A 16-year study (you've got to be kidding) found 19 people had swallowed the safety tabs, which are supposed to fold back but stay attached to soda cans. (that's 1.875 stupid people per year)"I think we all know if you fiddle with these stay tabs, you can easily break them off," Dr. Lane Donnelly, who led the study, told reporters at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago. (16 years of research led him to this conclusion)
"It is unusual that the majority cases occurred among teenagers, since foreign body ingestion typically occurs in infants and toddlers," Dr. Donnelly said.
The good doctor suspects many cases go unreported.
He also said parents should be aware of the problem and that beverage companies might consider a newer design that makes the tabs harder to break off. (which we suppose is easier than to expect people not break them off and swallow them)
We ask, can we really save people from themselves?
