entered a restaining order halting what the Federal Trade Commission says it a deceptive work-from-home scheme that conned millions of dollars from consumers by falsely telling them they could easily earn thousands of dollars a month by purchasing bogus business coaching services and establishing their own Internet businesses.

According to the FTC, consumers who bought into the scheme lost thousands – sometimes tens of thousands – of dollars each, most of it through racking up huge credit card charges at the defendants’ urging.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah froze the assets of the defendants, who did business under a variety of names, including Essent Media, LLC, Net Training, LLC, YES International, Coaching Department, and Apply Knowledge, and appointed a temporary receiver while the FTC seeks to put a permanent stop to the operations and return money to consumers.

“This case halts a massive scam that bilked consumers out of millions for useless work-at-home kits and business coaching services,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The defendants duped consumers into thinking they could earn thousands working from home. Protecting consumers from such pernicious schemes remains a top priority.”

Rags to riches

According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants’ websites told numerous false “rags to riches” stories, using photos – obtained from stock photo agencies – of supposed users of the defendants’ services, and made false and unsubstantiated claims about how much money consumers could earn.

The defendants’ scheme had three inter-connected phases. In the first phase, the defendants used deceptive emails and websites to induce consumers to purchase relatively inexpensive work-at-home kits. They sold these kits, which typically cost from $37 to $99, with claims such as:

If You Can Spare 60 Minutes A Day, We Can Offer You a Certified, Proven And Guaranteed Home Job To Make $379/Day From Home!

“Important: Read my full report now as only 15 people are accepted into this program per city at any given time . . . because of the personal support given to each new member to ensure everyone’s quick financial success. Don’t hesitate . . . this page is taken down (literally) when the limit is reached, so read on . . .

But instead of showing consumers how to earn this income, the websites tried to sell them more products or services.

In the second phase of their scheme, the defendants promised consumers that they would earn thousands of dollars a month using defendants’ coaching program to assist them in establishing their own online businesses. The defendants also encouraged consumers to put the entire cost of the program, generally from $3,000 to $12,000, on their credit card, claiming they would be able to pay it off within a few months.

In the third phase of their scheme, the defendants pretended to provide consumers with the promised “coaching” services, while pitching yet additional costly add-on services such as business formation, website design, website development, accounting and tax filing services, and drop-shipping services, none of which proved helpful.

According to the FTC, most people who bought the defendants’ services did not get a functional online business, earned little or no money, and ended up heavily in debt.

The French philosopher Voltaire is credited with first noting that “the perfect is the enemy of the good.” In other words: insisting on perfection (which is usually impossible, humanity and human nature being what they are) can often prevent any sort of improvement at all.

Meanwhile, on Feb. 24, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its 2006 policy statement regarding retail-based health clinics (RBCs), calling them “an inappropriate source of primary care for pediatric patients, as they fragment medical care and are detrimental to the medical home concept of longitudinal and coordinated care.”

But representatives of the Convenient Care Association, the trade group representing the clinics, told USA Today that RBCs are “a more convenient option for parents with sick children rather than the alternative, which is often waiting for an appointment while the child is sick or spending hours in a high-cost emergency room for a minor pediatric complaint.”

If all other factors including cost and convenience were equal, chances are good that everybody (with the possible exception of paid spokespeople working for the Convenience Care Association) would agree: Having all of your child's medical issues handled by a dedicated pediatrician personally acquainted with your child is much better than parceling out various medical treatments among whichever nurse practitioners happen to be on duty at the CVS MinuteClinic or Walgreens Healthcare Clinic that day.

But of course all factors are not equal, and the reality is that for a lot of parents, especially the ones with not-particularly-good insurance coverage, RBCs offer the only regular pediatric care they can reasonably afford, or the only care they can fit around their work schedules.

In fairness to the American Academy of Pediatrics, its policy update does address this issue — or at least nod in its direction — when it notes that “pediatricians and other primary care physicians [must] receive adequate compensation for the continuous, coordinated, and comprehensive health care that they provide.”

