Product Liability Law Blog

When looking for children's gifts for the holiday season, it is important that you remain aware of the dangers that some of the toys in the marketplace pose. Granted, in an ideal world, it would be great if toy manufacturers only made toys that were safe for use and didn't pose choking, suffocation, aspiration, or strangulation hazards. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case, and every year, there are kids who end up with serious injuries because of a dangerous toy or another defective product.

Each year, World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) issues its list of 10 Worst Toys List:

Pull Along Caterpillar: Comes with a breakaway pull string that can become a choking hazard.

Buzz Magnets: A child might choke if he/she swallows one of the small magnet pieces. Swallowing the magnets may cause internal injuries.

Ballzillion Tug Boat Play Center: Injuries or death can result if this toy is used as a flotation device.

Supasplat Splatblaster: This toy gun can cause injuries to the face, eyes, or other body parts.

Spy Gear Split-Blaster: Darts can be an eye injury hazard.

My First Mini Cycle: If a toddler falls off the cycle, head injuries are possible.

Kung Fu Panda Sword of Heroes: Although the sword is made of hard plastic, it can still cause serious impact injuries.

Walkaroo II Aluminum Stilts: Falling from the stilts can cause serious head injuries.

Big Bang Rocket: May cause hearing impairment.

Animal Alley Pony: The pony's fiber-like hair may cause ingestion problems or aspiration injuries.

U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, recently issued its 2010 Trouble in Toyland Report. It offers safety guidelines of toy buyers and discusses some of the key hazards still found in kids' toys.

2010 Worst Toys List, WATCH

Top 6 Common Hazards, US PIRG

Related Web Resources:
Trouble in Toyland Report (PDF)

Consumer Reports

Continue reading "Stay Away from Dangerous Toys, Caution WATCH and PIRG" »

The National Fire Protection Association is discouraging people from using turkey fryers when cooking their bird over Thanksgiving. The cooking apparatus has become a favorite alternative to baking. That said, over the years, products liability lawsuits have been filed because people have suffered burn injuries as a result of a turkey fryer.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, since 1998, dozens of incidents involving burns, fires, and flames caused by turkey fryers have been reported. Most injuries occurred while the oil was heating up and before the turkey had been placed in the fryer. Injuries can also occur from splashing, which can happen when partially frozen meat is cooked in the fryer.

Other scenarios that might lead to turkey fryer-related injuries:

• Any time hot oil from the fryer splashes or spills. This can occur when the turkey is being placed in or taken out of the fryer, in the event that the fryer tips over, or should snow or rain strike exposed, hot cooking oil.
• Using a propane-fired turkey fryer indoors can create a fire hazard.
• NFPA doesn't think that turkey fryers are safe for use even if a consumer is careful and well-informed about how to operate one.

CPSC offers several safety recommendations for using a turkey fryer:

• Make sure the fryer is always in full view while in operation.


• Keep the fryer in an open space and away from fences, walls, and other structures.


• Do not use a turkey fryer in, over, or under a garage, porch, carport, or any structure that can catch fire.


• Cover your bare skin when removing or adding food.


• Slowly raise and lower your turkey to minimize oil splatter.


• Monitor the oil temperature in the fryer to make sure that overheating doesn't occur.

Turkey Fryers, National Fire Protection Association

CPSC Issues Safety Tips for Turkey Fryers, CPSC

Related Web Resources:
Fire Departments: Do Not Deep-Fry Turkey, CBS4, November 22, 2007

Deep-fried turkey safety and cooking tips, Boston Herald

Burns, MedLine Plus

Continue reading "Turkey Fryers Can Increase Fire and Injury Risk During Thanksgiving" »

The family of Ernest Codelia Jr. is suing Toyota for his wrongful death. In their New York auto products liability complaint, they blame Lexus sedan's keyless ignition for his carbon monoxide death. The 79-year-old attorney's companion, Mary Rivera, sustained brain damage from the CO poisoning.

