While dressers and chests in IKEA’s Malm family have drawn attention this week for being recalled after the deaths of three children were linked to them, those aren’t the only deaths that dressers from IKEA alone have caused: other models of dresser are linked to an additional three deaths of children age three or under, and the first one was in 1989. [More]
safety
Safety Advocates Applaud IKEA Recall, Hope Consumers Return Or Anchor Dressers
By 6.28.16
Safety advocates were deeply disappointed earlier this year when the news came that another child was killed that the very popular Malm dresser from IKEA fell on top of him. It’s horrible every time that an ordinary household object kills someone, but this model of dresser was part of a voluntary repair program that IKEA wouldn’t call a recall. Now the dressers have been officially recalled, but that should have happened before another child died. [More]
[UPDATE] Facebook Thinks You Should Get To Know The People Near You Better
By 6.28.16
Update: In a second statement to Fusion, Facebook retracted its original statement that location is one of the ways in which it suggests who you may wish to follow, and now says, “We’re not using location data, such as device location and location information you add to your profile, to suggest people you may know. We may show you people based on mutual friends, work and education information, networks you are part of, contacts you’ve imported and other factors.” [More]
IKEA Will Stop Selling Dressers Prone To Tipping Over, Recall 29M Units
By 6.27.16
IKEA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are taking an unusual and perhaps unprecedented step, recalling tens of millions of top-heavy Malm dressers and chests. While IKEA offered repair kits and wall anchors to customers, the message clearly wasn’t getting out that they have been recalled in the United States. [More]
Pilot Who Failed Drug Test Can’t Try To Use DNA To Prove He Was Clean
By 6.24.16
Imagine you’re one of the many American workers subject to random tests for the presence of drugs or alcohol in your system, and a test turns up high levels of heroin and cocaine. If you contend that the lab must have mixed up your urine sample with someone else’s should you be able to demand a DNA test to prove your innocence? If you’re a pilot, the answer is no. [More]
Teen Dies After Getting Infected By Brain-Eating Amoeba While Swimming In NC
By 6.23.16
Every year, we’re more than happy to welcome back summer and all the fun that goes with it. But with those warm-weather activities also comes an unfortunate but important safety reminder: don’t let warm, fresh water go up your nose, lest a brain-eating amoeba swims up there with it. [More]
After Threatening To Leave City, Chicago Will Not Require Uber, Lyft Drivers Provide Fingerprints
By 6.22.16
Earlier this week, it looked like Chicago was about to become the biggest city to require that drivers for services like Uber and Lyft provide fingerprints to check against existing criminal databases; but after intervention by the Mayor Rahm Emanuel — whose brother is an Uber investor — Chicago city leaders have approved a compromise version of these rules that kick the fingerprint can down the road for at least another six months. [More]
Why Did American Airlines Make Me Move My Child’s Safety Seat So Someone Could Recline?
By 6.13.16
Planning ahead can go a long way when it comes to reducing the amount of stress parents face when flying with their young children. At least that was Becca’s thought when she researched and decided to pay extra so her 7-month-old son could travel rear-facing in his safety seat on a recent American Airlines flight. Despite Federal Aviation Administration rules — and American’s own policies — things didn’t go as planned when a flight attendant ordered Becca to move the child seat so the passenger in the row in front of her could recline. [More]
Tesla Denies Report Of Possible Safety Defect In Model S & “Troubling” Nondisclosure Agreements
By 6.10.16
Yesterday, regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had begun looking into possible issues with the suspension on Tesla’s Model S sedans, but the high-end electric vehicle maker is currently denying that there are any safety issues with the Model S suspensions, or that there is a formal investigation into the matter. [More]
New Legislation Targets Deadly Furniture Tip-Overs
By 6.9.16
Each year, some 25,000 Americans — mostly children — are injured or killed from furniture and other household appliances that tip over or fall because they are not properly secured. A new piece of legislation aims to reduce these potentially deadly incidents by establishing sturdier minimum standards. [More]
Death Of Yellowstone Tourist Prompts Renewed Warning To Stay On Park Paths
By 6.9.16
The death of a tourist at Yellowstone National Park has officials issuing renewed warnings to visitors to stay on pathways, no matter how enticing a temptation is waiting outside prescribed borders. [More]
Park Service: To Avoid Risk Of Animal Attack, Stop Trying To Get Up Close & Personal
By 6.1.16
It’s that time of year again: the weather is nice, and our nation’s parks are full of visitors who want to check out all that nature has to offer. But yet again the National Park Service finds itself forced to remind folks that if they don’t want to find themselves facing down, say, a charging bison, you shouldn’t try to get too close just for the sake of a souvenir photo. [More]
CDC Director: Drug-Resistant Superbug Means “Medicine Cabinet Is Empty”
By 5.27.16
You know that scene in action movies where the hero has fired every bullet, thrown every piece of throwable furniture, set off every explosive, but still the bad guy lurches forward? At that point, there’s nothing left for the hero to do but run and pray. After the recent discovery in the U.S. of a bacteria that is resistant to a vital last-resort antibiotic, some scientists believe we’re inching dangerously close to that run-and-pray moment in the world of medicine. [More]
In Denial About America’s Opioid Painkiller Problem? This Map Might Change Your Mind
By 5.26.16
If you think the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is being alarmist by urging primary care physicians to stop prescribing so many opioid painkillers, or that the fact that 10% of doctors are writing more than 50% of the prescriptions for opioids is not a concrete indicator of a problem, then perhaps this map of overdose deaths in the U.S. will help to drive the point home. [More]
Congressional Report: NFL Tried To Influence Government Research On Head Injuries
By 5.23.16
Even though the National Football League currently paints itself as a player-friendly organization that puts safety above the base thrill of seeing a dude repeatedly getting his bell rung, the league has a long history of not only ignoring the issue but actively seeking to smother scientific research linking the sport to devastating longterm brain damage. A newly released Congressional investigation appears to confirm earlier news reports claiming that the NFL isn’t done trying to insert itself into research that could have an impact on the country’s most popular team sport. [More]
Former Biggest Loser Contestants Allege Show Provided Them With Ephedra, Left Them With Eating Disorders
By 5.23.16
For 17 seasons, NBC’s The Biggest Loser has proven that anyone can lose weight with a strict diet, lots of exercise, access to world-class trainers and training facilities, a few months away from your job and family, the incentive of a huge cash reward, and the knowledge that millions of TV viewers are scrutinizing your every move. According to some former contestants, it also involved some show-provided pills. [More]
Uber Allows Users To Track Other Riders’ Trips In Family Profiles
By 5.18.16
After years of turning a blind eye to Uber users who broke the company’s rules by hailing rides for people other than themselves, Uber recently introduced the “Family Profile” option to allow multiple riders to share the same account. Now the company is letting people in the same “Family” track each other’s rides. [More]
Eight People Injured After JetBlue Flight Hits Turbulence
By 5.10.16
Passengers on a JetBlue flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Orlando yesterday that hit extremely bumpy air say the experience was “like a movie,” with turbulence strong enough to injure eight people. [More]
