Saturday, October 20, 2012

Stop the medical studies already!

A recent study demonstrated that children and teenaged pedestrians who are distracted by their “mobile devices” are at greater risk of being hit by cars.  Seriously.  Someone or some group felt that a “study” was warranted to prove this.  Equally inexplicable, some organization felt that this study should actually be funded.  (I realize that it’s possible the study was designed for some other purpose, yet yielded this finding; if that is the case, the authors should have been too embarrassed to publish it.)  But most alarming is that the authors proclaim “their findings should prompt pediatricians to advise parents and children about pedestrian safety during routine check-ups.”  No.  Stop right there.  Medical doctors have better uses for their time.  I don’t want them advising children on how to cross city streets any more than I want Charles Barkley to serve as a role model.  And if this is the last frontier for medical knowledge, then our learning is done.  We now know all there is to know.  So please, stop the studies. 

No comments:

Post a Comment