Dooley Noted: 5/13/14
I have proudly lived and trained in flat footwear like Vibrams since 2011.
So, I wasn’t surprised when everyone and his uncle asked my opinion of the Vibram company’s class action suit, resulting in repaying consumers $4 million in “damages.”
Regarding the lawsuit, again I am not surprised. That is what happens when you make claims: people hold you to them if things don’t go the way you claim.
That’s why I don’t make claims.
People don’t want to be held to the decisions they make, so they seek someone to blame. Vibram made claims – when they could have just said, “Here’s an option to be barefoot. It’s up to you to see how it goes for you.”
That’s the nature of our legal system. People are so afraid of being sued that they don’t want to make any suggestions at all.
Vibram was pretty brave to make a claim. They had so much product conviction that they made claims anyway. I’m sure their lawyers saw the class action suit coming.
Or, you can see it as this: $4 million is a drop in the bucket compared to what they’ve made. So, they’ll pay it and accept the free advertising -even when it’s negative.
That’s what good comes out of this for me-the advertising for barefoot wear. It gets people thinking about bringing their feet closer to the ground.
I can start having more discussions about the 26+ bones in the foot, and how most people don’t experience their 33 foot joints because they’re in a heel.
Whatever shoe my patient chooses, I will work with it. My job is to educate how that shoe contributes to the biomechanics of the system.
The patient may not do well in a Vibram – especially at first.
Every patient is different. It’s frustrating from people to hear that – but it’s the truth. Change a few millimeters in the shoe and it alters the entire gait mechanism from toe to head.
So, if you make shoe suggestions, be prepared to alter everything about gait. Make sure you understand gait before you alter it.
Vibram didn’t educate as they made claims. That doesn’t make the shoe a bad one. Their shoes are a gait alteration that requires education, since it changes all 10,000 steps you (hopefully) take per day.
With shoes, and with everything else – as always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley