Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have reported on a series of children being hurt by falling TV sets in the home.  In one emergency department alone from November 2003 to October 2004, 26 children from 1 to 7 years of age were evaluated for such injuries.  Nine of these required hospitalization, and two of these in the Intensive Care Unit. 

Televisions with screen sizes in the 20 to 30 inch range accounted for 65% of the cases, and 85% of the TVs had been positioned 2 to 5 feet from the floor when the accidents occurred.  In about 75% of the cases, a child may have been climbing on furniture near the TV at the time of the accidents.  The majority of the weight of television units is toward the front of the unit, and this imbalanced weight distribution makes it easy for units to topple.  The study authors suggest more aggressive education of parents and the public as well as having manufacturers make available securing devices and warning labels.

The study appeared in the June 2006 issue of the journal Academic Emergency Medicine.  The authors were Floyd S. Ota, MD, R. Todd Maxson, MD and Pamela J. Okada, MD of the prestigious UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.