Current Events in February 2018

A Florida man called 911 on Monday  to report that his BMW was accelerating unprompted, forcing three police agencies to come to his aid on the highway. The police brought him to a safe stop by throwing spiked strips in the road to blow out the car’s tires.

Automakers almost always blame runaway cars on “pedal misapplication,” or drivers who confuse the gas for the brakes. They often point to a driver’s age as a potential factor in such scenarios.

But in this case, neither of those two theories hold up. The driver, Joseph Cooper, is reportedly only 28. His 911 call, made public by local news, does not give any indication that he had simply been slamming the gas thinking it was the brakes during his 45-mile journey.

In fact, Cooper indicates at one point in the call that he does not want to attempt to step on his brakes, much to the frustration of the 911 operator on the other line. He also says he is unwilling to change gears, a measure that experts who study the issue say may be the best bet at stopping runaway cars.

“I believe my gas pedal is stuck in my car, “ Cooper says in the 911 call he made from his 2003 BMW X5. The car reportedly reached speeds as high as 100 miles per hour as it barreled down the highway.

A frustrating 911 call

In the course of the 911 call, the operator repeatedly asks Cooper if he can shift the car into neutral, if his brakes work, or if he can shift the car into park.

Cooper gives conflicting answers.

“Are you able to put your vehicle in neutral?” the operator asks.

“No,” Cooper initially responds.

The operator asks him if his gear shifter is stuck. She tells him to try pulling the shifter harder.

“Yeah, but ma'am, I’m in a BMW,” he responds, “and if I slam that over it's going to swat down a gear and I really don't want that to happen. It could spin me out.”

The driver also declined the operator’s advice to pull the emergency brake, saying that  “I'm not pulling them at 100 miles an hour, I’m sorry.”

“Sir, do your brakes work at all?” the operator asks at another point.

“Yeah, they do, but I’m not slamming on them,” he says. “My brakes are already bad.”

After state police brought his car to a stop, the driver was reportedly taken to the hospital with chest pains.

Safety standards fall short for automotive industry

The BMW, like many other car makes and models, is occasionally hit with consumer complaints claiming a sudden unintended acceleration incident. It’s a phenomenon that some engineers say can really happen, and they charge that automakers do not look hard enough for potential flaws in the software systems that power most vehicles.

“Unlike other industries that use electronics to control safety-critical functions, the automobile industry does not employ peer-reviewed public functional safety standards or independent safety assessors to verify conformance to such standards,” the engineers Anthony Anderson, Keith Armstrong, and Brian Kirk wrote in an open letter to federal regulators in 2010, during the height of the Toyota sudden acceleration scandal.

“The auto industry is probably the only industry in the world allowed by Government Regulators (such as NHTSA in the USA) to behave in this way regarding risk to the Public,” they added.

Most automakers deny that cars can accelerate on their own, though there are some exceptions. In 2014,  Honda announced it was recalling 175,000 models of its Honda Fit in Japan because of a software issue that could cause unintended acceleration.

Toyota more famously paid over $1 billion in the United States to settle sudden unintended acceleration claims, but the automaker has insisted that the problem was rooted in floor mats and sticky pedals, not its electronics.

BMW, in a statement to ConsumerAffairs, claims that their cars are installed with software that ensures the brakes always overrides the gas, and further describes Cooper’s story as “implausible.” The automaker also promises to work with Florida State Police to investigate what exactly happened.

“This fail-safe software means that if the vehicle detects that both pedals are depressed, the on-board electronics will reduce engine power so that the driver may stop safely,” BMW says in a statement to ConsumerAffairs.

Stopping a runaway vehicle

Engineers who say that unintended acceleration can really happen have advice for drivers in the rare event it does. They say that drivers can bring runaway cars to a stop by applying much more force to the brakes than they are used to, or by shifting gears, though the advice to best handle each scenario may vary by the car’s make and model.

It’s for that reason that engineers like Anthony Anderson have argued that car companies should at least acknowledge the problem, so that drivers can prepare and know the best course of action to take.

Though BMW denies that its cars can accelerate on their own, the automaker also suggests that shifting the car into neutral or shutting off the ignition would have been a safe option in the Florida case.

“The vehicle could also have been stopped by two additional means,” BMW says in its statement. “By placing the transmission in neutral and coasting to a stop and/or by shutting off the ignition without removing the key. This is accomplished by turning the key counterclockwise. The engine would have shut off and the driver could have safely coasted the vehicle to a stop.”

President Trump supports legislation allowing state and local governments to collect sales tax on all internet purchases.

