User:Bluerasberry/cr

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Consumer Reports ("CR") is a United States-based nonprofit organization which conducts product testing and advocates for consumers. Consumer Reports is best known for publishing both a magazine and a website called Consumer Reports.^{[citation needed]} With 7 million subscribers as of January 2016, Consumer Reports is one of the most popular publications in the United States.^{[citation needed]} It is regarded as the most influential nonprofit consumer organization in the world.^[1] It seeks to improve the marketplace for the consumer by conducting product testing to check the claims of advertising.^[2]

The organization was founded in 1936 as Consumers Union to challenge new sorts of advertising claims which began to appear during the mass media growth of the era.^[3] That advertising was itself a consequence of the chaotic, unchecked, and dangerous marketplace which developed after the advent of mass production in the early 1900s.^[3] Subscription sales of the Consumer Reports' own publications have been the organization's primary source of income since its founding.^[4] Consumer Reports has never published any corporation's advertisements or had any financial partnership with a corporation.^[4] Consumer Reports buys all products that it tests and has never accepted a product sample from any company, manufacturer, or commercial sponsor.^[4]

Subscription sales of the magazine generated enough revenue to help spawn the modern consumer movement.^[5] In the United States and internationally as a member of Consumers International, Consumer Reports advocates for the rights of consumers in such fields as the consumer products marketplace, health care, environmental protection, freedom of information, and personal finance.^{[citation needed]}

Operations

The mission of Consumer Reports is to encourage consumers to be more informed and empowered by providing them with unbiased, accurate, and useful evaluations and test information about products and services.^[5] The goal is to ensure that consumers get fair market value by informing consumers of any barriers to them doing so.^[5]

The organization was founded as "Consumers Union of United States, Inc." on February 6, 1936.^[6] It originally published Consumers Union Reports. Later, the magazine name was changed to Consumer Reports. In 2012, Consumers Union changed its branding and now uses the name "Consumers Union" when conducting advocacy and legal efforts and "Consumer Reports" to refer to all other activities.^[7]

Consumer Reports is a non-profit organization. It accepts no money, test samples, or gifts of any kind from any commercial source.^[8][9] Products to be tested are purchased at retail prices by anonymous shoppers around the country.^[8] Consumer Reports publishes no other organization's advertising.^[10][11][9] It forbids merchants and manufacturers from using Consumer Reports ratings in their own advertisements.^[9][11]

Publications

First published in 1936, Consumer Reports magazine has historically been the flagship publication of Consumer Reports. In 1997 the organization established ConsumerReports.org, and in 2001 that website began to generate more revenue than the print publication.^[12] Those publications together have more than 7 million subscribers, including 3.25 million online subscribers and 4 million print subscribers.^[13][10]

Consumer Reports publications include the following:

• ConsumerReports.org
• Consumer Reports magazine
• ShopSmart
• Consumer Reports On Health
• Consumer Reports Money Adviser

Funding

Consumer Reports funding comes from the sale of publication and information products, the provision of services, other fees, and from grants.^[9]

Consumer Reports is the organization which publishes Consumer Reports. As of 2007 the organization's revenue was US$208 million, of which 52 million supported editorial staff and 24 million funded technical staff.^[12] The Testing and Research Center in Yonkers, New York conducts most of the product testing to generate the articles in the magazine. Money generated by subscriptions to the magazine funds Consumer Reports' research and advocacy work.^[14] The major share of revenue comes from subscriptions to publications.^[8]

In the 1980s the organization began asking subscribers for donations, initially no more than $1000 and later no more than $5000, to open its new testing center.^[8] The organization has never accepted any donation from a commercial entity.^[8]

Offices

Consumer Reports was founded in New York City. In 1954 it moved to Mount Vernon, New York.^[8] In 1972 it opened an office in Washington, D.C. to work with people in the federal government.^[8] In 1975 CR opened an office in California and in 1979 another in Texas.^[8] These state offices lobby for low-income consumers by considering issues such as food prices, utility rates, and auto insurance rates.^[8] In 1989 the organization acquired a dragstrip and built an auto test facility in Haddam, Connecticut.^[8] In 1991 it moved its headquarters from Mount Vernon to Yonkers, New York where its present Testing and Research Center hosts 50 laboratories in 250,000 square feet of space.^[8]

History of Consumer Reports

The history of Consumer Reports is connected to the history of the Consumer Reports publications and the general consumer movement.

