Viewpoint

That's the amount eight pharmaceutical companies paid promotional speakers (overwhelmingly doctors) to talk about their drugs in 2010, according to independent newsroom ProPublica. Beginning in 2013, federal law will require that all companies publicly report such data. Consumer Reports supported the push for full disclosure.

Every driver and passenger in the U.S. is likely to be safer because of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS). The nonprofit auto safety and consumer advocacy organization was one of the five finalists for the Consumer  Reports Excellence in Advocacy Award. The group has worked for 30 years to save lives, prevent injuries, and protect consumers from auto-related fraud and abuse.

CARS, led by Rosemary Shahan, helped craft the country's first auto lemon law in California. Now all 50 states have such laws. It recently helped extend protections to military personnel serving or based in California. The group
also played a leading role in securing air bags as standard vehicle equipment and curbs on predatory auto lending.

For details on the award finalists, go to www.ConsumerReports.org/consumeraward.

‘Clearly, U.S. Bank cannot take the money, contract with our government to provide a service to the taxpayer, violate that agreement, and then say no one on earth can sue them for it.'

       –Georgia Superior Court Judge Dennis Blackmon, denying U.S. Bank's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a mortgage holder who was facing foreclosure. The bank was supposed to use the billions of dollars it received from the government to modify the loans of struggling homeowners. It was being sued after it refused to put on paper why it had turned down a borrower's request for a loan modification.

Is this on the record? Find out at www.annualcreditreport.com.

The start of a new year is a good time to check your credit report. Some sites promise you a free report but then try to charge you for services. There's only one authorized source for the free annual credit reports—one from each of the three nationwide consumer credit  reporting companies—that are yours by law.