Addressing a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the president “feels strongly” that consumers should pay the same sales tax on online purchases that brick and mortar retailers collect.

When ecommerce began to take off in the 1990s, online retailers for the most part did not collect sales tax. It was a break for consumers, but brick and mortar retailers complained about unfair competition. State governments fretted that they were losing tax revenue.

Today, many retailers – but not all – collect state sales tax when a consumer completes an order. In most cases, online retailers charge sales tax if they have a physical presence in the state.

Last year, Amazon started collecting sales tax in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, although it does not always charge tax on purchases from third-party vendors.

Mnuchin told lawmakers the President believes sales tax should be collected on all purchases, no matter how they are made. Trump has previously said that not collecting state sales tax gives an unfair advantage to online retailers.

Could it help with the deficit?

Allowing states to increase their sale tax collection could address a growing deficit created by the latest budget bill passed by Congress, which increases both domestic and military spending.

As we recently reported, the President's infrastructure spending proposal would also allow states to impose tolls on existing interstate highways to raise money for infrastructure improvements.

Any internet sales tax law would have to take a 1992 Supreme Court ruling into account. More than a quarter century ago, the high court ruled that requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax for the jurisdiction of each and every customer would be an unreasonable burden.

At the time, however, internet sales were minuscule. It's a different story today, and many states feel they are leaving millions of dollars on the table.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, ecommerce sales in the U.S. in just the fourth quarter of last year were estimated to be $119 billion. There is no data showing how much of that revenue was not taxed.

A new study finds that consumer products like cosmetics, soaps, paints, household cleaners, and other chemical-containing products are now a key contributor to urban air pollution, rivaling emissions from cars.

As emission control technologies have helped to reduce car exhaust, consumer products have become just as big of a problem as smog.

Consumer products more volatile than previously thought

In the new study, researchers from the University of Colorado found that the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by consumer products may be two or three times greater than estimated by current air pollution inventories.

The EPA estimates that about 75 percent of VOC emissions come from fuel-related sources and about 25 percent come from chemical products. However, the new study -- which used current chemical use statistics and previously unavailable atmospheric data -- found that the split was actually closer to 50-50.

Although people use 15 times more fuel than petroleum-based chemicals, lotions and other household products contribute just as much to low air quality, said the study’s lead author Brian McDonald.

"As the transportation sector gets cleaner, the other sources of emissions we identified become more and more important," said McDonald, a research chemist at the University of Colorado, Boulder. "A lot of chemicals we use in our everyday lives can impact air pollution.”

Indoor products affect outdoor air quality

The study's authors claim that it's how household products are used that make them a top source of air pollution. They point out that when a product that once gave off a smell no longer smells, it’s because chemicals that made the scent drifted off into the air.

“Gasoline is stored in closed, hopefully airtight, containers and the VOCs in gasoline are burned for energy,” said co-author Jessica Gilman, a NOAA research chemist.

“But volatile chemical products used in common solvents and personal care products are literally designed to evaporate. You wear perfume or use scented products so that you or your neighbor can enjoy the aroma. You don't do this with gasoline,” Gilman said.

Gilman hopes the study makes it clear that the products we choose to use do have an impact on the environment.

“The collective choices we make as a society, from our energy sources to which chemical products we use in our daily lives, are continually changing the composition of our atmosphere — Earth's atmosphere — the one atmosphere that contains all the air we will ever breathe," she said.

The full study has been published online in the journal Science.

Previous studies have already examined many of the negative implications of eating processed foods, but a team of researchers from France and Brazil have now linked consumption of these products with increased risk of cancer.

In a new cohort study, the researchers warn that the trend of eating what they deem to be “ultra-processed” foods “may drive an increasing burden of cancer in the next decades.”

“To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate and highlight an increase in the risk of overall – and specifically breast – cancer associated with ultra-processed food intake,” they said.

Processed foods increase cancer risk

The team based their conclusions on an observational study of over 100,000 adults. All participants were asked to participate in at least two 24-hour online dietary questionnaires that gauged their usual intake of approximately 3,300 food items.

Foods were grouped according to how much processing was required to manufacture them and how many cancer cases were identified with their consumption.

After compiling the information, the researchers found that a 10 percent increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods correlated with a 12 percent increased risk of overall cancer; the increased risk of contracting breast cancer was 11 percent.

Tests for less processed foods – such as canned vegetables, cheeses, and freshly unpackaged bread – showed no significant increased risk of cancer, and fresh or minimally processed foods (fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish) were associated with lower risks of overall cancer and breast cancer.

