The bad news: Car accidents are still the leading cause of death among teens in this country. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety has determined that the fatal crash rate per mile driven for teens between 16- and 19-years-old is nearly 3 times the rate for drivers age 20 and older. Teens accounted for 10 percent of the people killed in car accidents during 2010.
]]> The dilemma, then, is how to get the 10 percent to 0. One way is to figure out what contributed to the 64 percent decline, and researchers have a number of theories.First, the cars themselves are safer. Design enhancements and more advanced safety systems have certainly saved lives. But most accidents are caused by human error, and while driverless cars are on the horizon, we aren't quite there yet.
Not all safety features are passive. Safety belts, for example, require some human interaction. Seat belt laws and aggressive "buckle up" campaigns have resulted in more people -- more teens -- using their safety belts.
Drunk and drugged driving have long been the focus of safety programs and traffic laws. The strategies have worked. According to IIHS data for 2010, about 15 percent of 16- and 17-year-old drivers involved in fatal accidents had a blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.08 percent. That translates into a 62 percent drop since 1982.
There are a few other explanations, and we'll get into those in our next post.
Sources:
Christian Science Monitor, "Why teen driving deaths have tumbled to historic lows," Andrew Mach, May 10, 2012
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "Crash deaths fall to record low - updated Fatality Facts released," March 23, 2012
]]>She was 17 years old at the time of the fatal car accident, and was doing what many West Virginia drivers continue to do: texting while driving. What drivers often do not seem to realize is that it only takes a second to change people's lives forever.
]]> The girl was just coming off of her shift at an after-school job, was tired, and was stressed about a long night of homework ahead of her. Despite these circumstances, she was still willing to pick up her cellphone and read a text from her boyfriend while she was driving.In that one moment of distraction she allowed her car to drift toward the edge of the road. When she felt the rumble strips, she then overcorrected, plowing into oncoming traffic. Her vehicle struck another vehicle on the driver's side door, resulting in the wrongful death of its 27-year-old male driver. Even though the man was wearing his seat belt, he sustained such severe personal injuries that it was not possible for him to survive the crash.
Interestingly, the young woman is no longer in a relationship with the boy who texted her at the time of the crash, and she has no memory of what that text said. However, this teenage driver will never forget the fatal car accident she caused as a result of texting while driving.
Source: Star Tribune, "Forgettable text had a calamitous result," Pam Louwagie, May 12, 2012
]]>The regulation, adopted in July 2011, classifies drawstrings in tops in children's sizes 2T through 12 and S through L as "substantial product hazards." The rule grew out of guidelines issued in 1996 and a voluntary standard developed in 1997. The voluntary standard proved highly effective: The number of deaths declined by 75 percent after the standard came out. Still, one death is too many.
]]> Recent recalls of sweatshirts and sweaters -- there have been eight recalls since last fall -- direct consumers to remove the drawstring or, if possible, return the item for a refund. The commission warns that shortening or cutting the ends off the drawstring does not eliminate the risk of strangulation. Consumers should look instead for clothing with snaps, buttons, Velcro or elastic -- the alternative materials listed in the voluntary standard.Drawstrings at the waist have not been involved in any fatal accidents, but children have been injured in dragging incidents, according to the commission. The drawstring can get caught in a car door, for example. The commission does not warn against all waist drawstrings, but it does recommend consumers keep a few things in mind when purchasing clothes with waist drawstrings.
First, the drawstring should not extend more than 3 inches when the item is at its fullest width. Lay the jacket on a table or hold the sweatpants up and stretch the waist as far as possible. If the strings are longer than 3 inches (a little shorter than the long side of a credit card), they are too long.
Drawstring ends should not have toggles attached to the ends. These make it easier to pull the drawstring tight.
Finally, the drawstring should be sewn into the back (or the top) of the channel or the garment. You shouldn't be able to pull it to one side.
Parents and others who care for children put so much energy and thought into making sure toys and playgrounds are safe. The commission wants kids to be dressed safely when they head out the door.
