Latest Jamie Court Stories
SANTA MONICA & DANVILLE, Calif., May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California's Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg told injured patients and their families gathered on the Capitol sidewalk last week that he would hold hearings into the state's nearly 38-year-old cap on victims' recovery. Jerry Brown signed the $250,000 cap on how much injured patients could receive for the loss of their quality of life in his first term as governor and it has never been indexed...
SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The $7 million deal announced today ending a multi-state investigation of the Google Wi-Spy scandal does virtually nothing to thwart the Internet giant's repeated privacy violations, Consumer Watchdog said. The public interest group said Google should pay an amount that would affect its profits. In addition to the $7 million to be divided among the 38 states and the District of Columbia that were involved in the...
SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog called on the legislature to pull the plug on the Medical Board of California at hearings to renew it in Sacramento today because the board has failed in its duty to protect patients from drug dealing, over-prescribing and other dangerous doctors. The group also called for mandatory random drug testing of high-risk physicians. Bereaved families who have lost loved ones to overdoses due to reckless...
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leading consumer advocates today called upon the legislature to hold hearings and investigate strong new laws in response to recent Los Angeles Times reports on widespread drug overdoses due to physician overprescribing and the recent case of a convicted methamphetamine-using drug-dealing doctor who will be treating patients again within a year. Consumer Watchdog asked the Governor and legislative leaders in a letter to...
Initiative Measure On Next Ballot Will Give California The Power To Review And Reject Health Insurance Companies' Unreasonable Rate Hikes SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Anthem Blue Cross plans to go ahead with a 10.6% average annual health insurance rate hike on small business owners, despite the fact that an examination by California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones found the rate increase to be unreasonable and unsupportable, the Insurance...
Department of Justice, State Attorneys General Must Press To End Search Bias WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Federal Trade Commission's settlement with Google fails to end its most anticompetitive practice, Consumer Watchdog said today and the public interest group called on the Department of Justice and state attorneys general to press forward to end the Internet giant's monopolistic behavior in search results. "Google clearly skews search results to favor...
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today called on the U.S. Department of Justice to take over the ongoing federal antitrust probe of Google after the company's chairman in a news interview equated it with antitrust poster child Microsoft in the 1990s. The Federal Trade Commission appears ready to conclude its 20-month investigation "with no more than a scolding." "This is baffling in light of recent comments by Google Executive Chairman Eric...
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog Friday praised California Attorney General Kamala Harris for defending consumers' privacy rights by filing a suit against Delta Airlines for offering a mobile "app" that violates the state's privacy law. Under California law apps designed for use on smartphones and other mobile devices must include a privacy policy that explains what data is gathered and how it is used. Delta was one of a 100 companies...
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United States Senator and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller has written the president and chief executive of Hyundai Motors America to answer questions about the company's false "Mile Per Gallon" window sticker claims that were exposed by an Environmental Protection Agency audit, noted Consumer Watchdog today. Senator Rockefeller wrote Hyundai: "I will monitor the results of the EPA's ongoing investigation to better...
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Anthem Blue Cross could owe big refund checks to 730,000 Californians if its proposed rate hikes of up to 25% are deemed excessive thanks to an initiative voters will consider on the 2014 ballot. The ballot measure requires health insurance companies to get approval before raising rates and allows that refunds be ordered on rates that are considered excessive after November 6, 2012. When voters approve the measure, the...