In 1927

In 1957 CU board member Colston Warne began to advocate that the organization should use its status to influence United States government policy.^[21] In 1960 Warne led CU in supporting the foundation of the International Organisation of Consumers Unions, now known as Consumers International. In the 1970s Consumers Union opened three offices to conduct advocacy. In 1974 Rhoda Karpatkin became executive director of the organization and backed advocacy efforts as vital to the organization's mission.^[22][23] In 2000 Karpatkin announced her retirement.^[24] In February 2001 James A. Guest replaced Karpatkin as head of Consumers Union.

Product testing

The reputation of Consumer Reports as a product testing organization and the circulation of its publications give its recommendations great influence when consumers make decisions about what to purchase and what to avoid.^[25] Consumer Reports conducts product testing within the following classes of goods:

• Automobiles
• Small appliances, and Consumer electronics
• Garden and lawn care
• Homemaking supplies
• Child care supplies
• Personal finance resources
• Shopping experiences
• Health

The largest division in the organization is the technical department, followed by the editorial department.^[8] Consumer Reports shares information about its testing methods with any manufacturer on request.^[25] Various manufacturers and industries have noted that Consumer Reports' statements impact sales in their markets.^[25]

Consumers Union evaluates 1,500 products in 65 categories every year.^[26] Products to be tested are selected by polling subscribers in an annual questionnaire and in monthly polls.^[26][8] In 2003 the cost of paper, postage, and printing for the paper version of Consumer Reports' annual questionnaire was USD $700,000 and the paper surveys were getting a 13% response rate.^[27] The online version of the questionnaire was recently established, and in that year it got a 25% response rate from Consumer Reports members asked to take it and its costs were half of the paper version's costs and expected to drop more after software infrastructure existed.^[27] The 2011 annual questionnaire drew 960,000 responses.^[11] Survey researchers at Consumer Reports analyze the annual questionnaires and monthly poll product performance surveys from more than a million readers annually.^[8][14] Through these surveys, Consumer Reports has gained what reviewers have called the the "mother lode" of used car data, which the organization uses to write about the reliability and maintenance costs of cars.^[11] A reviewer described Consumer Reports' survey practices as an early use of "crowdsourcing".^[11]

Consumer Reports once hosted an information center consisting of several librarians who review documents from academic institutions, government regulatory agencies, manufacturers, the medical community, and trade and professional associations.^[28]

Products to be tested are purchased at retail prices by anonymous shoppers around the country.^[8]

General demands for government and corporate accountability

Consumers Reports pairs product testing with advocacy for change, and when the organization finds a problem with a product it will often issue a statement that the manufacturers address the problem.^[25]

Consumers Union also seeks governmental protections for consumers. In 1962 Consumers Union board member

Early complaints about Consumer Reports included criticism that manufacturers' advertising was trustworthy as a tool to lower product prices and increase quality, local merchants gave superior advice about products because of their years of experience, and that the typical consumer can identify the important differences between products without getting advice from any consumer organization.[35]

Automobiles

Consumer Reports has rated automobiles since 1936, with early tests criticizing low visibility, unnecessary power, excessive weight on tires, insufficient braking capability, and manufacturers' producing cars which were "deliberately cheapened to promote their obsolescence."^[36]

Consumer Reports is the most widely read publication in the United States by people who are seeking advice in purchasing an automobile.

In May 2013 Consumer Reports rated the Tesla Model S with a near-perfect score making it the magazine's highest rated car. Jake Fisher, head of auto testing for Consumer Reports, called the car's performance in the magazine's performance tests "off the charts."^[38]

History of automobile testing at Consumer Reports

In 1938 Lawrence Crooks was a co-author of Consumers Union's Millions on Wheels, a guide for motorists which also described the link between imperfection in consumer technology and corporate interests.^[39] Thereafter Crooks wrote CR's automotive ratings until 1966, emphasizing "comfort, not luxury; economy, not top high speed; durability, not flashy performance; safety, not streamlining and deluxe fittings; and mechanical improvements, not gadgets."^[40] His goal was to make average readers informed enough to make rational comparative choices in the marketplace, and his nearly monthly reports were consistently the most popular part of the magazine.^[40]