This is true. Unfortunately, it's also true that sometimes, “adequate compensation” for a full-fledged physician's services costs more than parents can afford — which explains why lower-cost retail-based clinics are gaining in popularity.

Nissan is recalling about 13,000 Frontier pickup trucks from the 2012 through 2014 models year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) announced.

The agency said it's possible a circuit breaker was improperly installed, which could lead to a short circuit that could cause a fire. 

The problem came to light after a consumer in Mexico reported smoke in the cabin of his truck.

Nissan said it doesn't know of any accidents resulting from the problem. 

Owners will be notified when the recall begins in March.

The Obama Administration has been doing its best to persuade young people to sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. That's because younger people are less likely to get sick, thereby helping to hold down the price of healthcare coverage if they can be persuaded to sign up.

But there's another reason, perhaps more compelling, for adolescents and young adults to have health insurance -- and that is that they are far more likely than other age groups to be diagnosed with late-stage cancer, which is more deadly, more expensive and much harder to treat than cancer that's detected earlier.

So says a new American Cancer Society study, published early online, that will appear in the March issue of the journal CANCER.

The study's authors says their data suggest a way forward for cancer control efforts in the adolescent and young adult population, a group that has benefited the least from recent progress in cancer.

"The findings suggest that policies such as the Affordable Care Act that increase the number of people in America with health coverage will result in fewer late-stage cancer diagnoses and save lives," the researchers say in their report.

260,000 patients studied

For their study, researchers led by Anthony Robbins, M.D., Ph.D., American Cancer Society director of health services research, analyzed data from nearly 260,000 cancer patients ages 15 to 39 in the National Cancer Database.

After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, facility type, ZIP code-based income and education levels, and U.S. Census region, it was found that uninsured males were 1.51 times more likely to be diagnosed at a distant stage of disease compared with patients with private insurance. Among females, the effect of insurance was even stronger, with uninsured patients found to be 1.86 times more likely to be diagnosed at a distant stage.

Uninsured patients were younger, more likely to be male, more likely to be black or Hispanic, more likely to reside in the South, more likely to be treated in teaching/research facilities, and less likely to be treated in NCI-designated facilities. Uninsured patients were also more likely to reside in ZIP codes with the lowest median income, as well as in ZIP codes with the highest percentage of residents without a high school diploma.

A Wisconsin-based manufacturer of plastic lumber products has agreed to stop making allegedly unsubstantiated claims about the recycled content and recyclability of , Evolve and Trimax, two of its brands of plastic lumber.

Under the FTC settlement, the company, N.E.W. Plastics Corp., must have credible evidence to support any recycling-related claims it makes, and is required to tell its distributors to remove any marketing material for the two products provided by the company before December 2013.

“Consumers deserve to know the truth about the products they are buying,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Many of them want to buy products that are environmentally friendly, but they can’t do that if they get information that’s wrong or unsupported.”

N.E.W. Plastics Corp., which also does business as Renew Plastics, is based in Luxemburg, Wisconsin, and makes plastic lumber products, which are used to make items such as outdoor decking and furniture. It sells the products to consumers through distributors.

The FTC alleges that between September 2012 and March 2013, N.E.W. made false and misleading claims while promoting Evolve and Trimax, including:

• that Evolve products are made from 90 percent or more recycled content;
• that Trimax products are made from mostly post-consumer recycled content; and
• that both Evolve and Trimax are recyclable.

The proposed consent order prohibits N.E.W. from making any statements about the recycled content, post-consumer recycled content, or environmental benefits of any product or package unless they are true, not misleading, and are substantiated by competent and reliable evidence, which for some claims must be scientific evidence.

