Britons Hospitalized Over Wii Injuries *Updated*

"Wii Puts 10 in Hospital a Week," says the UK's usually sensational The Sun, leading to the need for nasty injections. Meanwhile, simultaneous reports from a Leeds hospital coin the phrase "Wii Knee." Oh no! Update: It seems Dr. Dev Mukerjee, of Broomfield Hospital, was in fact not getting his facts straight and has now cleaned up his story.

It seems Dr. Dev Mukerjee, of Broomfield Hospital, was in fact not getting his facts straight and has now cleaned up his story.

The Wii spells doom in the UK according to the oft sensational tabloid The Sun. The Wii seems to be sending 10 people a week to the hospital for what's now known as "Wii-itis." Aside from the ridiculously named condition, coined by a French doctor, the startling statistic is only mentioned in the headline with no follow-up. Of course the article lacks sources and quotes a single alarmist doctor.

Dr Dev Mukerjee, of Broomfield Hospital, Essex, said: "There has been a 100 percent increase in patients complaining of Wii-itis. I've seen many patients aged between eight and 13 - and I've seen adults. It's possible that Wii-itus may lead to rheumatism and arthritis in later life." The doctor's prescription includes cortisone injections and anti-inflammatory painkillers. Recovery takes up to three months, he claims.

Meanwhile, reliable articles flooded the worldwide Tech news services concerning a report out of a Leeds Hospital. Two British institutions, British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) and Leeds Teaching Hospital say that Wii-related injuries are on the rise. The researchers at Leeds Teaching Hospital have also coined their own term for one such injury, the "Wii Knee," caused by excessive play, especially with the balance board. An interesting contradiction mostly attributed to aging osteopaths. In other words, old people used Wii Fit and they had some pain afterwards.

As if "Wii Knee" wasn't enough, injuries have not been limited to the back and knees. The BSSH reports its surgeons recently treated a patient who sustained a fractured finger after being struck by her partner's controller whilst Wii Sports. They also warn that players who don't usually engage in physical exercise are most at risk when it comes to suffering a Wii-based injury.

It would seem there are two rationales here; the sensational tabloid inquisition of the Wii as the perpetrator or simply that people are hurting themselves with their Wii, you choose. Either the Wii or Nintendo are at fault - or people who would've hurt themselves doing something else physical. Still, the doctors and scientists involved here seem pointed.

But is this really a cause the medical community should devote time to? The involvement of scientific research in gaming has become more a fad than video-gaming itself.

Our staff will continue playing our Wii systems this holiday, even if it kills us. Then we can coin a new term: "Wii-cide?"

Update: It seems Dr. Dev Mukerjee, of Broomfield Hospital, was in fact not getting his facts straight and has now cleaned up his story.

Dr. Dev Mukerjee has now come out and given the following statement:

"I have seen a few injuries related to patients using the Wii. I do NOT think its anything to do with the Wii itself, but rather the player over using the device. There is no epidemic - I used to see 3 or 4 injuries and over the last few months there have been 7 to 10. The quote about 10 people admitted to hospital is INCORRECT. 10 people have been seen recently in hospital clinics is the fact. Broomfield (hospital) doesn't keep specific Wii stats, but we do have soft tissue rheumatism stats under which this type of injury belongs, and we haven't seen a great rise."

So it seems that the Nintendo Wii doesn't cause as many injuries as people think and some would prefer to exaggerate things.

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Comments

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  The Sun and the Daily Mail need to f off. All they've done is create a breeding ground for idiotic mothers who know nothing to go mental about games. These figures are pure fabrication. I can see there being some injuries but that's because the people getting them aren't careful with what they are doing and hitting others with the Wiimote.

  ganepark32, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  Agree with you ganepark32 especially since they got their facts wrong with this as seen in the update.

  jofra01, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  Exactly. It's the whole breaking tvs with the Wiimote again except it's people getting hurt instead. The problem is, when people get hold of the Wiimote they don't realise it's pretty sensitive and you only need to do small gestures and not huge swings. Still, makes for some amusement.

  ganepark32, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  It took some people at work 2 years to find that out :P

  Dennis, 30-11--0001 at 00:00