The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 12.12 2 Women Found Dead on Same Property, 2 Years Apart, But No One Seems To Care & Today's News

Episode Date: December 12, 2023

Thanks to Keeps for sponsoring this video! Head to https://keeps.com/defranco to get a special offer   Head to https://tryfum.com/defranco and use code DEFRANCO to save an additional 10% off your order today. Go to https://BeautifulBastard.com for up to 90% OFF and $10 Mystery Items. –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - No Charges Over Deaths of Two Women Who Died on Alaskan Mayor’s Property 05:21 - Court Rejects Andrew Tate’s Request to Have Assets Returned 06:17 - “The Day Before” Accused of Being a Scam As Developer Shutters Studio  10:22 - Sponsored by Keeps 11:15 - Google Loses Antitrust Suit With Epic Games  14:18 - NY Hospital Rushes Through Weight Loss Surgeries, Per Times Investigation  18:27 - Sponsored by Fum 19:22 - Customers Notice “Skimpflation” as Food Companies Swap for Cheap Ingredients  22:31 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Stories  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #AndrewTate #Gaming ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. Today, we have to talk about these two women who have turned up dead on the property of this mayor who I know one seems to care. We've got an alarming weight loss surgery controversy coming out of New York. We break down why the food that you've always loved suddenly tastes so much worse.

And how Epic Games winning their lawsuit against Google might change everything. We're talking about all that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, so let's just jump into it. Starting with, we need to talk about these two women who were found dead years apart on the same property in Alaska, and all of this has left a trail of questions unanswered,

though their deaths reveal a disturbing pattern of injustice. And all of that is really just the tip of the iceberg of this disturbing story. So these two women are Jennifer Kirk and Susu Norton. Both are Inupiaq, a group of indigenous people in Alaska. And in 2018, the body of Jennifer Kirk was found on the property of then-mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough, Clement Richards Sr. And very notably here, despite several suspicious circumstances, including strangulation marks found on her neck, the local police department labeled Jennifer's death a suicide after a single day of investigation and closed the case before the final autopsy

report even came in. And then two years later, in March of 2020, the body of Sue Sue Norton was discovered in a different house on Clement Richards' property. She was strangled. She was beaten with the cause of her death being labeled a homicide, but no one has been charged for their deaths. And that's despite the fact that both these women had been in relationships with the sons of Clement Richards and had faced abuse at their hands. In fact, Anthony Richards admitted to causing the strangulation marks found on Jennifer's body the day that she died and had strangled her on multiple other occasions. And Amos Richards previously pleaded guilty to kicking Susu in the stomach while she was six months pregnant. And that's also a big note. The Richards family

were no strangers to domestic violence. With the outlet ProPublica finding that state prosecutors repeatedly allowed these men to avoid felony domestic violence convictions for beating or strangling women by just offering them deals, in which the men would plead guilty to reduce misdemeanor charges and just get a slap on the wrist. In fact, ProPublica reviewed 31 different criminal cases involving the three Richards sons, and 12 of those were domestic violence cases, and seven of those were filed while their father was in public office. I mean, all told, the three sons had a combined 16 counts of domestic violence, including five felonies, but none of these charges ended up with a felony domestic violence conviction. And seven of those cases played out the exact same

way. Officers would arrive on the scene to find the woman bloody and bruised and the men would be arrested. They'd then appear before a local judge or a magistrate who had set their bail. In one case, a judge even acknowledged the bail was set unusually low and told the victim that the man's parents

would keep him out of trouble. And after the bail was set, none of these cases saw trial. Prosecutors would drop the felonies, offer a lesser charge, and the man promised, hey, I'm gonna do better. And the whole process would then start over again within a year. Also notably, this wasn't limited to just the Richards' son. Clement Sr. also has a past checkered with abuse.

In May of 1989, Clement Sr. kicked his pregnant wife in the stomach, causing their youngest son to be born prematurely. And at one point, she requested a restraining order against him, and Clement pleaded guilty to felony domestic assault, spent six months in jail. Notably, that conviction was never brought up during his run for a city council seat in 1999 or his subsequent campaigns for vice mayor and mayor. However, the discovery of a woman's body on his property may have had a part in his defeat in the race for reelection in 2018, according to some residents. But whatever the impact on Clement Sr.'s political ambitions, there's little doubt these cases have been mishandled by authorities. Jennifer's body was discovered in Anthony

