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Feb 19, 2021, 15:34 ET California Moves to Curtail Job and Education-Based Auto Insurance Discrimination, Says Consumer Watchdog

Draft regulations released by the Department of Insurance Thursday move California one step closer to stopping auto insurance discrimination that has ...

Feb 17, 2021, 17:01 ET Consumer Watchdog Applauds Bill To Ban All Dangerous Forms Of Oil Extraction Including Hydraulic Fracturing

Consumer Watchdog today welcomed newly introduced state legislation—SB 467—to ban fracking and a host of other more commonly employed and dangerous...

Feb 11, 2021, 13:20 ET Consumer Redemption Rate Stands At 58.9%; Governor and Legislature Must Make Bottle Returns Convenient, Says Consumer Watchdog

The latest data on the bottle and can redemption rate for 2020 for the first eleven months, put out by the Governor's recycling regulator CalRecycle, ...

Feb 09, 2021, 14:07 ET Racial Justice Groups Endorse Fairness Act to Reform Medical Negligence Law, Call on Governor Newsom and Legislature to Act, says Consumer Watchdog

A coalition of Central Valley racial justice groups announced their endorsement of the Fairness for Injured Patients Act, the 2022 ballot initiative...

Feb 03, 2021, 14:15 ET History of Positions Undermining Patient Safety Disqualify Former Leaders of Doctors' Lobby For Seats on CA Medical Board, Patients Harmed by Medical Negligence to Testify

Two former leaders of the California Medical Association should be rejected as nominees to the Medical Board of California for their records opposing ...

Jan 19, 2021, 13:39 ET Newsom Administration Doubles New Oil And Gas Production Well Permits, Misses Deadline for Drilling Setback Rule, Says Consumer Watchdog

California oil regulators more than doubled the dispensing of permits in 2020 to drill new oil and gas production wells, issuing more than 1,700 in...

Jan 13, 2021, 15:19 ET Consumer Watchdog Calls on Gov. Newsom to Withdraw Nomination of Dr. Richard Thorp, Former Head of the Doctors' Lobby, to Board Charged with Protecting Patient Safety

Consumer Watchdog renewed its call for Governor Gavin Newsom to withdraw the nomination of Dr. Richard Thorp, former president of the doctors' lobby, ...

Dec 09, 2020, 19:33 ET Ninth Circuit Reinstates HIV Discrimination Claims Against CVS Prescription Drug Mail-Order Program, Says Consumer Watchdog

Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision holding that five "John Doe" HIV patients could pursue a discrimination...

Dec 07, 2020, 13:51 ET Consumer Bottle Redemption Rate Falls To 58%, Major Overhaul Of Container Recycling Program Inescapable, Says Consumer Watchdog

Between July and September of 2020, the rate of consumer redemption of empty beverage containers fell another two percentage points to 58%, according ...

Dec 01, 2020, 13:06 ET On World AIDS Day, an HIV+ Man Sues Doctor and Medical Group for Discrimination After Refusing to Provide Treatment

An HIV positive man filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court to coincide with World AIDS Day against a surgeon and medical group for refusing...

Nov 19, 2020, 14:04 ET CA Permits To Drill New Oil And Gas Production Wells Rose 160%, While New Wells Actually Drilled Plummets To 60;

Oil companies received 160% more oil production drilling permits in the first nine months of 2020 over the year before, but the number of oil wells...

Nov 18, 2020, 14:57 ET Gov Dined Unmasked With Head of Doctors Lobby And Lobbyist At French Laundry says Consumer Watchdog

Charles Johnson, husband of a black woman who died in childbirth and a patients' rights leader, was terribly disappointed at pictures showing...

Nov 13, 2020, 14:06 ET Consumer Watchdog Hacks A Tesla to Prove Dangers of Wirelessly Connected Cars; Releases "Hack 10" Report About Hackability Of Top 10 Best Selling Cars

The nonprofit, nonpartisan Consumer Watchdog today released a video showing how a box it built with the help of technologists could hack into the...

Oct 30, 2020, 16:16 ET Google Algorithm Biased Against California Privacy Initiative Prop 24; Consumer Watchdog Calls For Investigation And Hearings

Consumer Watchdog today called for the Senate Elections Committee to investigate why a Google search for Prop 24 was, until last night, the only one...

Oct 26, 2020, 13:51 ET Redemption Rate For Empty Bottles And Cans Sinks To 60% As Consumers Forfeit $60 Million in Deposits Refunds

State data show that California consumers left $60 million in unredeemed bottle and can deposits with the state in the first six months of 2020 as...

Oct 19, 2020, 16:45 ET Insurance Companies Created Home Insurance Crisis, Consumer Watchdog Testifies at Department of Insurance Wildfire Hearing

The insurance industry is exploiting California wildfires for its own financial advantage by arbitrarily refusing to sell or renew homeowners'...

Oct 19, 2020, 14:44 ET Newsom Administration Issues Six More Fracking Permits To Aera Energy Consumer Watchdog Says

The Newsom Administration issued six more fracking permits to Aera Energy late on Friday afternoon at a time of great risk to the environment and to...

Sep 25, 2020, 13:26 ET $7 Signatures Block Citizen Access to Ballot Initiative Process, E-Signatures Can Restore It, Says New Report

The cost to qualify an initiative measure for the November 2020 ballot averaged a record-high $7.22 per valid signature, a prohibitive cost that...

Sep 24, 2020, 17:37 ET "I Can't Breathe" Said Black Manteca Man Allegedly Killed by Medical Negligence at Kaiser Hospital

The family of Shawn Washington, a 29-year-old Black man allegedly killed by medical negligence at Kaiser Manteca Medical Center, called on the...

Sep 22, 2020, 14:08 ET Two Advocacy Groups Challenge California Oil Regulator To Correct The Record On True Oil Drilling Permit Numbers

Consumer Watchdog and the FracTracker Alliance challenged the state's Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk "to be honest with the public about the...

Sep 17, 2020, 14:40 ET New Website & Interactive Map Tells the Stories of Medical Negligence Victims Denied Justice Representing Every CA State Senate District on World Patient Safety Day

As California courts and voters confront the injustice of the state's 45-year-old limits on the rights of medical negligence victims, Consumer...

Sep 02, 2020, 13:22 ET Permits To Drill New Oil And Gas Wells Zoom Up 190% In The First Six Months Of 2020 Under Gov. Newsom In Worrisome Trend, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance Report

As COVID-19 cases shattered California daily records in the second quarter of 2020, oil regulators under Gov. Newsom also shattered records for...

Aug 26, 2020, 13:41 ET Consumer Watchdog Urges Legislative Leaders To Reject Last Minute Raid By Waste Haulers On Consumer Bottle Deposit Funds

Consumer Watchdog urged Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon to shut down a last-minute attempt by waste...

Aug 21, 2020, 17:29 ET Insurance Commissioner to Investigate Key Wildfire Insurance Issues Under Legislation Headed to Senate Floor, says Consumer Watchdog

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara would investigate and develop solutions to ensure affordable, accessible insurance for homeowners in...

Aug 18, 2020, 13:34 ET Consumer Watchdog Warns Newsom Continued Emergency Exemption Of Retailers From Recycling Will Eviscerate Bottle Deposit System

The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog called on Governor Gavin Newsom not to give retailers another exemption from their duty to refund bottle and can...