Are you driving a car that can kill you in a minor accident? If it’s an SUV, it could. “In 2005, 60 percent of SUV occupants killed in crashes were in vehicles that rolled over.” And SUVs have a greater propensity in that regard. Despite the stabilizers on newer models, they can still roll over in minor accidents at low speeds due to their height and weight. Once an SUV is hit and it begins to slide sideways, it can easily roll over if it is “tripped.” What could “trip” an SUV? As the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety reports, it can be “a curb, guardrail, tree stump or soft or uneven ground… or when a driver tries to turn an SUV too aggressively at high speed.” If and when an SUV rolls over, occupants are subject to catastrophic injuries from SUV roof crush injuries.
A New Crash Test Reveals Additional Faults
A recent test done by the IIHS shows that “side and rear impact crashes remain a weakness” in midsize SUVs. “The worst performers in the side crash test were the Jeep Liberty, Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Nitro and Kia Sorrento, all 2008 models,” according to a recent CNN report. The fault lies with airbags and how well they protect occupants in serious side crashes. An IIHS spokesman said, “SUV’s should have an inherent advantage In such crashes because drivers and occupants ride up higher than in cars….but many cars perform much better in our side test than some of the SUVs in this group.” The Institute’s tests also show that the Jeep Cherokee and Chevrolet Trailblazer are “among the worst performers” in new tests at 31 mph. And two of Nissan’s midsize SUVs must be equipped with optional side airbags to perform well even at this speed. The bottom line should give consumers pause when it comes to serious side crashes in these SUVs.
Drivers who are vulnerable can’t avoid air bag injuries unless they disable steering wheel air bags. Air bag deployment is automatic when a car is hit hard enough in an accident. An air bag explodes out of the steering wheel at 230 mph with 1200 lbs of force. If it strikes a driver in the face and the driver survives – a big “if” – the brain may never recover from the blow.
Who are the most vulnerable drivers? Small women who have to sit closer to the steering wheel than 10 to 12 inches are the most likely candidates for air bag injuries, including brain hemorrhage, severed brain stem, broken neck, facial fractures, blindness and other catastrophic injuries. The original standard for airbag development was the average man – 5 ft. 8 inches tall, weighing 180 lbs.
Is that discrimination against women? If it is, the federal government is leaving them at risk until 2012. That’s when new federal rules governing air bags go into effect, mandating car manufacturers to make air bags “as safe for women and children” as they are for the standard sized man. A word to the wise is necessary here, however. Anyone, man, woman or child, can suffer traumatic injuries if they are too close to an air bag when it is released from the steering wheel, the dashboard, or the side of the car.
A February 2008 Reader’s Digest article “Dashboard Danger” is about airbag fraud, a new scam that puts lives at risk. As the magazine reports, if you bought a used car, you may not have an air bag at all. The space where it belongs could be stuffed with newspaper. Or, it could hold the wrong air bag for your vehicle if it’s been replaced after a wreck. The magazine says buyers have no dependable way of knowing if a car they are buying has been in a crash. Many depend on Carfax and AutoCheck for histories on cars they are considering. But consumer advocates warn that is dangerous. Internet sites may not have all the vital data needed to make an informed purchase. The Readers Digest article warns that: “…airbag fraud is widespread, persistent and deadly these days.” The best protection is to use common sense when it comes to air bag safety. Always ask about air bags when buying a used car. Know what air bags are standard for the model of car you are considering. Ask the dealer to certify that the air bags are in the car and that they have been installed correctly if they have had to be replaced.
The FDA reported in early February that Botox and Myobloc, a similar drug, have been linked to deaths in children with cerebral palsy and that they can cause severe side effects even when used for cosmetic purposes. According to the FDA, the drug has never been formally approved to relieve muscle spasms in children with the paralyzing condition even though it has been used for that purpose. Botox and Myobloc are distilled from the botulinum toxin. It blocks nerve impulses to muscles, causing them to relax. The drug is wildly popular among women and men, who use it to smooth out wrinkles. Even in cosmetic applications, which use far less of the drug, side effects have occurred. Public Citizen, an advocacy group, formally petitioned the FDA to strengthen warnings in January about the drugs, “citing 180 cases of patients suffering fluid in the lungs, difficulty swallowing or pneumonia, including 16 deaths.”
If you are a Type- 2 diabetic, you could be taking a drug that will kill you, or make you seriously ill as you do all you can to improve your health! Avandia, one of the most popular drugs for diabetics on the market in years, may affect the heart, causing angina, chest pain, fluid retention, shortness of breath, coronary artery blockage and other symptoms of heart failure. In November 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised doctors to closely monitor patients with Type-2 diabetes who were taking the drug to lower their blood sugar levels, alone or in combination with other drugs. The FDA voted 22 – 1 not to take the drug off the market, but asked its manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline to increase warnings about it to the highest level by adding “ …new information to the existing boxed warning in the drug’s labeling about potential increased risk for heart attacks.”
One Million Americans On Avandia:
The drug was first approved in 1999, along with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar levels. But
serious alarms were raised in May 2007about its potential to cause heart failure when the nationally respected Cleveland Clinic reported in The New England Journal of Medicine that patients taking Avandia were 43% more likely to have a heart attack or be hospitalized for blockages of the coronary arteries. By August 2007, the FDA had posted black box labels on prescriptions warning that the drug might cause heart failure. Now the drug carries the FDA’s highest warning.
Why Is “Heart Attack” Drug Still Sold?
The FDA asserts there is no definitive proof yet that Avandia causes heart attacks in diabetic patients. It points to other
studies that do not show a connection between the drug and heart failure in diabetics. The FDA has ordered a trial to compare the drug’s heart attack risk with other oral diabetes drugs. It expects results in 2014. Meanwhile, patients taking the drug may be playing Russian Roulette with their health. In a USA Today story about the drug, an FDA scientist who recommended taking the drug off the market, said the FDA warning did not go far enough. David Graham said it should include information about alternative drugs that “work as well and… don’t have this cloud hanging over them.”Meanwhile, patients taking Avandia are advised not to stop the drug without seeing a doctor. But those on the drug when they had a heart attack might do well to consult an attorney.