Further research needed

Although the results suggest that there is a meaningful link between processed foods and cancer rates, the researchers stress that their study is observational and only provides an initial insight into this issue. They say that further research will need to be conducted to confirm the findings.

“Further studies are needed to better understand the relative effect of the various dimensions of processing (nutritional composition, food additives, contact materials, and neoformed contaminants) in these associations,” they said.

The full study has been published in the The BMJ.

A survey of drivers by Esurance finds in-car technology features designed to promote safety aren't reducing distracted driving. In fact, in some cases it may contribute to it.

The company says the survey revealed two key pieces of data. First, most drivers are aware that using phones and GPS while driving is distracting. Second, they're willing to do it anyway. Fifty-eight percent of drivers admitted to some level of distracted driving, in many cases texting or navigating while driving.

Stephanie Braun, director of the connected car department at Esurance, says drivers are finding the lure of technology features in their vehicles hard to ignore.

"We're seeing more automakers try to address the issue of distracted driving through semi-autonomous features, but we're also mindful of the fact that some of these features could distract drivers even more and often give drivers a false sense of security," Braun said.

Technology to assist the driver

In the last decade, many carmakers have added semi-autonomous technology features to their vehicles that can do some of the driving. In some cases, these features can recognize and respond to impending road hazards before the driver can.

While nearly half the drivers in the survey who have these features believe they are a good thing, about 10 percent believe they are not. The survey found that 25 percent of drivers who purchased new cars with this technology in mind later disabled at least one feature.

The survey actually found that drivers with cars equipped with the latest technology safety features tend to be slightly more distracted than drivers without it. Nearly a third complained that the warning sounds the features make are themselves a distraction.

Limits of driver-assist technology

As the industry moves toward fully autonomous vehicles, some cars available today have what are known as “driver-assist” features. In May 2016, the driver of a Tesla Model S was killed when his car slammed into a truck.

An investigation revealed the car was in autopilot mode at the time of the accident, but that the driver was distracted and not in control of the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Tesla has stressed that its autopilot feature is not meant to be used to fully control the car and that drivers should remain alert and keep both hands on the wheel.

The auto industry is proceeding at full speed toward development of fully autonomous vehicles, but the Esurance survey finds today's drivers aren't that enthusiastic. It found only 17 percent of drivers would be willing to give up control of the vehicle in order to engage in other activities behind the wheel.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has approved the first blood test to help quickly and accurately detect concussion in adults.

The test, known as the Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator, could help reduce the need for CT scans, which would decrease radiation exposure to patients, the FDA said.  

"Helping to deliver innovative testing technologies that minimize health impacts to patients while still providing accurate and reliable results to inform appropriate evaluation and treatment is an FDA priority," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.

"Today's action supports the FDA's Initiative to Reduce Unnecessary Radiation Exposure from Medical Imaging -- an effort to ensure that each patient is getting the right imaging exam, at the right time, with the right radiation dose."

Measures two proteins

The blood test detects the presence of two proteins released by the brain into the bloodstream after a patient sustains a head injury. With that information, the FDA said the test was able to predict the presence of a brain lesion 97.5 percent of the time and correctly determined which patients didn’t have a lesion 99.6 percent of the time.

The test will help physicians determine whether patients who are suspected of having a mild concussion might need an additional examination, like a CT scan. The FDA says the tool could save up to one-third of patients suspected of having a concussion from extra testing.

That, in turn, could also help cut unneeded costs. Gottlieb pointed out that reducing the number of CT scans performed annually on patients with concussions could potentially save our health care system the “cost of often unnecessary neuroimaging tests.”

An important tool for athletes and the military

Hospitals and clinics aren’t the only settings where the test could be useful. The Brain Trauma Indicator could could also be used at sports games and in the military, the agency said.

Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said the FDA worked with the Department of Defense to “expedite a blood test for the evaluation of mTBI that can be used both in the continental U.S. as well as foreign U.S. laboratories that service the American military."

"A blood test to aid in concussion evaluation is an important tool for the American public and for our Service Members abroad who need access to quick and accurate tests," said Shuren.

For now, the Brain Trauma Indicator is only approved for adults, but Banyan Biomarkers plans to conduct clinical trials that will evaluate if it’s effective in children who have sustained a head injury.

The latest version of Apple's mobile operating system reportedly contains a bug that can cause devices to crash and block access to messages, including those in third-party apps.

The Italian language tech blog Mobile World was the first to report that when an Indian character is texted to a phone running iOS 11.2.5, the Messages app crashes, and then fails to open.