Richard's arms and he was covered in blood, though he said that he was in the other room when he heard the gunshot and he came rushing in. And there were a number of factors regarding her death that make Anthony's account of how she died unlikely, including the length of the gun found near her body. And this is Jennifer's father said she gave absolutely no indication that she would kill herself, saying,

we've never seen that in her, no signs, nothing, so it's hard to believe she did that to herself. But Jennifer's mom saying she talked to her just hours before the death and even made plans with her. And adding that the police didn't even interview her regarding her daughter's death or what she did that day. Then of course, the medical examiner found signs of strangulation on Jennifer,

which Anthony admitted he did earlier that day, saying Jennifer slapped him and he quote, held her away by the neck and didn't know how hard he was squeezing. And somehow after all of that, the lead investigator closed the case after just one day, not even waiting for the final autopsy report to come in. And then, I mean, looking at Susu's case, police never interviewed her family, they didn't ask for help in tracking down the suspect,

they didn't interview key witnesses, and they never got a search warrant to collect evidence. Which, just for comparison's sake, a 10-year-old girl went missing about three months after Jennifer's death, and hundreds of volunteers turned out to search for her. And after eight days, her body was discovered, federal and state investigators swooped in to assist local police finding the person responsible, using cell phone data, DNA evidence, search warrants, surveillance video, and the FBI to find 41-year-old Peter Wilson, who's now serving life in prison. And when you see that response, it shows that when they are prioritized, the deaths and disappearances of indigenous women and girls can be quickly answered for. And understand, it's not just like one comparison.

There are numerous examples. Like just before Susu's death, a strangulation case took hold of the area. The authorities asked for the public's help in the case. You had local people raising thousands of dollars and reward money. They got the story statewide. Police ended up releasing a photo of a suspect. Someone tipped them off as to the identity

and the person responsible was arrested. And the victim in that case was a local fire department's pet husky. But Susu, a 30-year-old human woman and a mother, has yet to receive the same treatment. And while Alaska's state troopers took over the case last year, they have yet to actually make the drive to the town where she died to investigate further. There was a spokesperson saying they plan to be there by the end of 2023, saying they are, quote, taking investigative steps with the goal of finding the person responsible for Susu's tragic

death and holding that person responsible for their actions through the criminal justice system. And so with that, hopefully, yes, something does come from it. But at the same time, when you look at all the pieces, it's hard not to come to pretty clear conclusions as to why it has taken this long to even do the bare minimum. And even saying that isn't fair because words are words and actions are actions and we're waiting to see action. And then you got Andrew Tate back in the news because he's getting some wins and losses. The first being that he was actually just dealt another legal blow with the Romanian court rejecting his and his brother's bid to have their assets returned. With the assets in question being seized after the brothers were arrested nearly exactly one year ago. And the Associated Press saying they include 15 luxury cars like

Rolls Royces, Ferraris, as well as designer watches and cash and multiple currencies, all totaling around $3.9 million. Notably that, as Romanian authorities have previously said, that those assets could be used to cover victim compensation and investigation costs. That is, if it was found that they were purchased with illicit funds. But with that, it does appear that the brothers' lawyers intend to appeal the decision. But this also coming as the Tate brothers secured a victory last week. But the two now reportedly allowed to travel freely within Romania, though they still need the court's approval ahead of time. And this is the brothers have their sights on traveling outside of Romania. With Rice reporting last week that they're trying to use their dying

grandmother who lives in the United States as cause to leave the country. And actually with that, they've even asked fans to make videos on the subject. But for now, it's unclear if that's going to go anywhere. And also it's unclear what is going to happen with this. And I just said, it's almost been a year. It feels like it's been three. And then was the day before a giant scam? Or is it a case study in game developers over their head who then just proceeded to make bad decision after bad decision? That's what some are arguing about right now as Fantastic, the developer behind the day before, announced that it was shutting down yesterday. And this, of course, amid accusations that the entire thing was a scam.

