Articles Posted in Products Liability

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A series of unrelated Oregon rollover accidents have left accident victims with injuries. In one auto crash, a Multnomah County judge sustained critical injuries after the car he was riding in rolled over when it was struck by a pickup truck. Three other people, including the judge’s two children, were also injured in the head-on collision. According to Oregon State Trooper Duane Larson, pickup truck driver Craig Gilbert lost control of his vehicle.

In another Oregon auto crash, a 5-year-old boy was killed on Saturday when he was thrown from the family’s 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe during a rollover accident on I-82 south of Umatilla. His mother reportedly lost control of the vehicle while breaking and the SUV rolled over three times.

In another deadly rollover crash, an Oregon woman died on January 17 when her car rolled over on Highway 26, close to Prairie City. According to Oregon State Police, Fredina Sue McKrola, 66, was found close to her Chevrolet Suburban. Investigators think that the auto collision happened because she lost control of her car. There were ice spots reported in the area where her accident happened.

Rollover Accidents
There are many reasons for why rollover accidents occur, including:

• Negligent driving
• Products liability
• Unsafe conditions on the road that should have been cleared out
• Multi-vehicle crashes
While some rollover accidents are the drivers’ fault, there are rollover crashes that do occur because another party was negligent. If you were a passenger injured in a rollover accident caused by a negligent driver, or if your loved one died in another kind of auto kind of accident caused by someone else’s carelessness or recklessness, you may have grounds to file an Oregon personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit to claim compensation.

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The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act has finally gone into effect. The new law mandates that all public pools and spas be fitted with a federally approved anti-entrapment drain or grate cover to prevent people from getting caught by the suction and drowning. Children are especially at high risk of suffering a fatal injury when getting caught in a swimming pool, wading pool, or hot tub drain.

The law is named after the granddaughter of former US Secretary of State James Baker. Virginia, 7, drowned in 2002 after she sat on the floor drain of a hot tub. Her mother, Nancy Baker, tried to pull her daughter from the drain but to no avail.

Last March, 6-year-old Abigail Taylor died nearly nine months after the suction from a wading pool drain pulled out part of her intestinal tract. She had to undergo liver, small bowel, and pancreas transplants and suffered complications before her death.

The design of the approved dome shaped drain covers should keep the human body from being suctioned by a pool or hot tub drain. Schools, recreational centers, hotels, health clubs, and apartments are among those affected by the new law. Some pool owners and managers, however, are complaining that drain manufacturers have not been able to keep up with the demand for these federally approved designs, which is making it harder for compliance to occur. Hopefully, these drains should be in place in spas and pools throughout Oregon when the hot weather returns.

Pool Entrapment Accidents
According to Safe Kids USA, about 100 children in the United States sustained serious injuries and at least 33 children younger than 14 died because of entrapment by a pool or spa drain between 1985 and 2004. Serious personal injuries can include body entrapment, massive internal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, drowning, and wrongful death.

If you or your child was seriously injured in a pool entrapment accident, you may have grounds to file an Oregon premises liability claim or products liability lawsuit against the liable party.

New Federal Pool Safety Law to Take Effect, KOHD, December 11, 2008
Pool drain safety covers required today, but supply is backlogged, Sacramento Bee, December 20, 2008
Federal drain law forces pool closings, Boston Herald, January 5, 2008
Related Web Resource:
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (PDF)

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says auto accidents and fall accidents are the leading causes of accidental teen and child injuries and deaths in this country.

Facts included in the CDC’s report:

• 9.2 million teenagers and children a year are treated in US emergency rooms for accidental injuries.
• 2.8 million teens and young kids are injured in fall accidents annually.
• Over 50% of the nonfatal injuries involving kids younger than 1 occurred during fall accidents.
• About 8,000 minors are killed each year in traffic accidents as pedestrians, vehicle occupants, and pedalcyclists.
• 12,175 people under age 20 die in the US every year because of accidental injuries.
• Approximately 20 kids die every day because of an injury that could have been prevented.
• Some 20 million kids and young adults sustain injuries each year that limit their activity and require medical care.

Leading causes of injury deaths, according to age group:

• Infants – suffocation
• Ages 1 to 4 – drowning
• Ages 5 to 19 – traffic crashes
In addition to fall accidents, other leading causes of nonfatal injuries to kids include:

• Animal bites
• Insect bites
• Getting hit by or falling against an object
Children in the 1 – 4 age group were most likely to suffer nonfatal injuries in fall accidents or due to accidental poisoning. According to CDC Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention Director Grant Baldwin, many of these injuries can be predicted and are preventable.

