October 2007
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Kitchen floors
Before recommending vinyl flooring in your August 2007 Great kitchens for less report, it's a shame you didn't look at PVC (of which vinyl flooring is made) and its effects on human health and the environment. Also, can bamboo flooring be "green" when it is shipped from China? There are plenty of sustainably grown domestic woods suitable for flooring
Suzanne Albinson
New Haven, VT
Preventing whiplash
I read with interest your August 2007 report on whiplash, especially the part "Good positioning is critical". Proper body positioning is as critical as proper positioning of the equipment. A few years ago a friend was in the passenger seat of my car, properly restrained, but had her body twisted at a slight angle so she could better talk to me. A car hit us from behind at a low rate of speed, but my friend was injured quite severely because while the head is designed to go forward and back, it isn't designed to snap at a 45-degree angle. Her neck and jaw needed extensive treatment, but the insurance company would not believe that such a low-speed crash caused such problems.
Stacey Kirsch
Wood Dale, IL
Free drug samples
Your article on free drug samples in August 2007 is wrong in saying that they are "gifts" to the doctor. If anything, they require more work for me and my staff as we have to keep track of these and ensure that they are not outdated. I use them to let patients try the medication for free to see if it is effective and tolerable.
Mark Hodges, M.D.
Washington Court House, OH
Free samples are not free. They are part of the drug company's advertising budget and contribute to the high cost of drugs. The free sample is a tool to tune the patient in to brand-name recognition, so that when it runs out they will stick with the same brand, despite the expense. There might be less-expensive drugs that are just as effective.
Identity theft
In reading the August 2007 Viewpoint report, I was stunned that consumers have to contact the three credit bureaus and pay to freeze our credit-report information so that thieves can't get access to confidential information.Why isn't this information always frozen unless we request that it be unfrozen? I know two identity-theft victims, and it was a nightmare for both.
Mary Webb
Cambria, CA
In your letter to the editor, include a daytime phone number so that we can contact you should we decide to print it. Send it to Consumer Reports, 101 Truman Ave., Yonkers, NY 10703, or at www.ConsumerReports.org/lettertoeditor.
