The Cincinnati Beacon - Weekly Medical Newsletter Calls Enquirer To Task

Consumer Health Digest, a weekly email newsletter with a distribution of over 11,000 subscribers, criticized the Enquirer in their latest publication. Several reporters across the nation subscribe to this digest, so it will be interesting to see what happens, if anything, as a result.

Heimlich maneuver irresponsibly plugged as drowning treatment.

Henry Heimlich, M.D., who is credited with promoting abdominal thrusts for dislodging solid bodies in the airway (sometimes called the Heimlich Maneuver), is also advocating this method for treating drowning. Because abdominal thrusts do not open the airway and can cause fatal aspiration of stomach contents, the American Heart Association has concluded that their use is “unnecessary and potentially dangerous.” [American Heart Association. 2005 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care, Part 10.3 Drowning. Circulation 112:IV-133-IV-135, 2005] http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/112/24_suppl/IV-133 On May 27, the Cincinnati Enquirer ran a full-page graphic highlighting abdominal thrusts as a first treatment for drowning. After complaints by several experts, the Enquirer published a modified graphic that still promoted abdominal thrusts.

http://www.cincinnatibeacon.com/index.php/magaddiction/comments/the_enquirers_pool_safety_a_threat_to_life/

Despite two weeks of further protests by NCAHF president Dr. Robert Baratz, the newspaper has failed to retract its dangerous advice.

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says:
15 Jun 2006 at 04:52 pm | #

Hey guys it’s The Enquirer, what do you expect? Good reporting? Professionalism? Research? etc.? Well, get over it!

says:
15 Jun 2006 at 05:21 pm | #

Bad journalism is one thing, risking lives is another. Unsound medical advice can risk lives.

says:
15 Jun 2006 at 06:23 pm | #

Have they NO SHAME?

anon says:
15 Jun 2006 at 09:08 pm | #

Blue Gill: Speaking of no shame, Deaconess - allegedly a health care provider - continues to promote and teach the Heimlich maneuver for drowning rescue.

I don’t want anyone to be hurt or killed, but if that happens as a result of their negligence, may Deaconess, the Enquirer, Gannett, and Heimlich be the targets of a big fat wrongful death lawsuit.

Hey, you trial lawyers and friends of trial lawyers out there. Plenty of culpable deep pockets here!

says:
15 Jun 2006 at 10:59 pm | #

Damn good thing Deaconess isn’t near a body of water!

anon says:
16 Jun 2006 at 10:08 am | #

Damn good thing Deaconess isn�t near a body of water!

But it is, Blue Gill. There are many nearby pools. Also, infants and toddlers often drown in toilets or buckets of water.

But Deaconess’s liability appears to be more far-reaching. They’ve been promoting the Heimlich maneuver for drowning since they first took over ownership of the Heimlich Institute in 1998. For almost a decade, the Heimlich for drowning has been promoted in Deaconess newsletters, press releases, “Heimlich Maneuver Week”, speeches by Dr. Heimlich in Cincinnati-area schools where he teaches kids to do the maneuver on drowning victims, etc.

If somebody does the Heimlich on a drowning victim, they must have gotten the idea somewhere, right? Let’s say a lifeguard or bystander does the Heimlich on a drowning victim and that victim has a poor outcome - brain damage or death. If the family sues and the person who applied the Heimlich to the victim says they got the idea from the Deaconess website, the Enquirer, or Heimlich himself, that’s a trial attorney’s dream.

Betty Boop says:
17 Jun 2006 at 12:39 pm | #

Guys, do you really expect anything to come from this? Come on Philly has ignored us, ignored his brother and has ignored all pleas to stop promoting this dangerous procedure. The Enquirer has deep pockets- they don’t care- they are so mystified with the Heimlich name.

What's outside?