Weight-loss drug Alli to return to shelves in late June

May 13, 2012 By 23 Comments

5/13 UPDATE: Alli has NOT been Recalled. Read below for why you can’t find it. The Food and Drug Administration keeps a list of all product recalls in the U.S., and Alli is not in their database. For information on all FDA recalls, visit the searchable FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety Alerts Database.

5/7 UPDATE: Alli is reporting on its Facebook page that they expect the drug to return in late June. Details below. 

4/4 UPDATE:  Alli contacted me on Twitter and said they expect the product to return to shelves in June 2012. Details below.

3/15: UPDATE with response from Alli, and 4/1 UPDATE with an alert on past and potential counterfeit sales. Details are in bold below.

If you use the over-the-counter drug Alli as part of your diet, exercise and weight-loss plan, you may have recognized that the drug has been missing from store shelves and online retailers for the past few weeks.

Why has it gone missing from the shelves? Simple – ingredient shortage.

Drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline issued the following statement on the Alli web site’s Buy Alli section:

GSK, the manufacturer of alli, is experiencing a supply shortage of the active ingredient used in alli. The alli team is working diligently to resolve the issue and apologize for any inconvenience this supply shortage may cause our consumers. Consumers should continue to adhere to the recommended diet and physical activity routine, which are the cornerstone of any weight loss program, and continue using alli once it is available.

FYI: The “active ingredient” in Alli is Orlistat, which is also the active ingredient in Prescription weight-loss drug Xenical. The Xenical manufacturer Roche issued this statement on its Club New You web site:

Our Florence Manufacturing Plant in the United States manufactures certain ingredients used in the products of Roche, including XENICAL® (orlistat). Just lately the Plant has encountered manufacturing problems, causing deficiencies in the supply of our products, including XENICAL®.   This will lead to shortage of supply of this product.

Drugstore.com lists the product as unavailable at this time, after estimating an April 16 availability date.I initially posted the April date upon Drugstore’s estimate.Alli contacted me on Twitter and said the company cannot confirm an April 16 shipping date:

@bellesouth - Thanks for spreading this info! However, we can’t verify Apr. 16 as a shipping date. Pls call with questions: 1-800-671-2554 

Alli also told me they’d let me know as soon as the drug was available. No word on the availability of Xenical, but it is safe to assume that these products will both be available as soon as the Orlistat ordeal is taken care of.

Meanwhile, diet and exercise still work, and consult with your physician before beginning any weight-loss or exercise program. (Update 4/1: Please be careful before purchasing Alli through auction sites or independent-seller Marketplaces. GSK has had trouble with the sale of counterfeit Alli in the past, so beware of scam artists taking advantage of the shortage.)

Update 4/4: Alli contacted me again on Twitter with this message:

@bellesouth - We thought you may be interested, alli should be returning to shelves in June. More info on FB:http://www.facebook.com/myalli

Update 5/7: alli is notifying customers on its Facebook page that the drug is expected to return in late June. Here’s what they’re telling customers on Facebook:

unfortunately GSK, the manufacturer of alli, is experiencing a supply shortage of the active ingredient used in alli. The team has been working diligently to resolve the issue, and alli capsules are expected to be back in stores by the end of June. We apologize for the inconvenience this shortage may have caused you. During this time, we recommend you continue to follow your myalli plan to help you stay on track. If you have any further concerns please call us: 1-800-671-2554, M-F 9am – 4:30pm ET.

I have read a lot of ‘conspiracies’ from those who think GSK is doing this on purpose, but other pharmaceutical companies across the world, including those that sell the drug as prescription Xenical, are experiencing the same shortage. Again, diet and exercise still work.

Filed Under: Consumer Tips, News, Public Service Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Is it time to be noticed in your neighborhood?

April 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When I worked for the Census a couple of years ago, one of the issues I faced was that a number of my assigned residences were difficult to find! This was due to obscured or missing address markers.

It’s important that your address is displayed for many reasons. Whether you’re hosting an event, ordering a pizza or need an ambulance or police to come to your house, an address marker is a must. But nothing lasts forever, and as markers wear, fade and age, occasionally you may need something new outside your house to make sure you can be located.

Justaddressplaques.com has one of the largest selections of address plaques, house numbers and lawn plaques for your home. They promise the lowest prices over their competitors, a large selection of items to choose from, and an expert customer service team that can help you every step of the way.

If you’ve heard the phrase, “It’s hard to find your house!” way too often recently, maybe it’s time to get a new marker. You can get plaques for as low as $19.

Businesses can benefit too – they sell commercial address plaques for as low as $20 and address posts for as low as $109.99.

