Child dangers ignored Since 1997, at least 17 companies kept quiet about products that were seriously
injuring children until the government stepped in, a USA TODAY investigation finds. The makers of cribs, infant carriers and other children's products heard complaints - sometimes thousands - from parents. They conducted
internal investigations but never told the owners of the products or the government. In fact, an analysis of government documents shows that problems with 75% of the most dangerous children's products recalled during the past
three years were not reported to the government until the Consumer Product Safety Commission, often alerted by consumers, got involved. Today, the commission plans to announce a $400,000 civil penalty against Hasbro for waiting
until it has 12 reports of handles unlatching on infant carriers - causing seven skull fractures - before telling the agency about the problem. The carriers were recalled in 1996. Hasbro denies wrongdoing and says it settled the
matter to avoid prolonged legal proceedings. Cosco, a maker of children's products, also might wind up in court on charges it ignored reports about four products, including a crib mattress that the safety commission says trapped
12 babies, killing one. If negotiations fail, the commission could sue Cosco. Cosco says its recent recalls have involved "complex legal and interpretative issues," and often didn't involve serious injuries. Hasbro is
the sixth children's product company to face civil penalties since early 1998 because regulators say they waiting too long to report safety hazards - or never told the government at all. Suffering In Silence Alexia Weber was pushing her two children along a South Lyon , Mich. Street two years ago when the stroller they were riding in collapsed. Weber, relieved that the 3-year-old girl and 1-year-old boy were not hurt, assumed that she had done something wrong. Only later did she learn that hundreds of other parents had experienced the same problem with their Cosco strollers - and many were not so lucky. Their children suffered head injuries, broken bones and cut fingers. To Weber, the most disturbing news was that the Consumer Product Safety Commission says Cosco knew about those incidents but hadn't alerted parents to the potential dangers. Cosco didn't tell CPSC about the problem until the agency learned of it on its own. And it didn't recall the stroller until February 1999 - at least a year after it began receiving what turned out to be 3,000 complaints about stroller locks failing and more than 200 injury reports. The is a pervasive problem in a wide range of products used by children, a USA TODAY investigation shows. Product manufacturers frequently conduct internal investigations but remain publicly silent as complains about alleged defects pile up. In the past three years, 75% of the most dangerous problems that led to recalls were never voluntarily reported to the government. During that period, there were at least 17 cases in which products stayed on the market while the company gathered reports of children suffering everything from lost fingers to brain injuries, an analysis of CPSC data shows. "If I had known what happened to the other kids, I wouldn't have bought the thing," says Kristine Kwiecimski, whose 5-week-old son was dumped out of a Playskool carries four years after CPSC says Hasbro began collecting reports of skull fractures. A lock on the handle could fail, turning the carrier upside down. CPSC will announce today that Hasbro will pay the government $400,000 in civil penalties because, the agency says, it delayed reporting the carrier problem. Hasbro denies any wrongdoing and says it settled the matter to avoid prolonged legal proceedings. Lawyers for Cosco and other child-product makers blame vague CPSC reporting rules and say it's difficult to know when complaints stem from a defect or owner misuse. Federal law says a company must notify CPSC if it received information that "reasonably supports the conclusion that its product creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death." In the Cosco case, the company didn't think it was obligated to report the stroller problems to CPSC "due to the minimal number of reports and the minor nature of the injuries reported," says Cosco General Counsel Jonathan Reynolds. The 3,000 complaints Cosco received represented 5% of 57,000 stroller owners. "If someone has thousands of complaints, that's a pretty strong message about the quality or safety of their products," says R. David Pittle, a former CPSC commissioner and now vice president of Consumers Union. "That's not something you can say, 'We didn't know.' That's consumers telling you something." Every year, more than 70,000 children are injured and about 60 die from injuries suffered in cribs, infant carriers and other non-toy items made just for kids, CPSC says. "When you're talking about time with dangerous products, you're talking about deaths and injuries," says CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. The companies put not only their customers but themselves at risk when they dawdle on reporting complaints. Since early 1998, manufacturers of six recalled children's products have agreed to pay the government civil penalties because they waiting too long or never reported problems to CPSC. In addition to Hasbro, cited for the Playskool "Fold N' Travel" carriers:
Ongoing negotiations Cosco said in a statement to USA TODAY that it analyzed the product design and tested the strollers to ensure that any issues identified were corrected after it received complaints from consumers and retailers. The company also developed a repair kit. Cosco, along with Kolcraft and Evenflo, has recalled an infant car seat that doubles as a baby carrier over the last two years because the handles released and babies fell to the ground. None of the three reported complaints or injuries until they were asked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and CPSC, the government says. By the time it recalled its carriers in December, Kolcraft had 3,000 reports of handle problems with 42 injuries, including a skull fracture and concussion, CPSC says. The agency says Cosco had 151 complaints the handles released, leading to 29 injuries, including skull fractures, and Evenflo knew of 176 carriers with handles that released, resulting in 89 injuries. Evenflo spokesman Brian Bloom says the company made managerial changes and implemented an aggressive" quality-assurance program after the recall. The company "takes each recall very seriously because the safety of our customers and their families is our top priority," Bloom says. Cosco blamed most of the carrier injuries on misuse and says federal tests for handles were not approved until after the carrier went on sale. Kolcraft General Counsel Eileen Lysaught said the handle-related complaints it had in the fall of 1997 - when regulators asked for information - did not suggest a recall was needed. Along with injury
reports, some of the handle complaints related to non-safety issues, such as color and smell. Lawyers who represent juvenile-product manufacturers blame CPSC regulations and methods for many of the delay problems:
Alexia Weber disagrees. When she called Cosco about the stroller that collapsed with her children in it, the company told her there was nothing wrong with it. But when she returned the stroller to the store, it wasn't being sold there anymore because management decided it was unsafe - even though it hadn't yet been recalled. "It's scary that parents can have kids that have been injured after the company knew it was a problem, but decided, 'It's
so rare,'" says Weber. "It's scary that companies can
get away with it." |
|||||