CPSC Urges Consumers To Check Homes For Recalled Products During Consumer Protection Week

Federal safety officials have launched a national campaign this week, which urges consumers to check whether items bought at garage sales or found in their own homes may have been recalled, indicating that there were more than 300 new recalls issued last year, which impacted millions products sold in prior years.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched its annual National Consumer Protection Week on March 1, highlighting a number of different tools available to educate the public on product safety and how to return, receive a refund or get a replacement for a recalled product.

The commission has jurisdiction over thousands of types of products, including infant sleepers, furniture, recreational vehicles, and more. The CPSC is tasked with issuing recalls and enforcing mandatory standards to help consumers keep hazardous products out of their home and educating the public on current issues.

Acting Chairman Robert Adler indicated in the press release that more than 300 recalls involving millions of consumer products were issued in 2019, adding that the chances of you or someone you know possessing a recalled product in the home is very high.

The campaign urges consumers to utilize several resources offered by the agency to identify recalled products including their CPSC Recalls App, which was launched last year to allow users to quickly search for product recall information or receive notifications about new recall releases.

Officials also highlighted the ability for consumers to visit the agency’s website and search through the database of recalled products for information on how to verify what model numbers are impacted.

Typically, when a recall is issued by a manufacturer, a remedy for consumers to collect a refund, a free repair or free replacement is offered to incentivize removing the product from consumer’s hands.

The agency is warning consumers that a hand-me-down or something purchased second hand may have also been recalled and pose serious safety risks. Although it is illegal to sell a product that has been recalled, the agency is urging consumers to always verify a product has not been recalled before making the purchase.

Inclined Infant Sleeper Recalls

One of the largest recall series to occur in 2019 and the beginning of this year so far have involved inclined infant sleepers which have been linked to at least 73 fatalities after infants were able to roll over and become pinned against the fabric, causing a suffocation risk.

The CPSC first warned the public of inclined infant sleeper safety concerns a week before it announced a Fisher-Price Rock’n Play recall in April 2019, affecting nearly five million sleepers, instructing consumers to stop placing their infants in the sleepers by three months old, or before they begin to show signs that they can roll over independently.

Since the Fischer Price recall, several manufacturers have also issued recalls of inclined sleeper products including a recall of 694,000 Kids II inclined rocking sleepers, Summer Infant SwaddleMe By Your Bed inclined sleeper recall, the Graco Little Lounger Rocking Seats recall, the  Evenflo Pillo Portable Nappers, and the Delta Incline Sleepers with Adjustable Feeding Position for Newborns.

Fischer-Price now faces several inclined sleeper individual wrongful death lawsuits as well as a class action lawsuit alleging the manufacturer knew or should have known about the risk of problems, yet delayed announcing a recall or warning, and knowingly allowed parents to continue purchasing life threatening sleeper devices.