U.S.A.'s interesting latest news

Mothers Day is May 13!
Take care of the one who has taken
care of You! Order these FREE Health
Publications and many more for you
and your Mom from Pueblo.GPO.gov


Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the U.S. Learn the signs of heart disease, including the "silent" symptoms, and get tips on how to lower your risk.

ORDER NOW





Easy-to-follow guide that features questions to ask your doctor and a simple chart to keep track of your medications.

ORDER NOW

View all publications available from Pueblo.GPO.gov View All Publications Social Security Puts You In Control  It’s National Social Security Month! Join the Social Security Administration (SSA) on Facebook Live this Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00 PM ET for "Social Security Puts You in Control". Don't miss the discussion to learn about the online tools available at your fingertips to help you take control of your financial future. You can post your questions on the invite and they will get to as many as they can during the broadcast.  IRS Provides Extra Day to File and Pay Taxes The IRS is providing an extra day for taxpayers to file and pay after experiencing system issues yesterday. The new deadline is midnight April 18. Visit USAGov's taxes page to find answers to common questions about filing federal income taxes, paying, getting refunds, and more on this extra day. It's Never Too Late to Grow Your Financial Knowledge There are many steps you can take to better your financial situation and manage your money. One way of doing so is learning the basics of saving and investing. Use this guide from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to set up a financial plan, compare different types of investments, and more. Celebrate Earth Week All week long, the Smithsonian Institute is hosting a digital storytelling celebration related to Earth Day. This year's theme focuses on “what is working” to make positive change happen for humans and nature. Use the hashtags #EarthOptimism2018 and #ImAnEarthOptimistBecause to join the conversation on social media! Military Kids Health Videos Military Kids Connect is sharing videos related to the resilience of the children of U.S. active military members and veterans. Teach your class about the unique situations military kids face and how to cope with them with help from stress management tips and puzzle activity books. Performance Arts Teaching your students about music, dance, or other performing arts? Use these great resources from the Library of Congress, like the Jazz Singers collection to investigate thought-provoking discussions about improvisation, culture, and the arts. FTC Undercover Inspections of Funeral Homes in 11 States Test Prompt Compliance with Funeral Rule Disclosure Requirements FTC’s Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to provide itemized price lists to consumers Federal Trade Commission investigators, working undercover in 11 states, found failures to disclose pricing information required by the FTC’s Funeral Rule in 33 of the 134 funeral homes they visited during 2017. The FTC conducts undercover inspections to monitor funeral homes’ compliance with the Funeral Rule. The Rule gives consumers important rights when making funeral arrangements. For example, funeral homes must provide consumers with an itemized general price list at the start of an in-person discussion of funeral arrangements, a casket price list before consumers view any caskets, and an outer burial container price list before they view grave liners or vaults. The Rule also prohibits funeral homes from requiring consumers to buy any item, such as a casket, as a condition of obtaining any other funeral good or service. By requiring the provision of itemized prices, the Funeral Rule enables consumers to compare prices and buy only the goods and services they want. Funeral homes that violate the price list disclosure requirements for the first time can enter the Funeral Rule Offender’s Program (FROP), a training program run by the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) designed to increase compliance with the Rule. All the homes found in violation have chosen to enter the FROP rather than subject themselves to the possibility of an FTC enforcement action seeking civil penalties, which can be as high as $40,654 per violation. The FROP provides participants with a legal review of the price disclosures required by the Rule, and ongoing training, testing and monitoring for compliance. Funeral homes that participate in the program make a voluntary payment to the U.S. Treasury in place of a civil penalty, and pay annual administrative fees to the NFDA. The results of the FTC 2017 undercover inspections for price list disclosures by region are as follows: In Ft. Wayne, Indiana, none of the 19 funeral homes inspected failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In Southern Fairfield County in Connecticut, Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York, and Southern New Jersey, none of the 26 funeral homes inspected in 2016-17 failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In Tucson, Arizona, one of the 11 funeral homes inspected failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In Boise, Idaho, two of the 14 funeral homes inspected failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In Hagerstown, Maryland and Winchester, West Virginia, three of 15 funeral homes inspected failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, four of the 20 funeral homes inspected failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In Augusta, Georgia, five of the 13 funeral homes inspected failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In Lansing, Michigan, seven of the 15 funeral homes inspected failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In Odessa and Midland, Texas, seven of the 15 funeral homes inspected failed to comply with a price list disclosure requirement. In addition, the FTC identified a number of funeral homes, within the tested areas, with only minor compliance deficiencies. In such cases, the FTC requires the funeral home to provide evidence that it has corrected the problems. Since the FROP began in 1996, the FTC has inspected nearly 3,200 funeral homes and found 559 homes with violations that required referral to FROP. This year, the FTC wishes to thank Indiana Attorney General Curtis T. Hill, Jr., for the valuable assistance provided by his office. The FTC educates consumers in English and Spanish about their rights under the Funeral Rule, and provides guidance to businesses in how to comply. For more information, read Shopping for Funeral Services, Paying Final Respects, Your Rights When Buying Funeral Goods and Services, and Complying with the Funeral Rule FTC Testifies Before U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Providing Update of Agency’s Efforts to Combat Illegal Robocalls Commission is using “every tool at its disposal” to fight illegal pre-recorded calls The Federal Trade Commission today updated a U.S. Senate committee on the agency’s continued efforts to combat unwanted and illegal telemarketing robocalls. According to the testimony, consumers are justifiably frustrated by such calls and submitted more than 4.5 million complaints about robocalls in fiscal year 2017. The FTC today reaffirmed its commitment to using every tool at its disposal in its fight against these intrusive and illegal calls. Testifying on behalf