New York Noncompete, Trade Secret & School Negligence Blog

CPSC Launches New Product Registration Initiative - But They Can - And Should - Do Better

In this article, Long Island, New York children's safety and defective products attorney Jonathan Cooper discusses how the CPSC's newest initiative to improve product registrations is welcome, but falls short of the mark in enhancing the defective product recall process. For additional information on these topics, please download Jonathan Cooper's Free eBook entitled "Why Are There So Few Successful Defective Products Lawsuits?" from www.ProductLiabilityBook.com.

CPSC Announces Largest Defective Children's Crib Recall Ever

Published author of the Insider's Guide to Product Liability Claims entitled "Why There Are So Few Successful Defective Products Lawsuits," discusses the largest children's crib recall in history. For additional articles and valuable information on crib recalls and other defective product recalls generally, please visit Long Island, New York Defective Products Lawyer's website and blog at www.JonathanCooperLaw.com.

Earlier today, in conjunction with the launch of its campaign to prevent re-sellers of consumer products from introducing into the stream of commerce various products that were the subject of safety recalls (an earlier study concluded that almost 75% of re-sellers failed to comply with the Federal law prohibiting the re-sale of recalled consumer products) the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission released its Top Ten List of Recalled Children's Products.

Interestingly, this announcement does not clarify why these particular products made the "Top Ten" list. While some may be inclined to think that this is a cheap marketing gimmick, or a vain attempt at humor (ala David Letterman), my reading of the description of incidents that led to the recall of these dangerous products convinces me that this is not the case. The distinguishing characteristic of these products? Unlike many other consumer safety recalls, the design defects in these particular products (mostly defective cribs) led to several wrongful deaths.

That said, I am still troubled by a few aspects of the CPSC's press release. One, if the stated goal of the Top Ten List is to garner and focus the public's attention on the unique dangers presented by these particular children's products, then they should say so. And rather than just issue a simple press release, they should broadcast this list all over the news, and post videos on the internet that demonstrate the manifest dangers of these products. Second, if the government went to the trouble of conducting a study roughly ten years ago which assessed whether re-sellers of consumer products were compliant with Federal law barring the re-sale of recalled products, why wasn't a companion study done to assess what measures could be implemented to improve compliance. Wouldn't that have been more important than the first study?

On June 10, the Consumer Products Safety Commission, or CPSC, announced yet another recall of a children's crib after finding that a defect in the design of this crib, particularly the faillure of spring pins, caused the crib's drop side to become completely detached from the crib, thereby posing both a strangulation and fall hazard to infants.

While that seems fair enough, the question that both puzzles and frightens me is this: why did it take over 30 reports of the drop side of the crib failing before the recall was issued? Stated differently, considering the manifest danger posed by many children's products - and cribs in particular - why wasn't the (investigation concluded and) recall issued earlier?

Thankfully, from the statement issued by the CPSC regarding this particular product recall, it does not appear that they have received reports of anyone being seriously injured by this product. But given the numbers, it seems that this is in many respects due to good fortune rather than good practice.

Since last June, crib maker Jardine Enterprises and the CPSC have now expanded their initial recall of defective and dangerous baby cribs a second time, raising the total number of recalled cribs by this company to nearly 500,000, and adds to the 4.2 million cribs that have been recalled over the past two years. Lest you think that the recalls are for minor structural issues, the latest recall was issued in response to concerns that the cribs’ wooden slats and spindles could break, and in that process entrap and strangle infants – clearly a significant consumer safety issue.

Thankfully, it appears that these recalls have compelled the CPSC to finally recognize critical problems not only with crib safety but also with the consumer-product-recall system. As we’ve noted previously, since crib makers are not required to undertake significant steps to announce the recalls, the vast majority of consumers never hear about them; and even if the consumers do hear about the recalls, it appears that many of them don’t respond to the recalls because they assume that their particular crib is okay so long as they haven't experienced problems with it.

Let’s hope the CPSC can use this recall constructively, and come up with a solution that will help product recalls work.