Source: Consumer Product Safety Commission, "Recommended Guidelines for Hood/Neck Drawstrings and Waist/Bottom Drawstrings," Feb. 1996
]]>The regulation was adopted last July, so, in theory, Charleston shoppers wandering the aisles of Target or Macy's should not be seeing kids' jackets, sweatshirts and sweaters with drawstrings. The commission made it clear: no neck or hood drawstrings in size 2T through 12 or child's S through L. And yet, in the last six months the commission has issued eight recalls.
]]> This is more than a suspicion that drawstrings are dangerous: Children have died. The commission has received 26 reports of accidents involving neck and hood drawstrings -- tangled while kids played on slides or when they got on or off the bus, for example -- that resulted in the child's death.The very real hazard of waist and bottom drawstrings is what the commission terms a "dragging incident." When the drawstring gets caught on a car or a bus, and the driver is unaware.... Fortunately, none of these incidents was fatal.
Unfortunately, the risk is nothing new for the commission. In 1996, the commission issued guidelines; in 1997, those guidelines became a voluntary standard. Some clothing manufacturers have followed the standard for neck and hood drawstrings; the number of fatal accidents decreased 75 percent.
And yet, pick up any Sunday retail ad, and you'll see kids frolicking in garments with neck and hood drawstrings. We will discuss what shoppers should be looking for in our next post.
Source: On Safety, "Drawstrings Not Allowed," CPSC Blogger, May 8, 2012
]]>The study concluded that almost two out of three of those patients are misusing their prescription medications. Fewer -- 21 percent of men and 15 percent of women -- tested positive for an illegal substance.
]]> The researchers also found that a great many patients are mixing drugs without physician oversight. More than 60 percent of the test results were inconsistent with what the doctor prescribed. In most of these particular cases, the drug analysis detected medications other than what the doctor ordered.The study found young patients, Medicaid patients and those with a lower income who make less than $29,000 per year were more likely to have inconsistent results. These findings suggest that less affluent Americans are more likely to restrict or forgo taking prescribed medications for financial reasons.
According to a medical school professor, the study offers a unique perspective concerning the problem of prescription drug abuse by comparing what the doctor indicates is the patient's prescribed medication to what is actually in the patient's system. Inconsistent results declined slightly to 55 percent if a patient had a repeat drug test a month later.
The professor further believes the findings from the study support medical association recommendations to perform routine urine testing for prescription drug monitoring. A panel of experts with the American Academy of Pain Medicines recently recommended drug testing of chronic pain patients at least four times a year after seeing another study.
While the most recent study results offer useful insights, commentators pointed out that the research was funded by the pharmaceutical industry.
Source: American News Report, "Industry Funded Study Promotes More Drug Testing," Pat Anson, April 30, 2012
]]>The Subaru's driver was ejected from the vehicle; he was pronounced dead at the scene. There were 37 middle and high school students on the bus, and emergency responders took just six to a nearby hospital. Responders checked the remaining children at the accident site before allowing them to be taken to school. The bus driver was not hurt.
]]> According to a hospital representative, a few hours after the accident, four more children were taken to the hospital by their parents. By late this morning, the hospital had treated and released eight of the 10 students. The representative assured the press that no one suffered a traumatic injury. The students suffered minor sprains and strains as well as cuts and bruises.Authorities say the bus driver's skill kept the bus from overturning. He was able to control the bus as it skidded into the median, where he brought the bus to a stop. It is likely that more children would have been injured and that the injuries would have been more serious if the bus had rolled over.
Why the Subaru driver cross the median is not yet known. Officials would only say that he was a 42-year-old man from Virginia.
Source: The Journal (Martinsburg), "Man dead after in I-81 accident," May 2, 2012
]]>West Virginia banned the drugs and synthetic marijuana last year, but enforcement has proven difficult. In Congress, one senator has stalled the progress of a bill to ban the harmful chemicals in the bath salts and synthetic marijuana -- he believes such a police action is up to the states. But West Virginia's experience may show that states need the backing of the federal government.