According to tech site The Verge, the character is completely unfamiliar to the operating system, and as it repeatedly tries to load it, the system eventually crashes. It also reportedly blocks user access to apps like Facebook Messenger, Twitter, WhatsApp, Outlook for iOS, and Gmail.

The Verge says there is a do-it-yourself fix that sometimes works. You can ask a friend to send you another message and try to delete the thread containing the troublesome character.

A blog for Apple users, 9to5 Mac, suggests the bug may require a DFU reset (device firmware update) to get rid of it.

Next iOS release should resolve the issue

The Verge reports the bug is not present in the beta version of iOS 11.3, suggesting Apple engineers are on the case. It isn't known how many Apple users have been affected by the bug.

The iOS 11 update was released in late 2017, packing a number of ambitious features that included what was called "the biggest augmented platform in the world." However, it has also been marked by some technical glitches.

The release of iOS 11.3, meanwhile, will happen in the spring. In addition to addressing the character bug, it will also contain a feature that allows users to opt out of the feature that lets Apple slow down their aging iPhones.

A new study from UT Southwestern has found that getting adequate amounts of exercise can help improve brain health and prevent conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

The study findings suggest that nerve fibers in the brains of consumers who are less physically fit deteriorate more quickly than the nerve fibers for people who are physically fit. Over time, the researchers say that this degradation can lead to negative health outcomes like cognitive decline and memory loss – both of which are characteristic of dementia.

“This research supports the hypothesis that improving people’s fitness may improve their brain health and slow down the aging process,” said study author Dr. Kan Ding, a neurologist at the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern.

What’s “bad for your heart is bad for your brain”

The researchers came to these conclusions after studying the white matter brain tissue of older patients who were at high risk of Alzheimer’s disease and showed early signs of memory loss or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Patients were asked to participate in a series of tests that measured their physical and mental health, including memory tests, cognitive tests, and brain imaging scans. The researchers found that participants who were less physically fit tended to perform more poorly on memory and cognitive tests.

“Evidence suggests that what is bad for your heart is bad for your brain. We need studies like this to find out how the two are intertwined and hopefully find the right formula to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Rong Zhang of UT Southwestern.

Researchers hope findings prompt more exercise

Although the study was able to find strong links between exercise, brain health, and cognition, the researchers say that further studies must be conducted to gain a clearer picture of how to help consumers suffering from cognitive issues.

An ongoing five-year national clinical trial conducted at the same institute is currently seeking to determine if combinations of aerobic exercise and certain medications can help preserve brain function.

“A lot of work remains to better understand and treat dementia. But, eventually, the hope is that our studies will convince people to exercise more,” concluded Ding.

The full study has been published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Consumers who own three year-old vehicles are happier with their cars than ever before, according to the J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study.

Consumers who purchased a new vehicle in 2015 and are still driving them gave their rides high marks, with overall dependability rising by nine percent, the first increase since 2013.

The study is a gauge of automotive quality, measuring 177 specific potential problems grouped into eight major categories. Ratings are based on the number of reported problems per 100 vehicles.

"For the most part, automotive manufacturers continue to meet consumers' vehicle dependability expectations," said Dave Sargent, Vice President, Global Automotive at J.D. Power. "A nine percent improvement is extremely impressive, and vehicle dependability is, without question, at its best level ever."

Where problems are most likely to occur

Consumers reported the most problems with their vehicles' infotainment systems. These sophisticated features continue to generate the largest number of complaints. In particular, voice command features and Bluetooth connectivity create the most trouble.

Another notable trend is the improved quality of mass market brands, which continue to catch up to luxury nameplates in terms of quality. Lexus and Porche ranked number one and two in the dependability rankings, but GM's Buick was right behind.

Buick led the field among mass market brands with a score of 116, just 17 points behind Lexus. Fiat was the most improved brand, while Infinity made the biggest one-year move by going from 29th place to fourth.

Other brands showing sharp improvements include Kia, Nissan, Ford, and Dodge. In particular, the Kia Rio was the leader in the small car category. Greg Silvestri, head of service operations at Kia, said the ranking shows the company's recent investments have paid off.

"The Rio is yet another example of how far the entire Kia model line-up has progressed, and this kind of quality is tangible evidence of our long-term strategy to enhance the Kia ownership experience," Silvestri said.

Segment award winners

Toyota, meanwhile, drove off with six of the 19 segment awards -- mostly among the Lexus nameplate. Winners include the Lexus CT, Lexus ES, Lexus GS, Lexus RX, Toyota Prius and Toyota Tacoma.

