Product Liability Law Blog

With cold weather continuing to affect many parts of the US, people have been using their gas fireplaces to keep everyone indoors warm. Yet are the doors of some of these gas fireplaces poorly designed so that they pose a burn danger to kids?

According to the Children’s Hospital Burn Center, in the last five years, the number of hand burns caused by fireplace glass doors has gone up by 50% with an average of 2-3 burn victims coming in each week for treatment. One reason for this is that there are a lot of gas fireplace doors that lack protective screens.

It takes just six minutes for a fireplace door’s temperature to hit 200 degrees. The glass door may keep kids away from the fire, but they may still subject to second- and third- degree burns from coming into physical contact with the heat emanating from an extremely hot door.

Over the holiday season, one young boy sustained white blisters on his hands when he placed them on the glass doors of a fireplace. Following the Colorado burn accident, the boy was rushed to the hospital for treatment. Luckily, his injuries did not require skin grafting.

Burn Injuries
Burn injuries can be very painful and traumatic. Second-degree burns can affect both the dermis and the epidermis. Symptoms of a second-degree burn include swelling, redness, peeling skin, blisters, pain, charred skin, peeling skin, and shock. Immediate treatment is imperative, or a second-degree burn can become a third-degree burn. Third-degree burns affect both the external and internal skin layers. They can lead to scar injuries.

Manufacturers must make sure that any products they design are not dangerous for use and if there is an inherent hazard, then they must providing a warning label cautioning against how to prevent injury or death. Otherwise, the victim and his/her family can file a products liability lawsuit suing for personal injury damages. Young children are especially prone to injuries caused by hazardous or dangerous products.

If your child sustained a burn injury from coming into contact with a fireplace glass door, we invite you to contact our products liability law firm and ask to speak with one of our child injury lawyers immediately.

If you are using a gas fireplace with a glass door, the Children’s Hospital recommends that you:

• Place a screen or gate around the fireplace to block kids from touching the door.
• Watch your kids when they are near the fireplace.
• Remember that it takes a gas fireplace about 45 minutes to cool down completely after it has been shut off.

Cozy gas fireplace? Don't let it be a burn hazard, Denver Post, February 13, 2010

Gas Fireplace Glass Door Burn Prevention, Children'sHospital.org

Related Web Resources:
Burns, Medline Plus

Burns, KidsHealth.org

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Posted In: Burn , Burn Injuries , Colorado , Furniture and Accessories , Household Appliances , Injuries to Children & Minors , States

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With school back in session and kids running around the playground during recess and lunch period, accidents can happen. Children who are roughhousing with one another or taking part in a pickup game of basketball or another sport might end up with scratches and bruises. There are also the kinds of injuries that can result during playground accidents. A fall from the top of the jungle gym or a sweater drawstring getting stuck on a merry-go-round can lead to catastrophic consequences.

Although these incidents sound harmless enough, they can lead to serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, strangulation injuries, broken bones, and other serious injuries that can change a child’s life forever. Granted, accidents do happen. However, some playground accidents might have been prevented if only the playground designer, the manufacturer of a playground ride, or the school where the playground is located took the necessary precautions to prevent such injuries to children from happening. This is where our playground accident lawyers step in.

Our playground injury attorneys represent the families of children who were seriously injured in playground accidents because of a playground-related defect. While playgrounds are designed for kids to have fun in, it is no laughing matter that, according to Safe Kids USA, about 150,000 kids younger than age 15 end up in the emergency room each year because of playground injuries involving playground equipment.

About 10 playground deaths happen a year. 75% of playground accidents take place in public facilities, such as schools and parks, as opposed to playground equipment in private backyards.

Our experienced injuries to children and minors lawyers can determine whether your child’s fall accident, burn accident, trip accident, or entrapment accident occurred because a playground product was defective or the playground was improperly designed, the playground was made with improper protective surfaces, such as wood or concrete, the playground is inadequately maintained, or the school playground equipment used is age inappropriate for the children who are playing there.

Young children may be old enough to go to school but many of them are still too young to play unsupervised. Inadequate supervision can create a hazard that may result in serious injuries if, for example, a young child who is too young to do so alone climbs the extremely high ladder of a slide and falls backward.

No. 1 Cause of Injury in Elementary School: Playground Accidents, Safe Kids

Related Web Resources:
Preventing Injuries to Children on Playgrounds, Safe Kids (PDF)

EPA rethinks play padding, Chicago Tribune, June 5, 2009

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Posted In: Burn , Injuries to Children & Minors , Playground Products

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According to international cancer experts, tanning beds can cause cancer. Analysis of some 20 studies have found that people who start using tanning beds before they turn 30 see a 75% increase in their chances of getting skin cancer. The new findings by the World Health Organization can be found in Lancet Oncology, a medical journal.

