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The start of spring brings everyone’s favorite seasonal chore — spring cleaning! As you dust, vacuum, organize, and declutter, don’t forget about the one room that often gets neglected. This year, give special attention to the utility closet. The utility closet houses your furnace, water heater, A/C junction, and other similar large appliances. Homeowners often forget about these appliances because they are out of sight and out of mind, and this can cost a lot in the long run. Like all the other rooms in your home, this space needs to be kept clean. Dust, for instance, can be hard on HVAC systems. Over time, it accumulates in the HVAC intake and clogs the air filter, reducing its effectiveness and efficiency. This results in a short lifespan for your system, higher power bills, and a poorly heated or cooled home.
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Family homes (three or more occupants) with no pets or allergies: 3–6 months .
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Family homes with at least one pet or minor allergies: 2–3 months .
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Family homes with multiple pets or allergies: 1–2 months .
In addition to changing the air filter, it’s important to schedule a routine inspection of your home’s HVAC system. This includes an inspection of the appliances themselves and any connecting ducts. Dust, dander, and mold can accumulate in the ducts and spread throughout the home, which can lead to health issues, including respiratory problems. A routine inspection will identify potential problems in your HVAC system. On top of that, you can get these systems professionally cleaned and maintained. These are simple steps that will keep your home’s air systems running smoothly for years to come. Plus, you’ll be ready for the summer months ahead!
How Often Should You Replace Your Air Filter?
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Homes with minimal foot traffic (single or double occupancy) and no pets or allergies: 6–12 months .
While the tragic costs of the contemporary opioid crisis have struck the entire country, most experts agree that the root of the epidemic can be traced to a single set of sources: the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the drugs. Right now, several multibillion-dollar drug companies are embroiled in hundreds of lawsuits, many filed by states like NewYork or Ohio. These states claim that pharmaceutical companies knowingly overstate the efficacy and safety of the pills they sell in order to drive up profits. As a result, both doctors and consumers were grossly misled, and we lost — and continue to lose — thousands upon thousands of Americans who overdosed using synthetic opioids, heroin, and painkillers. One suit in Ohio, cited last January in an article by Vox writer German Lopez, perfectly illustrates the blame experts are placing on those pharmaceutical giants. For years, the suit argues, the marketing machines of pharmaceutical manufacturers like Endo and Johnson & Johnson have been flooding the country with misinformation. One American Pain Foundation study sponsored by Purdue and largely funded by opioid manufacturers claimed that the risk of addiction was“less than 1 percent among children prescribed opioids,”according to Lopez. Meanwhile, Janssen distributed a“patient education guide”in 2009 that attempted to undermine the dangerous truth about opioids, claiming they weren’t addictive if used correctly. When False Advertising COSTS LIVES
These are just two small examples. If you do a quick survey of the lawsuits being fought by attorneys and organizations, it’s easy to see the pattern of misleading marketing and manipulation of statistics in support of opioids’capacity for safe relief. This is in spite of a mountain of scientific evidence stating the exact opposite — that opioids are and have always been intensely addictive and dangerous, only to be prescribed in serious cases and under close medical supervision. Though hundreds of settlements have been made with the pharmaceutical companies, the costs of these suits have amounted to little more than the mountains of profit these companies have reaped in recent years. Still, some progress is being made. In February, Purdue Pharma announced it will halt marketing its painkillers to doctors — a small step in the right direction. But the battle isn’t over. We will continue raising awareness of the dangers of opioids, fighting for consumers’rights to know the truth, battling for justice, and demanding accountability for pharmaceutical companies. In the midst of crisis, it’s the right thing to do.
2 www.FleschnerLaw.com
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