By Soumya Karlamangla, LOS ANGELES TIMES
December 27, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-27/self-blinded-man-ps…
Roman Arustamyan can’t see the holiday decorations surrounding him, or his wife and children shuffling around in sweaters in their Van Nuys home.
By Greg Iacurci, CNBC TV
December 24, 2019
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/24/california-tries-to-curb-discrimination…
California officials proposed a rule on Tuesday that would cut discriminatory pricing practices being used by auto insurance companies in the state.
By Don Thompson, ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 24, 2019
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/12/24/california-may-limit-using-jobs-…
SACRAMENTO — California is proposing to restrict auto insurance practices that regulators say benefit those who have more money, more education and are white.
Investigation found some programs discriminated against low-income people
By Leslie Scism, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
December 23, 2019
https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-to-toughen-rules-on-group-disco…
Column by George Skelton, LOS ANGELES TIMES
December 23, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-23/skelton-medical-mal…
SACRAMENTO — California is arguably the nation’s most politically “progressive” state. That’s our reputation. Left coast and all that. But on one issue, no state is more regressive.
Patient safety depends on medical providers and hospitals being held accountable when they do harm. When there are no consequences for medical negligence, patient care never gets better.
In 1975, the legislature placed a series of limits on injured patients’ legal rights. Most prominent among the law’s restrictions was a $250,000 cap on non-economic or quality of life compensation for patients harmed by medical negligence.
No. Updating California’s 45-year-old medical negligence cap will help the primarily low-income Californians served by community clinics by improving their access to justice if they are harmed by medical negligence.
Updating California’s 45-year-old medical negligence cap will help the primarily low-income Californians served by community clinics by improving their access to justice if they are harmed by medical negligence.
20 states plus Washington, DC have no cap on noneconomic damages.
- These include progressive states such as New York, Washington, and Connecticut as well as conservative states like Alabama, Wyoming, and Kentucky.
California is 1 of just 3 states with a cap as low as $250,000 with no exceptions. $250,000 is the lowest cap in the country. (Montana and Texas are the other two)
In just 2019, 3 states either overturned their caps or adjusted them for inflation.
Some argue that caps on compensation for victims of medical negligence prevent doctors from leaving a state because of liability fears. This claim is demonstrably false.
There are more doctors per capita in states without caps than in states with caps
Some argue that caps on compensation for victims of medical negligence prevent doctors from leaving a state because of liability fears. This claim is demonstrably false.
There are more doctors per capita in states without caps than in states with caps
By Malcolm Maclachlan, LOS ANGELES DAILY JOURNAL
DECEMBER 17,2019
SACRAMENTO – Often fighting back tears, proponents of an initiative to raise California’s 44-year old cap on non-economic medical malpractice damages kicked off their signature gathering campaign Monday.
By Staff Reporters, KNX 1070 AM Los Angeles, CA
December 17, 2019
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment covering the launch of the Fairness for Injured Patients Act statewide ballot initiative in California for November 2020: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/KNX_Boxer_…
By Staff Reporters, KQED 88.5 FM San Francisco, CA
December 17, 2019
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment covering the launch of the Fairness for Injured Patients Act statewide ballot initiative in California for November 2020: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/RADKQED_12…
By Staff Reporters, KFBK 1530 AM Sacramento, CA
December 17, 2019
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment covering the launch of the Fairness for Injured Patients Act statewide ballot initiative in California for November 2020: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/RADKFBK_12…
WOMEN are disproportionately harmed by outdated limits on the ability of injured patients to recover damages. California’s cap on compensation for “non-economic” or quality of life harm prevents women from getting justice.
By Angela Hart, POLITICO PRO
December 16, 2019
SACRAMENTO — Former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer on Monday threw her support behind a November ballot initiative to increase a decades-old cap on compensation in California medical negligence cases.
By Andrew Wheeler, SACRAMENTO BEE - CAPITOL ALERT
December 16, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article23…
A surgery gone wrong ended boxer “Sugar” Shane Mosley’s career. Now he’s fighting to change a California law that caps certain medical negligence lawsuit payouts .
By Cheryl Miller, THE RECORDER
December 16, 2019
https://www.law.com/therecorder/2019/12/16/new-ballot-campaign-against-…
Supporters of a proposed ballot initiative to lift, and in some cases eliminate, California’s $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases, kicked off their signature-gathering campaign in Sacramento on Monday.
By Don Thompson, ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 10, 2019
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cvs-fine-cvs-fined-3-6-million-in-californ…
CVS, the nation's largest pharmacy health care provider, is facing a record $3.6 million fine for failing to redeem deposits on bottles and cans at some of its locations, California regulators said Monday.
By Sharon McNary, LAist / KPCC
December 9, 2019
https://laist.com/2019/12/09/recycling_fail_cvs_faces_36_million_penalt…
California's recycling officials are making an example of drugstore giant CVS, accusing the chain of balking at redeeming cans and bottles in-store and failing to pay recycling fees to the state.
By James Rainey, LOS ANGELES TIMES
December 9, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-09/cvs-fails-redeem-ca…
Seeking to pressure retailers to accept recyclable containers from consumers, the state of California has proposed a $3.6-million penalty against the CVS pharmacy chain after dozens of its stores declined to redeem cans and bottles.
By Hannah Wiley, SACRAMENTO BEE - CAPITOL ALERT
December 4, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article23…
A ballot initiative to adjust the cap on medical malpractice payouts was cleared for circulation on Tuesday, according to the California Secretary of State’s office.
