A report recently released by an organization known as Kids in Danger (KID), a Chicago-based children’s safety advocacy group discovered that only 10 percent of children’s products that are recalled by the manufacturer or the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for safety reasons are actually returned or fixed. This apparent resolution gap leaves a large number of items in consumers’ homes that could potentially harm children, according to a CNBC report.
Consumers are Often Unaware of Recalls, Unable to follow through on Returns / Remedies
While a manufacturer still maintains control of a recalled product in their warehouses or at a retail outlet, more products can be successfully remedied, replaced, or returned. However, once a consumer buys the product, the success rate for correction of a problem drops off dramatically. The return rate of recalled items is likely so low because although the announcements are made, people don’t hear them or fail to respond. Consumers commonly fail to fill out the registration card for children’s products, which could otherwise give makers of children’s products a quick and direct way to notify them in the event of a recall.
The companies that manufacture children’s products and those who regulate them typically wait a long time before a product is officially recalled. The report found that on average, it takes 14 registered complaints of design flaws and two confirmed injuries before a recall is initiated, according to the KID report. Social media seems still to be underutilized as a method for spreading the word about safety recalls. According to the KID report, there were at least 63 recalls in 2013 where the manufacturer had a Facebook page, but only nine instances when the manufacturer actually mentioned their product recall on their Facebook page.
However, some companies are more proactive in attempting to reach consumers using social media channels. One such business is Step2, a children’s toy company that has a Facebook page dedicated solely to the company’s safety recalls. Step2 includes a link to the recall listings on the company’s homepage. During 2013, there were 294 recalls issued by the CPSC and 39 percent of those involved children’s products, an 18 percent increase from the year before. Children’s clothing accounted for 29 percent of the children’s product recalls in 2013, with drawstrings and flammability standard violations accounting for most of the defects. Cribs, strollers, high chairs, and pacifiers made up 23 percent of all children’s product recalls.
Definition of Strict Liability
In reference to FDA regulations, product liability lawsuits are commonly based on the premise of “strict liability.” This means that any person injured by a defective product is not required to prove that the device or company was directly negligent. An injury victim is only required to prove that the product or device was directly responsible for the ensuing injury, and that the manufacturer could have known or done something to prevent the injury from happening.
Both the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) possess recall authority to help protect consumers, but the issuance of a recall sometimes comes only as a last resort after hundreds, sometimes thousands, of consumers are seriously injured as a result of defective consumer products. However, the majority of product recalls are voluntarily initiated by responsible manufacturers as soon as potentially defective, dangerous conditions are discovered. Any person who is injured as a result of a product defect should share their case with a personal injury lawyer who has case experience in product liability litigation.
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