A recent report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that 64 injuries and one death were reported last year involving the Heely, which is a popular children’s shoe containing a wheel on the bottom that can be used to roll around like a roller skate. In Illinois, this report drew the interest of several news sources on Monday night. A short piece on Chicago’s Fox 32 News on Monday night detailed this CPSC report while a story on WMBD-WYZZ TV examined one Peoria orthopedic surgeon’s opinion of the product. Dr. James Williams alleged in the story that rocks can often get caught in the gaps between the wheels and the sole of the shoe and cause kids to lose control and fall down. Williams suggested that these shoes are especially harder for younger kids to balance; thus making them more susceptible to injury.
Williams added that he has already seen anywhere from 20 to 30 children this year for treatment of Heely-sustained injuries, which most notably included hurt wrists and ankles. The surgeon suggested that parents require their kids to wear helmets and elbow and knee pads when using Heelys. It will be interesting to see if there are any more stories in the future about Heely injuries or whether this is just a matter of the need for better safety with the product.
The Injury Blog has detailed in the past how ATV accidents can lead to serious personal injuries, and a recent WKYT–WYMT story provided some disturbing numbers about these dangers in Kentucky. The story examined state police records from 2000 to 2007 and noted that 131 people have died in Kentucky ATV accidents during that time. In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has ranked Kentucky as the number state in the country for fatal ATV accidents during the last three years.
The story added that the six deadliest counties for Kentucky ATV accidents were in the mountains of East Kentucky. Coroner Richard New said in the story that most of those accidents occurred due to people who were riding ATVs in areas that they were not familiar with. Pike County has witnessed 9 ATV deaths from 2000-2007 and led all Kentucky counties in this dubious distinction in the time period.
A Boston pediatrician who was blogging under the name of “Flea” about a personal injury lawsuit in which he was a defendant quickly came to terms with the family of a boy suing him for their son’s death after it was revealed during the trial that he was the arrogant blogger. Specifically, Robert P. Lindeman was sued by the family of Jaymes Binns, a 12-year-old boy who died of diabetic ketoacidosis in March of 2002, in a personal injury suit claiming that Lindeman failed to diagnose their son’s diabetes. A Boston Globe story detailed how Lindeman used his personal blog, the drfleablog, to ridicule the case of the Binns’ family and their lawyer Elizabeth N. Mulvey, who pulled out a surprise in court when she asked the doctor whether he was in fact Flea. Lindeman confessed to his alter-identity, settled the case a day later and took down his blog shortly thereafter.
So if you’re wondering why Lindeman would use the word “Flea,” here’s the medical explanation. A flea is apparently what surgeons call pediatricians in training. Neither Lindeman nor his attorney had any client on the case, even though the pediatrician did a lot of talking on his blog. Lindeman apparently revealed the strategy of the defense, accused the jury of dozing off, and even made fun of Mulvey for biting her nails during the case.
Lindeman’s arrogance was especially apparent in claims on the blog that the plaintiff was not going to win with its current approach of painting the defendant as a jerk. After his disclosure in court, Lindeman apparently felt the heat when Mulvey relayed that she was prepared to leak his unabashed comments about the jurors, lawyers and legal process. Lindeman came to a quick settlement, which was not revealed but described as being substantial. The parents of Jaymes Binns did not have any comment on the case.
