Now that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas, Hanukkah and the New Year are fast approaching it is a good time to remember that holiday joy should also be tempered with a measure of caution. Earlier this month the US Public Interest Research Group released its annual survey of dangerous toys,…
An article published yesterday in the New York Times raises serious questions about product safety issues concerning bed rails, and is worth our notice here in Oregon. The paper’s reporting is built around the shocking revelation that the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have both…
We’ve all seen the tiny red and yellow bottles in the supermarket. Most of us have seen the TV commercials too: 5-Hour Energy bills itself as an afternoon pick-me-up for flagging office workers, and as time-efficient replacement for a late commuter’s morning coffee. According to an investigation by the New…
Following up a story I originally wrote about last month, there are new developments in the death of an 11-year-old Portland girl in a September accident involving a party bus. According to The Oregonian the girl died when her skull was crushed as she “tumbled out of an emergency window…
Figures published recently in The Oregonian paint a distressing picture of the safety situation for pedestrians here in Oregon. Citing data compiled by the Oregon Department of Transportation the paper reports that “pedestrian deaths in Oregon are up 23 percent over last year.” With the death in late October of…
Last week The Oregonian reported on the ordeal of an Albany man, a story that is both inspiring and, in some ways, troubling. The paper reports that the man, a 40-year-old machine operator at a lumber mill, was scheduled to be released from Legacy Emanuel Medical Center after nearly 10…
In a recent article in the New York Times Dr. Robert C. Cantu, a professor of neurosurgery at Boston University, issued a thoughtful, yet passionate, call for parents and school officials to rethink the way we approach youth sports here in the United States. Writing that he meets with some…
Last week the US Chamber of Commerce held its annual Legal Reform Summit – an event designed to scare Americans into believing that our courts are out of control. The American Association of Justice took this opportunity to set the record straight, posting an online slide show designed to educate…
A lengthy article published this week in Washington’s Kitsap Sun looks at the issue of traumatic brain injuries – particularly concussions – among young athletes. As the paper notes, “the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 3.5 million concussions – defined as traumatic brain injuries –…
Television station KOIN, citing the Oregon State Police, reports on a two-vehicle head-on Oregon car crash over the weekend near Rainier, Oregon on the Columbia River, north of Portland. The station reports that at about 10:30pm last Friday a pick-up truck traveling “southbound on Highway 30 near milepost 44” collided…