Roos Foods of Kenton, Del., is recalling all lots of the following cheeses because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes:

Mexicana

• Cuajada En Terron
• Cuajada/Cuajadita Cacera
• Cuajada Fresca
• Queso Fresca Round
• Queso Dura Viejo Hard Cheeses

Amigo

• Cuajada En Terron
• Cuajada/Cuajadita Cacera
• Cuajada Fresca
• Queso Fresca Round
• Queso Dura Viejo Hard Cheeses

Santa Rosa De Lima

• Cuajada En Terron
• Cuajada/Cuajadita Cacera
• Cuajada Fresca
• Queso Fresca Round
• Queso Dura Viejo Hard Cheeses

Anita

• Queso Fresco

The products were distributed through retail stores in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C.

The products are packaged in flexible plastic bags and rigid plastic clam shell packages in 12 oz. and 16 oz. sizes under the brand names: Mexicana, Amigo, Santa Rosa De Lima, and Anita.

The company has ceased production and distribution of the products as an investigation into the cause of the problem continues.

Customers should destroy all lots of the above listed products. For any refund, please return products to store.

Consumers with questions may contact Virginia Mejia at 302 653 8458. Monday thru Friday from 9 am to 3 pm.

The winter of 2013-14 has been particularly tough. Not only have people in wide areas of the country been blasted with deep snows and frigid temperatures, the flu season has been particularly nasty.

The first week of 2014 brought Winter Storm Hercules, with at least 16 deaths in the Midwest and Northeast blamed on either extreme temperatures or treacherous conditions.

While the weather has gotten a lot of attention, the flu has been quietly killing people. In late December the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a resurgence of the H1N1 strain, also known as swine flu, which claimed over more than 1,000 lives in 2009.

Flu deaths occur each year, usually affecting the very old and very young and, in particular, those in fragile health to begin with. In the 2012-13 influenza season, CDC estimates that there were approximately 380,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations . In a marked difference this season, the young and healthy appear to be falling victim in greater numbers.

Picking up momentum

Since the beginning of the year officials say the flu – and swine flu in particular – has picked up frightening momentum. As a result, health officials have seen what they describe as a dramatic rise in flu deaths among young and middle-aged adults. The CDC describes the flu death rate as epidemic levels, with most of the mortality occurring in the last five weeks.

Some states are getting hit harder than others. California has recorded more than 240 death of people under age 65, well ahead of last year's rate. In San Diego County, eight people died from the flu in a single week. 

Nationwide, infections appear to be subsiding a bit. In its latest flu report, covering the first week of February, the CDC said influenza activity decreased from the previous week but remains high.

Rough week

For that week 7,562 specimens were tested with 1,268 – 16.8% – testing positive for influenza. Of those positives, 61% were of the swine flu variety. That's made worse by the fact the CDC found high levels of resistance to primary anti-viral medications among that strain. Deaths from flu for the week were above the “epidemic threshold” for the first time during the season.

Another troubling statistic comes from the hospitalization rate. More than 6,600 people were admitted to hospitals for treatment of the flu and 60% of them were between the ages of 18 and 64. This pattern of more hospitalizations among younger people was also seen during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

The fact that cold weather and flu season overlap does not mean the two are related. The flu season normally begins in October and runs through May. Being exposed to the wet and cold may lower your resistance and make you more vulnerable to flu germs but the best way to avoid the flu is avoid the germs in the first place – and get a flu shot.

What to do

Is it too late to get a flu shot this season? Probably not, though it takes two weeks for the vaccine to kick in and provide protection against infection. With eight or more weeks remaining in flu season, a vaccination at this point is still a good idea.

After all, you can't do anything about the winter weather. At least you can improve your odds against winter's other scourge, the flu.

Future historians will be able to build entire specialized careers out of parsing the contradictory American laws regarding marijuana in the second decade of the 21^st century.

At the federal level, marijuana is still officially classified as a Schedule 1 drug — meaning that there is absolutely zero medicinal benefit, according to federal regulators. (However, while genuine marijuana officially has no medical use, artificial marijuana in the form of the prescription drug Marinol does.)

