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Consumer Confidential: Outsourced meds, Social Security tool, Casey Anthony hoax

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Here’s your to-thine-own-self-be-true Tuesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Where does our medicine come from? Increasingly, the answer is overseas, where safety standards can be lower. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that about 40% of finished drugs and 80% of active ingredients and bulk chemicals come from abroad. The Pew Health Group says in a new report that increased outsourcing of manufacturing, a complex and globalized supply chain, and occasionally criminal businesses create the potential for counterfeit or substandard medicines to enter the supply chain and reach patients. Industry and government agencies have failed to adapt to the changing environment, the report finds. Substandard or adulterated pharmaceutical materials from abroad have entered the U.S. on multiple occasions. In addition, the risks of domestic counterfeiting and diversion of stolen drugs are well documented.

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--When should you start collecting your Social Security benefits? AARP has a new online tool to help you make that call -- and to encourage you to wait as long as possible. ‘It illustrates the benefits to claiming later,’ said Jean Setzfand, vice president of financial security for AARP. ‘The longer you are able to wait, the higher your monthly benefits will be.’ Users can customize their benefits, their economic expectations and their personal data to get clear, detailed estimates of their own monthly and lifelong benefits under different scenarios. The calculator allows planning for government workers, and those who are married, divorced, widowed or single. Definitely worth checking out.
--This didn’t take long: A marketing ploy involving Casey Anthony is popping up on Facebook screens. ‘Breaking News!’ it says. ‘Leaked Video of Casey Anthony Confessing to Lawyer!’ Needless to say, there’s no such video. If you click on the link, you’ll be asked to take a survey that may (or may not) result in a $500 Toys R Us gift card. These sorts of surveys are everywhere online, offering a free iPad or other bait to get you to sign up for a slew of marketing pitches. Your best response? Walk away.

-- David Lazarus

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