The Dodge Challenger, Ford Super Duty, Ford Expedition, Honda Odyssey, Hyundai Tucson, Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class, and Audi Q3 also were singled out for segment awards. For the Q3, it was notable since 2015 was its introductory year.

The results may be reassuring for consumers buying either a new or used car. For new car buyers, the evidence suggests their vehicle won't give them much trouble in the first three years.

For used car buyers, selecting a three year-old model not only comes at a lower price than a new car, it might be just as reliable.

Following a statement made last year that it would be seeking to improve advertising on the web, Google has announced that it will be rolling out a built-in ad-blocker to its Chrome browser on February 15.

The new tool will enable users to block some of the more annoying types of ads on the web, such as autoplay videos, flashing ads, and full-page ads. Google says that its new standards are directly derived from those championed by the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group that supports limiting intrusive advertising on the web.

“While most advertising on the web is respectful of user experience, over the years we’ve increasingly heard from our users that some advertising can be particularly intrusive,” said Google engineering manager Chris Bentzel.

Bentzel says that Google will be helping to tackle this problem by eliminating ads from sites that do not follow the Better Ads Standards, which is based on feedback from over 40,000 users on their experiences with different types of ads.

If Chrome finds that a site fails to meet these standards, a message will appear on users' browser window indicating that an ad was blocked; it will also give them the option to disable the setting. PC users can see the notification near Chrome’s address bar, while Android users will see it at the bottom of their screen.

Site owners partly to blame

Although many of the most intrusive ads are problematic because of how they’re designed, Bentzel says most of the low-quality experiences that users report can be chalked up to how site owners choose to display ads. He points to high ad density and full-page ads with countdowns as prime examples, saying that these intrusive ads are part of the reason Google has decided to act.

“This result led to the approach Chrome takes to protect users from many of the intrusive ad experiences identified by the Better Ads Standards,” he said.

In the future, Google says it will continue to evaluate and inform sites of their adherence to the new standards, give site owners the opportunity to address shortcomings, and block ads that consistently lead to low-quality experiences.

Initial results look promising

Although the new tool won’t cut out as many ads as a traditional ad blocker, initial tests show that it has the potential to be impactful. Bentzel points out that 42 percent of sites that were found to be failing the Better Ads Standards and were notified have revised their practices and are now passing.

“This is the outcome we were hoping for – [that] sites would take steps to fix intrusive ads experiences themselves and benefit all web users,” he said.

“We’re encouraged by early results showing industry shifts away from intrusive ad experiences, and look forward to continued collaboration with the industry toward a future where Chrome’s ad filtering technology will not be needed.”

Attorneys general from more than half the states have signed onto a campaign to warn consumers about websites trafficking in pirated content.

The websites attract visitors by offering free movies and other stolen entertainment content, but also give viewers more than they bargained for in the form of malware.

The campaign is led by the Digital Citizens Alliance, an advocacy group that focuses public attention on internet threats. The promise of free entertainment content, it says, comes at a high cost.

"With technology moving so fast, it's sometimes difficult to know what is risky," said Tom Galvin, Executive Director of the Digital Citizens Alliance. “That is why state AGs are playing a vital role in alerting consumers to the danger that consumers face from malware and content theft websites."

Galvin cites data from RiskIQ showing one in three websites providing free entertainment content can infect visitors' devices with malware, potentially exposing information than can be used for identity theft.

'Drive-by downloads'

Just visiting one of these websites can lead to infection. RiskIQ found 45 percent of malware was delivered through so-called "drive-by downloads" that do not require the victim to click on a link.

"From websites to new devices loaded with pirated content, hackers have found ingenious ways to invade your home," Galvin said. "The best defense is knowledge, and AGs are providing it."

The attorneys general from 28 states are appearing in public service announcements distributed online and airing on television stations in their states.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also been active in this area, warning consumers to stay away from websites offering access to pirated content.

Will Maxson the FTC's assistant director in the Division of Marketing Practices, said the agency downloaded movies from five sites offering them for free. In all five cases, he says, the agency's computers ended up with malware.

Neither the Digital Citizens Alliance nor the FTC identified specific websites that they said are distributing malware along with free entertainment.

Congressional supporters of net neutrality continue to press the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to explain its decision to roll back the long-standing rule governing the internet.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the 24 Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee raised a number of pointed questions about how the record number of public comments on net neutrality were handled, and whether any of them were even considered.

The FCC received more than 24 million public comments on its plan to overturn the principle that the internet is a "common carrier" and cannot discriminate against content by favoring one type over another through price or speed.

