Boston Injury Attorney Blog

Massachusetts's consumers should be aware that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning consumers about the dangers associated with recalled Simplicity drop side cribs manufactured by Simplicity, Inc. and CFCA Inc. of Reading, PA. The CPSC also is aware of as many as 11 deaths and an additional 25 incidents involving the drop side detaching from the crib.

To date, CPSC has recalled over 2 million Simplicity drop side cribs due to problems with the crib's plastic hardware. The plastic hardware can break or deform, causing the drop side to detach. When the drop side detaches, it creates a space between the drop side and the crib mattress. Infants and toddlers can roll into this space and become entrapped which can lead to suffocation. All Simplicity drop side cribs have been recalled. The recalled drop side cribs were sold in department stores, children's stores, and mass merchandisers nationwide from January 2005 through June 2009 for between $150 and $300.

The agency says caregivers should check their cribs to see whether they have a recalled Simplicity crib. If they do, consumers should stop using them immediately and should not attempt to fix the cribs.

Federal regulators have approved a new rule that will require manufacturers of durable infant and child products to maintain a registration list of customers, making it easier to notify parents about dangerous and defective products. The new safety rule, will require manufacturers of cribs, high chairs, gates, strollers and other infant and toddler furniture to provide registration cards with each product and maintain a list of registered consumers. The registration would be used to alert as many consumers as possible if there is a product recall.

CPSC officials hope that the new rule promulgated on December 16 will allow the commission to quickly and efficiently contact a large number of purchasers immediately when a problem with the products have been detected, as opposed to having to rely on media, word-of-mouth, or non-uniform methods which may vary from company to company.

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling all Roman-style shades and roll up blinds after reports of babies and toddlers dying from strangulation. The CPSC said the product recall affects more than 50 million Roman shades and rollup blinds, which have cords that can get caught around children's necks. 25 million Roman shades were recalled.

CPSC said 5 children have died of strangulation and 16 others have been nearly strangled since 2006 because of the Roman shades, which pose a problem because of space between the inner cord and the shade fabric. The recall affects 25 million Roman shades. Roll-up blinds have a large loop at the end of the cord that can strangle young children, the CPSC said, adding that 3 children have died from the roll-up blinds' hazard since 2000. The recall affects 27 million roll-up blinds. The commission said about 5 million Roman shades and 3 million roll-up blinds are sold each year.

CPSC said it is working with the Window Covering Safety Council, an industry trade group, to provide repair kits for Roman shades and roll-up blinds sold at Massachusetts's retailers such as Wal-Mart, JC Penney, Pottery Barn and Ace Hardware. The repair will eliminate the cord from the Roman shades and instead provide rings for consumers to install. Shade owners will have to manually lift the rings to raise the shade. The kit will provide a device for roll-up blinds that will force the cord to separate into 2 pieces if a force equal to a baby's head is applied. The CPSC said the cord cannot be eliminated from the design of the roll-up treatment because it would strip its functionality.

For a free repair kit, consumers can contact the Window Covering Safety Council at www.windowcoverings.org or 800-506-4636.

Another Massachusetts meat recall, this time for meat distributed from Fairbank Farms, of New York, and sold at Trader Joe's, Wild Harvest, Shaw's and BJ's, among other local companies, packaged Sept. 15-16 and may have been labeled with a sell-by date from Sept. 19 through Sept. 28, meaning they're no longer being sold as fresh product in supermarkets, Fairbank Farms said.

Two deaths and 26 other illnesses may be linked to fresh ground beef that has been recalled because it might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, a federal health official said Monday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, one of the deaths involved a New York adult with several underlying health conditions. The other is a death previously reported by New Hampshire, where state health officials said a patient died due to complications.

Symptoms of E. coli infections include stomach cramps that may be severe and diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days. E. coli infections can sometimes lead to complications including kidney failure. Symptoms usually show up three to four days after a person eats contaminated food, although in some cases it can be as long as eight days. Officials said anyone having symptoms should immediately contact a doctor.

According to Karen P. Nadeau, Esquire: "While Bellotti Law Group does not see many food poisoning cases, instances of food poisoning from E coli bacteria can be very dangerous, and should be taken very seriously. Anyone who is experiencing these symptoms should seek medical assistance."