]]> The proposed bill would add the chemicals to the list of substances covered by the Controlled Substances Act. The House approved the measure. It may never make it to the president, though.Parents, safety advocates and lawmakers alike cannot stress too much how dangerous the drugs can be. Emergency rooms have reported users coming in with kidney failure, psychosis and, for one terrified girl, paralysis. As one U.S. Senator puts it, the drugs are poison. "People are spraying chemicals on a pile of plant clippings, putting that in an envelope and selling it to kids," he said.
The paralysis occurred when the teenager, who had recently graduated from high school, took a "hit" of synthetic marijuana at a hookah bar, a popular local hangout. Within three minutes, she was paralyzed, according to her mother.
She has since recovered, but she recalls the minutes that followed. Her friends wondered aloud about how to dispose of her body if she died. They decided they could throw it in the river. Fortunately, she regained her faculties enough to call her parents.
Once at the hospital, she faced another hurdle: Blood tests revealed no drugs in her systems, so doctors were stymied about how to treat her. They called the nearest poison control center.
That call was just one of the almost 13,000 calls to poison centers about synthetic marijuana and bath salts last year.
Source: USAToday.com, "'Bath salt' poisonings rise as legislative ban tied up," Donna Leinwand Leger, April 12, 2012
]]>Drunk driving is a familiar problem. Teens are feeling grown up; they want to sow their wild oats. But wine, beer and liquor have gotten harder to obtain, so kids turn elsewhere for their kicks.
]]> The use of synthetic marijuana doesn't seem to have abated, in spite of the Drug Enforcement Agency's bans on the dangerous chemicals that give the products their kick. In spite of efforts to control the sale and distribution of so-called bath salts, emergency rooms and poison centers continue to report incidents involving teens in serious physical and psychological distress.Nationwide data shows the number of calls to poison centers about bath salts increasing from 304 in 2010 to 20 times that in 2011. Synthetic marijuana reports more than doubled during the same timeframe.
The bath salts are sold over the counter at convenience stores and specialty shops and over the Internet. The packaging includes a warning that the product is not for human consumption, but the word is out that it's a legal high. Synthetic marijuana, too, is sold as a legal high -- the chemicals used to mimic marijuana highs aren't illegal.
Some of those chemicals have been banned by the DEA, though, to give the Food and Drug Administration time to collect enough data to add the chemicals to the list of controlled substances. The DEA bans expire in September and October -- so, then what?
We'll continue this in our next post.
Source: USAToday.com, "'Bath salt' poisonings rise as legislative ban tied up," Donna Leinwand Leger, April 12, 2012
]]>This is the case for a man who has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an independent contractor who was responsible for conducting safety examinations for Massey Energy. The man filing suit lost his 25-year-old son in the explosion. His son was a coal miner who was well aware of the safety issues at the mine.
]]> Just months before the explosion the 25-year-old coal miner gave a letter to his fiancée that suggested he was worried about conditions at the mine. "If anything happens to me," it said, "I will be looking down from heaven." According to his mother, the miner had been sent home early the Friday before the explosion because of concerns about ventilation.The lawsuit says that Massey was not the only party responsible for the unsafe conditions. The contractor failed to do weekly exams that "created a very obvious hazardous condition" that was "more than ordinary negligence," according to the suit.
After inspections were complete the Mine Safety and Health Administration found 369 safety violations at the mine, 12 of which it said contributed to the explosion. Nine of the violations leading to the accident were labeled as flagrant.
If you have lost a loved one in a tragic accident as a result of someone else's negligence, a personal injury attorney can assist you by seeking justice in the form of compensation for loss of income, mental anguish and more.
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek, "Ohio family sues contractor over W.Va. mine deaths," Vicki Smith, April 5, 2012
]]>West Virginia has a fairly vigorous graduated licensing program. At 15, teens can get a learner's permit that cannot be "upgraded" for at least six months. During the learner's permit stage, the new driver must either complete a driver education course or practice behind the wheel -- with supervision -- for 50 hours; at least 10 of those 50 must be at night.