Whereas before scientists had spoken about tanning beds as “probable carcinogens" and that only one kind of ultraviolet radiation was considered lethal (tanning bed supporters have long maintained that the beds use a different kind of ultraviolet light than the light that comes from the sun), experts are now saying that all kinds of ultraviolet radiation are carcinogenic. This confirms that ultraviolet radiation and tanning beds definitely can cause cancer.

Most tanning beds’ lights emit ultra violet radiation that can lead to eye cancer and skin cancer. Tanning beds increase the risk of a person developing melanoma by 20% and also can cause benign skin cancers. Melanoma is the most serious kind of skin cancer and can prove fatal if not treated as quickly as possible.

Doctors are now confirming that as more people under 30 use tanning beds, more young adults are being diagnosed with cancer.

This new information is disturbing, considering that in the US alone over 28 million Americans a year go to about 25,000 tanning salons and other businesses where they can get their tans while indoors. The motivation has been that using a tanning bed is safer than getting a tan while baking under the sun.

If you are suffering from cancer because you used a tanning bed, you may have grounds for filing a products liability lawsuit against the manufacturer of the tanning bed. Tanning beds can also cause other injuries, including corneal burns, retinal damage, and sunburns, as well as lead to wrinkles and premature aging.

It is the responsibility of the tanning bed manufacturer to make sure that their products do not cause personal injuries.

Beware the risks of tanning beds, Miami Herald, August 5, 2009

Study: Tanning beds definitely cause cancer, AP, July 29, 2009

Related Web Resources:
World Health Organization

The Dangers of Tanning Beds: Five Fast Facts, My Skincare Connection

Melanoma, The Skin Cancer Foundation

Lancet Oncology

Continue reading "Do Tanning Beds Cause Cancer? " »

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Posted In: Burn , Electrical Product Defects , Furniture and Accessories

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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

Contacting Apple

Continue reading "CPSC Report Documents Burn Injuries Caused by Apple’s iPods " »

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Posted In: Burn , Burn Injuries , Injuries to Children & Minors

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Because of air pollution and other environmental concerns, most Colorado municipalities refuse to allow wood burning fireplaces for new home construction. Thus, if you want a fireplace with your new home, it will probably be a gas flame fireplace.

In the early years of these gas fireplaces, access to the flames was protected by some sort of metal screen. More recently, these fireplaces have been enclosed by glass doors. Fireplaces with glass doors are becoming a source of serious burn injuries to infants and small children.

In a recently published study by Desiree Jimenez and Angela Montgomery of The Children’s Hospital in Denver, the authors reported 82 children with moderate to severe hand burn injuries caused by fireplace glass doors. Five of these kids required skin grafting.

Typical hand burns range from a partial thickness to full thickness in depth. The treatment of hand burn injuries to children is painful and time intensive and the injuries affect a vital anatomical area. Permanent disability often results from contractures leading to a loss in the functional range of hand movement.

You’d think the dangers to children of this product would be obvious to the companies who sell fireplaces with glass doors. Think otherwise! One seller actually pitches its fireplace safety at its website, “Fireplace glass doors provide safety for you and your home. Children and pets are not able to be hurt by a fire while the fireplace doors are closed.” Nothing is said about serious injuries from touching the hot glass and the doors.

Fireplace companies selling this product are also well aware of the risks to children. Testing shows that the glass doors on a fireplace can heat to 400° in six minutes and take 45 minutes to completely cool.

The commercial sellers of these fireplaces also realize that toddlers are especially vulnerable. Most of the burn victims are less than two years old and just learning to walk. They are unsure on their feet and some serious injuries result from falling against the red hot glass.

Toddlers are also curious about fire and are drawn to the doors enclosing the object of their curiosity. Their “touchy feely” instincts lead them to place their little hands on the hot glass.

Obviously, parents with small children are advised to buy homes with safer fireplaces or to replace a glass door fireplace with doors made out of tempered glass. These tempered glass doors do not store heat as efficiently and are much safer for children.

If you choose not to replace the dangerous fireplace, wait until the kids have gone to bed before turning the fireplace on. Also, put a full protective screen around the fireplace in order to prevent children from being able to reach the glass doors.

Heat contact burns, especially those from fireplace glass doors, are costly, painful and can require long term care. If your child has suffered a serious burn injury, please contact the highly experienced team of Gilbert, Ollanik & Komyatte for a free initial consultation.

Sources:
Jimenez & Montgomery “The Dangers of Glass Fireplace Doors From a Pediatric Perspective, The Children’s Hospital Aurora, 2009

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Posted In: Burn

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