Hello, friends. It has been a while again. I swear I am not doing this on purpose. Let's just say a lot of interesting things keep happening in my life, but I am determined not to give up. Also don't think that I've given up on my domestic abuse module. If anything, I have acquired more firsthand experience on the subject over the past year than throughout my entire life. While understandably, most people would consider this to be a bad thing, the positive way to look at it is that I can use my experiences to share the wisdom I have gained from my past experiences.
Anyhow, I digress. A representative from Consumer Notice reached out to me a few months back asking me to do a piece on one of their recent posts about Uber and Lyft Rideshare Assaults. I think before I do that, however, I would like to take the opportunity to introduce this entire website. In a later post, hopefully within the next day or so, I will be able to discuss the actual post of interest. In the meantime, if you are curious, you are more than welcome to click on the hyperlinked text above to read the article yourself.
Without further ado, what is "Consumer Notice"? As they mention in their "About Us" section on their website, they describe themselves as follows:
Consumer Notice is a consumer advocacy organization dedicated to providing reliable health and safety information and empowering consumers to assert their legal rights. Our team works alongside consumer advocates and legal experts to educate the public on harmful products, drugs and medical devices, digital security, environmental hazards and personal injuries caused by corporate and individual negligence.
The further define the scope of their work with their mission, which they define as:
Consumer Notice’s mission is to promote consumers’ awareness of public health and safety hazards and inform them of their rights when faced with loss or injury caused by another’s negligence.
The writers for this website also provide bios about their areas of expertise, all of which in my opinion come from impressive journalism backgrounds with a diverse range of expertise ranging from criminal investigation to consumer health and safety. Considering this, I am humbled by this organization reaching out to me to express interest in my blog.
The organization also has an impressive list of credentials and accolades, including, but not limited to the Digital Health Award for Fall 2023, accreditation by the Better Business Bureau, and several intramural collaborations with other advocacy organizations.
I think in order to better appreciate the work that the website does, it is important to break down the key components of their mission, which I will do in the following paragraphs.
The first key component of their mission is to promote consumer awareness of public health and safety hazards. As such, you will find several useful resources throughout their website which address a wide spectrum of these topics, to include, but not be limited to:
Drugs and Medications
Medical Devices
Personal Care Products
Child Safety Devices (for example, Car Seats)
Water Pollutants
Pesticides
The second main component of their statement is to inform [consumers] of their rights when faced with loss or injury caused by another’s negligence. As such, for all the aforementioned topics that I included in the previous list, they disclose rights that the consumer has for products as it pertains to their own personal safety or the safety of their property (such as land, vehicles, etc.). It also explains the obligations and responsibilities of the manufacturers of these products have to the consumer to ensure the consumer's health and safety. I highly recommend you browse through the navigation bar throughout their website, and if you have either been exposed to any of the products that explicitly mention, or have used any of said products, you can find a considerable amount of information within one consolidated resource. Even if you think you already know everything about Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), it never hurts to check. You may discover new information relevant to your case, if you are pursuing any sort of legal action.
I personally am a veteran of the United States Navy (USN), and as such, I have been exposed to AFFF during basic training at Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes and onboard every ship I have served on. I am fortunate to say that to my knowledge, I have not been adversely affected by AFFF, but I nevertheless reviewed the website's content regarding this highly hazardous fire extinguishing chemical. Again as an example, Consumer Notice cites the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) as listing the possible adverse health complications linked to AFFF exposure, including (but not limited to):
Asthma
Liver damage
Fertility issues
This is immensely valuable information, and if you've previously served in the military and start noticing these changes to your personal health, you may be able to seek reparations from the Department of Defense, or additional disability compensation through the VA.
Anyway, I cannot stress enough how valuable a resource like this is. It even provides a list of high profile lawsuits on the main page (for example, Roundup).
In any case, there you go. This post may be subject to updates in case there are any inaccuracies or errors or important details that Consumer Notice would like me to know about. Again, I don't like beating the dead horse on this subject, but my life is in constant chaos these days. I am hoping things will get back to normal soon, but unfortunately, I can't make any immediate promises to commit to consistent updates. This website is intended to be a free resource, and due to the poor pay, we don't have too many volunteers eager to write posts for us. Maybe that will change in the future. So far, it has only been me.
That said, if you or anyone else that you know of is interested in this sort of thing, they are more than welcome to contribute freely to the website, as long as they do so in a responsible, mature manner and have an active account. If anyone is interested, feel free to contact me. Thank you very much, and have a good day.
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