Question:
has spearheaded the effort and, along with other congressional leaders, asked the Brain Injury Assn. to study the issue. On Tuesday, he released a statement thanking the group for undertaking the task but criticized the report's apparent lack of analysis. Panel members, for example, reviewed more than 50 reports of alleged brain injuries but did not refer to them in detail in the report or determine whether they were valid cases.

If they weren't valid cases, that certainly wouldn't help Markey's claim anyway, would it? That would just mean fewer brain injuries putatively caused by coasters.

Answer: The orchestrated publicity campaign by the personal-injury lawyers, Markey and the BIA is bearing fruit. Dozens of U.S. newspapers and TV stations have done stories on this "latest health crisis" over the last few months. None mentioned the heavy presence of personal-injury lawyers among the Brain Injury Associations' top officers.

No less than a dozen of the nation's most influential personal-injury lawyers hold crucial positions with BIA.

With that kind of leadership, it's not surprising that the flagship program of the group is its BIA Attorneys 100 Program, which has "the recognized responsibility to the public to ensure that litigation in brain injury results in the best possible outcome for the individual . . . and provides valuable financial support to the Brain Injury Association."

Injuries from any kind of summer activity, of course, are no laughing matter. And there's little doubt that many personal-injury lawsuits are justified.

But the current collaboration between some of the nation's wealthiest lawyers and a health advocacy group like the Brain Injury Association to file frivolous lawsuits based on media hype against an industry with an exemplary safety record bodes ill for summer fun seekers.

If the personal injury lawyers are successful, they'll walk away with multimillion-dollar awards that could bankrupt some amusement parks and force others to shut down popular attractions or charge higher prices to pay for increased insurance premiums.

That's one ride America's vacationing families shouldn't be forced to take.