1.8 million toy dart guns have been recalled after the death of two boys. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said a 9-year-old from Chicago and a 10-year-old from Milwaukee died from asphyxiation after the suction-cup darts became lodged in their throats.
The CPSC stepped in after the toy’s manufacturer, Henry Gordy International, refused to comply with a recall. The “Autofire” toy dart set was sold at Family Dollar stores from September 2005 to January 2009 for around $1.50.
“Gordy Toy” and “Ages 8+” are printed on the toy’s packaging.
The toy guns should be disposed of immediately. Family Dollar has agreed to provide a refund which can be received by calling (800) 547-0359.
Baxter International Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of medical products, has been ordered to “recall and destroy” 200,000 of its Colleague brand pumps by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Baxter’s Colleague brand pump is a type of infusion pump found in hospitals.
Infusion pumps are used to automatically deliver medicine, fluids, and nutrients into a patient’s system. The defective pumps either delayed or interrupted the infusions.
Baxter ceased selling the pump in 2005 due to problems with design flaws, battery failures, and software errors, but the previously sold pumps remained in use. Since then there have been 56,000 reports of malfunctioning infusion pumps of all brands resulting in over 500 deaths and an untold numbers of injuries. Baxter wanted to leave its remaining pumps on the market until 2013 but the FDA rejected this plan citing the “persistent safety problems.”
Baxter’s chairman and CEO Bob Parkinson told his company’s shareholders that the situation “languished far beyond what it should have.” While Parkinson’s admission is warranted, the question should be why the pumps weren’t taken off the market earlier. According to the FDA’s news release, Baxter was working with the FDA to try to correct the defects since 1999. Partial recalls were intermittently issued. Yet, the pumps weren’t completely recalled until over 10 years later. Prompted by the Baxter recall, Baxter’s comptetitor Hospira voluntarily ceased sales of one of its infusion pump brands as well, raising questions of the extent of infusion pump safety issues.
Johnson & Johnson has recalled over 40 of its children’s Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, and Benadryl brands. Other medicines contained either the wrong amounts of active ingredients while the inactive ingredients didn’t meet quality control standards. Over 40 customers had reported finding black “specks” in some medicines, but there is no information on what the black specks were. An investigation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found bacteria in some of the raw ingredients used at the Philadelphia manufacturing plant.
No serious health risks have been linked to the recalled medicines. The FDA advises parents to stop giving these medicines to their children as a precaution and replace them with a generic brand alternative. Generic brands have been unaffected by the recall.
On April 29, 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued recalls on two baby crib brands, Simplicity and Graco, due to defective parts. Parents or guardians with cribs in their homes should check their crib’s brand and model number to see if this recall applies to them. These cribs pose a possible risk of falling, suffocation, or strangulation to babies.
All Simplicity full-size cribs with tubular metal mattress-support frames have been recalled. There have been reports that the frame can bend or detach, creating a space where a child can become trapped. A one-year-old child from Massachusetts suffocated after falling between the crib mattress and the crib frame. There have been 13 other reports of the crib bending that did not result in injury, and one child who suffered minor cuts. Simplicity cribs were sold at Walmart, Target, Babies R Us, and other retailers for between $150 and $300. More detailed information on the Simplicity crib recall can be found here.
About 217,000 Graco-branded drop side cribs manufactured by LaJobi have been recalled as a result of 99 reports of broken hardware and detached drops sides, including two incidents of children becoming trapped in the gap created by the detached drop side. Neither was injured. There were six other reports of children falling out of the crib, with one suffering a minor concussion. These cribs were sold from February 2007 to March 2010 for between $140 and $200. For further descriptions and pictures of the recalled models, go here.
Owners of these cribs should stop using them immediately and not attempt to make any repairs. If your baby has been injured from either a Simplicity or Graco brand crib, you may have a claim that could result in compensation. Contact an attorney at Gary D. McCallister & Associates, LLC for more information.
