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News Release | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

REPORT: Debt Collection Abuses Leading Source of Servicemember and Veteran Complaints to CFPB

Portland, OR – Debt collection abuses were the leading source (32%) of 44,000 servicemember complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a new report. Further, legislation passed by the U.S. House earlier this month intended to cripple the CFPB would place servicemembers, veterans and their families in “financial harm’s way,” thereby threatening unit preparedness.

News Release | OSPIRG | Antibiotics

Oregon Lawmakers Fail to Advance Bill to Protect Antibiotics

Salem, OR - A bill to protect the efficacy of life-saving antibiotics by stopping their overuse on healthy animals failed to meet a legislative deadline to move out of committee today. The lack of action comes after months of lobbying from industrial farms and out-of-state pharmaceutical companies. 

Report | OSPIRG Foundation | Consumer Protection

Medical Debt Malpractice

Millions of Americans are contacted by debt collectors every year over debt related to medical expenses.

Medical debt collectors often employ aggressive tactics and attempt to collect debt from the wrong customers – putting consumers’ credit records at risk. Medical debt accounts for more than half of all collection items that appear on consumer credit reports. A review of 17,701 medical debt collection complaints submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) shows that problems with medical debt collection are widespread and harm Americans across the country.

News Release | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

New report shows millions are victims of aggressive tactics from medical debt collectors

Portland, OR - A leading consumer group, OSPIRG, released the ninth in a series of reports that review complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  The latest report explores consumer complaints about medical debt, a major source of problems for consumers, since medical debt items on credit reports are often wrong or about the wrong consumer.  The report also demonstrates the need to defend the CFPB from partisan and special interest attacks.

News Release | OSPIRG | Antibiotics

KFC To Eliminate Use of Medically Important Antibiotics from Chicken Supply

Louisville, KY – The growing ranks of global health experts who have been alarmed by the rise in antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” have an unlikely new hero: KFC, the fried chicken giant.

Today, KFC U.S. announced that by the end of 2018, all chicken purchased by the company will be raised without antibiotics important to human medicine. A coalition of consumer and public health groups, including OSPIRG, had urged the company to act on the issue. 

News Release | OSPIRG | Public Health, Antibiotics

U.S. Government Accountability Office concludes “oversight gaps still exist” in FDA response to routine antibiotic use on farms

A new report released last week by the United States Government Accountable Office (GAO) concluded that new federal government regulations meant to reduce the overuse of antibiotic on farms are inadequate and more action is needed. The report comes as lawmakers in Salem debate Senate Bill 785, which would outlaw the use of routine, low-doses of antibiotics on healthy animals to prevent disease and require farms to publicly disclose their use antibiotics on an annual basis.

The American Health Care Act is a bad deal for Oregon

Friday, March 17, 2017
By | Jesse O'Brien
Director, Campaign for Price Transparency

Congress may be about to make a historic mistake that could raise costs and degrade the quality of health care for countless Oregonians—all without seriously taking on any of the myriad problems in our health care system.

News Release | OSPIRG | Public Health

Salem Hearing Highlights Threat of Antibiotic-Resistant “Superbugs”

A coalition of medical organizations, farmers, and public health advocates testified in front of the Senate Health Care Committee today in support of Senate Bill 785, a bill that would protect the effectiveness of antibiotics by stopping their overuse on factory farms in Oregon.

News Release | OSPIRG | Democracy

Portland City Council Votes to Make Government More Accountable to Everyday People

The Portland City Council passed a major reform that will lift up the voices of everyday voters in local government. Open and Accountable Elections will empower candidates to run for office without taking big campaign contributions, instead fueling their campaigns with small donations from local, everyday voters, matched 6-to-1 with designated public funds.

Oregon awarded a “B” on health care price transparency—but the state is still failing consumers

Thursday, July 28, 2016
By | Jesse O'Brien
Director, Campaign for Price Transparency

OSPIRG has been pushing for years to increase access to accurate, actionable health care price information for Oregon consumers. So you’d think we would be celebrating when a national scorecard from the transparency advocates at Catalyst for Payment Reform recently gave Oregon a “B” rating—up from an “F” in every prior year—for progress toward making price information more widely available. Unfortunately, there’s much less here than meets the eye.

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