More Than 100 Infants Injured by Collapses of Recalled Graco Highchairs | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

Nearly 900,000 Graco highchairs for young infants are being recalled because, according to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announcement, “The chairs’ legs Graco highchair recallcan come out, causing the chair to fall to the ground. Children can suffer serious injuries from the fall.”

The recalled highchairs look like the one pictured here. The chairs parents should no longer buy or use have a product identification sticker attached to the underside of the seat that bears the partial model number “3170,” “36051” or “74001”.

Graco has had a bad 2010. In January, the company complied with a CPSC request to recall an estimated 1.5 million Alano, Passage and Spree stroller and travel systems because hinges on those products had amputated five children’s fingertips. Fingertip amputation risks also prompted recalls of Maclaren strollers in 2009.

The CPSC received 105 reports of children suffering injuries, ranging from a concussion to broken noses and cuts, after the Graco highchairs in which they sat collapsed. I am glad to see that the potentially dangerous products will be pulled from the market. At the same time, I am disturbed to learn that yet another product designed for use by society’s most vulnerable members — babies, infants and toddlers — threatens their safety.

EJL