CPSC Report Documents Burn Injuries Caused by Apple’s iPods
According to an investigation conducted by a Seattle television station, there have been a number of Apple IPod players that have burst into flames, exploded, or overheated, causing property damage and injuries. The TV station, KIRO TV, managed to use the Freedom of Information Act to get the Consumer Product Safety Commission to turn over 800-pages discussing the hazards associated with Apple’s IPods. The report was obtained with some resistance from Apple. The company’s attorneys reportedly kept filing exemptions to keep the information from going public.
Some of the injury incidents involving IPods:
• One woman says her young daughter sustained burn marks when she picked up her IPod. Apple told her that the burn accident was an isolated one.
• Another burn injury victim, Jamie Balderas, says she sustained a burn mark on her chest because her new iPod Shuffle overheated while she was running. The Washington resident says a customer service representative also told her that the incident was an isolated one.
• One young IPod user, 14-year-old Portland, Oregon resident Haylie Mooney, says her hand became swollen after she picked up her iPod, which she received for Christmas in 2007. She says that the iPod felt so hot to the touch that she dropped it immediately. Haylie’s mother, Tami Mooney, says that when she reported the injury incident to Apple, they didn’t seem concerned that her daughter had gotten hurt. Tami says Apple told her that they hadn’t heard of this kind of burn accident happening to any other IPod users.
• Last March, the mother of a teenage boy that sustained burn injuries to his leg because he says his 16GB iPod Touch exploded in his pants filed a products liability lawsuit alleging injuries to a minoragainst Apple. The boy, 15, sustained second-degree burns.
According to the CPSC’s report, the IPods’ lithium batteries may be the cause of the burn and fire accidents. Yet with more than 175 million iPods sold, the federal agency has determined that the number of injury accidents that have occurred is pretty low compared to the number of iPods that are made and sold and at this point doesn't believe a recall is warranted.
Yet even such minor incidents can result in serious burn injuries, such as when an iPod overheats, causing its user’s clothes to catch fire.
Apple sued over 'exploding' iPod Touch, News.cnet.com, March 13, 2009
Apple Downplays Fiery iPod Incidents, KIROTV.com
Apple Tries to Downplay iPod Fire Incidents, OS News, July 22, 2009
Consumer Complaints about their iPods (PDF)
Related Web Resources:
CPSC
Our products liability law firm represents children and adults that have sustained serious burn injuries caused by defective consumer products. Contact Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, PC today.