So Fantastic released an early access version of the game on December 7th for anyone who wanted to play it for $40. And it was immediately obvious there was a problem. Or rather, many, many problems. But you might think, hey, you know, this is early access. Of course, there's going to be some issues. But these were fundamental and monumental problems that led to accusations that they were misleading and scamming customers. Like, for example, what is this game? Although it was heavily marketed and hyped up as an open-world MMO survival game, right, kind of a large sandbox where you can do whatever you want. Instead, you had customers

getting what amounted to like an extraction shooter. I mean, that's pretty much the opposite of an open-world MMO survival game. The game also lacked a wide range of features that players expected based on the trailers. And all that's without mentioning the bugs. So many bugs. They arguably made the game unplayable. And that's in addition to the accusations that they just copy pasted assets from the Unreal Engine. With all that being fed to gamers, and just as a little cherry on top, there were massive server issues when the game launched. With Fantastic saying they were filling up too quickly, as well as there was a huge update including server and AI fixes coming in a few hours. With pretty much all their communications being used by players to bash the game, people demanding answers. People

asking, is there an update coming that brings in the rest of the game you guys have been showing for three years? Or what about the part where it's an extraction game, not an MMO? In 99% of the buildings, you can't even go inside of. You also saw relatively big names in the space ripping into them. Mudahar from Some Ordinary Gamer is arguing that the biggest issue is that it was labeled as an MMO and it isn't an adding. Why the hell would you not buy DayZ that has a game already built into it? Why would you just not buy The Division or really any game if you wanted that extraction shooter? Why this stuff wasn't conveyed properly is disgusting. And this game, in my opinion, is in fact a scam. And the fact that they shuttered

four days down the road, there needs to be a proper refund process for this. And Asmongold, who played the game, saying, And guys, I really got to say, this is embarrassing. It really is. It is sad. I really hope that obviously they'll be able to fix the game and, you know, because it would be nice if the game was better. But at this point, I really don't know if it's going to happen. I'm going to be honest. I really don't know. It wasn't just individuals. You had established brands like IGN rating this thing a one, which I mean, I don't even

know the last time they gave something a one. And honestly, based off of that review, I think they wish that their number scale went lower and all of that leading to the studio issuing an announcement yesterday. Today, we announced the closure of Fantastic Studio. Unfortunately, the day before has failed financially and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off our debts to our partners. They then go on to talk about how much effort and time they put into the game. Emphasizing that it's important to note that we didn't take any money from the public during the development of the day before.

Saying there were no pre-orders or crowdfunding campaigns. Writing, we worked tirelessly for five years, pouring our blood, sweat, and tears into the game. Though there they received backlash with accusations like, scam, y'all taking the money you made and are running from your scam. You false advertised the day before for years and put out a game nothing like what you advertised. We all know you aren't shutting down because you lack funds, but because you're taking the money and running. As well as responses like, this will go into the gaming history books and videos as one of the worst run scams of all time. Now, on the note of money, Fantastic made a follow-up tweet, claiming that they're working with Steam to try and refund anyone who bought the game, regardless of how long they actually played it.

So, we'll have to see how that actually plays out. But, I mean, this whole situation, it will likely go down as a case study of just what not to do with the game. Especially as people were so excited about this game. I mean, at one point, it was the most wishless game on Steam, but instead now it's gone from over 30,000 people playing this game, so excited to experience it, to just like 888 as of recording this video, and how many of those are just going through the game to be like, oh, how shit is this? I mean, it's now one of the worst rated games on Steam ever, with people making calls for it to be delisted. Well, of course, with the story, I'd love to know your thoughts. I just, I'm left wondering, how long did they know that they were just barreling full speed

at a wall? Did they see the wall? Did they know it was a wall? Did they think they had plot armor? Were they hoping for some like deus machina thing to save them at the last second? And so for me personally, that's what I'm going to be keeping my eyes on. What stories come out of this? Because it's just crazy.

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Rock Band, Rocket Racing, which is surprisingly fun, and Lego Fortnite, which is like my brand new favorite thing to play with my son. But then also behind the scenes, they're racking up wins, with Epic Games just winning their lawsuit against Google's Play Store, with yesterday a jury ruling that Google violated antitrust laws, and saying they did so to squeeze fees out of developers and limit competition. And all of this actually stems back to 2020 when you had Epic Games pushing back against that 30% cut that Apple and Google's app stores take. And they did that by tweaking Fortnite to allow players to pay Epic Games directly. So quickly you had Apple and Google both giving Fortnite the boot saying, hey, sorry, not sorry, you violated the policies, which I imagine is

exactly what Epic expected. And so they filed a lawsuit against both of them. Their lawsuits focused on two main things. One, the absolutely huge fees. And two, these companies complete control over the app stores on their phones, they amounted to an anti-competitive monopoly. But here's the thing, Epic Games doesn't always win. Because in 2021, they actually lost in their suit against Apple. The judge ruling that Apple actually hadn't broken any laws. And earlier this year, an appeals court upheld the ruling, at least for the most part,

