Cases We Accept

• Vehicle Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Child Injury & Abuse
• Birth Injuries
• Wrongful Death Lawsuits
• Defective Products & Liability

Blog

Defective Products & Liability

• Toy Dart Gun Playset Recalled
• Hunting Gear Could Cause Serious Fall

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Latest News

• NHTSA Criticized for Not Acting Swiftly in Toyota Recall...Posted on 3/15/2010
• Toyota Tundra Recall Includes All 2000 to 2003 Models...Posted on 3/12/2010

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Library

Defective Products & Liability

• Recognize the Symptoms of Lead Exposure from Children’s Toys
• Shopping Centers and Premises Liability (Part A)

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Lawsuits for Crib Recalls

Products liability attorneys lead the way to safer crib furniture when the federal government fails to ban unsafe models. While the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) routinely requests high-volume crib recalls each year, these often come too late to save lives. The resultant infant deaths and injuries related to faulty crib products remaining on the market provoke lawsuits and out-of-court settlements.

A case in point was a folding model made by Simplicity, Inc., that was responsible for three deaths and 55 reported injuries between 2005 and 2007. It took a consumer class-action suit filed in Minneapolis court against the maker and retailer, Target Corp., to induce the CPSC to issue a recall of one million of the cribs. Graco Children's Products, Inc., which licensed its name to the manufacturer on some models, was also claimed liable.

The company's product labeling and assembly instructions were blamed for the cribs' being put together incorrectly, creating a health hazard. Baby accidents detailed in the lawsuit were caused when improperly installed drop-rails failed. Parents or other concerned individuals unknowingly assembled cribs that caused suffocation, and in two instances, death. Their attorneys sought pecuniary as well as punitive damages.

Recalls Are Not Strong Enough Prevention

Despite the massive recall, the CPSC was criticized by the plaintiff's legal counsel for allowing the manufacturer to offer a refit kit rather than a return and refund. This still left an unacceptable margin for error in assembly, a situation that persists in the baby furniture industry overall. Even when data exists that proves a dire health risk, the CPSC watchdog rarely uses its teeth. Weeding out defective products is hampered by non-comprehensive safety standards and a lack of protocol for dealing with offenders.

Dangerous products still make it onto the store shelves. New models produced by domestic companies and imported by distributors mean a constant, unmanageable influx. Testing by objective regulatory groups such as the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) can accommodate only a portion of child-care merchandise. Parents are encouraged to be diligent and research crib and other baby furniture purchases themselves.

What parents can do to promote crib safety:

• Purchase JPMA-certified products.
• Find or report recalled models with the CPSC.
• Pay close attention to correct assembly.
• Locate and use cribs according to safety guidelines.

For tips on buying and using cribs, read the American Association of Pediatrics' Injury Prevention Project sheet.

In the event of an accident or concerns that your model might cause one, contact an experienced personal injury attorney. In this critical time you need a legal team that will fight for the compensation you deserve!

Massachusetts personal injury lawyer, Thomas M. Kiley, is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and is a respected member of the American Association for Justice and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys.

The personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of Kiley Law Group are dedicated to helping the victims of:

• Car, motorcycle, truck, van or bus accident
• Single vehicle accidents such as SUV or 15-passenger van rollovers
• Pedestrian accidents such as a hit and run
• Defective products such as ineffective airbags or seatbelts, prescription drugs with unpublicized side-effects, or hazardous children's toys
• Child injury and child abuse such as negligence
• Birth injuries such as trauma during labor or cerebral palsy

We Serve Clients Across the State of Massachusetts
The firm's headquarters are in Andover, MA and serves the following cities in Massachusetts: Boston, Danvers, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Middleton, Reading, and Salem, MA and Salem, New Hampshire.