accidents

DUI/DWI for a New Generation

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

I am impressed with the ability of some people to injure themselves in creative ways.

Analyzing data from the 2016-2021 National Inpatient Sample, UCLA researchers found that 25% of 7350 patients hospitalized for scooter-related injuries were using substances such as alcohol, opioids, marijuana and cocaine when injured. Published in The American Surgeon, the study also notes that overall scooter-related hospitalizations during the 5-year period jumped more than eight-fold, from 330 to 2705. In addition, the risk of traumatic brain injuries among the substance use group was almost double that of the non-impaired patients. University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences. “Nearly one-quarter of e-Scooter injuries involved substance impaired riders.” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/04/250429195329.htm (accessed May 3, 2025).

AND don’t forget about these things can randomly explode.

“In all of these fires, these lithium-ion fires, it is not a slow burn there’s not a small amount of fire, it literally explodes,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh – https://www.statista.com/chart/29472/fires-caused-by-lithium-ion-batteries/

An unexpected event in which an individual comes to rest on the ground, floor, or lower level

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

A fall is defined as an unexpected event in which an individual comes to rest on the ground, floor, or lower level.1 Falls are a leading global health challenge, ranking as the second cause of death from unintentional injuries.2 Over 80% of these fatalities occur in low-income and middle-income countries, with the highest mortality rates observed among individuals aged 60 years and older.3 WHO emphasises environmental and health-related gaps contributing to fall-related mortality, such as limited access to the health-care system and inadequate infrastructure.2 However, the implementation of fall prevention strategies in low-income countries (LICs) and some middle-income countries (MICs) is often hindered by challenges such as data scarcity, inadequate health-care infrastructure, and limited resources.2 In contrast, several high-income countries (HICs) such as Denmark, Switzerland, and Austria found persistently low or even declining rates of fall-related mortality, despite an ageing population.4 Investigating the underlying factors contributing to these trends in HICs is crucial, as it not only provides valuable insights into effective prevention strategies but also serves as a basis for adapting such approaches to resource-constrained settings like LICs and MICs. – Temporal trends and patterns in mortality from falls across 59 high-income and upper-middle-income countries, 1990–2021, with projections up to 2040: a global time-series analysis and modelling study – https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(24)00198-3/

Second cause of death from unintentional injuries.

Remember this the next time you underwrite a case where the applicant is my age. Yikes.

It’s 8:00 AM…yes, I’m Thinking About Drinking

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Alcohol use is ubiquitous in the United States, with 84% of adults reporting use at some point. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious and persistent disease at the extreme end of alcohol use that contributes heavily to the burden on the healthcare system, with more than 200,000 hospitalizations each year due to the condition. About 6% of people in the United States have AUD. However, only 7.6% of patients with AUD seek treatment, although several pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment options are available. Stephen Soreff. Rapid Rx Quiz: Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments – Medscape – Dec 30, 2024. https://reference.medscape.com/viewarticle/1002119

  • Overall mortality rates increased from 10.7 (95% CI, 10.6-10.8) per 100,000 in 1999 to 21.6 (95% CI, 21.4-21.8) per 100,000 in 2020, representing a significant twofold increase.
  • Adults aged 55-64 years demonstrated both the steepest increase and highest absolute rates in both 1999 and 2020.
  • American Indian and Alaska Native individuals experienced the steepest increase and highest absolute rates among all racial groups.
  • The West region maintained the highest absolute rates in both 1999 and 2020, despite the Midwest showing the largest increase. Edited by Lora McGlade. US Alcohol-Related Deaths Double Over Two Decades, With Notable Age and Gender Disparities – Medscape – November 21, 2024. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/us-alcohol-related-deaths-double-over-two-decades-notable-2024a1000l98?

Nearly 500 years ago, Swiss physician and chemist Paracelsus expressed the basic principle of toxicology: “All things are poison and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not a poison.” This is often condensed to: “The dose makes the poison.” It means that a substance that contains toxic properties can cause harm only if it occurs in a high enough concentration. https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/health-and-safety/the-dose-makes-the-poison/

Dry January? If you’re doing this trendy behavior you know you drank too much this past holiday season.

Cancer warnings on alcohol? No one will read them.

Trust your intuition. If you’ve ever felt like you drink too much alcohol then you do.

1-800-662-HELP or text 988 for SAMHSA’s National Helpline.

Smartphones, Ultra-Processed Foods, Diminished Family Bonds and Mental Wellness

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

As mental well-being has remained largely static across the world since 2021, so too have the rankings of countries. At the top of the rankings are many Latin American and African countries while much of the core Anglosphere ranks in the bottom quartile. With national wealth indicators such as per capita GDP negatively correlated with average mental well-being scores (see our 2021 report), this year we have made substantial progress in our understanding of why this is so. Two key findings published in Rapid Reports in 2023 show that younger age of first smartphone ownership and ultra-processed food consumption are two major contributors to our mental health challenges. In wealthier countries, the age of first smartphone ownership is much younger and ultra-processed food consumption much higher. Other contributing factors are the relatively diminished family relationships in wealthier countries that are highlighted in our 2022 annual report. The Mental State of the World in 2023 – https://mentalstateoftheworld.report/2023_read/

Another Sunday morning, just reading and connecting the dots.