]]> At 16, or after the six-month learner's permit stage, the teen driver may not drive without supervision from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. When the driver turns 17, the night driving restriction is lifted, but all other restrictions apply. This is called the "intermediate stage."No driver under 18 without a full license may use a cellphone for calling or texting while operating a motor vehicle. This ban does apply to hands-free calling. The only exception is in an emergency situation.
Once a driver has his or her full license, a passenger restriction goes into effect. New drivers may not have any passengers under age 20 during the first six months of licensure; during the second six months, only one passenger under age 20 is allowed.
Safety advocates would like the state to go a little further. First, learner's permits should not be allowed for teens under age 16. Second, the restrictions on learning and intermediate drivers should be in effect for drivers until their 18th birthdays. And, finally, during that same period, drivers should be barred from having more than one passenger under age 21 who is not a member of the driver's immediate family unless accompanied by a licensed driver over age 21.
It's hard to say if lawmakers will consider strengthening the laws. Perhaps the knowledge that 30 percent of teens in accidents during 2009 and 2010 sustained a closed-head injury or skull fracture will provide some motivation.
Sources:
The Saferoads4teens Coalition, Graduated Driver Licensing Laws in West Virginia, accessed April 18, 2012
Forbes.com, "Forget Football -- Car Crashes Are The Leading Cause Of Fatal Head Trauma Among Teens," Jim Gorzelany, April 2, 2012
]]>The good news is that the number of fatal crashes involving teens has declined significantly -- about 30 percent in West Virginia from 2006 to 2010, compared to 41 percent nationwide. The bad news is that motor vehicle accidents remain the number one cause of death among teenagers.
]]> According to the study, 30 percent of teen drivers and their passengers -- 55,000 in all -- involved in accidents between 2009 and 2010 sustained a concussion, a traumatic brain injury or a skull fracture. The consequences can last a lifetime, according to the lead researcher. The brain doesn't heal easily, he said, adding that prevention is especially important when it comes to TBI.The researchers maintain that the most effective way to prevent brain injuries is for a state to implement a graduated driver licensing law. Other studies support their position: States that have strict GDL laws have seen fewer brain injuries and fatalities for teens in car accidents.
West Virginia has instituted a robust GDL program, but there is room for improvement, according to one of the study's sponsors. The positives include the state's rules for all young drivers as well as the three-stage licensing system.
We will review the state's existing laws and go through the study's recommendations in our next post.
Source: Forbes.com, "Forget Football -- Car Crashes Are The Leading Cause Of Fatal Head Trauma Among Teens," Jim Gorzelany, April 2, 2012
]]>A recent Consumer Reports investigation turned up a number of flaws in the current system. Some device manufacturers put their products through years of testing, but not all do, and the FDA doesn't require them to. In fact, in some cases, the rules don't require any testing at all.
]]> The rules allow a device to be marketed without testing if the manufacturer can show that it is "substantially equivalent" to a device already on the market. The vaginal mesh that the subject of one of CR's profiles said ruined her life (see our April 7 post) was similar to a product sold in the 1950s. To the FDA, it made no difference that the products were designed to be used on different parts of the body and inserted using completely different methods.Once the FDA approves the product, the manufacturer labels it as "new and better" and sends it to market. The product is even more attractive to doctors when the manufacturer packages it as a "kit." The kit includes the mesh and the tools for inserting it. The only training the doctors need they can get from the salesperson -- in fact, the salesperson can show them how to implant the device using a real-life patient.
In response to the Public Citizen request and hundreds of other complaints, the FDA ordered a post-market study this past January. This is the first time the FDA has asked for such a study, and the request went to 33 manufacturers of vaginal mesh. The results could move mesh into Class III, the "highest risk" category for medical devices.
That would be good news if experience had not shown that the rulemaking process and reclassification of devices can take years.
Source: Consumer Reports, "CR Investigates: Dangerous medical devices," May 2012
]]>If something goes wrong, though, if the defibrillator malfunctions, the patient's first thought is usually, "But the doctor said it was safe." And the doctor may honestly have believed that at the time. But, according to Consumer Reports, all too often a doctor is relying on information supplied by the manufacturer, and that information is not always backed up by solid research and testing. In some situations, it's a little like making a microwave dinner: The surgeon flips over the box, reads the instructions and lives with the consequences.