On February 27, 2009, Rivera parked the vehicle in the garage attached to the home that she shared with Codelia. The following day, family members discovered her unconscious on the bedroom floor, while Codelia was found dead in bed.

Autopsy results indicate that he had carbon monoxide in his system. While Rivera survived the CO poisoning, she has a hard time speaking and cannot walk.

In the wrongful death complaint, the family contends that Toyota neglected to install a "Shutdown" switch on the Lexus vehicle that could turn off the ignition when the car has been left untouched or unoccupied after a certain amount of time and that this auto design defect contributed to Codelia's CO poisoning death.

This is not the first time that a Lexus car has been named as a possible cause of a carbon monoxide death. Chasity Sunshine Lee Glisson, a 29-year-old Florida woman, died from CO poisoning at her home last August. She, too, had a keyless Lexus in her garage (although when detectives found the 2006 vehicle, it was not running). Her boyfriend Timothy Maddock, also ended up in intensive care because of the CO exposure.

According to auto safety experts, there isn't enough data to determine whether more people are leaving their vehicles running because of the keyless technology now offered by many vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that about 147 carbon monoxide poisonings occur annually—although it is unclear what role keyless ignition has played.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
CO poisoning is a leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas. Most victims never knew what hit them. Prolonged exposure to CO can cause brain damage and death.

Toyota sued in carbon monoxide tragedy that killed 79-year-old lawyer, NY Daily News, November 7, 2010

One dead, one in the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning in Boca, CBS12.com, August 28, 2010

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, eMedicineHealth

Related Web Resources:
Toyota Safety Issues, Product Liability Law Blog

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning parents and guardians to exercise caution when using a corded baby audio and video camera monitor. There have been reports of six baby strangulation deaths involving a baby monitor cord since 2004. It was just this March that a 10-month-old girl died in a Washington DC child injury accident after she became entangled in her camera monitor's cord. The monitor had been next to her crib. The CPSC says it has also obtained three other reports of babies that became entangled in a monitor cord and were fortunately rescued before suffering serious injuries.

Although the CPSC is not at this time recalling baby monitors with cords, to decrease the chances of strangulation, the agency is recommending that caregivers and parents:

• Use a baby monitor that is wireless.
• If you are going to use a corded baby monitor, then keep the cord out of your child's reach.

The CPSC is also continuing to recommend that you keep your son or daughter away from any type of cord and that you remove drawstrings and long ribbons from a child's clothing.

The agency, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is also warning consumers to stop using infant sleep positioners. Although long touted as a tool for helping babies stay on their backs while sleeping, over the last 13 years there have been reports of 12 baby suffocation deaths after the infants became entrapped between the positioner and the side of a bassinet or crib.

There have also been dozens of reports of babies who ended up in potentially dangerous positions while using the positioner even after they had been placed on their side or back. Although an infant sleep positioner is supposed to lower the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the FDA and CPSC do not know of any scientific studies that can verify that this infant product prevents SIDS or suffocation.

Strangulation and Suffocation Accidents Involving Children
Over the years, too many kids and babies have died or sustained serious injuries, such as brain damage, due to suffocation or strangulation. While government and safety officials have taken steps to prevent products that pose such hazards to children from entering the marketplace, unfortunately there are still consumer items, including those that are made specifically for infants and young kids, that continue to make their way onto store shelves and into homes.

Infants can strangle in baby monitor cords, CPSC (PDF)

FDA & CPSC: Infant Sleep Positioners Pose Suffocation Risk, Parenting, September 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
FDA

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Strangulation and Suffocation, Parents

Continue reading "CPSC Warns About Infant Sleep Positioners and Baby Monitor Cords Following Several Deaths" »

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Britax Child Safety Inc. have announced the recall of about 23,000 Chaperone Infant car seats. The recall comes after the manufacturer received three reports of minor injuries sustained because the seat's harness chest clip broke and became a laceration danger and a choking hazard.

Injuries reported have included scratches to the arms and a finger related to the child seat defect. One infant reportedly put the chip in his mouth.

