Misc Safety Warnings

“My doctor gave me six months to live, but when I couldn't pay the bill he gave me six months more.”

- Walter Matthau

Today I present two medical items.

The New England Journal of Medicine published an easy-to-read article about Retinal Injuries from a Handheld Laser Pointer. A 15-yr-old boy bought a laser pointer online "for popping balloons from a distance and burning holes into paper cards and his sister's sneakers." He was playing with the laser in front of a mirror to create a “laser show” when the laser reflected back and hit him in the eyes several times. One eye was damaged to 20/50; after four four months this eye healed to 20/32 vision.

What struck me about this story was this statement, "In the past, laser pointers sold to the public had a maximal output of 5 mW, which is regarded as harmless .... The measured output of the laser in this case was 150 mW ... normally restricted to occupational and military environments". Lasers upto 700 mW can be bought on the Internet as "fun toys". Frighteningly a parent can not readily identify a harmless laser pointer from a hazardous one; the beams look much the same.

An even more terrifying story is Are you ready for a world without antibiotics? Before the 20th century, surgeons were feared and avoided by most people. Doctors had mastered surgical skills with centuries of practice but the majority of patients still died afterwards from infections and disease. This changed with the discovery of antibiotics - it was a medical miracle and made hospitals trusted rather than feared. But this is changing as germs become resistant. The newest miracle drug is "carbapenems" but strains of bacteria in India have been found that are resistant to this too. As one doctor puts it, "This is potentially the end. There are no antibiotics in the pipeline that have activity against [the bacteria strain from India]. We have a bleak window of maybe 10 years, where we are going to have to use the antibiotics we have very wisely, but also grapple with the reality that we have nothing to treat these infections with. ... Frankly, pharmaceutical companies as well as governments and the European Commission need to really get their act together.""

The author of the article thinks 10 years is optimistic. Pharmaceutical companies pours tons of money into "life drugs" like heart medicine, stomach acids blockers, mental health (Valium), etc where, once prescribed, you take the medicine the rest of your life regardless of the cost. Antibiotics you take for a few weeks and then stop so there's less money made by the Pharmaceutical company. They go where the money is.

Bottom Line

How would life change in a world without Antibiotics? Mortality rates of abdominal surgery will skyrocket. Burst appendixes are fatal again. Transplant surgery becomes high risk; the patient will be killed by infection while on immune-suppressing drugs. Pneumonia returns as a mass-killer and TB becomes incurable.

Update

NewScientist.com warns that Rich-world diseases could hijack poor world's biotech. There are 70+ small biotech firms around the globle working on affordable cures to diseases that affect the world's poor. Shantha Biotechnics of Hyderabad, India, found a way to slash the cost of Hepatitis B vaccination by 60-fold (that's 1/60 the cost!)

The big companies have little interest in making drugs cheaper (why make less money?) or in spending massive research dollars for a drug the poor won't be able to afford. Instead they focus on drugs for wealthy Westerners.

The article warns of two dangers that may derail the quest for cheap drugs:
1. The small firms partner with the big guys to manufacture and distribute the new drugs for the poor and find themselves pushed to work on drugs for the wealthy instead.
2. Successful small firms are bought out by the big guys who may or might not distribute the new drugs cheaply.

Update 2

Since I'm on the topic of pharmaceuticals, 2,000-Year Old Greek Shipwreck Reveals Medical Secrets of the Ancient World
Intact pills have been found sealed in jars on an ancient Greek shipwreck. DNA analysis reveals carrot, radish, celery, wild onion, oak, cabbage, alfalfa, yarrow and hibiscus extract. It also found sunflower extract which has botanists scratching their heads since sunflowers were thought to have first come to Europe from the Americas with Columbus in the 1490's.

Update 3
Drug Resistant Super Bug Found in Three States - individuals who went to India for low cost surgery brought the super-germ back with them.

Garage Sale Crimes

“Put your hands in the air and step away from the Easy-Bake Oven” - me

The new federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act makes it a crime to resell toys and other products for children that have been recalled by its manufacturer. The Act was signed into law last year over concern of lead in Chinese made toys in 2007. According to McClatchy News, “The crackdown affects sellers ranging from major thrift-store operators such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army to everyday Americans cleaning out their attics for yard sales, church bazaars or — increasingly — digital hawking on eBay, Craigslist and other Web sites.”