So that's the federal view of marijuana, but at the state level things change depending on where you live: marijuana is legal for recreational purposes in Colorado and Washington State, legal via prescription for medicinal purposes in 20 states and the District of Columbia, and a medically worthless felony-offense drug everywhere else (as of presstime).

A considerable paradox

But in those states where marijuana is less than completely illegal, there's a new legal wrinkle to consider: as an op-ed writer for Food Safety Newswondered, “What About Marijuana Food Safety?” and noted: “A considerable paradox exists in U.S. food policy. Although the federal government has named food safety as a top priority, an entire pocket of the food industry remains largely unregulated by, or at least largely under the radar of, most federal agencies. That pocket is marijuana-infused food.”

Here's the problem: for the most part, food safety is overseen by the feds (though states do have the option of adding additional regulations if they wish). Meanwhile, where marijuana at the state level is concerned, the federal government has a sort of “don't ask, don't tell” policy in place: still completely illegal at the federal level, but if a state government chooses to take a different view, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other anti-marijuana federal agencies more or less ignore it.

So — for those who view marijuana as something to eat rather than something to smoke — what policies are the feds implementing to ensure the marijuana-food supply is safe? Thus far, the answer appears to be “no policy at all.”

The Coloradoannoted on Feb. 6 that in Colorado, ever since retail marijuana sales became legal on Jan. 1, foods infused with marijuana have gained in popularity among people who want to enjoy the effects of marijuana without subjecting themselves to clouds of pungent (okay, stinky) pot smoke.

But the only safety issues mentioned in that article are those involving people who confuse marijuana-infused treats with ordinary ones — say, mistaking a marijuana brownie for a regular non-intoxicating chocolate treat. And what state-level rules have been or will be implemented focus mainly on how potent a given batch of marijuana is — an entirely different matter from, say, making sure a given crop is free of E. coli or other contaminants.

We suspect that when future historians write their doctoral dissertations on the evolution of American marijuana laws, they will note that federal food-safety standards did not apply to marijuana crops until after the feds abandoned their “Schedule 1” insistence and officially treated marijuana as akin to alcohol—taxed and regulated far more strictly than ordinary consumer consumables, in some places available only through a state-run monopoly, but completely legal for any adult to possess or ingest.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered Sutra Bidis cigarettes off the market in the United States. The order outlaws the importation and sale of the thin, hand-rolled cigarettes, which are produced in India.

“Historically, tobacco companies controlled which products came on and off the market without any oversight,” said Mitch Zeller, J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “But the Tobacco Control Act gave the FDA, a science-based regulatory agency, the authority to review applications and determine which new tobacco products may be sold and distributed under the law in order to protect public health.”

Bidis are thin, hand-rolled cigarettes filled with tobacco and wrapped in leaves from a tendu tree that are tied with string. The manufacturer, Jash International, did not meet the requirements of the Tobacco Control Act to be able to continue selling these products, the FDA said.

Company didn't provide evidence

The products – Sutra Bidis Red, Sutra Bidis Menthol, Sutra Bidis Red Cone, and Sutra Bidis Menthol Cone – were found to be not substantially equivalent to tobacco products commercially marketed as of February 15, 2007, also known as "predicate products." 

The Tobacco Control Act requires the FDA to review product applications so the agency can decide whether the products are substantially equivalent to valid predicate products. If a company fails to provide the necessary information to show that their product is SE to a predicate product, the FDA has the authority to declare a product not substantially equivalent, which means that it can no longer be sold or distributed in interstate commerce.

In this case, Jash International did not provide the information necessary for the FDA to make a decision, the agency said. 

“Companies have an obligation to comply with the law – in this case, by providing evidence to support an SE application,” said Zeller. “Because the company failed to meet the requirement of the Tobacco Control Act, the FDA’s decision means that, regardless of when the products were manufactured, these four products can no longer be legally imported or sold or distributed through interstate commerce in the United States.”

The FDA said it would give retailers 30 days to sell or dispose of Sutra Bidis now in their inventory but would take enforcement action after that.