- npr.org/blogs/money/2011/12/05/142634542/why-burn-doctors-hate-instant-soup?ps=cprs
- marketwatch.com/story/keller-rohrback-llp-announces-investigation-of-nissin-foods-usa-co-inc-and-maruchan-inc-regarding-instant-soup-cup-design-2011-12-07
Provide names of other journalists involved.
N/A
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
5-Dec-11
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Through an informal conversation with a pediatric burn unit resident, I learned that instant, cup-style soups sent injured patients — mostly children — to her hospital every day, often with serious injuries. The problem seemed to be the cup’s design: they are tall, lightweight and top-heavy. Medical literature that went unnoticed at publication bore this out, and proved both that noodles stay hotter longer, and that poor product design might be one factor responsible for these countless, undocumented injuries. Through a dozen interviews at burn units across the country, I verified that these injuries are indeed a national trend. Eight of the twelve hospitals I spoke with said they saw the injury at least once a week. Some said they saw the injury as many as six times a week in the colder months. This story was the first to report these injuries as a national, frequently occurring trend and present information gleaned from interviews, studies and data to support this claim.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
For this story, I called upon: -Peer reviewed studies, most of which appeared in the Journal of Burn Care and Research but had gone unnoticed at publication (see enclosed illustration) -Scald data from the American Burn Association -The directory of Verified Burn Centers from the American Burn Association -The LexisNexis law database No FOI or public records were requested.
Explain types of human sources used.
For this story, I interviewed: -The study author, Dr. David Greenhalgh. I also requested that he re-run his experiment using the “inverted cup” which resulted in data that indicated that this minor change would make the cup three times more safe. -Dr. Warren Garner, Director of the Burn Unit at University of Southern California’s County Hospital in Los Angeles -Ana Beltran, a nurse in Dr. Garner’s unit -Cherise Yosinari, a physical therapist in Dr. Garner’s unit -Dr. Nicole Gibran, Director of the Burn Unit at University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center -A dozen burn unit coordinators (nurses and doctors) at hospitals across the country -A product liability lawyer who had represented a client injured by these products -John Arndt, Assistant Professor of Product Design at the University of Oregon -Kiersten Muenchinger, Professor of Product Design at the University of Oregon -Damien Oxnard-Menard, Product Design student at the University of Oregon -A PR representative from Nissin Foods -A PR representative from Campbell’s Soup -Pediatric burn victims’ advocacy organizations
Results:
The impact of the story is evident in many ways. Most notably, a leading product liability firm–Keller Rohrback–announced an investigation and potential class action lawsuit on behalf of the victims as a result of the story (see enclosed web link). Product liability lawyers believe my report contains groundbreaking revelations that may have a wide-scale, long-term impact on consumer safety. Dozens of personal injury lawyers across the country are now accepting victims’ claims and have added it to the roster of issues they represent. In addition to the change that may result from litigation and subsequent government regulation, I am most proud of the cross-section of disciplines and bloggers that noted and responded to the story, including traditional news media (ProPublica, CBS, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ezra Klein, Andrew Sullivan); consumer websites (Consumerist, Life Hacker, Technorati); the sciences (Scientific American); and the technology and design community (Mashable, Design Intelligence), in addition to doctors, health professionals, behavioral economists, food publications, parenting blogs and packaging companies. Even a high school teacher in Wyoming assigned his physics students to come up with a solution to the problem for their final assignment. It was the second most emailed story of the week it aired, and one of the most commented, shared and Tweeted about stories ever produced by Planet Money. The story sits at the intersection of law, medicine, economics, design, and consumer safety. It is a deceptively simply story that inspired a national conversation, and I look forward to replicating this formula in future investigations.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
A follow-up story is tentatively planned to air on NPR and will ask the question, “So, what is the solution?” There were no corrections, clarifications or challenges.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
As a result of this investigation, my advice is threefold: First, develop sources on the “lower rungs” of the medical industry, for example: nurse technicians, temp workers, interns and residents. These individuals see trends that may otherwise go unnoticed by their higher up peers. Second, revisit previously published studies that may have gone unreported at the time but that now provide new insights. Don’t be afraid to ask a researcher to re-run a simple part of the study that would add to your reporting, or reinterpret the data in light of studies that have appeared since. Third, synthesize and present information across disciplines. Think about ways of approaching the story so as to get a cross-section of people interested, and engaged in a conversation not just about the problem, but about creative ways we might solve it.