]]> Of course, it's the patient who really lives with the consequences. And CR wants the manufacturers and the Food and Drug Administration to own up to their role in this.When Public Citizen called for the FDA to take vaginal mesh off the market last year, the consumer advocacy organization said the product was "a 'poster-child' example of the fundamental failure ... to protect the public's health and welfare." The failure lies in a loophole in the law.
In 1976, Congress set aside the old law -- the one that allowed manufacturers to market just about any device regardless of testing for safety or effectiveness -- in favor of a classification system. Medical devices have since then fallen into three categories; only Class III devices, the riskiest, require clinical testing.
There is a grandfather clause, though, and manufacturers have made the most of it.
To be continued.
Source: Consumer Reports, "CR Investigates: Dangerous medical devices," May 2012
]]>The report focuses on implanted medical devices -- artificial joints, heart defibrillators and surgical mesh, in particular. Each of these products has been the subject of at least one recall campaign and multiple personal injury and product liability claims. The rush to market left the testing phase for patients who had no idea what they were getting into.
]]> CR gives a few examples of patients who have been the victims of untested devices. For one woman, surgical mesh was a "cure" much worse than her disease.Surgical or vaginal mesh is used to reinforce the pelvic floor. Women can have problems with organs like the uterus and bladder slipping out of place -- a prolapse -- and the mesh is supposed to "lift" them back into place (or closer to where they should be). It is implanted through the vaginal wall.
This woman said she was in pain for months after the surgery. She could neither sit nor stand, and she could barely get herself around. Then she suffered what many women have suffered: The mesh shrank, shifted and broke through her vaginal wall. She said it was like "open cigarette burns with each step you take." It was, in a word, torture.
Through eight surgeries, her doctors tried to adjust the mesh and finally removed it. The aftereffects include nerve damage in one leg that keeps this 54-year-old woman in almost constant pain.
According to CR, manufacturers began selling transvaginal mesh about 10 years ago. Last summer, after surgeons had implanted these devices in hundreds of thousands of women, consumer advocates petitioned the FDA to take mesh off the market.
How did it get there in the first place, though? CR explained the process, and we will go through that in our next post.
Source: Consumer Reports, "CR Investigates: Dangerous medical devices," May 2012
]]>While manufacturers continue to complain about the Food and Drug Administration approval process, Consumer Reports has published the results of its investigation into devices that hit the market without adequate testing. The report highlights a few key areas of concern and includes stories from patients who have suffered the consequences of using untested products like surgical mesh, adjustable gastric bands and metal-on-metal artificial hips.
The American public may believe that medical devices undergo rigorous testing for both safety and effectiveness before the manufacturer asks for FDA approval. Unfortunately, the truth is that very few implants and high-risk devices have gone through any testing.
]]> The FDA waves them through, however, because the paper work is in order and the check for the user fee (about $4,000) clears. The products go straight to the marketplace to be tested on patients who are likely completely unaware of the risks involved.Some categories of products must be tested before they're approved for market. According to Consumer Reports, though, the government's guidelines are so lax that the studies can be too small to make sense. Companies submit studies that are "smaller and less rigorous than those required for prescription drugs," the report says, but that's enough under the rules.
Overall, the researchers found that no testing occurs before medical devices are put in the hands of surgeons. They also found that, with or without testing, neither consumers, nor medical professionals nor the government itself has a standard, systematic way to learn about problems with the products. All of this adds up to the consumer being pretty much on his own. There's no way -- at least no easy way -- for patients to protect themselves.
The report includes the profile of a woman whose gynecologist recommended a "bladder lift" to treat her prolapsed bladder. He described it as a "little bird's nest" that would hold her bladder in place, and he promised she'd be back at work in a couple of weeks.
That was five years ago. She has yet to return to work.
We'll continue this in our next post.
Source: Consumer Reports, "CR Investigates: Dangerous medical devices," May 2012
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