Last month the Washington Post had a story describing the role the NRA has played in shaping current US gun regulations. This is an excerpt which I hope will persuade blog readers that my apparent obsession with the NRA is fully justified. As recently as 1977 the role of the second amendment to the US […]
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Help for pedestrians in Calcutta from the Beattles
Rafael Consunji sent me this delightful item: It describes the Calcutta Traffic Police’s idea of using the Beatles to teach “unruly Kolkata pedestrians to use zebra crossings” inspired by the iconic cover of their album, Abbey Road. Posters of the Beattles crossingAbbey Road in single-file appear at busy intersections with the caption “If they can, why can’t […]
Preventing brain injuries in children playing sport
My interest in brain injuries, and most importantly the capacity to prevent them (readers may recall my blog in February regarding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), and injury prevention for children in particular (such as my most recent post regarding hot water scalds) was stimulated again after reading the recent publication “Mechanisms of team-sport-related brain injuries in children 5 to […]
NYPD joins in banning the A word
In 2001, the late Ron Davis (then North American editor of the BMJ) and I wrote an editorial in the BMJ announcing that the publishing group would no longer permit the use of the word ‘accident’ when the intended meaning was ‘injury’. This was greeted by a storm of criticism in letters to the editor […]
Who pays for injuries sustained by college athletes?
On Sunday, March 31st, the US college basketball world was shocked when Louisville’s Kevin Ware suffered a very serious compound fracture of his right tibia during play in the NCAA college basketball tournament. The injury was gruesome and left many of the players standing around on the court shocked and woozy as they tried to […]
A small first step toward meaningful gun control
The Governor of Connecticut has signed a gun-control bill that includes a strengthened assault weapons ban. The pens he used to sign the bill were distributed to parents of children massacred at Newtown in December. In signing the Governor note that “When 92 percent of Americans agree that every gun sale should be subject to a […]
Honda’s new safety package
Honda Motor Co. has developed an “accident” avoidance support system that will be bundled into an enhanced safety package. While driving at less than 30 kph, the “City-Brake Active System” gives audio and visual warnings when the system recognizes a high risk of collision by a laser radar installed in the upper part of the front […]
Hot water scalds – a horrific injury that can be prevented
Hot water scalds are horrific injuries, and heartbreakingly this is an injury that is commonly sustained by young children. This topic is particularly close to my heart, as many years ago my infant cousin was hospitalised after his older siblings knocked a saucepan of boiling water off the stove-top and it splashed all over his back. […]
$12 million from Bloomberg to support gun control
Efforts to advance gun control legislation in the United States are stalling. Even in the state of Connecticut, where the Newtown shootings took place, legislative efforts to address gun related violence haven’t gone anywhere. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/nyregion/connecticut-still-working-on-gun-law-frustrating-some.html?src=xps It is amazing to see how the political will to address the issue of gun violence has lost energy so […]
Enlist Chelsea’s support in battle against DWI hit and run tragedies
Editors note: I suspect some readers will have a deja vu reaction to this story because a) drunken hit and runs are disgustingly commonplace and b) I am a supporter of Louis V. Lombardo and have used his material before. Once again, I urge you to visit his site,www.CareForCrashVictims.com . This is his email, verbatim. Today’s […]