Net neutrality was formally adopted as a regulation in 2015, but the standard had been followed from the beginning, since early internet traffic traveled over telephone lines.

Fraudulent comments

The lawmakers point out that some of the comments have been identified as fraudulent, using made up names. Some, they say, came from Russian email addresses.

"The Commission has a responsibility under the Administrative Procedure Act to review and fully respond to significant comments filed in the record," the lawmakers wrote. "When taking any agency action, the FCC bears the burden that its analysis is supported by the record, and that it has fully engaged with the American public."

To that end, the members of Congress want to know how the FCC reviewed and processed the huge number of comments. Noting that the agency said it disregarded comments that were "devoid of substance," the letter asks how that determination was made.

Noting that FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a net neutrality supporter, has said no comments from consumers were included in the final Order, the letter asks why not. It also asks why the FCC has refused to work with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's investigation of the fraudulent use of consumers' identities.

The letter even points out that some of the House members signing the letter filed net neutrality comments and asks why none of the points they raised were addressed in the final Order.

Lobbying Congress

Meanwhile, net neutrality supporters are pushing Congress to take the initiative to restore the regulation. They've launched #OneMoreVote, an internet-wide day of action on Feb. 27.

They're urging supporters to lobby lawmakers on that day, hoping to secure one additional vote in the Senate to pass a Resolution of Disapproval of the FCC order.

“The FCC was wrong to repeal the Net Neutrality protections. Everyone knows that, which is why we’ve seen incredible momentum behind the national movement to restore fundamental rights to internet users,” said Free Press Action Fund Campaign Director Candace Clement.

Earlier this week, Takata reached a settlement with its creditors, auto industry clients, and representatives for the drivers who were injured or killed by its defective airbag inflators.

The deal would help clear the way for the company to end its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It called for the establishment of a trust to pay out claims to injured victims or the families of motorists who were killed by a Takata airbag.

Now, a group of 13 automakers will reportedly contribute $80 million to $130 million to compensate those injured by faulty Takata airbag inflators as part of the deal to resolve the company’s bankruptcy, a U.S. plaintiffs’ attorney told Reuters.

Takata and its U.S. unit, TK Holdings Inc, filed for bankruptcy after it was found that its airbags can explode with too much force, sending shards of metal flying through the passenger cabin. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called the safety recall the “largest and most complex” in U.S. history. At least 21 deaths and hundreds of injuries have been linked to the faulty airbags.

Compensation likely to fall short

The 13 automakers that will contribute to Takata’s bankruptcy estate include Honda, Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Co, General Motors Co, and Volkswagen AG. The companies will have 18 months to opt into the trust, if they agree to compensate drivers in full.

The plan will be presented to a U.S. judge on Friday for approval.

Attorney Joe Rice of Motley Rice, who represents dozens of victims in the bankruptcy, said money from the Justice Department settlement and the bankruptcy will likely fall short of full compensation for those who were injured by the airbags.

However, injured drivers will still be able to sue any of the car manufacturers except for Honda, which has agreed to create a trust to ensure injuries linked to its vehicles will be compensated in full, according to Rice.

In a sweeping reform that is stunningly short on details, the White House is proposing major changes to the way that low-income Americans receive food benefits.  

Currently, people participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) receive paper coupons or debit cards that they can use at a qualifying grocery store.

In the 2019 budget and in interviews with reporters, Trump officials say they want to cut those cash benefits in half and replace them with nonperishable food. The food would be ordered by the government and delivered directly to participating consumers.

The Trump administration describes the program in its 2019 budget as a “bold new approach to nutrition assistance” that combines existing SNAP benefits with “100-percent American grown foods provided directly to households,” but the budget does not explain how the food will be delivered or other key details.

Program details remain sparse

Trump officials told reporters on Monday that the reforms would affect approximately 16 million Americans who currently participate in SNAP, or 81 percent of households in the program.

"You actually receive the food instead of receiving the cash,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said in a press conference.

But Mulvaney did not explain how the program would work, other than that the USDA would advise states to deliver the food using “existing infrastructure.” The White House also did not explain how SNAP recipients with food allergies or other dietary issues would be affected.

“The projected savings do not include shipping door-to-door for all recipients,” USDA spokesman Tim Murtaugh clarified in a statement to Politico, which reported that anti-hunger advocates found the proposal so outrageous they initially thought it was a joke.

“Holy mackerel," Kevin Concannon, who oversaw SNAP under the Obama administration, said of the proposal in an interview with Politico. “I don’t know where this came from, but I suspect that folks when they were drawing it up were also watching silent movies.”