By Hailey Branson-Potts & Maria L. La Ganga, LOS ANGELES TIMES
December 3, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-02/pge-camp-fire-equip…
For years, Pacific Gas & Electric failed to do climbing inspections of a century-old tower that malfunctioned and sparked last year’s devastating Camp fire, a state investigation has found.
By John P. Mello, Jr., TECH NEWS WORLD
December 3, 2019
https://www.technewsworld.com/story/EU-Digital-Czar-to-Probe-Facebooks-…
The European Union has launched a probe into how Google and Facebook gather, process, use and monetize data for advertising purposes.
By Jeanette Settembre, FOX BUSINESS
December 3, 2019
https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/gloves-for-juul-smokers-being-markete…
Op-Ed by Susan Shelley, THE LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
November 27, 2019
https://www.dailynews.com/2019/11/27/you-cant-save-the-world-if-you-can…
Recycling is garbage.
That’s rapidly becoming the only logical conclusion to draw from a series of failed and failing policies that seem to be throwing your money in the trash.
His departure follows the closing of rePlanet CRV redemption centers throughout the state this summer.
By DeAnne Toto, RECYCLING TODAY
November 25, 2019
https://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/calrecyle-director-scott-smithli…
By Dan Bacher, INDYBAY MEDIA
November 24, 2019
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/11/24/18828400.php
The FracTracker Alliance and Consumer Watchdog unveiled a new website on November 19 to continually map and update the number of oil and gas wells permitted by the Newsom Administration: http://www.NewsomWellWatch.com.
By Adam Beam, ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 22, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article237687549.html
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The director of the agency that oversees California’s recycling programs said Friday he will resign by the end of the year.
By Vanessa Borge, Good Day LA, KTTV FOX TV-11 Los Angeles, CA
November 21 2019
https://www.foxla.com/news/consumer-watchdog-shares-ways-to-avoid-onlin…
LOS ANGELES - It's the holidays meaning more of us are shopping - specifically shopping online.
By Good Day LA, KTTV FOX TV-11 Los Angeles, CA
November 21, 2019
https://www.foxla.com/news/consumer-watchdog-shares-tips-on-protecting-…
LOS ANGELES - The United Postal Service says they delivered more than 30 million packages a day last holiday season and that means more opportunities for thieves. Consumer Watchdog shared tips on preventing porch pirates from nabbing your packages.
By Keith Laing, THE DETROIT NEWS
November 20, 2019
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/mobility/2019/11/19/di…
Washington — Distraction caused by a personal cellphone call is the probable cause of a 2018 crash in which an Uber self-driving car struck and killed a pedestrian, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled Tuesday.
By Sophia Bollag, SACRAMENTO BEE - CAPITOL ALERT
November 19, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article23…
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced a crackdown on fracking projects and a moratorium on new oil wells that use high-pressure steam.
Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, involves shooting a high-pressure stream of water or another substance into rock to extract oil or gas.
By Phil Willon, LOS ANGELES TIMES
November 19, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-11-19/california-fracking…
SACRAMENTO — In a victory for critics of California’s oil drilling industry, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday stopped the approval of new hydraulic fracturing in the state until the permits for those projects can be reviewed by an independent panel of scientists.
By Chris Mills Rodrigo, Maggie Miller, Chris Mills Rodrigo, THE HILL - HILLICON VALLEY
November 13, 2019
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/overnights/470370-hillicon-valley…
SHAKE IT UP/OFF: Microsoft shook up the debate over privacy rules with its announcement that the company will follow the principles of California's tough online privacy law across the U.S.
By Staff Reporter, AUTO WORLD NEWS
November 4, 2019
https://www.autoworldnews.com/articles/39390/20191104/will-you-press-yo…
When cars were analogue and mechanical, all we had to fear was a face to face hold up. Any connected car is a smart car-like "Swiss Cheese" with holes waiting for a breach. The solution as recommended, by Consumer Watchdog is to slap in a "Kill Switch".
By Dan Bacher, INDYBAY MEDIA
October 31, 2019
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/10/31/18827743.php
The Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), again in the spotlight of the national and international news media because of its shutoffs of electricity to millions of Californians as fires now rage throughout the state, spent $876,445 on lobbying from January 1 to June 30 of his year.
By Rose Aguilar and Lea Ceasrine, KALW 91.7 FM SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC RADIO
October 31, 2019
https://www.kalw.org/post/how-did-pge-go-wrong-preventing-wildfire-risks
On this edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss the history of PG&E and its role in California’s wildfires.
By David Lazarus, LOS ANGELES TIMES
October 31, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-10-31/fire-insurance-david-…
Vida Hamadani was hit twice this week by the Getty fire. As a Brentwood resident, she was forced to evacuate from her house and move in with her son.
As an independent insurance broker, she’s been fielding calls from clients asking what’s going to happen to their rates.
By Hannah Wiley and Dale Kasler, SACRAMENTO BEE - CAPITOL ALERT
October 30, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article23…
As California’s largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, battled bankruptcy and prepared for another round of mass power outages across the state, the company’s executive said Californians should expect to see fire-preventing blackouts for the next 10 years.
By J.D. Morris and Trapper Byrne, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
October 29, 2019
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/PG-E-will-cred…
Bowing to pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will provide some form of compensation to people affected by widely criticized mass power outages the utility implemented earlier this month.
