CNN reports that the federal government has proposed new rules for baby cribs, following a string of high-profile recalls and more than a decade of infant deaths in drop-side cribs.
An astounding number of baby cribs and other products marketed to children continue to be recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Just this week a Pottery Barn Kids crib was recalled due to risk of entrapment, suffocation and falls.
Those who think child products are usually safe are sorely mistaken: So far this year 87 child products (excluding toys) have been recalled by the federal government — including at least 12 cribs. Another 20 toys have been recalled by the CPSC. Choking hazards, entrapment hazards, strangulation hazards and lead-based paint or other harmful chemicals are common reasons for recalls.
Companies have an obligation to manufacture and sell safe products. Consumers have a basic right to expect a product they purchase to be free from harmful or deadly defect. Nowhere should that obligation be taken more seriously than in the marketing of products to our children. And yet more than 100 children’s products have been recalled during the first six months of 2010. Families dealing with injury to a child resulting from a defective product should contact a New York City injury lawyer to discuss their rights.
The case reported by CNN is common among serious and fatal injuries caused by defective cribs. A New York mother put her child to sleep and returned later that morning to find he had gotten his neck stuck in a gap between the side rail and the headboard. The coroner ruled the death an accident but the family notified the CPSC.
Thirteen years later, the government is finally doing something about it.
The new standards would require cribs to be tested for safety without re-tightening screws between tests. The New York incident, and others, have been blamed on screws coming loose from the frame. The rules would also require non-full-size cribs to comply with many of the standards in place for full-size cribs, including mattress support performance and side-impact tests.
A full list of children’s products under recall is available through the federal government.
If you are dealing with a child injury in the New York City or Long Island areas, contact the Law Offices of Nicholas Rose to discuss your rights. Call 718.261.0549.