rejecting all but one of Epic's claims. Then in Epic Games' original case against Google, they actually brought that lawsuit along with the owner of Tinder in several states. And a very key thing is that Google opted for a jury trial. And while the others ended up settling with Google out of court, Epic marched forward. And in their case, they dove into the payments Google made to other companies, companies who were considering building their own competing app stores. And to wit that, pages upon pages of internal emails within Google were on display, with the judge even reprimanding Google for deleting chats that may have been relevant to

the case, and actually instructing the jury to just assume that the deleted information was unfavorable for Google. So over the month-long trial, both sides fought hard. Google's attorney arguing, hey, we have competition from Apple, right? We can't be a monopoly. But then you had Epic's team arguing they did have a monopoly on how billions of people with Android phones get apps. And all of that leading to the jury deliberating for three hours and the jury siding with Epic Games on all 11 questions, including whether Google has a monopoly on how apps are distributed on Android phones, whether they broke competition laws,

and whether they offered special deals to companies to keep them from creating competing app stores. And as you'd expect, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney was over the moon, tweeting after the verdict, victory over Google. But also, the situation's not done yet. For one thing, we have to wait until January for the judge's decision on remedies.

And that could possibly include forcing Google to alter its rules. Maybe it allows competing app stores to pop up. Maybe it gives developers a way to avoid the steep cut Google takes from in-app purchases. And regarding how much money is at play here, according to Wells Fargo analysts, Google will get over $10 billion in revenue from app sales and in-app purchases just this year alone. So, I mean, we're talking about a very big pie at play, which is also why it's not surprising that, of course, we're going to be looking at an appeals process. The Google's VP for Government Affairs and Public Policy saying,

We plan to challenge the verdict. The trial made clear that we compete fiercely with Apple and its App Store, as well as App Stores on Android devices and gaming consoles. We will continue to defend the Android business model. And I imagine Apple will be cheering them on. Because while, yes, this specific trial is about Google and the Google Play Store, as Paul Swanson, an attorney who specializes in technology and antitrust law, said to Time, The immediate after effect is we will see a shift in the marketplace where big tech companies will

have to make accommodations, whether it's more access, better terms, more options for developers to stave off legal exposure. But like with all things legal, we're gonna have to wait to see how it plays out. And it will likely not be quick or easy. And then if you're not the customer, you are the product, right? We've heard that phrase over the years. Also, the truth here is that often people are both. Well, often this conversation happens around, you know, your data getting sold to advertisers, today we're talking about your physical health. When it comes to Bellevue Public Hospital in New York, it's being said that patients get pushed through drastic weight loss surgeries like widgets on a high-speed assembly line. Also, when I say like it's being

said, I don't mean just like some random people on social media. This is according to an investigation by the New York Times, which interviewed 70 employees, patients, and executives from the city's hospital and correctional systems. Right, one of the first things you need to understand is that bariatric surgery, though extreme, is a legitimate procedure that can prevent heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. It works by shrinking your stomach so you feel less hungry and you eat less food, hopefully reducing obesity.

And with Bellevue serving a disproportionately poor and obese population, it makes sense that it would perform more of these surgeries. But it doesn't just perform more. It performs a ridiculous amount more. Since 2008, the hospital has done more than 17,000 weight loss procedures, and that number just keeps going up and up and up, with accounting 1,200 surgeries in 2020, over 2,000 the next year, and this year it is on track to reach an astonishing 3,000.

In fact, weight loss surgeries now account for one in every five operations at Bellevue. And while you have the executives there strongly denying the accusation, the apparent motive here is money. Because Medicaid actually pays the hospital upwards of $11,000 for most weight loss surgeries. And unlike many other doctors who get paid flat salaries, Bellevue's bariatric surgeons earn more the more they operate. And so as a result, the Times found many methods of corner cutting to speed up the process. With, for example, normal hospitals requiring candidates to undergo months of screening and preparation. They try to get you to lose weight through diet and exercise before going under the knife. But at Bellevue, prospective patients described getting tentative surgery dates

after attending just a single informational session, filling out a worksheet, and speaking briefly with a doctor. With it said that meetings to assess patients' mental health sometimes just last 10 minutes, which is also why 15 current and former employees questioned whether patients were being adequately informed about the risks. And one patient who ended up needing multiple trips to the ICU for complications telling the Times, it was like you're at McDonald's and you choose what food you want. They make it seem like the operation's really nothing serious. And if true, that is crazy because even successful operations can lead to a lifetime of stomach cramps and debilitating acid reflux. And then for the unsuccessful ones, you have patients suffering life-threatening infections.