Be ready to be seen this spring!

This is a sponsored post written for JustAddressPlaques.com. All opinions are my own unless attributed otherwise.

Filed Under: Consumer Tips

Sodastream – Save money being a soda jerk! (Coupon codes included)

April 4, 2012 By 12 Comments

You may have considered purchasing one, but probably have a few concerns. Is it valuable? Is it easy to use? Do the sodas taste… okay?

I received a Sodastream to review a couple of weeks ago, and lemme tell ya, it’s awesome. I love it because it’s convenient, fun to use, the ingredients are better than name-brand soda, and you really can save money with it.

SodaStream Home Soda Makers come in a number of varieties, ranging from the Fountain Jet you see at the top of this post, to higher-end varieties. The Fountain Jet makes one liter of soda at a time and takes minutes to work with.

The MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: What about the price – is it worth it? The SodaStream Fountain Jet Starter Kits start at $79.95 direct from SodastreamUSA.com.

You can get the bare-bones kit, which comes with the SodaStream, a carbonator that will fizz 60 liters of soda, a one-liter carbonating bottle, and a variety of six sample Sodamix flavor syrups, each giving you one liter of Sodastream’s most popular flavors.

I would recommend getting the Soda Starter kit you see pictured at the top of this post. With it you get the samples of soda, AND can pick three full-size Sodamix flavors of your choosing. Each of these bottles makes 12 liters of soda, and sell for $4.99-5.99 at SodastreamUSA.com.

I went to Target to scope out the prices, and the lowest price I found on any of the syrup flavors was $5.99, so again, I’m going to suggest you stick to buying online. More on that later.

What about the flavor? In addition to having a number of delicious, fruity soda and seltzer flavors like Orange, Black Currant-Pear and Cranberry Raspberry, they have a number of “copycat” flavors for drinks like Mountain Dew, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper and even Red Bull.

Black Currant/Pear soda. While I love the flavor, I will warn it doesn't have a distinct Pear taste!

I purchased the Diet Dr. Pete for my Diet Dr. Pepper-loving mom, and she was completely AMAZED by the flavor. What I really liked about this alternative was that while Diet Dr. Pepper has 55 mg of sodium per can, the SodaStream version has less than one mg per serving. Since my mother needs to watch her sodium intake, this is great news. Mom said she’s even prepared to make the transition once her Diet Dr. Pepper supply runs out!

While not all of the flavors are this sodium-friendly, all diet sodas are sweetened with Splenda instead of aspartame or saccharine, and the sodas have very few ingredients and few preservatives, if any.

I must say, however, that as a Coke Zero fan, I was slightly disappointed with SodaStream’s attempt, Cola Free. I tried both sodas side-by-side, and the Cola Free just didn’t have the same taste; it reminded me a lot more of Pepsi. Is this going to make me stop using the Sodastream or forego the Cola Free? Probably not; instead I will probably continue to experiment with the soda to get a flavor to my liking.

One copycat I DID enjoy was the Diet Grapefruit, which is SodaStram’s answer to Fresca. Even though the soda has a distinct pink color (Fresca is clear); the flavor tasted a lot more like a delicious, fizzy ruby-red grapefruit drink. It also included real grapefruit juice!

How is it for the environment? SodaStream is also an earth-friendly way to enjoy soda. Instead of purchasing plastic bottles or aluminum cans over and over again, you get a refillable carbonating bottle that needs to be replaced every three years.

The bottles are sturdy and able to withstand lots of use. If you have a big family, you can purchase extra carbonating bottles at two for $19.99 directly from SodaStream’s web site. Compare that to $24.99 at Target!

SodaStream (Soda-Club) USA 160x600 Orange Static
You can also exchange your carbonators either through SodaStream’s web site or at local retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond; Staples, and Williams-Sonoma. You then pay only for what’s in the carbonator, and the carbonators are then shipped back to SodaStream, where they are cleaned, inspected and shipped out for re-use.

A carbonator exchange costs $15 at a retailer and varies if you purchase online; this is the one time I’d go for the retail store option to avoid paying extra shipping costs.

Okay, let’s get back to the price. The value of your SodaStream really depends on how much you and your family go through carbonated drinks each week. In my most conservative estimations, I determined that using the Sodastream, we will end up paying 30 cents for each liter of soda.

There are only two people in this house, and we’ve already learned we’re going to save a lot of money with this. We’ve already saved LOTS of dollars making soda at home in an instant!

The SodaStream will pay for itself; when you consider that you will get much more use out of the machine than you ever could from a fridge pack or a two-liter, you will see the savings.