I’ve downloaded several of these reports and plan to do a deep dive later.

Read these reports and think about it.

Now do something about it.

Hallucinogenic Drugs at a Gas Station Near You!

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Newly released testing data of Diamond Shruumz-brand gummies purchased in 2023 identified the presence of psilocin, a hallucinogenic drug closely related to the magic-mushroom drug psilocybin that is classified as a Schedule I drug, alongside psilocybin, heroin, and LSD. The finding comes as Diamond Shruumz’s current line of gummies, chocolates, and candy cones is being recalled and are under active investigation in connection to a nationwide rash of severe illnesses, which have involved seizures, intubation, and intensive care. As of the latest update on July 15, 69 people in 28 states have been sickened after eating a Diamond Shruumz product. Sixty of the 69 sought medical care, 36 were hospitalized, and there is one potentially associated death under investigation. Illegal drug found in Diamond Shruumz candies linked to severe illnesses — https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/07/illegal-drug-found-in-diamond-shruumz-candies-linked-to-severe-illnesses/

I’ll stick with my gas station beers, thanks.

Flamethrower + Robot Dog = (fill in the blank)

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Thermonator, the first “flamethrower-wielding robot dog,” is legal in 48 US states.

At first I thought this wasn’t real after reading this article but it is.

You can now buy a flame-throwing robot dog for under $10,000 — https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/you-can-now-buy-a-flame-throwing-robot-dog-for-under-10000/

I had to watch the video. I suggest sound off if you don’t want to poop in your pants.

YIKES

Is Your Car Insurance More Expensive?

/ SupremeCmdr / 1 Comment

For me, yes.

I found the above on my insurance company’s policy portal. I totally get the first two items but the third reason caught me off guard. I really shouldn’t be surprised since a lot of people forgot how to drive coming out of the Pandemic. Recently over a two day span I encountered three idiots in less than 45 minutes of drive time.

  • In the parking lot of the grocery store a guy pulls out of his spot and starts driving directly towards me. We were both going slow so the head on wouldn’t have been too catastrophic. I braked and stopped. He kept driving straight at me. Was he having a medical issue, a seizure perhaps? This driver then slowly does a very wide U-turn, crosses the parking spaces and starts to head off. SMH.
  • On the way home (SAME DAY) a different idiot decides to make a left turn from the far right lane and cuts me off. SMH x2. On this day I was averaging one idiot every 15 minutes.
  • Last but not least another idiot darted out of a cross street, cuts me off and starts speeding away.

So if you want to know why your car insurance premiums are higher it’s because of the idiots. Pretty soon, premiums will go up again because of the robots.

A woman was found trapped under a driverless car. It’s not what it looks like, the car company said — https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/03/tech/driverless-car-pedestrian-injury/index.html

Thank you all for letting me vent.

I’m not leaving the house today.

Scary Charts – 08.20.23

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

There were 464 workplace fatalities from unintentional overdoses due to non-medical use of drugs or alcohol in 2021. This is a 19.6-percent increase from 2020 when there were 388 fatalities and is the ninth consecutive annual increase. Unintentional overdoses from non-medical use of drugs include overdoses from stimulants such as methamphetamine and from narcotics such as fentanyl.

Unintentional overdoses rose for the ninth consecutive year in 2021– https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/unintentional-overdoses-rose-for-the-ninth-consecutive-year-in-2021.htm

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unintentional overdoses rose for the ninth consecutive year in 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/unintentional-overdoses-rose-for-the-ninth-consecutive-year-in-2021.htm (visited August 20, 2023).

The Dark Side of Tik Tok – Soak Your Eyeballs in Castor Oil

/ SupremeCmdr / 1 Comment

Some people on TikTok have been telling you to rub castor oil around and potentially into your eyes, even though it’s approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a laxative and not as an eye remedy. TikTokers have been claiming that castor oil can help treat all sorts of eye problems ranging from eye dryness to floaters to cataracts to poor vision to glaucoma.

TikTokers Push Castor Oil As An Eye Remedy, Here Are The Problems — https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/08/12/tiktokers-push-castor-oil-as-an-eye-remedy-here-are-the-problems/?sh=1111bfa485ce

https://www.ophthalmologytimes.com/view/ophthalmologists-castor-oil-shouldn-t-be-rubbed-in-the-eyes-no-matter-what-they-do-on-tiktok

Natural selection at its finest. And we thought drinking detergent was bad. The Dark Side of Tik Tok – Updated