ConsumerWatchdog

WASHINGTON -- Just hours after Facebook officially went public on the New York Stock Exchange on May 18, 2012, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) signed a bill that granted the multibillion-dollar company an enormous tax break on its data center in Prineville, Oregon.

The legislation, dubbed the "Facebook bill" by local media, changed the way taxes were assessed on tech companies' data centers. The move saved the social media giant millions of dollars.

SANTA MONICA, CA – Medical malpractice and health insurance companies have given $45 million, or 77%, of the $58 million to the campaign against Proposition 46 as they rake in profits at the expense of doctor and
patient policyholders, said Consumer Watchdog Campaign today.

More than 840,000 voter signatures turned in by consumer advocates and families victimized by medical negligence have qualified a landmark patient safety ballot measure for the November 2014 California ballot, according to the Secretary of State's office. Voters will have a chance then to enact the Troy and Alana Pack Patient Safety Act and some of the strongest patient safety laws in America.

AT&T has approached DirecTV the largest satellite TV provider in the United States about an acquisition. Will this mean bad deals and less choice for the customer? KABC Los Angeles asks what could happen, if another monopoly is allowed to go through.

San Diego's Assembly Member Lorena Gonzales has introduced legislation to allow substance abusing doctors to keep their rehabilitation secret from patients and medical board regulators. Patients and patient advocates testified that the legislation is a threat to patient safety. 

Autumnwood is a show-home suburbia of stucco fronts and primly kept lawns nestled in the heart of Wildomar, California, about an hour and a half southeast of Los Angeles. Tranquil, sleepy, Autumnwood could be a poster-child for any modern housing tract. But beneath the façade, Autumnwood is a community riven by a fear held by many that the land on which the houses were built is contaminated with toxic chemicals. And despite the findings of two separate governmental agencies, more questions continue to be raised than have thus far been answered.

SANTA MONICA, CA – The California Medical Board must institute new protections against drug-using doctors after waiting years to revoke the medical license of a Bakersfield doctor who was using and selling drugs while on probation, wrote a father harmed by drug abuse and patient safety advocates in a letter today.