Many times, these injuries occur while a child or teen is engaged in everyday activities, such as riding in a car, walking to school, or swimming in the neigborhood pool. Such injuries are often caused by reckless motor vehicle drivers, careless property owners, negligent product manufacturers, careless dog owners, or other responsible parties.

Car Crashes, Falls Top List of Accidental Injuries for Kids, US News, December 10, 2008
Childhood Injury Report, CDC
Related Web Resources:

Children Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, NHTSA (PDF)

World Health Organization

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Ecology Center researchers tested over 1,500 popular toys for harmful chemicals, such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and PVC, that could cause injuries to minors. Their findings indicate that out of every three toys, one toy usually contains at least one of these chemicals at “medium” or greater levels. The researchers hope their results will push lawmakers and manufacturers to begin phasing out these dangerous chemicals in toys.

Toys that were tested were purchased from Toys R Us, Target, Kmart, TJ Maxx, Babies R Us, Wal-Mart, and in dollar stores, drug stores, and online. The toys and children’s products selected for testing represent the products most often bought for children in the US. Tests were conducted using a handheld X-ray device for detecting chemicals.

Among the study’s findings:

• 20% of the toys tested contained lead.
• 3.5% of toys had levels of lead exceeding the federal government’s recall level for lead paint.
• Kids’ Jewelry has a greater chance of containing lead greater than 600 ppm.
• Arsenic at levels above 100 ppm was found in 22 products.
• 30 of the products tested had cadmium at levels higher than 100 ppm.

The Toy Industry Association criticized the group’s findings, calling them “misleading” to consumers. The association also maintained that the toy industry is highly regulated and continues to work hard to ensure that all toys for sale in the US exceed toy safety standards.

Toxic and Dangerous Toys
With the holiday shopping season already under way in Oregon and the rest of the United States, it is important that toy manufacturers and retailers make sure that any products they put out into the marketplace are safe for play and use. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been very busy over the past two years issuing recalls for toys and kids’ products deemed defective or dangerous because they contain too much lead, are made with small magnetic pieces that can cause choking hazards, or have another kind of hazardous defect.

Toy manufacturers can be held liable for products liability, personal injury, or wrongful death if a toy causes a child to suffer an injury, get sick, or die.

One in 3 toys is toxic, group says, CNN Money, December 3, 2008
One in Three Children’s Toys Tested by Ecology Center’s www.HealthyToys.org has Significant Levels of Chemicals, Including Lead, Flame Retardants, and Arsenic, Ecology Center, December 3, 2008
Related Web Resources:

Toy Industry Association

Consumer Product Safety Commission

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The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling almost 1.6 million cribs after reports that two babies died in accidents involving defective crib hardware. In one case, a 5-month-old infant suffocated to death after getting caught between a Playkids USA convertible crib’s drop side rail and its mattress. In the other accident, an 8-month-old baby suffocated to death after becoming entrapped in a Delta Enterprise crib. Also in May 2007, another 8-month baby died in accident involving a Delta crib.

The voluntary recalls involve 2,000 Playkids USA portable convertible cribs and 1,585,000 Delta drop side cribs. The convertible cribs are being recalled because the mesh on the sides of the crib may expand to create a space that an infant might fall into, become entrapped, suffocate, and die.

The Delta drop side cribs were recalled because of safety peg issues. While 985,000 cribs are missing this necessary feature, the spring pegs on 600,000 Delta cribs may be prone to malfunction. The concern is that the missing or defective spring peg could cause the drop side of a crib to become detached and create a space that an infant might fall into. The Delta recall is being called one of the largest crib recalls in US history.

According to Kids in Danger, over 1,000 children have died over the last two decades because of injuries they sustained in cribs. Each year, some 10,000 children are admitted to hospital emergency rooms for crib-related injuries, with 22 kids dying from their injuries.

Examples of injuries caused by defective crib hardware include:

• Suffocation
• Asphyxiation
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Head injuries
• Gaseous poison from the crib mattress
• Entrapment
Federal law requires that all cribs come with warning labels, the correct instructions, and hardware that are free from defects. More details about the recalls can be found on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Web site (see below).

The manufacturers of nursery furniture and other kids products have a responsibility to produce products that are free from hazardous defects. Failure to do so can be grounds for an Oregon personal injury claim or wrongful death lawsuit if a child is injured or dies because a crib was defective.

Staying Safe: Keeping your baby safe amid largest crib recall in history, KSL.com, October 21, 2008
Delta Recalls 1.6 Million Cribs, KSFY.com, October 21, 2008
Infant Death Prompts Recall of Convertible Cribs by Playkids USA; Crib Poses Entrapment and Suffocation Hazards, Marketwatch, October 16, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Recalls, CPSC.gov
Kids in Danger

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