| Volume 143 Number 50 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about contact tracing. It’s the process of identifying people who have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, instructing them to quarantine and monitoring their symptoms daily. There’s no question, contact tracing plays a vital role in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19. But scammers, pretending to be contact tracers and taking advantage of how the process works, are also sending text messages. Click here for more.
Johnson & Johnson to stop selling talc powder products in North America
Johnson & Johnson says it will stop selling baby powder containing talc in the U.S. and Canada after suspending shipments of the powder -- along with many other products -- during the coronavirus (COVID-19) economic shutdown.
The company says it is permanently discontinuing about 100 of its products, and Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder is one of them. The product has been the object of thousands of lawsuits from longtime users who have claimed the powder causes cancer.
Johnson & Johnson has vigorously denied those claims but has acknowledged that the litigation has hurt North American sales. Click here for more.
Your Money
More than 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March. While the government is providing a $600 per week boost to the benefits of eligible workers, that extra money only lasts until July 31. Plus, it may not be enough to bridge the gap for some workers. Even if unemployment benefits can cover bills right now, workers should prepare to make changes to their budget and their lifestyle. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Free weekly credit reports. The big-3 Credit Reporting Agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) issued a “joint action” that they are now offering free weekly credit reports to all Americans until April 2021. While the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the big-3 to provide consumers with one free annual report every 12 months, this is an unprecedented step in response to the anticipated COVID-19 impacts on the individual consumer. This weekly consumer report access could mean a lot of things for furnishers, like a sudden increase in consumer disputes. Click here for more.