In the early 1950s Consumer Reports began to discuss the work of safety pioneer

In a 2003 issue of CR, the magazine tested the Nissan Murano crossover utility vehicle. Consumer Reports did not recommend the vehicle because of a problem with its power steering, even though the vehicle had above-average reliability. The specific problem was that the steering would stiffen substantially on hard turning. Consumer Reports recommended the 2005 model, which addressed this problem.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Consumer Reports said six hybrid vehicles would probably not save owners money. The magazine later discovered that they had miscalculated depreciation, and released an update stating that four of the seven vehicles would save the buyer money if the vehicles were kept for five years (including the federal tax credit for hybrid vehicles, which expires after each manufacturer sells 60,000 hybrid vehicles).^[54]

• 
  Consumer Reports tests washing machines.
• 
  Standardized swatches test the effectiveness and gentleness of laundry detergent and washing machines
• 
  equipment for testing cameras
• 
  a robotic foot for testing Elliptical trainers

Sharper Image v. Consumers Union

It has been suggested that this section be split out into another page titled Sharper Image v. Consumers Union. (Discuss)

In 2004 The Sharper Image sued Consumers Union for defamation.^[63] Judge Maxine M. Chesney dismissed the case as an instance of a "SLAPP case".^[61] Consumer Reports collected over $500,000 in lawyers fees as part of the judgment.^[63] After winning the lawsuit, Consumers Report published again on the Ionic Breeze calling it "unhealthy".^[64]

Consumer Reports has done efficacy tests on indoor air cleaners since 1992.^[65] Consumers Union called for the Federal Trade Commission to set ozone limits for all air cleaners, mandate performance tests and labels disclosing the results, and to review advertisements for air cleaners as a check for deceptive claims.^[65]

General Signal

In 1983 Consumers Union filed a lawsuit against

In 1983 the court found in favor of the defendants.[68] Consumers Union appealed the judgement and in 1987 the court again found in favor of the defendants.^[69] Law journals have reviewed the case in discussions about freedom of speech, advertising, and copyright.^[70]

Electronics testing

Consumer Reports conducts product testing on a variety of consumer electronics products. The complex in Yonkers hosts a 30-foot by 30-foot anechoic chamber with beams into the Westchester County bedrock.^[60] The chamber is used to test audio devices such as speakers.^[60]

In 1971

Consumer Reports found a problem with the IPhone 4 antenna, in 2010, which led to a response from Apple and Steve Jobs.^[74]

Products and child safety

Consumers Union has advocated for child safety and lobbied for several laws to improve child safety with regard to manufactured products. The first issue of Consumer Reports warned of lead poisoning dangers in children's toys.^[60] In 1953 CU supported the passing of the U.S. Flammable Fabrics Act.^[75] In 1969 CU supported the passing of the Child Protection and Toy Safety Act.^[75][76] In 2008 with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Kids In Danger, Consumer Federation of America, and the Public Interest Research Group, CU supported the passing of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.^[77][78] Inez Tenenbaum named Consumers Union as a significant supporter backing the passage of the act and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission itself.^[79]

The February 2007 issue of Consumer Reports stated that only two of the child safety seats it tested for that issue passed the magazine's side impact tests. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which subsequently retested the seats, found that all those seats passed the corresponding NHTSA tests at the speeds described in the magazine report. The CR article reported that the tests simulated the effects of collisions at 38.5 mph. However, the tests that were completed in fact simulated collisions at 70 mph.^[80] CR stated in a letter from its president, Jim Guest, to its subscribers that it would retest the seats. The article was removed from the CR website, and on January 18, 2007 the organization posted a note on its home page about the misleading tests. Subscribers were also sent a postcard apologizing for the error. On January 28, 2007, The New York Times published an op-ed from Joan Claybrook, who served on the board of CU from 1982 to 2006 (and was the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1977 to 1981), where she discussed the sequence of events leading to the publishing of the erroneous information.^[81]

Access to information

Short-term campaigns

In the postwar era Consumers Union encouraged critical appreciation of entertainment media while encouraging consumer awareness about who manages the marketplace, such as in the case of the media industry's control of television in the United States.^[82] In 2000 Consumers Union criticized William Kennard's work as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, saying that because of his leadership "The FCC has been much more concerned about appeasing and meeting the demands of industry than considering the ultimate impact on consumers".^[83] In 2002 Consumers Union asked congress to shift regulatory authority for cable television in the United States from the Federal Communications Commission to the states. The rationale was that since cable was deregulated in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, cable rates had unacceptably risen at 2.5 times the rate of inflation, and that state regulation would lower prices.^[84]

