Brain Injury Association releases study, puts danger in riders, not rides

Well there you have it Ed. Now can we move on to more important things?

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

This was provided to me by Six Flags as Ed Marky's response:

News from Ed Markey
United States Congress Massachusetts Seventh District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
David Moulton or
February 25, 2003
Israel Klein
embargoed until 1 pm
(202) 225-2836

MARKEY URGES BRAIN INJURY PANEL TO SHARE ITS WORK-PRODUCT WITH THE PUBLIC
AND OTHER SCIENTISTS

Industry-Expert panel blames brain-injury on pre-existing conditions, but
fails to disclose analysis of 57 cases, including 20 published in medical
journals.

Washington, DC: Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) released the following statement today upon release of the report prepared at the request of Rep. Markey and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) by the Brain Injury Association of America concerning brain trauma experienced by 57 amusement park rider patrons that could not be explained by any direct blow to the head:

"I thank the Brain Injury Association of America for undertaking this task and for the time and effort put into it. Its key finding - that "at-risk populations ... are already warned" - is certainly reassuring to those who do not have a pre-disposition to brain injury.

"We have made great progress in the last year. The public now has some regulatory assurance that the industry will not be allowed to increase force on rides beyond what is medically reasonable. New Jersey has adopted enforceable g-force standards, and the industry is circulating a voluntary g-force standard that mirrors the New Jersey standards. None of this existed when I first asked the industry to set a voluntary standard in May 2000, nor when Rep. Pascrell and I asked for the BIAA to look at the medical issue in February 2002.

"However, I am very puzzled by the decision of the panel to withhold the basis of their conclusions. By neglecting to publish the panel's work product, the panel undermines the validity of its own findings and throws a cloud over integrity of its work that is hard to dispel.

"I am not a scientist, but I recall being admonished in grade school to 'show your work.' By showing your work, others can know how you arrived at your conclusion, and can give you partial credit even if your conclusion turns out to be wrong. This approach is the building block of scientific inquiry, whereby one's work is published so that others can test their own theories against yours and so that the methodology underlying a conclusion can be tested and replicated to prove its worth.

"Conversely, to present conclusions without revealing how they were derived is considered the opposite of science. It denies other scientists and interested parties the ability to test their own judgments against the work of the panel.

"This contrasts, for example, with the report recently commissioned by Six Flags and conducted by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. The Six Flags panel review each of 20 cases contained in recent medical journals, and discusses each case in sufficient detail to determine the basis for its conclusions. Based on the expert opinion of this panel, 6 of the 20 cases were deemed "implausible" regarding the theory that the brain injury was caused by an amusement park ride. Of the remaining 14, however, the panel found that at least 9 of the 20 cases appeared on their face to involve cases of brain injury plausibly related to riding an amusement park ride, and an additional 5 cases could not be ruled out based pending further investigation.

"The BIAA panel looked at the same cases but does not include any case-by-case discussion. Why?

"In fact, the BIAA panel does not even include a single reference to the individual articles that they have in their possession and presumably reviewed. Why?

"The BIAA panel had in its possession detailed descriptions not only of the 20 cases discussed in the Six Flags Report, but also an additional 37 cases derived from individual victims or their doctors or investigations following news reports. How were each of these cases considered by the panel? Where is the work product of the months and months of deliberation over these injuries and their causation?


"Today, I am calling once again for the BIAA to reverse its decision to withhold the body of this report. Its opinions are valuable; its analysis of the evidence, however, would be much more valuable and constitutes the core of the request that 11 of my colleagues made a year ago. There is simply no good reason to hide the basis of its conclusion; there is every reason to make it public now."


# # #

______________________
ISRAEL S. KLEIN
Press Secretary
Legislative Assistant
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey
2108 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2836
(202) 226-0092 fax
(202) 225-2816 cell
israel.klein@mail.house.gov

So he didnt get the result that HE wanted, so he whines some more. Does he EVER give up?

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Panther Modern
SixFlagsHouston.Com
An Astroworld Tribute Site

"We have made great progress in the last year"

Um, yeah Ed....the face of thrill rides will never be the same. People will be SHOCKED at how different their favorite rides are, and how safe they are now.

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

Did anyone expect that he would? I hope the BIAA's report is plastered all over the news in the next couple days.

I know you don't have to have a previous "trauma" to the brain in order to have an aneurysm suddenly appear. My father was at a christmas party when one burst in his head. No previous trauma and no strenuous activity. It can happen to anyone at any time and anywhere. Those 14 cases Markey talks about are just people being on a coaster when it happened instead of at a christmas party.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

What a moron. I was to some tiny degree able to overlook his "cause" because his data was flawed and there wasn't much in the way or real science to consider, but please, it doesn't get any more black and white than this. Pair it with the earlier Six Flags-commissioned study and there you have it.

Run along Ed... worry about terrorism, education, health care and such. These are far more important pursuits on the national agenda.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

Ed, my friend, let's have a little chat.

