New Study Reinforces Safety Fears Over Children’s Products | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

Some of the most dangerous products are designed for use by the most vulnerable people in society — children. Concerns about products entering the children’s market are reinforced in a study by Kids in Danger, according to the Washington Post.

The article notes that Kids in Danger found 474 complaints posted on the website SaferProducts.gov from April to August 2011. Of those, about 44 percent led to injuries and 1.5 percent resulted in deaths.

Worryingly, about 14 percent of incidents, ranging from strollers to trampolines, involved recalled products, and 57 percent of the reported incidents took place after a product was recalled. In one case a 8-month-old died of asphyxiation in a Graco Quattro stroller, the report reveals. 

As experienced Virginia (VA) dangerous drugs and product recall attorneys
, my colleagues and I are concerned by these findings. It seems hardly a week goes by without a recall of equipment that’s meant to safeguard children. Recently, we reported on how the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled a drop-side crib from Shermag Inc., of Quebec, Canada, after 21 incidents came to light.

In Chicago, city offcials have banned bumper pads for cribs amid concerns they have been linked to the suffocation of infants. Cribs and crib accessories have been the subject of a number of high profile recalls. From November 2009 to January 2010 alone, there were four huge U.S. recalls of cribs and strollers amid evidence the products were killing and injuring infants and toddlers.

The extensive list of Infant/Child Recalls found on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website includes products ranging from hooded sweatshirts whose drawstrings can choke young wearers to cloth books that contain lead in their plastic inserts. I am concerned that children are still being placed in unnecessary dangers by products intended to ensure their safety. 


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