Also, a $15 exchange carbonator, combined with four bottles of syrup will cost you approximately $35 to make 60 liters of soda.

Click here to get a FREE Sodamix flavor with your purchase using code FREEMIX! (Exp 4/30)

Click HERE to get 10% off any Soda Machine using code BESTFRIENDS! (Exp 4/4)

Also, if you buy online, you get a free bottle of Sodamix with every ten bottles you purchase. Make a $100 purchase and shipping is free, so if you purchase the Soda Starter kit, you won’t even have to pay for it to be delivered to your door!

They also have a referral program in which you get $10 in credit for every person you get to purchase a SodaStream!

This is a welcome addition to our household. It’s a LOT of fun, it’s easy, it’s hassle-free and it’s going to keep me from lugging fridge packs back and forth from the car every week! I love it!

SodaStream provided me with products for this review. All opinions are my own unless attributed otherwise.

Filed Under: Consumer Tips, Food and Recipes, Green Living, Reviews, Saving Money

Facebook scammers use voice-imitation to prey on users’ relatives

March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Image by Don Hankins, licensed under Creative Commons

Facebook scammers are getting smarter, using photos, videos and other available profile information to imitate users and prey on their relatives.

Last year alone, they got $100 million out of ordinary Americans by calling up the relatives of Facebook users. They are now studying voices from posted videos, researching photos and employment information, and are now able to convince people that they’re getting a call for help from their beloved grandson, niece or other trusted family member.

My grandmother called to alert me to a piece she saw on ABC News this evening. You can see the techniques they’re using to imitate voices. Absolutey horrifying.

video platform video management video solutions video player

The video says at the end to use a “code word”. I think this is an excellent idea, but there are many other steps you can take.

Divide your facebook friends into lists. If you play games or participate in certain online communities on Facebook, you should keep those people in a separate group. Adjust your privacy settings so that these lists do not have access to  your address, your relatives or your photos. You can also move these people to a group called “Restricted,” which will allow those users only to see posts you make public.

Do not make your photos and videos public. This really is a necessity and is best for your safety as well as others’. Remember that once it’s out there, you can never get it back.

This is another VERY important thing:

Never, ever, EVER publicly answer “fun quizzes” or other things in which you give out personally identifiable information. In addition to your address, Social Security number and phone number, even things like the street you grew up on, your mother’s maiden name, the city you were born in, the name of your first pet or your favorite teacher can all be used to get into your accounts. It’s best to keep this stuff hidden from everyone. Rule of thumb: If it’s a question you’re asked to access your bank account, don’t answer it on Facebook or anywhere else where the world could possibly see it.

Use pseudonyms. I have a very good reason for not putting my full name on this blog, but my primary reason is privacy. If you’ll notice, I also use pseudonyms for my relatives to protect them. It’s good for potential employers, and also good for safety and privacy.

Seniors and the elderly have been among the largest targets of scams for decades. Do let your loved ones know the dangers of scammers on Facebook and elsewhere. My grandmother told me these scams are the biggest reason she’s not interested in the Internet. Honestly? I don’t blame her one bit.

The FBI has some excellent resources on scams. Be mindful and be careful out there!

Filed Under: Consumer Tips, News, Public Service

Brad’s Deals: Get more out of your daily-deal accounts!

March 20, 2012 By 1 Comment

I just clicked on to BradsDeals for the first time. Within a minute, I purchased a $10 Amazon gift card for only $5!!! Any site that has that kind of awesome deal on my first visit is definitely worth talking about.

I’m a member of a lot of daily “deal” sites – but sometimes those emails can be overwhelming! Also, places with Groupon-like deals will often post a deal for a particular city that can also be used where you live! Things like movie rentals, restaurant gift cards or online gift cards are out there for the picking – but if you’re like me, you just don’t know how to sift through all those local deals to find any one that you might be able to use.

Thankfully, BradsDeals scans through many of these offers for you, so you can land some nice half-price discounts on great places.

It’s also an excellent place to look for online coupon codes! My big rule about online shopping is “never buy without a coupon code.”  For instance, right now Brad’s Deals has dozens of target coupons, bed bath and beyond coupons and pottery barn coupons that can help you save on shipping or items you and your family need. I’m particularly stoked about the Bed Bath and Beyond coupons, because spring is here and I’m determined to get a good bird feeder!

You can also find plenty of printable in-store coupons so you can save on your groceries, too!

Give it a shot and see if you like it!

This is a sponsored review for BradsDeals. All opinions are mine unless attributed otherwise.

Filed Under: Consumer Tips, Rebates, Reviews, Saving Money
« Older Posts
WP Like Button Plugin by Free WordPress Templates