Injuries to Minors

July 29, 2012

Child Injury Risk Leads to Massive Stroller Recall

The death of a six month old baby eight years ago, and another closely-averted tragedy two years later, set in motion a chain of events leading to the recall this month of hundreds of thousands of potentially dangerous strollers, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The strollers were finally recalled a few days ago “because children can become trapped and strangled between trays on them,” the news agency reports. The manufacturer, Peg Perego USA, issued a recall effecting “approximately 223,000 strollers, which include Venezia and Pliko-P3 strollers in various colors, made between January 2004 and September 2007.” The recall affects strollers with “a child tray and one cup holder.” Models with differing designs are not subject to the recall.

The article also notes the announcement of a much smaller recall (5,600 units) of strollers from another manufacturer: Kolcraft Enterprises. These are being pulled off of the market “due to potential falling and choking hazards,” the AP reports. The action stemmed from six reports of broken front caster wheels “and two reports of the basket’s support screws and nuts detaching.”

July 12, 2012

$3 Billion Healthcare Fraud Settlement Spotlights Oversight Importance

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Earlier this month news broke of a head-spinningly large fraud settlement involving the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. According to ABC News the company “agreed to an unprecedented $3 billion settlement with the US government over allegations that the company advertised drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.”

Over the years we have all become a bit numb to horror stories about the health care industry. One of the few things both sides in the debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act appear to agree on is that the US healthcare system is in need of significant reform (exactly what sort of reform is a subject of far more debate).

Cases like this are the sort of thing that not only give an entire industry a bad name, but make reasonable people wonder how much deeper, and broader, corporate fraud is in the health care and pharmaceutical industry. To what extent are other companies putting their own profits ahead of patient and consumer safety?

July 8, 2012

Another Window Fall Highlights Importance of the Issue Here in Oregon

by Matthew D. Kaplan

This is not the first time this summer that I have written about the danger of window falls. With the news, however, that another Oregon child has been injured falling from a window it is important to reemphasize the subject. As a recent article in The Oregonian notes, the latest incident “marked the fourth time a young child had fallen

The most recent incident took place in Portland and was serious enough that a LifeFlight helicopter was required to get the young victim to a hospital for emergency treatment. The Oregonian reports that the child, who is only five years old, was “critically injured.”

“It appears he opened the window by himself and somehow fell out,” a Portland Fire Bureau spokesman told the paper. Coming as this does at a moment when SafeKids Oregon’s ‘Stop at 4’ campaign is in full swing, this is a timely reminder of the window safety precautions that are essential for almost anyone – but especially for people who will have small children in their homes at any point this summer.

June 25, 2012

Oregon Child Injury Highlights Importance of Window Safety

by Matthew D. Kaplan

I have written in the past about the importance of window safety. Too many people forget at this time of year that screens are designed to keep bugs out, not to keep children in, and fail to take essential precautions.

This reminder is prompted by a recent report in The Oregonian about a Cedar Mill toddler who “was taken to a local hospital after she punched through a screen and fell from a second-storey window.” Even more frighteningly: “the girl reportedly fell from the window and first landed on a slanted roof. She then rolled off the roof and hit a mix of pavement and bark dust” the paper adds citing local Tualatin Valley first responders.

The child was taken to an area hospital and her injuries are reported not to be life-threatening.

June 15, 2012

Oregon Supreme Court Backs Release of Boy Scout Files

by Matthew D. Kaplan

An important decision announced yesterday by the Oregon Supreme Court bolsters both the principle of openness in our court system and the idea that a key function of the courts is to enforce accountability.

According to the New York Times a unanimous ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court “cleared the way… for the release of thousands of pages of documents detailing accusations and investigations of sexual abuse or other improprieties by Boy Scout leaders around the nation from the mid-1960s into the 1980s.” The documents, which the Scouts’ leadership referred to as “the perversion files” were the keystone of the 2010 sexual abuse case that focused national attention on the organization. The organization was fined over $18 million because of its efforts to cover up the abuse of young boys rather than reporting it to authorities.

It is sad to see that even now the Scouts seem more concerned about protecting their organizational reputation than they are about the many injuries to children enabled by their decades-long conduct. As described by the Times, the files “were kept as a way of weeding out bad leaders and preventing abuse” but proved to be especially damaging to the organization because they offered proof that the Scouts’ leadership knew of cases of sexual abuse but did nothing to bring the guilty adults to justice.

May 25, 2012

Missing Children’s Awareness Day

by Matthew D. Kaplan

As we head into the long holiday weekend – with the summer months stretching out ahead – it is appropriate to take a moment today to mark “Missing Children’s Awareness Day,” so designated by the federal government.