In 2002 Consumers Union called for better service for wireless phone subscribers.^[85]

In 2005 Consumers Union joined other library and consumer organizations in filing a lawsuit against the

In 2009 Consumers Union urged congress to delay the digital television transition in the United States due to problems in getting converter boxes to rural, Spanish-speaking, low-income and elderly communities.^[90]

In October 2011 Consumers Union,

In 2011 Consumers Union and Public Knowledge protested the attempted purchase of T-Mobile USA by AT&T as uncompetitive and harmful to consumers.^[94] Consumers Union complained to lawmakers that the merger was an attempt to drive up market prices.^[95] Consumers Union noted that "Allowing AT&T to purchase T-Mobile will result in nearly 80% of the market being dominated by two wireless carriers. Such concentration cannot be good news for consumers."^[96]

Supreme Court of Virginia v. Consumers Union

In 1974 CU sought to create a directory of lawyers which would help consumers choose who to hire for legal services in Arlington County, Virginia.^[97] The directory would contain names, contact information, an address, education, areas of specialization, a description of billing practices, and other information which could be used to make a hiring decision.^[97] Because of legal laws prohibiting canvasing for clients, lawyers declined to share any information about themselves. To get access to this information, CU and the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council sued the American Bar Association, the Supreme Court of Virginia, and the Virginia State Bar.^[97] CU and the VCCC also sued the chief justice of the Virginia Court, the president and Ethics committee chairperson of the State Bar, and did so personally to these individuals and professionally as employees of their organization.^[97]

Consumer WebWatch

Consumer WebWatch was a Consumers Union online project launched in April 2002 to advocate for consumer interests.

In the late 1980s-90s Consumers Union organized a campaign to raise awareness about advertising to children during which it published two reports, "Selling America's Kids" and "Captive Kids", which argued that such advertising was unfair.^[100][101] The campaign was partly a response to the introduction of Channel One News, a newscast containing advertising which schools agreed to show in exchange for benefits.^[102] Consumers Union took the position that corporations made donations to schools were practicing "self-serving philanthropy" and expected to get a favorable return on investment.^[103] A representative of The Coca-Cola Company responded to the campaign by defending the practice of making donations to schools in exchange for advertising privileges, saying that "if the parents, teachers and students didn't want our help, we wouldn't be there."^[104][105] Consumers Union advocates that schools be places without advertising.^[106]

Finance

Consumer Reports goals in finance are to lessen economic inequality and to suppress regulatory capture of any sector by an industry.

Support for Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Consumers Union supported the passing of the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Consumers Union supported.^[107] It also permitted persons to freely have access to their credit score in the United States, which Consumers Union said is necessary for consumers to understand the lending process.^[107] Consumers Union's recommendation is for persons requesting their credit report to also request their credit score.^[108]

The Dodd–Frank Act capped the amount banks could charge retailers for "swipe fees" in a merchant account.^[109] To recoup the lost money, banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, SunTrust Banks planned new debit card fees in October 2012 to coincide with the implementation of Dodd-Frank Act. Consumers Union asked congress and regulators to investigate the fee as an unfair business practice^[110] and made the assertion that banks who accepted bailout money from the public in the Troubled Asset Relief Program should not put pressure on the public in times of economic crisis.^[111] Also Consumers Union provided information to consumers as part of its DefendYourDollars.org campaign^[112] and told people to switch to a bank without a fee or to a credit union.^[113]

In response to the fees protesters organized a Bank Transfer Day on November 5^[114] which followed the more general 15 October 2011 global protests. Chase and Wells Fargo dropped the fee.^[115] A few days later SunTrust Bank and Regions Bank and dropped the fee.^[116]

Consumers Union v. Kissinger

In May 1972 Consumers Union alleged in Consumers Union of U. S., Inc. v. Kissinger that top officials in the United States government's executive branch had made a marketing agreement with domestic and foreign steel producers in violation of the

In 1974 Consumer Reports provided financial assistance to Consumers' Checkbook, an organization which provides financial information services in the seven metropolitan areas they serve.^{[citation needed]}

