Causation, correlation, and gunshot wounds & blast injuries to the face

The loud insistence that “correlation does not imply causation” may have inspired this study:

“Gunshot wounds and blast injuries to the face are associated with significant morbidity and mortality: Results of an 11-year multi-institutional study of 720 patients,” Steven R. Shackford, et al., Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, vol. 76, no. 2, February 2014, pp. 347-352. The authors, at a variety of medical institutions in the USA, report:

“There are a number of limitations to this work…. Despite these limitations, we conclude that GSWBIFs [Gunshot Wounds and Blast Injuries to the Face] have high morbidity and mortality…. Further investigation is warranted.”

(Thanks to Bob Finn and John Fleck for bringing this to our attention.)

BONUS (vaguely related, maybe): A strange web site — stevenshackford.md.com — that asks “Are you Dr. Shackford?”