latimes.com - David Lazarus

Parents beware: Hazardous toys may still wind up on store shelves

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Are toys safer now? Sure, say federal regulators and Mattel, the world's biggest toy maker. But a study from a consumer watchdog group and my recent trip to the Toy District cast serious doubts.

As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear this week, it's a good time to ask: Are the toys we're buying any safer than they were a couple of years ago, when millions of playthings were recalled because of high lead levels and other hazards?

Collect call from a pay phone could cost a small fortune

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

In today's wireless world, it's hard to imagine that anyone would ever need to use a pay phone or call somebody collect. Just try asking someone younger than 20 what a collect call is.

The danger of marketing prescription drugs online

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

If pharmaceutical companies are allowed to send abbreviated pitches, they'll emphasize the benefits of their medications and send consumers elsewhere to find out the risks.

Google, Yahoo and the pharmaceutical industry are pushing to change how prescription drugs are hawked online. That's not a bad thing necessarily.

Banks prove they need a strict baby sitter

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:53:00 -0800

It's not that lawmakers want to crack down on banks because its sounds like fun (although it does). They're doing it because banks have proved themselves consistently unworthy of our trust.

As Sen. Christopher J. Dodd unveiled a sweeping plan last week to overhaul regulation of the banking industry, and as the banking industry complained loudly that this would be a horrible idea, I couldn't help but think of Silver Lake resident Jonathan Leahy.

The sad illusion of happy customers

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Retailers say they want shoppers to be satisfied, but few have the resources to deliver the goods.

Customer satisfaction has become such a scarce commodity in the business world, it's now a selling point at a time when companies are increasingly desperate for shoppers' dollars.

GOP healthcare plan isn't about helping the uninsured

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Among other things, the proposal would actually increase the number of people without health insurance over the next decade. But it allows the Republicans to say they offered a cheaper alternative.

Republican lawmakers issued their own healthcare reform plan the other day, and you'd have to look hard to find a more cynical document purporting to represent the best interests of the American people.

Real estate company's pitch leads to unexpected bill

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Even though Maria Casanova ended her RealtyTrac subscription not long after enrolling, an ad that appeared on the foreclosure listing site led to her being billed $44.95 a month for another service.

Maria Casanova, an assistant professor of economics at UCLA, toyed with the idea earlier this year of buying a foreclosed property near the Westwood campus. She signed up for a prominent listing service called RealtyTrac.

Business leaders' opposition to public health insurance option takes chutzpah

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Where do they expect the thousands of workers they've laid off and their families to get coverage?

Eastman Kodak Co. has said sayonara to about 22,000 workers over the last five years. Verizon Communications Inc. says it will have handed about 16,000 workers their hats by Dec. 31 -- and it is already looking ahead to the possibility of more layoffs next year.

Health insurer profits even when denying coverage

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Altadena resident Mike Freas was twice rejected for health coverage by Anthem Blue Cross because of a preexisting condition, forcing him into a costly state-run program intended to serve as the insurer of last resort for people turned away by the private sector.

Citibank shows why credit card holders need protection

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Months before a law takes effect that cracks down on abuses by credit card issuers, the bank increases interest rates to almost 30% on customers who pay their bills on time.

Ed Myska works as executive vice president of El Segundo's Bank of Manhattan, so it's pretty fair to say that he knows a thing or two about keeping his financial house in order.