In 1974 Consumers Union filed suit against against American Express and a member bank of the BankAmericard system (now Visa Inc.)^[120] The suit alleged that because credit card companies charged merchants 2-8% of a transaction, and because their contracts disallowed merchants to give discounts for customers paying cash, all customers would be paying to cover the cost of the credit card fees regardless of whether they used a credit card.^[120] Consumers Union alleged that this was a type of price fixing and requested a court order which allowed merchants to choose to give discounts to cash customers.^[120]

In 1977 Consumers Union brought suit in court against the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements on an accusation for violating laws in the Agricultural Act of 1956. Former Justice Tom C. Clark dismissed the case.^[121]

Consumers Union opposed the 1995 Common Sense Legal Reform Bill of the Contract with America, calling it "anti-consumer".^[122]

Food and Environment

Strontium-90 in nuclear fallout

It has been suggested that this section be split out into another page titled Radioactive contamination of food. (Discuss)

In 1959 Consumer Reports published research data indicating that that because of nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, all milk now contained radioactive Strontium-90 due to international contamination by nuclear fallout.^[123] This publication was the first time anyone had provided information to the public about worldwide nuclear contamination, and followed a history of popular writers speculating on the dangers of radiation and press coverage suggesting that the military need only take precautions in the vicinity of a nuclear test.^[124] Various activist groups continuously used data published by Consumers Union to back arguments which they wanted to make about the nuclear arms race.^[125]

Magazines in the United States began publishing concern about nuclear fallout in 1955, at which time a poll showed that only 17% of United States respondents recognized the term "fallout".

After a nuclear test Strontium-90 goes into the atmosphere and is distributed worldwide, but will naturally concentrate in certain products including milk.[130] Consumers Union contacted the Public Health Service and the United States Atomic Energy Commission only to find that these agencies had an incomplete record for checking milk for radioactivity, and to get a request for the organization to verify and expand government research on this issue.^[130] Consumers Union purchased milk from 27 US cities and had it tested for Strontium-90 and found that levels of the isotope in milk had risen as compared to levels before nuclear testing.^[131] The study confirmed Public Health Service's analysis and measured a national average of 8 micromicrocuries in milk, which the editors interpreted as a low number but "a potential hazard".^[132] Consumers Union sought review from the Public Health Service, which praised the report, and the Atomic Energy Commission, which agreed with the data but disagreed that the isotopes constituted dangerous radiation.^[133] In March 1959 Consumer Reports published an article called "The Milk We Drink" in which it presented the data and stated that "This report cannot be ended with a clear recommendation" about what anyone should do with the data or what it could mean for a person's health because the implications "have not yet been set by science".^[134] Consumers Union called for a government response to this information and a halt to nuclear testing.^[135]

Within weeks of the publication of that report, newspapers around the country republished the findings.^[136] Sales of milk declined and the dairy industry published reports encouraging people to drink milk for health and dismissing Consumer Reports' presentations as sensationalism.^[137] Government officials began to speak more about nuclear testing and discussion of nuclear contamination became part of political discourse, and government officials committed to reduce fallout and increase research into contamination.^[138] In the Berlin Crisis of 1961 the Soviet Union conducted an atomic test and the United States did shortly thereafter, but underground. The public demanded explanations about the dangers of fallout from these tests.^[139] In 1961 President Kennedy said that "The milk supply offers no hazards from fallout".^[140] By this time public discourse in the United States no longer considered fallout in milk to be a serious concern compared to nuclear warfare.^[141] In 1963 the United States, Britain, and Russia signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which limited the above-ground testing which causes fallout.^[125]

Decades later various commentators reflected that the warning by Consumers Union on this topic was a necessary warning.^[60]

Other campaigns about food, water, and pollution

At the release of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Consumer Reports distributed a special edition to its members to promote the book and its ideas.^[142] One week after the official release of the book Consumer Reports began shipping a maximum of one copy to subscribers who pre-ordered a copy at a 60% discount off the retail price.^[143]