Parents, guardians, and caretakers are asked to stop allowing the babies and young children to use the car seats. If you contact Britax, the manufacturer can send you a free repair kit.

It was just last month that Evenflo recalled more than 18,000 Maestro child safety seats because they failed a frontal-impact crash test conducted by Consumer Reports. Two of the seats that were tested ended up with a harness that had come loose and a crack shell. No injuries to children were reported.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2008, research showed that child safety seats reduces fatal crash injuries for infants in the under the 1 age group by 71%. It lowers the number of fatal car crash injuries for kids in the 1 to 4 age group by 54%. When a child is securely fastened in a child safety seat while riding in a light truck, the reduction in fatal injuries for infants is 58%. It is 59% for the 1 – 4 age group.

Unfortunately, even if a parent or caretaker secures a child in a safety restrain system that is the right size and type, if the child safety seat isn't free from defects and/or malfunctions, then their attempts to protect their son/or daughter from getting hurt or dying in a car crash can prove futile.

Manufacturers of defective child car seats and booster seats can be held liable for products liability.

Infant Car Seats Recalled by Britax Due to Laceration and Choking Hazards, Consumer Product Safety Commission, November 4, 2010

Occupant Protection, 2008 Child Safety Facts, NHTSA (PDF)

Evenflo Maestro Car Seats Recalled After They Fail "Consumer Reports" Crash Test, Product Liability Law Blog.com, October 18, 2010

Child Passenger Safety Week: Protecting Your Child with the Proper Child Safety Seat, Product Liability Law Blog.com, September 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Car Safety Seats: Information for Families for 2010, Healthy Children, American Academy of Pediatrics

SeatCheck.org

Continue reading "About 23,000 Britax Child Safety Seats Recalled" »

Toyota Motor Corp. has asked a federal court to throw out hundreds of sudden acceleration lawsuits. The safety issue, as you will recall from our previous blog posts on recent Toyota safety issues, involves vehicles suddenly accelerating to extremely high speeds while leaving a driver unable to slow down or stop the vehicle. The products liability lawsuits that the automaker is seeking to dismiss have been consolidated under one judge.

Toyota claims that not only has the automaker yet to recall any Toyota vehicles over electronic controls-related defects, but also, nearly all the plaintiffs who are attempting to file a class action complaint for the all Toyota owners of vehicles with electronic engine control systems have not identified any auto defect related to these controls. Also, because the plaintiffs of these civil lawsuits were never injured in a sudden unintended acceleration accident, nor did they lose a loved one in this type of crash, the automaker contends that the plaintiffs have no credible wrongful death or personal injury claims.

In other recent Toyota sudden unintended acceleration news, the vehicular manslaughter charge against a 62-year-old female motorist has been dismissed. Unmi Suk Chung has always maintained that the Lexus RX330 she was driving sped up out of control when it crashed and rolled over in 2008. One of the passengers who had been riding with her at the time, Esook Synn, died from his injuries.

It was just a few months ago that Koua Fong Lee, another person who was blamed for a fatal auto accident that is now being linked to Toyota sudden unintended acceleration, was released from prison. He had been serving an eight-year prison term for vehicular manslaughter following the motor vehicle deaths of three people. Lee has always said that he tried stepping on the brakes but they wouldn't work.

The federal government says that it has received 3,000 Toyota sudden unintended acceleration complaints. 93 fatalities are being linked to this safety defect. In the past year, Toyota has recalled millions of cars over ill-fitting floor mats and gas pedals that needed to be replaced following evidence that they contributed to sudden unintended acceleration accidents. Hundreds of plaintiffs have filed auto products liability and wrongful death lawsuits.

Toyota asks court to throw out acceleration lawsuits, USA Today, November 2, 2010

Toyota Asks Court to Dismiss Lawsuits, CBS News, November 2, 2010

Unmi Suk Chung, Washington Post, November 3, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Toyota Safety Issues, Productliabilitylawblog.com

Toyota Motor Corporation

Continue reading "Toyota Wants Hundreds of Sudden Unintended Acceleration Lawsuits Dismissed" »