"The public now has some regulatory assurance that the industry will not be allowed to increase force on rides beyond what is medically reasonable."

Sure. As if the parks didn't already know this, now there's useless artificial limits imposed (in NJ, anyway) that go beyond what any current ride does anyway. As if parks were about to start killing patrons off. Not only does Sen. Markey not understand physics (speed != G's; height != G's), he doesn't understand business, either (killing patrons == bad business).

"I am not a scientist, but I recall being admonished in grade school to 'show your work.'"

Patience, my boy, said results will be published. In the meantime, I'd like to point out that Markey freely admits he isn't a scientist, yet he tries to interpret statistics to make them say what he wants. Can't have it both ways, bub.

A suggestion to Sen. Markey -- PLEASE move on to REAL issues, like the stupidity of other government officials who tell people to buy duct tape and plastic.

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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"Friendship -- more lasting than love, more legal than stalking."

*** This post was edited by GregLeg 2/25/2003 6:34:32 PM ***

Unbelievable. The part that urks me most is the man is being paid by the public and doing nothing more than wasting the public's money, apparently to hear himself talk.

Yup. Moron is the word of choice.

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Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...

Just what I was thinking Jeff. There are SO many more important things.

Even with terrorism, poverty, potential war, nuclear threats, etc. aside. There are SO many more worthy "smaller" issues in our country. Heck, 97 people just died in a club fire. That's more than all the non-rider caused amusement park deaths in the last 50 years. Today in Baltimore more people were killed by guns than last year on rides. Ya know?

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson*** This post was edited by Peabody 2/25/2003 7:17:52 PM ***

For every representitive in the House, three people per day are killed by tobacco products, which I'll bet are regulated by the CPSC. Which is more worthwhile to worry about Ed?

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Please visit the small parks. We don't know what's happening behind the scenes
Woodencoaster.com

All that this is my friends, is Rep. Markey's pork project. I think most people will remember that phrase from highschool American History.

Every suit on that hill in D.C. has their own little pork project and 99.9% of them are stupid and worthless.

The truely sad part about this whole hullabulu is that he actually gets coverage for his pork project. But I think with his "virtuous" statement that he's proved himself a royal jack a double s and that the GP will start to realize that this guy really likes hearing himself and not his constituents.

And that's my two cents.

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Flying over metal is a beautiful thing!

TNcoasterman*** This post was edited by TNcoasterman 2/25/2003 11:41:29 PM ***

You know, the Six Flags report *did* cover those 20 cases. In pretty good detail, too.

A nice pointer from this report to that one would be a nice response.

This says it all. "The amusement park industry is rigorously self-monitored and individual roller coaster rides are designed with multiple “fail-safe” features to control risk. Whether their motivations are selfish or responsible, the industries’ commercial health is best served by preventing injury. Whether a federal agency could match this is unlikely." That's number one in the Recommendations section of the BIAA Report

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Fear, not the distance from which you fall, however, the velocity with which you hit the ground.

And even more specifically: "The industries’ commercial health is best served by preventing injury." I don't think anything makes more sense. In fact, I'm surprised that statement even needs to be said. Isn't it obvious to everyone on the planet that killing and hurting people is not good business?

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

The press never ceases to humor me. When Markey started out with this mission, his stories were getting headlines in papers and were top stories on the news.

Last night, my local channels carried the release of this information but buried in between weather and sports in a quick 20 second spot. Danger, accidents, death is so much sexier for the news agencies.

I was rather surprised by this report. The tone was really so pro-amusement industry that the industry would have been hesitant to use the same terms.

They still made some noises about setting up groups to police of collect data as a possibility, but didn't push that. While I would be curious to see some of the data that isn't being collected, it is just that curiosity. I can't see where collecting this data is justified from a stand point of protecting the public or economics. I was particularly surprised when the report mentioned collecting data on frequent riders. First it is unlikely that data could ever be collected on a large enough group to constitute a statisticly significant sample. Second this would require that a huge number of frequent riders volunteer to participate, or that ACE members be required to register with the government. :)

Blah Blah Blah Blah... It's amazing roller coasters are safe! Whoopdeedo!

OK.. Why don't we pretend they weren't. 50 People die each year from falling out, 125 from crashes, 100 from brain injury, and 500 from sharks flying in the air and biting them.

Now, should we be forced not to ride? Couldn't we be able choose for ourselves? We all know that driving isn't incredibly safe. Smoking isn't healthy. Eating 12 meals a day isn't. But people still decide to do it, and in my opinion they have a right to.

To me this whole thing is a waste.

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Kingbob wrote this.

Another article posted yesterday, more proof he for sure isn't giving it up:

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/5261153.htm

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"The Tidal Wave, you don't ride it, you survive it" - 1977*** This post was edited by Draco 2/26/2003 6:22:39 PM ***

Good grief. Now he's just making a public idiot of himself. Not that he wasn't before, but sheesh!

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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"Friendship -- more lasting than love, more legal than stalking."