May 25 was chosen as Missing Children’s Awareness day nearly 30 years ago – in 1983 – in memory Etan Patz, the six-year-old New York City boy who disappeared while walking to his school bus stop in 1979. The anniversary is especially poignant this year because just yesterday a man in New Jersey came forward and confessed to Patz’s long-unsolved death. Today, the day chosen in Etan’s honor, he was charged with murder in a New York court. There could hardly be a more poignant way to mark this year’s Missing Children’s Awareness Day.

According to radio station KUIK, Oregon’s state records show that as of late last month 464 children were listed as missing here in our state. The radio station, citing state law enforcement sources, reports that of the children on that state list “about 90% are runaways.” Injuries to children are a constant worry for many parents, but the added burden of fearing for a child’s day-to-day safety while having little or no idea where to find them is something no one should ever have to go through.

May 14, 2012

Oregon Child Safety: Some Good News

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers some refreshingly good news concerning Oregon child safety and Oregon injuries to children. As summarized by the Associated Press, the report indicates that, nationwide, “accidents are killing far fewer children and teenagers than in the past.”

The even better news for us here in the Pacific Northwest was that Oregon was among the states reporting the greatest declines in injuries and deaths among young people.

As the news agency reports, across the United States “the death rate for youths age 19 and younger dropped about 30 percent from 2000 to 2009. The number of deaths dropped too, from about 12,400 to about 9,100.” Much of the drop in fatalities can be attributed to an especially dramatic 41 percent fall-off in traffic-related deaths. “The CDC didn’t analyze exactly what caused that decline, but officials believe it was helped by measures like graduated drivers’ licenses and use of child safety and booster seats,” the article, as republished by Roseburg TV station KPIC, notes.

May 7, 2012

Clackamas Child’s Death Spotlights Child Safety Issues

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Last month’s death of a toddler in Boring, Oregon, in Clackamas County, highlights in the most tragic way possible the importance of both safety awareness when adults are operating potentially dangerous equipment around children, and the need for manufacturers to consider safety in the design of their products.

According to The Oregonian, an 18-month-old girl died last month in Boring “when her father… accidently ran over the girl as he was parking his tractor.” The injured Oregon child was evacuated by helicopter to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center but died a short time later.

According to the newspaper “police are not pursuing criminal charges against the father.” This horrific tragedy, however, contains several important lessons for us all. First, and most importantly, it is a reminder of how crucial it is for all adults to be aware of their environment at all times, but especially when operating machinery that has the potential to kill or injure a child. Farm equipment and lawnmowers spring immediately to mind when considering these issues – but they apply to many other household goods as well. There have been instances over the years of small children getting caught in washing machines or dryers. Refrigerators, especially older ones that may no longer be operational, also pose significant risks.

April 23, 2012

Oregon Child Injury is a Reminder of the Importance of Window Safety

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A few weeks ago I posted an item marking National Window Safety Week. This weekend brought a sad reminder of why this issue is so important. As The Oregonian reports, citing Tualatin Valley first responders, “a two-year-old Tigard girl was taken to an area hospital Saturday night after she fell from a second-story window at her home.”

The newspaper reports that the girl was conscious when found by emergency services personnel, but offers no other updates on her condition or the nature and extent of her injuries. The injured Oregon child was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, the paper notes.

In a further reminder of the importance of this issue – and why all adults need to be aware of open windows, or windows with inadequate screens – the newspaper goes on to note that “a 3-year-old Clackamas girl broke her elbow” in a similar recent fall. It adds that experts say 70 percent of all injuries to children from window falls happen between noon and early evening, when warm weather is apt to draw children closer to open windows.

March 31, 2012

National Window Safety Week

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Tomorrow, April 1, marks the beginning of National Window Safety Week. I’ve written about the dangers of open windows on several occasions in the past, notably last summer when there was a spate of Oregon injuries to children stemming from open-window accidents in the Portland area. In one particularly disturbing incident a toddler in Southeast Portland suffered a skull fracture after falling from a second-story window.

Raising awareness, and stopping preventable accidents like this, are the goals of National Window Safety Week, which is organized by Safe Kids USA (see link below).

A key element of awareness – one that should be emphasized to every parent of a small child – is the fact that screen windows offer only a false sense of security. As the Safe Kids website says: “screens keep bugs out, not kids in.” To ensure that children do not press on screens and tumble through the window, “window guards should be installed to prevent the little ones from being able to fall outside. They are easy to install and should have a release mechanism in the event of an emergency or the need to move to another window,” the website states.