The popular diet and weight loss supplement Hydroxycut was recalled today by the FDA and the manufacturer.

The FDA is warning consumers to immediately stop using the products after receiving 23 reports of serious health problems associated with its use.

Have you used Hydroxycut or other weight loss drugs? Is the FDA overreacting or should it have acted sooner?

FDA news release.

Hydroxycut Web-site

Look for a full story on www.newsok.com/watchdog

 

Crystal Long of Moore asked for the Watchdogs’ help in trying to track down witnesses to an accident she was in. Normally, the team doesn’t chase cars, but fender benders are such as common occurrence we figured readers can relate. Who knows, helping might even settle some demons for someone still angry over a fender bender in their life.  

So anyway, Crystal was driving north on Interstate 44 about 8:30 a.m. Thursday and was about to merge onto I-40 west when, according to her, without warning a blue Chevy truck whipped into her lane. She drives a 2000 silver Pontiac Sunfire.

“The other lady in the blue truck had a different story, she is not fessing up,”

Crystal has about $2,000 worth of damage on her car, but only has liability insurance. She’s a single mom, student and works full-time, she said.  

“I didn’t know that I needed a witness or I would have flagged someone down,” she said. 

Some of the best stories begin with a simple observation. My story about gambling addition was going in a completely different direction until I laid eyes on a Remington

Chance to Change is one of the 13 agencies in Oklahoma that offers free counseling services to problem gamblers and their families. What sweet irony that its patrons would park underneath a towering advertisement of the very temptation that brought them there.

One Chance to Change counselor told me the billboard is the butt of many jokes. And I think we can all see the humor in it.

Here is what Remington Park president Scott Wells said about the billboard.

“Like any business, our billboard locations are based on traffic — not what kinds of buildings are nearby. That particular billboard is located just a couple of miles from our facility. As a matter of coincidence, that billboard is scheduled to be moved to another location within the next month. In any case, Remington

By next month, the billboard at Chance to Change will probably be replaced with beer or cigarette advertisement.

No one can dispute the influence of advertising on our feeble minds. But I have to wonder, if gambling would be as profitable if mental health professionals had a budget equal to casinos to advertise the uglier side of gambling.

 

Learn to protect yourself from identity theft and fraud Thursday at Consumer Protection Day at the state Capitol.

Representatives of consumer and law enforcement groups from across the state will be on hand from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to answer questions and educate visitors on how to avoid scams.

Load up that closet full of documents your afraid to throw away and bring them to the Capitol. Free document shredding is being offered by Shred-It on the south side of the building. In previous years, 24-tons of documents were shredded.