Consumers Union studies confirm that

In 1989 Consumers Union scientists appeared on the television show 60 Minutes to speak of the dangers of apples treated with the pesticide daminozide.^[146][147] In 1995 Time published a retrospective noting that Consumers Union reported the daminozide concern when others including the National Cancer Institute and the American Medical Association said that the chemical puts people in almost no danger.^[60] It compared that campaign to the May 1992 report that consumers should be wary of unknown effects of bovine somatotropin (BST), a hormone to increase milk production of cows.^[60] The American Medical Association and the Food and Drug Administration asserted that BST was safe.^[60] Michael Fumento of the Hudson Institute said that the Consumers Union claim of the danger of daminozide was "scientifically unfounded" and intended as a "frightfest".^[148] After citing scientists who say that Consumers Union claims were with "no justification scientifically" and "totally off the wall", Fumento argues that Consumers Union has political motives to advance the ideas of the book Our Stolen Future and the W. Alton Jones Foundation.^[148] Cliff Kincaid revisited the issue in Human Events calling Consumer Reports' actions a "hoax", and suggesting that the "liberal advocacy" that the magazine did in the daminozide case was comparable to the needless "scare campaign" it ran to raise awareness of BST.^[122] The Society of Toxicology has criticized Consumer Reports' calls for decreasing pesticide use as being ""scientifically invalid ... not credible and unnecessarily alarmist" while a spokesperson for the American Farm Bureau Federation has suggested that CR has a political agenda behind its pesticide reduction campaigns.^[25]

In 1985 Consumers Union brought suit against

Ozone depletion is an environmental problem caused by man-made chemicals called CFCs. Consumers Union advocates that products not use CFCs because of permanent damage these chemicals do to the environment. In August 1994 Consumer Reports defended the CFC phaseout in an article called "The Ozone Hole: Is it Really there?"^[151] A report in Human Events by a researcher from the Competitive Enterprise Institute expressed the opinion that the ban on CFCs was both without benefit and likely to become the most expensive environmental measure ever taken.^[152] The report went on saying that Consumers Union was "at odds with the interests of American consumers", supported "scares even in the face of little or no evidence", has never "aligned itself against consumers more strongly than in its defense of the CFC phaseout", and that Consumers Union had "little interest in the consumer impact of their agenda".^[152]

In February 1998, the magazine tested pet food and claimed that Iams dog food was nutritionally deficient. They later retracted the report claiming that there had been "a systemic error in the measurements of various minerals we tested – potassium, calcium and magnesium."^[153]

After World War II Consumers Union supported the 1943-45 campaign for health care reform by backing the Wagner-Murray-Dingell Bill to add health insurance to the Social Security system in opposition to lobbying against the same by the American Medical Association and others.^[163]

Consumers Union supports the

Consumers Union has criticized the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, which allows pharmaceutical companies to pay the US government to ensure drug safety. CU asserts that money being paid to the US government creates a conflict of interest for the government to approve drugs.^[169] CU further asserts a preference that drug manufacturers assume all responsibility rather than sharing it with government and not pay the government for review services.^[169] Various other parties have responded to Consumers Union's complaints.^[170]

The United States is unusual in permitting direct-to-consumer advertising for drugs. Whereas most countries only encourage doctors to recommend medical treatments, in the United States drug manufacturers persuade consumers to seek the drugs and treatments which they market. Consumer Reports asserts that this kind of advertising is inherently biased to promote sales even if it is not in the best interest of the consumer.^{[161][171][172]}

Health education programs

Choosing Wisely is the name of a United States-based

Best Buy Drugs is a project to provide information to consumers about the relative effectiveness of various medications along with pricing information. The goal of the project is to support consumers when they make health care decisions. The Best Buy Drugs project takes information from the Drug Effectiveness Review Project, rewrites it in a way that is appealing to the general public, then distributes it.^{[173][174][175]} The campaign has been reviewed as a way to help consumers save money on medical expenses and improve the quality of their care.^{[176][177][178]}

The Safe Patient Project is a Consumers Union program for supporting

Consumers Union is a member of the Campaign for Children's Health Care coalition.^{[citation needed]}

Health ratings

In 2008 Consumer Reports began rating hospitals in the United States based on

In 2010 Consumer Reports began rating surgeons in the United States.[187] In response one report said "The voluntary reporting of risk-adjusted outcomes in approximately 20% of U.S. cardiac surgery programs is a watershed event in health care accountability."^[188]

Cigarette testing

In 1936 at Consumer Reports' founding the health effects of tobacco were not understood sufficiently for there to be consensus that smoking was significantly unhealthy. The tobacco control movement was not well-established to speak about health, and many entities including the tobacco industry defended the practice of smoking from criticism making such discussion a controversial topic.