An agency spokesperson said they would not be sending Strom Troopers to raid Tag Sales but would focus instead on the big web sites and used item resellers in a campaign called Resale Roundup. To kick off the new campaign, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified the top 11 recalls out of thousands it has on file.

Product............................................When recalled
Playskool Travel-Lite Play Yards (portable cribs)..March 10, 1993
Baby Trend Home and Roam.(portable cribs)..........Dec. 19, 1994
Evenflo Happy Camper Play Yards (portable cribs)...June 25, 1997
Baby Express Portable Cribs and Play Yards.........Feb. 28, 2001
Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets....................March 31, 2006
Polly Pocket dolls with magnets....................Nov. 21, 2006
Easy-Bake Ovens....................................July 19, 2007
Simplicity Drop Side Cribs.........................Sept. 21, 2007
Simplicity Bassinets...............................Aug. 27, 2008
Hill Sportswear hooded drawstring sweatshirts......Feb. 12, 2009
Evenflo Envision high chairs.......................April 2, 2009

Bottom Line

For more information see: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09299.html

Inflatables

“There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.”- Alfred Korzybski

ConsumerReports.org has an interesting story, Inflatable accidents are up, up and away. Inflatable structures like moonwalker and bounce houses are popular at fairs and parties but are not governed by any safety regulations. Few states other than New Jersey have set any standards for safe operation.

Broken bones and teeth arise when too many kids are jammed together jumping on top of each other. Or when the air fan abruptly stops and the structure collapses (one woman died when an inflatable rock climbing wall deflated.) In Ohio a boy was carried away (pictured above) as the inflatable slide took off in a strong breeze. There are report of broken necks from flips and somersaults.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission found 4,900 injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms from inflatables in 2005.

Bottom Line

Before letting your child use an inflatable at a carnival or festival, check to see if it is properly anchored and that children are supervised.

If you are renting one for a backyard event,

• Limit the number of users on the device
• Make sure the inflatable isn't overloaded or unstable
• Securely anchor the inflatable to the ground with pegs
• Place the blower so it can't accidentally be unplugged

Affordable Toys

“I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.”
- comedian Bernard Manning

I’m amazed at the prices parents are willing to pay for children’s toys. Here are some examples from Amazon.com:

Fisher-Price Power Wheels Ultimate Terrain Traction Jeep - $825.00
Inflatable Jump 'N Double Slide $650.00
Educational Insights Math Shark Class Pack - $579.99
PlanToys Kitchen Center - $449.97

Now consider the alternatives. Instead of a powered kid-sized jeep, how about helping your son or daughter build his or her own go-cart? This teaches tool use and engineering skills. Instead of a plastic mini-kitchen with plastic equipment, give your child your old kitchen items and a sand box to play in. My grandparents had a one-room shack on their farm that the grandkids called the mud pie house. Inside were a table, old cracked bowls, rusted muffin tins, and lots of kitchen implements for making mud pies. My grandparents also included a “cash box” with play money so we could sell our creations to the adults who would drop by to check our wares. I spent a lot of time there with my siblings and cousins and it was great fun.

If mud is too dirty, consider “play dough.” There are many expensive variants on this today with play foam and quick drying sculpey and dough “factories” but you can have all the fun with little cost by making your own dough. Combine:

1 cup Flour
1 cup Water
1/2 cup Salt
2 tablespoon Cream of tartar
1 tablespoon Oil

Cook until ingredients start to clump together. Turn out the lump onto a plate or piece of wax paper. Knead in food coloring if you wish (the kids might enjoy this part and learn something about colors). Make more balls if you want other colors. Pull out some old kitchen utensils and have fun “baking” and making with your new dough! When it dries out, knead in a splash of water or make a new batch.

Bottom Line
There is nothing wrong with cheap toys, especially with young children. Who hasn’t heard the story of a child having more fun with the box than with the expensive toy that was inside? In my church bag I keep the cardboard center from a used large roll of tape. Young kids love to roll it about. At home we have a wooden block set that gets lot of playtime. Simple works.

Product Recalls

“I knew my mother had it in for me from a young age. My bath toys were an electric toaster and hair-dryer.” - Rodney Dangerfield

To get the latest news on product recalls, check out the Toy and Product Recall Finder on http://www.parents.com/. You can search by Product Name, Brand or Model Number. There is also a listing of the most recently announced recalls. This web site includes information from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and other sources.

Bottom Line
For more information concerning recalls, visit the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. You can sign up for a recall newsletter at https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx.