In recent years, Bumbo Baby Seats have become near ubiquitous fixtures in the homes of new parents, both in West Virginia and across the United States. However, concerns are emerging that these popular child seats may pose serious dangers.

However, this hasn't been the case for a number of children. At least 33 babies have suffered skull fractures after falling out of their Bumbo Baby Seat.

Product May Have Defective Design

The recall, if it happens, would not be the first for Bumbo. The product was recalled in 2007 out of concern that parents should be warned not to use the seat on raised surfaces. That recall came after the Consumer Products Safety Commission received at least 45 reports of babies who suffered injury after falling out of the seat.

Relying on that warning may not be enough to allay the current concerns - at least two babies have fractured their skulls after falling out of Bumbo seats that were placed on the ground.

Rather, it appears the seat's design may have rendered it a defective product. Babies don't get injured because the product breaks or malfunctions. Rather, the product may simply be designed in a way that makes it unsafe to use.

Parents who do choose to use a Bumbo Baby Seat are advised to never leave their child unattended in the chair. Babies tend to come loose when they arch their backs, squirm or rock side-to-side.

Source: Detroit Free Press, "Should Bumbo Baby Seat Be Recalled Again?" Jayne O'Donnell, Feb. 10, 2012

Eleven people died in those accidents, and 18 people were injured. Investigators have been looking into the decision to reopen the road just half an hour or 45 minutes before the first of the collisions. Visibility had been bad all night from a nearby brush fire and fog that had settled in that dip in the road (what officials refer to as a bowl).

This is where the "boots on the ground" reports come in. State troopers had called in earlier that visibility was bad, and the road was closed. When they reported that visibility had improved, state patrol leadership and the state's lieutenant governor decided to reopen the road. The interstate is a major route for trucking; businesses would feel the pinch if the road remained closed much longer, but safety is always a priority.

We'll finish this in a future post.

Source: CBSNews.com, "Few guidelines exist on when to shut down roads," Curt Anderson, Mark Carlson, Greg Bluestein and David Sharp, Feb. 1, 2012

The ranking system was designed to identify problem nursing homes and provide incentive to change. After all, it was thought, no business owner wants to be publicly identified as being one of the worst in their state at caring for the elderly.

While the total number of one-star homes has declined, many of the worst offenders seem permanently stuck in the bottom of the ranks - 564 homes housing 77,513 residents have received a one-star rating every year.

While a one-star rating can be issued for a variety of reasons, some of the common causes include dirty equipment, soiled linens, mistreatment of residents and unlicensed caregivers.

In addition to the persistent one-star homes, the analysis uncovered a number of interesting trends, including the following:

• Overall quality has improved. While 40 percent of homes received one- or two-star rankings in 2009, by 2011 that number had dropped to 35 percent. Similarly, 38 percent of homes received four- or five-star rankings in 2009, compared with 43 percent in 2011.

• For-profit nursing homes are more likely to have consistently low rankings than non-profit homes are.

• Twenty-two of the 277 nursing homes owned by the nation's largest chain consistently received one-star rankings. None consistently received five-star rankings.

Low quality of care can sometimes be a precursor to nursing home abuse. If you're considering a nursing home for your loved one, be sure to check the home's ranking before making a commitment.

Source: USA Today, "As Nursing Home Care Improves, Some Problems Slow to Mend," Paul Monies, Feb 10, 2012.

Witnesses to the crashes said visibility was zero on that section of the highway. A nearby brush fire had sent smoke into the dip on the highway, and fog had rolled in. The conditions were bad enough earlier in the night for the state to close the road. But about half an hour before the accidents, the lieutenant governor had decided to reopen the road.

One tool is the National Weather Service's Low Visibility Occurrence Risk Index. The index uses a scale of 1 to 10 to rate the dispersion of humidity and smoke in the air. A score of 7 or higher usually means that the authorities should close the road. The Weather Service predicted an index of 6 the night of the accidents.

According to the National Weather Service, though, the index is not infallible. We'll explain further in our next post.

Source: CBSNews.com, "Few guidelines exist on when to shut down roads," Curt Anderson, Mark Carlson, Greg Bluestein and David Sharp, Feb. 1, 2012

The section of highway strewn with wreckage for most of Sunday lies some 800 miles away from Charleston. Survivors and emergency personnel reported that poor visibility, caused by fog and the smoke form a nearby brush fire, was a major factor in the pileup and hampered rescue efforts for hours after the accident.

By the time rescuers arrived, six tractor trailers and at least a dozen cars were crushed, crashed into or on fire. Witnesses said that one truck was burned down to its skeleton and the tires on every vehicle were gone -- only the steel belts remained. Wreckage and debris were scattered across I-75's six lanes for about a mile.

Rescuers said they had to listen for victims' screams and moans to locate them in the haze. Firefighters spent hours putting out the fires.

A man who escaped his vehicle with his passenger in time to avoid injury described a horrific scene. Traffic stopped, he said, and he started talking to a man in the car next to his. That car was struck from behind and crushed under the truck ahead of it. The survivor said he and his passenger made it to the shoulder of the road as vehicles crashed and exploded around them. He told reporters that "it looked like the end of the world."

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived today. They have not decided if the agency will be involved. Forest Service investigators are looking into the cause of the brush fire. Some have speculated that it was set deliberately.

Source: Associated Press, "Cause sought for deadly Fla. highway pileup," Mike Schneider, Jan. 30, 2012

The shoes' design is defective, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by 37 victims. In addition to citing serious injuries ranging from hip fractures and torn cartilage, individuals claimed negligence and fraud.

One customer reports buying a pair of Shape-ups about 18 months ago; she was inspired by an ad. During the first few months, the woman slightly twisted her ankle twice. Serious injury occurred after nine months of wear. Tendons were torn, as were ligaments, in her left ankle.

The plaintiffs' attorney states some of these injuries occurred during falls, while other customers were hurt from wearing the shoes all day, every day for months. The attorney added that it's no wonder people are having trouble, because the shoes change the way they walk. It turns out Skechers did not perform any safety testing on the shoes, but this information was not shared with the public.

Skechers may have caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, too. Reebok's false claims about its toning shoes -- similar to Shape-ups -- led to a $25 million fine from the FTC.

Source: 10News.com, "Lawsuit Claims Dozens Injured By Company's Special Shoes," Jan. 13, 2012

As we said in our last post, the FDA has asked vaginal mesh manufacturers to backtrack a bit and conduct clinical trials on the devices for three years. The FDA's own research has raised questions about the devices' effectiveness compared to other products. Consumer advocates and injured women have been raising questions about safety for some time.

The new study mandate falls short of a recall, much to the disappointment of a growing number of critics. In fact, critics accuse the FDA of dragging its feet to protect women but rushing products to market to placate the medical device industry.

Patient advocates hope that the mere fact of the clinical studies will warn women off the devices. One speculated that companies are going to find it difficult to recruit women for the studies -- they are already aware of the potential complications, so why would they sign up?

Few manufacturers have responded to the FDA's notice, much less to the press. A J&J representative said that its Ethicon devices are "already among the most studied devices on the market." He added that the company supports clinical trials.

Source: BusinessWeek.com, "J&J, C.R. Bard Must Study Safety of Vaginal Mesh, FDA Says," Alex Nussbaum and David Voreacos, Jan. 10, 2012