There was one who was put in a month-long coma after her surgeon nicked her spleen. Another died despite two emergency operations after her stomach filled with blood. And now, according to experts, Bellevue has a normal rate of readmission for bariatric patients within one month of their surgery sitting at around 3%. But that also doesn't account for long-term complications, and it doesn't include this year's data when the volume of the surgeries reached a record high. Plus, either way, the overall numbers wouldn't excuse the particularly unsafe practices. Like with eight doctors and nurses telling the Times the hospital operated on people whose BMIs should have disqualified them under standard medical guidelines. Or how Bellevue operates on prisoners from Rikers Island where it's nearly

impossible to maintain the strict diet and eating habits required after surgery. Also, when the patients get on that operating table, apparently that's when the real fun begins. With it being reported that two surgeons race each other every day to see who can do the most bariatric operations. You also had three anesthesiologists saying they were pressured to give just enough pain meds to carry patients through the surgery so they wake up sooner and make room for the next one. And that leading to some patients saying they woke up in intense pain. And then what's even more concerning is that short-staffed surgeons have reportedly asked equipment technicians who are not hospital employees or licensed to treat patients to scrub in and participate in surgeries.

So with stuff like that apparently going on, it is no surprise that mistakes are made. Like this year when doctors accidentally operated on a pregnant woman. With the men counseling her about potentially terminating the pregnancy because her body might not be able to absorb enough nutrients to support the growing fetus. And all of this as these bariatric surgeries make up more and more of Bell U's revenue and other services get crowded out. Because while luckily life-threatening emergencies always got priority, the Times found that patients with minor stab wounds, broken bones, and detached fingers routinely waited hours because bariatric surgeons were occupying so many operating rooms. But for example, one patient with shattered ribs having to wait until the following day because all the rooms were filled, with doctors doing 16

weight loss surgeries. And with all that said, on the other side, you have a hospital spokesperson responding to all this by accusing the Times of cherry-picking negative cases and saying, we are saving lives in large numbers and improving patients' quality of life. To frame this any other way is wrong and a disservice to our patients, our employees, and New Yorkers. And that apparent pride they have seems to be really genuine. Because Bellevue makes no attempt to hide how big a part of their business weight loss is. In fact, every year, they actually host a red carpet show where dozens of patients show off while their before photos are projected on a screen. With all that said, I got to ask, what are your opinions on this news? And then what if I told you that there's a way to get a head start on

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Well, it turns out it's not just in your head. You might be the victim of skimflation. And you can think of skimflation as the cousin of shrinkflation, which we've talked about in other videos. Because that's when companies quietly make their products slightly smaller instead of raising prices.

And so what we're seeing with skimflation are companies hiding inflation by quietly substituting their usual ingredients for cheaper, shittier ones. But I'm kind of just hoping you won't notice, or it's not going to suck so much that you switch. So the reason that a lot of chocolates today have this like waxy and artificial texture is because confectioners have actually replaced cocoa butter with palm oil and sunflower oil. Or maybe Breyers ice cream. It doesn't taste the same as like when you were a kid. It's not just because you damaged your taste buds biting into that pizza that you knew was too hot, but rather because Breyers reduced their dairy fat in 2013. In fact, they cut out so much, it could no longer be legally

considered ice cream, instead having to rebrand as a frozen dairy dessert. And these are just two examples. The list goes on and on. With, for example, the Guardian discovering several more examples back in July. So now Morrison's guacamole contains less avocado. Aldi's pastoroso contains less olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes, and Bramwell's real mayonnaise contains less egg yolk. And here's the thing, while this tactic isn't new, like it wasn't just invented, it has become increasingly common. With that, Insider reporting, it's been since the pandemic with the price of key ingredients shooting up. In a survey last year by TraceGains, which is a company that helps producers find ingredients,

it showed that of the more than 300 food and beverage brands, 37% had changed the recipes of more than 20 of their products since 2020. And this is another 25% had changed between 6 and 20 recipes. And 90% blaming inflation for those changes. And with all this going down, in some cases, customers have taken notice. They've outright revolted. Like with last year, you had food processing giant Conagra in the news, where they took the vegetable oil content in their smart balance margarine butter substitute from 64% to just 39%, and they just replaced the rest with water.

