Waaahhh!…My iPhone MMS was delayed

September 29th, 2009. By AbiK

I’m with Dan Nosowitz over at Gizmodo: the class action lawsuit over Apple’s and ATT’s late delivery of MMS is…”awfully silly”.

It’s like listening to a toddler whine on and on about whether he can have his snack because, after all, mommy said he could have it in five minutes—and wouldn’t you know, mommy had to take a phone call. Whoops. So the snack took 8 minutes for delivery…Waaaaahhhhhhh!!

I’m betting that Kyle Irving of Minnesota (who according to Nosowitz’ report received his iPhone in June and was told he’d have MMS, but it took 2 months to arrive) who joined the class action also sits by the clock to monitor whether the Domino’s guy takes over 30 minutes. (Yeah, I know, I know, it’s the principle of it.)

Look, should Apple and ATT have kept their promotional diarrhea in check a bit more till they were absolutely certain of the MMS delivery date? Sure. But c’mon Kyle et al, seriously, all’s well that ends well and no injury or harm or adverse events have been reported as far as I can tell as a result of delayed MMS. So save the litigation for something that really needs to get thru the courts system and save the frivolity for happy hour this Friday.

Can You Trust the FDA? maybe…maybe not

September 29th, 2009. By Hunter West

It’s enough to make your blood boil. 

Last week it was revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) admitted that it bowed to political influence when it approved a medical device its own scientists had deemed repeatedly as affording little benefit to the patient. 

The name, or indication of the device matters little. Neither does the identity of the manufacturer involved, or the four members of Congress who applied what was described as relentless pressure (read lobbying) to get a product approved. Who they are doesn’t matter. 

What matters are the process, and the loss of principle. 

In a nutshell, a device that was deemed unsafe by FDA scientists because it often failed was approved anyway by the agency. Behind the approval was the relentless lobbying of a handful of Congressmen who represented the state where the manufacturer involved calls home. The Congressmen involved also, according to a September 24^th report in the New York Times (NYT), received political contributions from the executives of the manufacturer involved.  Read the rest of this entry »

KFC sued for doin’ Chicken half-right

September 29th, 2009. By AbiK

Kentucky Fried Chicken (which hopped on board the acronym branding bandwagon to be hip in the hood a few yeas back and so now is known as KFC) is the target of a lawsuit filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in California.

The issue, which has been in the courts for several years now with several fast food chains including Burger King and McDonald’s, centers on the presence of PhIP—a chemical byproduct of cooking meats at high temperatures.

According to a report on SFGate.com, PhIP was added to California’s list of carcinogens in 1994—and as such, it falls under California’s Proposition 65 which requires a business to warn customers if they are being exposed to a substance that can cause cancer or birth defects.

And that’s what’s at the heart of the current lawsuit against KFC—the warning, or lack thereof.

Lest you think that the PCRM is some small, CA-based enclave of lotus-pose-lovin’ quacks (I say that as a yoga practitioner so back off), it’s actually based out of Washington, DC and claims Read the rest of this entry »

Medtronic CD Horizon Spinal System: Buyer Beware

September 28th, 2009. By LucyC

We’re approaching the two year anniversary of the FDA recall of all lots of the MedTronic CD Horizon Spinal System Agile Dynamic Stabilization Device. So why bring it up? Well, in light of the seemingly endless number of defective products that make their way onto the market every year, the CD Horizon provides a cautionary tale. 

The device was developed to relieve spinal pain, and was surgically implanted. Sadly, the CD Horizon spinal system was prone to failure, causing patients more pain rather than less. 

The device was approved on the strength of risk analyses by Medtronic which allegedly claimed Read the rest of this entry »

Steve Poizner: CA has “extreme labor laws”…huh?

September 28th, 2009. By AbiK

That was a quote taken from potential California gubernatorial candidate (and state Insurance Commissioner) Steve Poizner at the California Republican State Convention on Sept. 26th, as reported on in the Los Angeles Times.

Extreme? How you ask? Well, Poizner seems to think that having California labor laws that require overtime pay to kick in after 8 hours are worked in a given day is a bit extreme. He points out that “almost every other state” only requires overtime to kick in after a full 40-hour week has been worked.

Here’s the part I find interesting though—I’ll let you read the excerpt first:

Third part of my plan is to align our labor laws with the rest of the country. Now, I’ve been an employer; a lot of you have hired folks, a lot of you care about workers just as much as anybody. Why does California have to have extreme labor laws that make us stick out like a sore thumb?  Read the rest of this entry »