Consumer Alert: Following a workplace injury, avoid these most common mistakes

Your rewards arent money and the court just confirmed it

• Chipotle can expire points (180 days) because earned rewards points arent legally treated like gift cards

• Dont hoard points earn-and-burn programs are designed to make unused rewards disappear

• Protect yourself: check the programs expiration rules and use the minimum numberof points on a small purchaseto protect your points total

A federal court ruled that Chipotle Rewards points are not gift cards or gift certificates under California or New York law, which means Chipotle can legally keep its 180-day expiration policy for points earned through purchases.

The lawsuit tried to challenge that policy by arguing expiring points violate state laws that typically ban expiring gift certificates. The court rejected the claim for a simple reason: earned points arent the same thing as prepaid money.

Why this ruling matters to consumers

Gift cards usually get stronger legal protections because theyre basically stored cash that youve already paid for. But when it comes to loyalty points, its often more of a gray area.

If points are earned through spending, and dont represent a pre-funded cash balance, companies may be allowed to put expiration dates on them. And its my guess that more stores and restaurants will do just that as it encourages consumers to come back to their locations and buy stuff.

Why the court sided with Chipotle

The courts reasoning boiled down to how Chipotles points work in real life:

• They arent purchased or pre-funded. Meaning you dont buy points the way you buy a gift card.
• Points arent issued in a set dollar amount. Your points balance isnt a $5 value, but rather 500 points that you can use for free guac.
• They dont function like money. You cant use points across transactions like stored credit. You redeem them for specific rewards and free add-ons.

What this means for you

If you tend to treat reward points like money you can sit on and hoard until they build up, youre going to get burned and end up losing your points.

Points programs from places like Chipotle and Starbucks are built to be earn-and-burn, not earn-and-hoard. The longer you wait, the more likely youll forget to use them and youll run out of time.

What consumers should do now

Heres how to protect yourself so you dont lose rewards you already earned:

1. Check your balance today and find the expiration rule. Check your account and look for something like points expire after X days of inactivity.
2. Set a 120-day reminder. That gives you a buffer before a 180-day cutoff hits.
3. Track your last activity date, not just your balance. Ive noticed that many programs reset the timer only when you earn or redeem some points, not when you simply open the app.
4. Redeem smaller rewards sooner. Waiting for the perfect big reward is how points die unused.
5. Screenshot your balance and activity history. If points disappear early for some reason, you can use that screenshot as your leverage when dealing with customer service.
6. Watch out for dollar-based credits. If you ever notice that a reward is labeled something like $10 credit, it may be treated differently than points. Meaning if it expires, you have a better case when dealing with customer service to try and get it back.
7. If points disappear unexpectedly, escalate. Ask for a supervisor, reference your screenshot, and request a one-time reinstatement. Companies often have discretionary make it right power even when the policy says otherwise.

Pro tip: Make one occasional maintenance purchase. Keep your account alive by using some points onsmall add-on, a kids meal, or even redeeming the minimum number of points for a cheap reward. One $3$5 transaction every few months can preserve a much larger points balance.

At least 5,000 people a year are dying in overdoses that involve gabapentin

Prescriptions for the nerve-pain drug have doubled in 15 years as doctors moved away from opioids and benzodiazepines.
Growing research links it to risks including dementia, suicidal behavior and dangerous breathing problems.
At least 5,000 people a year are dying in overdoses that involve gabapentin, often in combination with opioids.

Once considered safe, gabapentin is now under renewed scrutiny

Approved decades ago to treat seizures and the nerve pain that can follow shingles, gabapentin has quietly become one of the most widely used medications in the country. It was the seventh-most prescribed drug in the U.S. last year, according to the Iqvia Institute for Human Data Science, with about 15.5 million people receiving a prescription in 2024, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis found.

Many of those prescriptions are for conditions the drug was never evaluated for. Off-label prescribing is legal and common, but it means the Food and Drug Administration has not assessed gabapentins risks or benefits for those uses.

A go-to drug for a wide array of ailments

Some physicians say gabapentin can provide real relief for neuropathic pain caused by damaged nerves. But its use has expanded far beyond that niche. Doctors regularly turn to it for chronic back pain, anxiety, migraines, hot flashes in menopause, insomnia and even distorted sense of smell. according to a Wall Street Journal report. Veterinarians prescribe it to calm or ease pain in cats and dogs.

It seemed harmless, said John Avery who was quoted in the WSJ report. He took gabapentin believing it carried few risks.

Evidence mounts that the risks have been underestimated

Recent studies suggest gabapentin is not as benign as once believed. Research has tied the drug to higher risks of dementia, suicidal behavior, severe respiratory complications in people with lung disease, and swelling, along with well-known side effects such as dizziness.

A study published this year found that giving gabapentin to surgical patients did nothing to shorten hospital stays or reduce complicationsand more of those patients reported pain four months after surgery. For years, surgeons had viewed the drug as a tool to curb opioid use.

Dependence and withdrawal concerns emerge

While the medical establishment has long argued that gabapentin isnt habit-forming, some patients say tapering off the drug can be debilitating. Withdrawal symptoms, they say, make clear theyve developed a dependence despite taking it exactly as prescribed.

Still, demand continues to climb. Prescriptions have more than doubled in the past 15 years, a shift driven by efforts to steer patients away from opioids and anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, which carry more widely recognized dangers.

Rising overdose deaths underscore the stakes

Gabapentin is often taken alongside opioidssometimes under medical supervision and sometimes not. The CDC warns that the combination can be deadly. At least 5,000 people have died from overdoses involving gabapentin in each of the past five years, federal and state data show.

Experts urge caution, not abandonment

Gabapentin remains a crucial therapy for many patients and is well tolerated by most, said Kirk Evoy, a clinical associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational sciences at the University of Texas at Austin who studies gabapentin misuse. But its rapid spread into so many corners of medicine worries him.

We shouldnt be thinking of gabapentin as this safe drug we can just try for anything and see if it helps, he said.