Card Companies Offer Interest-Free Months

If that credit card deal you just received offers money for zero percent interest, don't just rip it up. Interest-free money is a good thing.

Some of the biggest credit-card companies are offering a no-interest loan for as long as 15 months. It's a help for people who want to transfer a high-interest balance. But it's also great for those who want to use the money for tuition bills or down payments.

Oddly, a business that makes its money on people who carry big balances is pitching these deals to customers with histories of paying bills on time. Most deals, however, include hefty fees and high interest rates for those who make late payments, and the interest rate climbs to about 10 percent when the offer expires. (Still not a bad deal.)

There are lots of zero percent offers now because the credit-card industry isn't growing as fast as before. Credit-card debt grew 16 percent from 1999 to 2000, but only 6.9 percent from 2000 to 2001. Figures for 2002 are incomplete, but are projected to be less than 10 percent. Zero percent offers are nothing less than an attempt to steal customers from rival companies.

Of course, if you ever pay the minimum charge even one day late, the companies could boost your interest rate to 20 percent or higher!

This Week's Bipolar News

Credit Card Consolidation Speeds Freedom from Debt from Bipolar Disorder
by David Oliver
There's no question that many people dealing with bipolar disorder have unfortunately developed a tremendous amount of debt.

A patient's view of bipolar
Minnesota Public Radio
After being diagnosed with the most severe form of bipolar disorder, Marya Hornbacher chronicles her journey to accepting and managing her mental life.

Mother's mental illness diagnosed a decade ago
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Sherri Love has a history of mental illness dating back more than a decade. The 47-year-old, on trial in District Court on charges she fatally stabbed her 7-year-old daughter, tried to kill herself multiple times and was diagnosed as bipolar, authorities said.

Click here for all Bipolar News.

Don't be a Victim of Pharmacy Errors

CNN Medical News published a story about a woman who was pregnant and filled a prescription for prenatal vitamins at her local Walgreens in St. Louis, Missouri.

Unfortunately, this woman miscarried within a few weeks of taking the drug. Later, she learned that instead of being given a prescription for her prenatal vitamins (Materna), she had instead been given Matulane, which is a chemotherapy drug used to treat Hodgkin's disease, according to a lawsuit filed this month in federal court.

According to the lawsuit, the drug (Matulane) is intended to interfere with cell growth and DNA development.

According to the National Patient Safety Foundation, each year in the United States there are 30 million dispensing errors out of 3 billion prescriptions which occur at outpatient pharmacies. Some errors are minor, and some patients catch them easily; however, other errors can be serious.

Click here to read the entire article.

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