Serving “nutritious” food

Mulvaney told reporters that the program would serve “nutritious” food and save the United States an estimated $129 billion over ten years. He compared the proposed delivery service, which the USDA is calling “America’s Harvest Box,” to "a Blue Apron-type program where you actually receive the food instead of [receiving] the cash."

But a government program delivering non-perishable foods at a discount bears little semblance to Blue Apron, a meal delivery service which says it only delivers farm-fresh, seasonal produce, meat with no hormones, and sustainably-sourced seafood, among other expensive and fresh foods.

Boxed or canned food is typically packed with sodium and sugar, two additives that the USDA and nutritionists have repeatedly said that Americans need to cut back on. The USDA’s press office has not responded to an inquiry from ConsumerAffairs.

Ford Motor Company raised another caution flag to owners of older pickup trucks on Monday, advising 33,000 owners to stop driving the trucks immediately.

The warning targets 33,428 Ranger and 1,955 Mazda B-Series model year 2006 vehicles built at the company’s Twin Cities Assembly Plant in Saint Paul, Minnesota between August and December of 2005.

It was just last month that Ford alerted 2,900 owners of 2006 Ford Ranger trucks of possible defects tied to Takata airbag inflators. The warning came on the heels of a second death tied to those inflators and trucks that were built the same day. Ford expanded its warning to a wider time frame thanks to further testing.

In Ford’s notice to the trucks’ owners, it emphasized that the issue is the airbag inflator and not the actual airbag. It also noted that it’s possible to have different suppliers for the driver– and passenger–side airbag inflators in your vehicle.

Is your truck affected?

Ford has created a look-up tool where customers can determine if their vehicle is one of those involved in the recall. If a truck owner determines their vehicle is defective, they’re asked to contact a Ford dealership. If Ford truck owners have additional questions, they should contact the Ford Customer Relationship Center at 1-866-436-7332.

“Affected owners are urged not to drive these vehicles and to contact Ford and Mazda immediately to schedule a free repair,” advised the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In its printed release, the agency went on to confirm that dealers will tow the pickups to service bays to replace the faulty inflators and provide loaner vehicles.

Off to a rough start

This marks the third time Ford has had to drive down this bumpy road in 2018. Despite an exclamation that its trucks are safe, the Center for Auto Safety asked Ford’s CEO Jim Hackett to recall 1.3 million 2011-2017 Ford Explorers due to concerns that carbon monoxide was leaking into the passenger cabin..

In one such scare, various police departments reported bizarre instances in which on-duty officers passed out or became sick while driving Ford Explorers. However, Ford took a defiant stance in this situation, placing blame squarely on the police for modifying the vehicles after they were built.

This isn’t Takata’s first liability rodeo, either. Just this week, the company reached a settlement with creditors, auto industry clients, and representatives for drivers who were injured or killed by its faulty airbags.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has released a report tracing payments from major opioid drug makers to third party advocacy groups that have promoted the use of painkillers.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) says her report describes how drug makers have invested heavily in third party organizations that serve as pro-opioid advocacy groups. The report says these groups have issued guidance minimizing the risks of opioid addiction and endorsed opioid use for the long-term treatment of chronic pain.

Misuse of opioid painkillers has become a serious health issue in the U.S. over the last decade. According to the Pew Charitable Trust, almost 33,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose in 2015 -- nearly half from prescription opioids.

Last fall 39 state attorneys general signed a letter to Congressional leaders urging support of legislation increasing consumers' access to drug addiction treatment.

“As state attorneys general, our offices are on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic. We write today in bipartisan support of HR 2938 (“Road to Recovery Act”), which will expand a key tool in this battle,” the attorneys general said.

Financial relationship

Using her position of a key Senate committee, McCaskill says she is looking into the financial relationships between the pharmaceutical companies that make powerful painkillers and the doctors and organizations that have defended and promoted their use.

“The pharmaceutical industry spent a generation downplaying the risks of opioid addiction and trying to expand their customer base for these incredibly dangerous medications and this report makes clear they made investments in third-party organizations that could further those goals,” McCaskill said.

“These financial relationships were insidious, lacked transparency, and are one of many factors that have resulted in arguably the most deadly drug epidemic in American history.”

The report contends that five major opioid manufacturers contributed nearly $9 million to 14 third party advocacy organizations over a five-year period. It logs another $1.6 million in payments to doctors affiliated with these groups between 2013 and the present.

Governments respond with lawsuits

A number of opioid manufacturers face lawsuits from cities and states that say the opioid addiction crisis is taking a huge human and financial toll on their resources.