Then big butter substitute fans flooding the company's website with almost 1,000 one-star reviews. And in fact, it got so bad, Conagra promised to bring back the old formula, though they're still making tweaks and changes where they think they can get away with it. Like this year, their Wishbone house Italian dressing lost 10% of its fat, replacing oil with water and more salts. But then it also goes beyond just food products. Like for example, cough syrup brands. Some of them now contain half as much of their active ingredients as they did years ago. And Actotal Care Mouthwash contains half as much sodium fluoride in its bottles in 2022 as the previous year. Also one of the big things we see with products is they replace sugar with high fructose corn syrup, which is a problem for a number of reasons, including it being linked to metabolic syndrome.

Now with all that said, as places like Insider reported, not all the blame for this can be pinned solely on the food companies. Because we have a world where you have many grocery stores and retailers worried that customers are going to move to discount chains. And so they'll put pressure on manufacturers to keep the prices low, even threatening to delist their products and not display them on shelves.

And then you have people arguing that, you know, that those chains, they're being forced to do that. And that's because customers have historically been less likely to notice an altered recipe rather than a higher price tag.

So really, if there is a villain here, it's your fault for not making and spending more money. That's not, that's not the point of this story. But no, one of the big reasons I share this news is you should know that it's happening.

And also, I don't want you to feel crazy. The thing that you like, it actually did at one point taste better. It's not just the nostalgia making you think it did. With scinflation, yeah, I think to a certain degree, we're all kind of aware of that. It's like when you taste a Mexican Coke and you're like, why does this taste better? It's because U.S. Coke's made with high fructose corn syrup, which actually has its own history. Like it goes back to 1984. The. Cokes made with high fructose corn syrup, which actually has its own history. Like, it goes back to 1984. Then Mexican Cokes made with cane sugar.

But I think the learned reality of the situation is stuff like that is so much more widespread than you may have thought. And then let's talk about yesterday today where we dive into the comments on yesterday's show. See what news stuck out to you, what you're saying, what are your reactions. Because, yeah, this is a news show, but it's also meant to be a conversation. And I will say one of the biggest standouts was how many people spoke on the SmileDirect situation. With people like KCMC saying, I actually worked security at SmileDirect and 90% of the reason we were there were for arguments related to workplace complaints leading to violence. As I worked, I gradually learned that they suckered in those poor people with generous sign-on bonuses that never came,

promised raises that were never granted, and ordered workers to work extra hours with no notice or overtime pay. The environment was entirely because of leadership and I'm not shocked at all that they went under. Which I will say it was a very interesting claim because like I didn't hear anything about that. Obviously, we were more focused on the shutdown and how consumers were affected. Which also on that note, we got a lot of comments like Alyssa Mays that read, As an orthodontic assistant, I can't tell you how many people have come to the office I work at for us to fix their teeth after they had treatment through Smile Direct Club. Sometimes we can't even fix what they did. Well, I feel for the people that were blindsided by this

and hope they get their money back. This was a long time coming. If you want to straighten your teeth, I am begging you to see an orthodontist. It may be more expensive, but you will get the results you paid for and get it safely. And again, there were no shortage of comments like that.

With Meg Eli Wick writing, as an orthodontic assistant, we fixed so many of those cases. And also saying we saw people who use those companies who didn't have a dentist clearance. No cavities, good health, etc. Because a cavity equals the soft, mushy parts of the tooth. When putting the force you need to move teeth on the cavity-ridden tooth, it broke the tooth.

We had people end up with open bites at the end of their treatment, then having to pay more out of pocket for a specialist to fix what these companies messed up. Repeating what others also said, sucks for everyone involved, but please go to a specialist for specialty things. I don't want my general practice doctor doing surgery on my ankle. I want a specialist. Same concept. And repeating what others also said, And those comments were in addition to people who said that they were customers. With Twyla writing, I had a consultation for SmileDirectClub just three to four months ago. Showed up at a shared workspace rental building and had to literally be let in through a series of hallways and was shuffled away into a corner. The quote technician had a lot of trouble even performing the initial scan and I left with a horrible feeling that these people were going to F my mouth up, and saying

I reached out immediately after leaving and canceled my payment plan. Though to be fair, there was also like a small spattering of comments like Atlas the Game saying, as a former Smile Direct Club member, my experience with them was great. Genuinely really impressed with the quality that they provided. It sucks that I won't be able to get new retainers in the long run, but they genuinely were really good, to me at least. But that is where your daily dive into the news is going to end today. As always, thank you for being a part of my slightly structured daily ramblings. Friendly reminder, if you missed it,

for more news you need to know, I got you covered right here. You can click or tap. I got links in the description. But hey, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.