P.I. Pulse: Recent Product Recalls

Product recalls happen all the time. They entail a company or a government agency, publicly issuing a recall on a product or a component of a product deemed unfit for the marketplace. These recalls are often the result of discoveries of safety issues—for example, a company coming to realize that one of its products are defective and might cause injury to the user of the product. In this blog, we’re going to outline three recent recalls—recalls of products that are similar to the ones we all use every day.

Let’s begin with a company we all grew up with: Fisher-Price. The company has issued a recall on Rock ‘N Play infant Sleepers, which are manufactured in China and imported into the United States by Fisher-Price. New Sleepers sold in stores, however, are not subject to the recall—rather, the recall is for Sleepers that show signs of mold after having been used by consumers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission received reports that mold can develop between the parts of the infant Sleepers. To begin with, he issue with mold developing in the infant Sleepers is that mold can cause many medical problems. The problem is further enhanced by the fact that the users of the product—infants—have inherently weaker immune systems than adults and, thus, they are more susceptible to medical complications due to the mold. There have already been hundreds of reports of mold on the Sleepers and, among those, there have been reports of infants requiring treatment for medical complications such as respiratory issues, hives, etc.

Next, we’re going to discuss the recall of a stroller. Peg Perago recently recalled a stroller model “Pliko-P3” and a stroller model “Venezia” because of a risk of the user being trapped and/or strangled. The company-initiated recall includes over 220,000 strollers. Among the reports the company has received about the problems emanating from the various stroller models, one of the reports indicated that a child had died as a result of becoming trapped in the stroller. If you or anyone you know owns one of the recalled strollers, produced between January of 2004 and September of 2007, Peg Perago will refund the purchase of replace the stroller for you. Obviously, the dangers of continuing to use the recalled strollers are grave, as evidenced by the fact that the malfunctioning product has already been the cause of a child’s death.

Finally, automobile giant Ford has issued a recall on certain Escape and Maverick models—specifically those that were produced from between 2001 and 2004 with a 3-liter V-6 engine and cruise control. The recall stemmed from an investigation into crashes. The Highway Safety Administration has received nearly 70 reports of malfunction—among these, 13 crashes, nine injuries and one death. The problem, the investigation revealed, is that the cruise control cable can pull on the top of the plastic covering of the engine and thus cause the gas pedals to “stick.” Consumers who drive the vehicles under the recall are advised to bring their cars to the dealership to have the problem fixed; the dealership should, free of charge, replace the cover fasteners and raise the engine covers to prevent the gas pedals from sticking.

Product recalls are important for many reasons. First, they are ways to inform the consumer public about safety issues related to the products we all use every day. Second, though, they are a form of acknowledgment on behalf of the company that there is a problem with their product. Thus, if you are injured by a product that is later recalled, the company responsible has, via one interpretation, admitted liability by acknowledging the defect via the recall.

If you or anyone you know has been injured by a product, or has questions about a product recall issue, please reach out to us for a free consultation by calling 561-266-9191 or emailing daronberg@build.simple.biz.

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