New Jersey Personal Injury Blog
CPSC Begins Process to Develop New Federal Standard for Dangerous High-Powered Magnet Sets
An increasing number of incident reports to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) concerning child injuries and other hazards created by small, high-powered magnet sets have prompted the CPSC to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking towards developing a new federal standard for such magnets.
According to the CPSC, small, high-powered magnet sets pose a serious safety risk to children, from toddlers to teenagers. The risks differ slightly for the varied age groups, but generally, children can swallow these magnets, which can cause severe injuries. If multiple magnets are ingested, they can attract each other within the body, resulting in the pinching of internal tissue, small holes in the intestines and stomach, blood poisoning, intestinal blockage, and even death.
Since 2009, reports of injury incidents involving these magnets have increased. In 2009, the CPSC had received just one incident report; in 2010, it increased to seven; and in 2011, through October of that year, there were 14 incidents. The children involved were between 18 months and 15-years-old. Seventeen of the total 22 incidents between 2009 and 2011 involved ingestion of magnets and 11 of these required surgery in order to remove them. Though many of these magnets are marketed as desk toys, puzzles, and stress relievers for adults, and are not intended to be used by children, they still have a strong appeal to children, and therefore must be regulated.
The proposed mandatory federal standard would establish performance requirements for magnet sets as determined by their strength and size. If they do not meet the requirements, they may not be sold as a manipulative toy.
If you or your child has been injured by a dangerous product, you may be entitled to pursue legal action against the product manufacturer. To determine whether you may have a valid product liability claim, contact the experienced New Jersey product liability lawyers at Blume Goldfaden for a no-cost consultation at (973) 635-5400.
New Federal Safety Standard for Play Yards Approved by CPSC
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced the recall of play yards and crib tents by five big retailers, and has now approved a new mandatory federal safety standard concerning play yards. Six months after the final rule is published in the Federal Register, this play yard standard will become effective.
The new standards include the following:
- Latch and lock mechanisms to prevent the play yard from folding onto a child while in use.
- A stability test to keep the play yard from tipping over.
- Floor strength tests to keep children from getting trapped by the floor and to ensure structural integrity.
- Entrapment tests to ensure that a child’s head cannot get trapped while a bassinet or other accessory is attached to the play yard.
- Neck or head entrapment tests to prevent play yards that have a top rail which folds downward from using a hinge that creates a diamond or V-shape when folded.
- Minimum side height requirements to keep kids from being able to get out of the play yard by themselves.
The CPSC has received more than 2,100 reports of play yard incidents between November 2007 and December 2011. Of those reported incidents, there were 170 injures and 60 fatalities.
Manufacturers of child product have a duty to produce safe products, whether there is a federal safety standard or not. If your child has suffered injury as the result of a defective child product, you may be able to pursue claims surrounding their injuries. The knowledgeable New Jersey product liability lawyers at Blume Goldfaden can help you determine whether you may have a valid claim. Call us for a no-cost consultation at (973) 635-5400.
Triple Eight Distribution Recalls Over 30,000 Bike Helmets
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced the recall of approximately 30,400 Triple Eight Distribution child and youth bicycle helmets as the result of CPSC safety standards violations concerning impact resistance. A lack of proper impact resistance can increase the risk of a head injury in the event of a fall.
The recalled products are multi-purpose helmets which are also sold as bicycle helmets. These include:
- Little Tricky helmets, which are marketed for children and have a large Little Tricky logo on each side. They were sold in white, black, green, and pink in just one size.
- Triple Eight, size S/M, EPS Liner helmets have a hard black inner EPS foam liner and were sold in white, bone, black, army green, and blue. A size label with the manufacturing date is attached to the interior of the helmet.
- Sector 9, size S/M, EPS Liner helmets have the same EPS liner as the Triple Eight S/M EPS helmets and were sold in blue, white, green, and black. As the helmet above, a size label with the manufacturing date is attached to the interior of the helmet.
The affected helmets, which were manufactured in China, were sold at sporting goods and bicycle stores, as well as other retailers, across the nation and online for approximately $40 from August 2006 through November 2011. Consumers should contact Triple Eight for a full refund.
If your child has suffered injury as the result of defective safety gear or any other product, you may have cause for legal action against the product’s designer, manufacturer and distributor. At Blume Goldfaden, our product liability lawyers in New Jersey have experience in evaluating these complex claims to determine if they may be pursued to seek monetary compensation for those injured. To speak to one of our attorneys about your potential case, call us at (973) 635-5400 for a no-cost consultation.
CPSC Announces Recall of Table-Top Clip-on Chairs due to Amputation and Fall Hazards
The Colorado-based firm phil&teds USA, Inc. is voluntarily recalling 54,000 “metoo” Clip-on Chairs, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), due to defects creating fall and amputation hazards. The defects involve missing or worn clamp pads which allow the chairs to detach from the table surface, resulting in a fall hazard. In addition, children’s fingers may get caught at and about the clamping mechanism, creating an amputation hazard. The user instructions were also determined to be inadequate.
The CPSC and phil&teds have received 19 reports of the chair falling from various table surfaces, resulting in 5 reported injuries including three reports of bruising and two reports of children’s fingers being lacerated, severely pinched, crushed or amputated.
The affected product is an infant/toddler chair on a metal frame and with a nylon fabric seat. It clamps onto to the edge of table surfaces using two metal vise clamps. The upper part of the clamp rests on the table surface and has a rubber pad or a rubber boot covering the clamp on the underside. The recalled chairs were sold in red, black or navy and do NOT have black plastic spacers between the cross bar and clamps. They were sold for between $40 and $50 through Target, Buy Buy Baby, Toys R Us and other independent children’s stores from May 2006 to May 2011. In addition, they were sold on online sites including, Amazon.com and philandteds.com.
Consumers were instructed to immediately stop using the recalled chairs and to contact the company for revised user instructions and a free repair kit.
Manufacturers of child products have a duty to produce safe goods to consumers, especially since children are vulnerable and can suffer severe injuries if a product is unsafe.
At Blume Goldfaden, our New Jersey defective children’s product lawyers have years of experience handling various types of product liability cases and can help you determine if you may have a legitimate basis to bring a claim. Contact us at 973-635-5400 for a no-cost consultation.