Product Liability Law Blog

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, Consumer Product Safety Commission port investigators and US Customs Border Protection agents have stopped nearly 650,000 units (of approximately 240 different noncomplying products) from entering the country and reaching consumers. They screened over 2,900 shipments at ports of entry throughout the country and pulled the items that they determined were unsafe and/or violated US safety rules.

Most of the products that the agents and inspectors halted were for children (527,950 units). Some of the reasons they didn't make it through included lead paint violations, small parts, phthalates, which are banned from child products, tracking label violations, misbranding, and other violations involving art materials, battery-operated toys, baby walkers, magnets, baby rattles, clacker balls, and toys with sharp points or chemical hazards. Adult products (119,410) that were stopped included holiday lights, hair dryers, lighters, luminaries, fireworks, and bicycles.

In fiscal year 2011, the federal safety agency had examined over 9,900 product shipments at US ports. Nearly 4.5 million units of products considered hazardous or violative were stopped from reaching consumers.

Products Liability
At The Gilbert Law Group, our products liability lawyers have the skills and experience to represent children and adults injured by defective products, including dangerous or hazardous toys, appliances, furniture, electrical products, recreational equipment, and accessories. Even though the CPSC works hard to prevent manufacturers and distributors from producing and bringing unsafe products into the marketplace, it is obvious from the number of recalls that continue to be announced every month that there are many unsafe units that still manage to make their way in, posing a serious injury and health risk to consumers.

This month alone there have been over 10 products recalled already over fire dangers, fall hazards, fingertip amputation and laceration risks, and suffocation and entrapment dangers. Recalled items included approximately 16,700 Rockland Furniture Drop-side cribs for the usual strangulation, suffocation, and entrapment hazards posed by this type of design, about 40,000 Topeak Babyseat II Bicycle Carrier Seats (the grab bar's hinge mechanism can cause fingertip amputation and laceration injuries), around 2,000 Viking dishwashers due to an electrical issue that may cause them to overheat and start a fire, and more than 307,000 Office Depot® Brand Biella Leather Desk Chairs that can cause fall injuries should the chair to come off its base. Already there have been several reports of minor injuries.

Port Surveillance News: CPSC Investigators Find, Stop Nearly 650,000 Unsafe Products at the Start of Fiscal Year 2012, CPSC, April 5, 2012

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Consumer Reports

More Blog Posts:
Even as Number of Children's Product Recalls Went Down in 2011, Injuries Rose, Product Liability Law Blog, April 13, 2012

More Pourable Gel Fuel Recalled by Manufacturers, Product Liability Law Blog, September 30, 2011

CPSC Now Ready to Talk About Tougher Safety Regulations for Table Saws, Product Liability Law Blog, September 28, 2011

Continue reading "CPSC Stopped About 647,000 Unsafe Products from Entering the US During 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012 " »

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Kmart have settled three products liability lawsuits over patio furniture that the plaintiffs said either injured or amputated their fingers. The terms of the defective furniture settlements are confidential.

However, all three complaints claimed that the legs of the lounge chairs act like "a guillotine" for hands and fingers that may get stuck between the chair and its legs. They contend that the legs are defective and are prone to snapping forward. The plaintiffs include a 67-year-old woman, who lost two fingers, a 22-year-old college student, whose right ring finger was amputated, and a girl, then age 4, whose left pinky fingertip was snipped off.

Just last week, phil&teds USA Inc. and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 54,000 "metoo" Clip-on Chairs over concerns that these child seats pose a fall and an amputation hazard. Of the numerous reports of injuries, two of them involved the amputation, laceration, pinching, or crushing of kids' fingers. The risk of serious head injuries during fall accidents was also a concern. It was just this May that the CPSC issued an alert warning consumers to stop using the chairs because they were dangerous.

Last month, approximately 20,000 Task Force 5-ton electric log splitters were recalled by the the CPSC and Changzhou Globe Tool Group Co. Ltd. because the product poses amputation and laceration risks to consumers that place hands on the splitter's handle while its in operation. At least two people have suffered finger injuries, including an 18-year-old whose fingertip was amputated.

Of course, who could forget the recall of about 1 million Maclaren double and single umbrella strollers following reports of of a number of kids sustaining amputation injuries in 2009. For a product made for children to be unsafe enough that the boy/girl risks finger amputation is unacceptable. In early 2010, Graco also recalled 1.5 million strollers following fingertip amputations and lacerations to kids.

Fingertip Amputation
Fingertip amputations are incredibly painful and they can cause disfigurement and disability. Hopefully, the fingertip can be reattached or repaired, but this can also be a very painful procedure. A person who uses his/hands hands for employment purposes may not be able to work for a while, which can lead to additional financial losses.

You want to work with experienced products liability lawyers that know how to help the victims of defective or dangerous products obtain damages from the manufacturer, seller, and/or distributor responsible for a faulty product that caused personal injury or wrongful death. There is no acceptable reason for why you or your child should get hurt because of a defective product. Even if the manufacturer wasn't negligent, you may still be able to recover damages for injuries or a death caused by a product.

3 Settle Injury Lawsuits Over Martha Stewart Chair, Insurance Journal, August 15, 2011

Consumer Product Safety Commission

More Blog Posts:
Recall of 1.5 Million Graco Strollers Following Fingertip Lacerations and Amputations, Product Liability Law Blog, January 20, 2011

Injuries to Children: Maclaren Recalls About 1 Million Strollers After Children Injured During Finger Amputations, Product Liability Law Blog, November 10, 2009

22,000 Dream on Me Drop-Side Cribs Recalled Because They Pose Laceration, Entrapment, Suffocation, and Fall Hazards, Product Liability Law Blog, May 24, 2011