of the FTC before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Lois Greisman, Associate Director for the agency’s Division of Marketing Practices, said that changes in technology have enabled calls to be made more cheaply and on a larger scale than ever before, leading to increased consumer frustration. Illegal robocalls are more than just a frustrating invasion of privacy, as callers frequently use fraud and deception to pitch their goods and services, leading to significant consumer harm. They also are often used by criminal imposters posing as trusted officials or companies. The testimony details several of the different tools the Commission uses to protect consumers from such calls. For example, it notes that since the Commission began enforcing the Do Not Call (DNC) provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the FTC has brought 135 enforcement actions seeking civil penalties, restitution for victims of telemarketing scams, and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains against 439 corporations and 356 individuals. As a result of the 125 cases resolved thus far, the Commission has collected more than $121 million in monetary relief for defrauded consumers and civil penalties. The testimony also details FTC enforcement actions targeting robocall violators, noting that nearly all telemarketing robocalls – to both landlines and cell phones – have been illegal since September 1, 2009. Over the past three years, the FTC, often working with its law enforcement partners, has brought 11 new actions targeting defendants responsible for making billions of illegal robocalls. The FTC’s most recent action in the fight against illegal robocalls came just last month, when staff filed a complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction in federal district court alleging that Alliance Security and its founder, Jasjit “Jay” Gotra, are responsible for more than two million violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, including more than one million calls to consumers whose numbers are on the DNC Registry. Alliance installs home security systems and makes outbound telemarketing calls to solicit sales. In addition to calling consumers on the Registry, the FTC alleged the defendants and their telemarketers hid their identity from callers, at times identifying themselves as being with a competitor, such as ADT. The complaint also charged Alliance and Gotra with performing unauthorized credit checks on consumers who received unsolicited telemarketing calls, in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Another victory came in June 2017, when a federal district court in Illinois issued an order imposing the largest civil penalty ever in a DNC case – $280 million against satellite television provider Dish Network. The case charged Dish and its telemarketers with making tens of millions of calls – often robocalls – to consumers on the DNC Registry, as well as continuing to call consumers who had previously asked not to be called again. The FTC actively coordinates with law enforcement partners, technical experts, industry, and other stakeholders – for example, providing input to the National Association of Attorneys General Do Not Call working group. The Commission also works closely with federal law enforcement partners to conduct robocall enforcement “sweeps.” In addition, last month, the FTC and FCC co-hosted a Joint Policy Forum to discuss the regulatory and enforcement challenges posed by illegal robocalls, including Caller ID blocking and “neighbor spoofing.” The testimony explains the FTC’s ongoing efforts to understand what is driving the volume of illegal robocalls and what can be done to develop effective technological solutions. Recognizing that law enforcement, while critical, is not enough to solve the problem, the FTC has aggressively sought new strategies in coordination with technical experts, industry, and other stakeholders. Finally, the testimony details the Commission’s new data initiatives to help facilitate technological solutions to stop illegal robocalls, the newly re-designed National DNC Registry Data Book, and the FTC’s significant education efforts to help consumers avoid and prevent unwanted calls. The Commission vote approving the testimony and its inclusion in the formal record was 2-0.   MedWatch - 24-Hour Multi-Patient Use Endoscope Connectors: Letter to Healthcare Providers and Healthcare Facilities - Risk of Cross-Contamination [Posted 04/18/2018] AUDIENCE: Gastroenterology, Health Professional, Infectious Disease, Nursing, Risk Manager, Surgery ISSUE: The FDA is alerting health care providers and facilities about the risk of cross-contamination with certain connectors that are used in gastrointestinal endoscopy.  Endoscope connectors that are labeled for use with multiple patients over the course of 24 hours without reprocessing are known as 24-hour multi-patient use endoscope connectors. To date, the FDA has not received acceptable testing to demonstrate the safe use of these products, and recommends against their use. Endoscope connectors are small accessories used to connect the auxiliary water channel of flexible gastrointestinal endoscopes to a water source and irrigation tubing. To mitigate the risk of cross-contamination and possible infection between patients, the FDA recommends the use of connectors with features that prevent patient fluids from flowing backwards into the endoscope (backflow prevention features). These connectors may be either single-use connectors that are discarded after each patient, or reusable connectors that are reprocessed according to their instructions for use prior to each patient.   One manufacturer, Erbe USA Inc., currently markets a 24-hour multi-patient use endoscope connector, called the ERBEFLO port connector. The ERBEFLO port connector does not include a backflow prevention feature. The FDA's assessment has found that the recommended instructions and device design for the ERBEFLO port connector do not adequately mitigate the risks of cross-contamination for endoscopy patients.  This is because the connector, tubing, and/or water bottle can become contaminated with blood, stool, or other fluids from previous patients that travel back through the endoscope channels into the connector and tubing. BACKGROUND: Alternative endoscope connectors that are designed according to FDA recommendations are widely available on the U.S. market. These alternatives include backflow prevention features, and may be reprocessed and reused between procedures, or they may be single-use devices. RECOMMENDATION: FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND STAFF AT FACILITIES PERFORMING ENDOSCOPY Do not use 24-hour multi-patient use endoscope connectors because they carry a risk of cross-contamination.  The FDA encourages health care providers and facilities to: use single-use endoscope connectors with backflow prevention features use reusable endoscope connectors with backflow prevention features, and ensure that those reusable connectors are reprocessed according to their instructions for use prior to each patient procedure. Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program: Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report Download form or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178 Read the MedWatch Safety Alert, including a link to the FDA Drug Safety Communication, at:https://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm604940.htm  .