In 1938 Consumer Reports did product testing on various brands of cigarettes to compare their nicotine content, tobacco quality, and the variations due to processing.^[189] The tests reported that the differences between any brand were small and the magazine emphasized the uniformity in brands and claimed that untruthful advertising led smokers to believe that differences existed where there were none.^[189] The report also described the control which the major manufacturers had over the market by using deceitful advertising to limit market competition from smaller companies.^[189] The magazine recommended that smokers purchase the least expensive cigarettes produced by any small company with unionized labor.^[189]

The report appeared during hearings of the

By March 1958 the tobacco industry had been reducing levels of tar and nicotine in cigarettes. Time magazine reported as follows:

Burned by research linking smoking with lung cancer, and by congressional charges that many filters actually filter very little, tobaccomen are quietly reducing nicotine and tars in cigarettes. Last week Consumer Reports, whose March 1957 tests played a large part in the congressional blast, reported the results of the latest tests, showing milligram declines in the last year.^[196]

Consumer Reports' esteem as an authority grew and began to be noted. Among other media mentions, in 1961 writer

On the argument that it would be illegal to divert charitable assets for a purpose inconsistent with their original mission, Consumers Union criticized the conversion of the New York-based nonprofit health insurer Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield into a for-profit company.^[204]

Empire changed the named of its parent company to WellChoice in November 2002 after its initial public offering.^[205] Under the conversion plan to become a for-profit organization, the organization was to pay US$1,000,000,000, 95% of which would go to the state and 5% would form a health foundation.^[205] In 2005 the New York Court of Appeals upheld the 2002 for-profit conversion with a 4-2 decision after a three year lawsuit by Consumers Union alleging that this use of the insurer's charitable assets was unconstitutional. Days later, Consumers Union won a restraining order restricting any use of the money pending a judge's review of the legality of another aspect of the conversion.^[205]

In 2010 Consumer Reports complained of unfairness in many Blue Cross Blue Shield Association health insurance plans because they raise member premiums while holding cash reserves in excess of the minimum required for solvency protection.^[206]

Sexual health

In 1937 Consumers Union published a pamphlet called Report of Contraceptive Materials and advertised it in Consumer Reports magazine as being available on request "to members who were married and seeking such information on the advice of their physicians".^[207] Within days of distribution the United States Postal Service said that the magazine was in violation of postal laws for publishing the advertisement.^[207] In 1941 the post office further stated that the contraception report itself as a private publication separate from the magazine could not be mailed, despite Consumer Reports' argument that the report gave people information about unreliable and dangerous contraceptives.^[207] At the time discussion of contraception by mail was restricted by United States obscenity law.^{[citation needed]}

In 1943 Consumers Union asked the court to allow them to distribute information on contraception through the mail.

Consumer Reports published a demand for legalized abortion in the United States in 1947.^[212]

In 1948 in a review of phony creams purported to cause growth of a woman's breast size, Consumers Union denounced the use of sex in advertising on the basis of it being unfair to women and encouraging women to have a negative body image.^[213]

In 1962 Consumers Union published The Consumers Union Report on Family Planning.

In 1986 Consumers Union released Love, Sex, and Aging: A Consumers Union Report.[216] The book gives the report of a survey of the sexual habits of over 4000 persons over age 50. A reviewer notes that this "by far the largest sample to date" and that this "broad and searching study" "(attests) to the importance--and variety--of sex in (people's) lives".^[217] The reviewer also said that survey respondents trusted CU's reputation and therefore had "confidence in CU's purposes, and interest in its findings", and consequently would be forthcoming in talking about sexuality when otherwise they might not be.^[217]

Alternative medicine

In 1951 Consumer Reports reviewed L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics and commented that "irrational cults... (flourish in) the absence of rational organization of psychiatric resources".^[218] Later commentary noted that Consumer Reports was concerned about the conflict between Dianetics and the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and other professional and social welfare organizations.^[219]

Mildred Edie Brady, editorial director and senior reporter at CU from 1958–1965, wrote critically of Wilhelm Reich's orgone accumulators and their purported ability to concentrate orgastic potency.^[220]

Consumer Reports reviews the safety of