Last summer, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine sued five major opioid manufacturers. He accused the drug companies of engaging in fraudulent marketing of drugs by minimizing the risks and inflating the benefits of prescription opioids.

The state of New York settled a similar lawsuit against two opioid drug manufacturers in 2016. Earlier this month, the Cherokee Nation sued several companies involved in making, distributing, and selling opioid painkillers.

Fitbit has announced that it will acquire Twine Health, an HIPAA-compliant health management platform geared toward people with chronic health conditions.

The union will help Fitbit expand its business market by enabling consumers to do more than count steps and track sleep with their activity trackers.

“Twine Health has delivered powerful results for patients managing conditions like diabetes and hypertension – two key focus areas for Fitbit,” Fitbit Inc CEO James Park said in a statement. “Together, we can help healthcare providers better support patients beyond the walls of the clinical environment, which can lead to better health outcomes and ultimately, lower medical costs.”

Health coaching platform

Once the acquisition is complete, Twine Health’s team will join Fitbit as part of its Health Solution group, and Twine Health co-founder and CEO Dr. John Moore will become Fitbit’s medical director.

The company’s latest acquisition comes on the heels of around five other acquisitions made by the company to help it enter the corporate healthcare world. Past acquisitions include Vector Watch, Pebble, and a startup called Switch2Health which tracks and rewards employees’ fitness efforts.

Teaming up with Twine Health will help Fitbit "expand its offerings to health plans, health systems and self-insured employers, while creating opportunities to increase subscription-based revenue,” the company said.

Lifestyle interventions

By integrating Twine Health’s software and services designed to help people meet their health goals, Fitbit wants to help consumers stick to their plans of accomplishing goals like losing weight or quitting smoking.

Twine Health uses artificial intelligence and human interaction to help its 25 million users better manage their health. After creating a health plan with specific objectives, users are sent reminders and connected to their coach and doctor to help them follow through with the lifestyle changes needed to achieve their goal.

Fitbit says the acquisition will let users merge data from their wearable devices with Twine’s services.

“Obviously it’s still in the very early days,” Fitbit CEO James Park told Fortune. “We’re starting to put together all the pieces. This acquisition of Twine also will help our momentum in building more of a bigger revenue business on the health side.”

The acquisition is expected to close by the end of March.

Unilever has threatened to pull ads from Facebook, Google, and other online platforms if the tech giants don’t do a better job of controlling the spread of what the company calls “toxic” online content.

In a speech delivered Monday at the annual Interactive Advertising Bureau conference in California, Keith Weed, chief marketing officer at Unilever, called on technology companies to step up their efforts to improve transparency and consumer trust.

"We need to redefine what is responsible business in the digital age because for all of the good the tech companies are doing, there's some unintended consequences that now need addressing," Weed said.

Some of those unintended consequences include facilitating the spread of fake news and illegal content, he noted.

Rebuilding trust

Unilever -- which makes Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Dove soap, and more than 1,000 other brands worldwide -- is one of the biggest online advertisers, and digital advertising on platforms like Facebook and Google accounts for a significant portion of its ad spend.

But the company says it does not want to advertise on platforms that are rife with abusive, divisive, and unethical material. Unilever says consumer trust in social media platforms is waning due to the perceived lack of effort on the part of tech giants to keep out this “toxic” content.

In his speech, Weed argues that some online platforms are “sometimes little better than a swamp,” though he stopped short of mentioning any specific companies.

“2018 is either the year of tech-lash, where the world turns on the tech giants — and we have seen some of this already— or the year of trust. The year where we collectively rebuild trust back in our systems and our society,” he said.

Improving the industry

The company says it has already offered solutions to tech companies and wants to work with them to improve the industry.

“Unilever will not invest in platforms or environments that do not protect our children or which create division in society, and promote anger or hate,” Weed said. “We will prioritize investing only in responsible platforms that are committed to creating a positive impact in society.”

In a statement on Monday, one Facebook spokeswoman said that the platform “fully supports Unilever’s commitments and [we] are working closely with them.”

"Keith has always pushed us and the industry to be better," Google said in its own statement. "There is nothing we take more seriously than the trust and safety of our users, customers and partners, and we will continue to work to earn that trust every day."

Earlier this year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook is flawed and vowed to make “fixing Facebook” his personal goal for 2018. Several changes -- including showing users more local news and less commercial content on their News Feeds -- have already been rolled out to users.

Google has announced that a new task force will be dedicated to policing extremist content on YouTube in 2018.