Now, there is another way to stay updated to product safety news. Two safe products organizations, Kids in Danger (KID) and WeMakeitSafer have teamed up to release a recalled product mobile website. The website combines life-saving information with technologically advanced services which permit for quick recalled product searches.

For both organizations, making product recall information more readily accessible to consumers is an intricate part of their mission. The main goal of the mobile site is to ensure parents have quick access to recall product news even while they are in the process of shopping for products. 

In addition to the search application, the website includes KIDS safety tips, personal stories from experiences with recalled products and other key features.

KID, a non profit organization dedicated to making products safe, was founded in 1998 by the parents of sixteen month old Danny Keyser who died while at daycare when a crib collapsed on him.

The mobile site will be revealed tonight at the KID Best Friend Award Night. This is an annual event which honors Danny Keyser and other victims of recalled products, in addition to recognizing the contributions of a “best friend” of product safety.

Staying informed to recalled products is more possible than ever, thanks to the efforts of such great organizations.

However, these flames have the potential to be tremendously dangerous. According to the National Fire Protection Association, over 3,000 fires start every year from candles alone. The fires cause an annual average of 136 deaths, 1,041 injuries and $471 million in property damage. There is undoubtedly a serious need to use candles with care. At least 12% of fires start as a result of human error, specifically from falling asleep before blowing out a flame. However, faulty products also play a part in these tragedies.

On May 1, the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission, in cooperation with Nantucket Distributing Co., announced a voluntary recall of a candle holder. The product, a glass and metal tea light holder, has the propensity to produce a high flame, which can cause fire damage. Merchants received at least one report of a tea light burning with a high flame that resulted in a burn to a consumer’s hand.

Christmas tea shops in the Northwest, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest sold the product from July 2011 to March 2012 for about $5. Specifically, the product is a spiral tea light holder made from painted glass with a red, orange and green floral design. The glass has a metal insert for holding the tea light.

Consumers should stop using the recalled spiral tea light holder and return it to any Christmas Tree Shops store to receive a full refund. For additional information, contact Christmas Tree Shops toll-free at (888) 287-3232 any time, or visit the firm’s website www.christmastreeshops.com.

If you have been seriously injured by this product, you may be entitled to compensation. An experienced advocate will ensure you are adequately represented.

Lenovo has actually received notice of four incidents where batteries in the ThinkPad overheated and damaged the computer.  It is important to note that computer damage is not the only concern, as personal safety issues associated with fire hazards must also be considered. For the sake of your wallet, and your health, please stop using the recalled battery immediately.

The company sold these batteries with the ThinkPad computer and separately as optional or replacement batteries.  Specifically, they are lithium-ion extended life batteries. Approximately 100,000 batteries were sold, nationwide. Please visit the CPSC website for detail as to the computer model and battery numbers involved.

Consumers should stop using the recalled batteries and contact Lenovo for additional information. Contact Lenovo at (800) 426-7378 anytime, or log on to www.lenovo.com/batteryprogram to determine if the battery is part of the recall and.

If you have been seriously injured by this product, you may be entitled to compensation. An experienced advocate will ensure you are adequately represented.

Picture of the band attachment mechanism that led to the recall of the Daisy "Natural" line of slingshots. Pictured is the ERG-100 model.

This blog is dedicated to alerting the public to dangerous and recalled products in a timely manner.  Being on top of recent recalls is just as important as paying attention to other safety alerts such as traffic updates and tornado warnings. Recalled products can be dangerous, and sometimes fatal, just as storms and car accidents. Recent recalls such as mis-labeled Acetaminophen and a 10-inch circular saw with packaging laceration hazards only solidify this point. However, consumers are often not as informed when it comes to recent recalls, as they are to more publicized safety reports.

According to an article in ABC News, most consumers do not receive notice of recalled products before they cause grave injury, because the news does not usually cover non-fatal or non-serious recalls. However, knowing about a dangerous product, only after the product has actually harmed someone is not the best way to ensure you and your loved ones are safe, particularly if you or your loved ones are the harmed.

A recent post commented on a 2011 product recall report. While the report asserted that the number of 2011 recalled products actually decreased, the number of injuries associated with such products increased from previous years. The post speculated that the failure to alert consumers to recalled products resulted in the increase in injury. If consumers are not aware that a product was recalled, they will not know to avoid use.

In fact,  a major purpose of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is to create regulations and mandates that prevent injury from ever occurring.  The 2011 report suggests that the CPSC is effective in ensuring manufacturers abide by mandates, resulting in a decrease in recalled products. However, if the public is not aware that a product is even recalled, injuries associate with that dangerous product will not decrease as well.

The best way to stay on top of dangerous products is to subscribe to the CPSC email alert system. When you sign up, the agency will send you updates directly. You can also search the CPSC database for recalled products if you suspect you are in possession of one, or even if you want to know a product you plan to buy second hand is safe. The database also lists products it considers dangerous, but that have not yet been recalled. Additionally, you can look up complaints associated with alleged dangerous products and report your own on the CSPC website.   Finally, you can follow this blog.

Be aware of a danger before injury occurs.

If you have been injured by a recalled product, you may be entitled to compensation. An experienced advocate will ensure you are adequately represented.

- Smoked Croaker in a 10lb cardboard box with a code: 298/11 – Smoked Barracuda in a 10lb cardboard box with a code: 0282/011 – Smoked Big Eye in a 10lb cardboard box with a code: 287L10 – Smoked Red Snapper in a 10lb cardboard box with a code: 298-11. (All the products were made in Guyana.)

Before sale, fish of five inches in length or greater must be properly eviscerated.  Evisceration of fish involves the complete removal of all internal organs (viscera) in the body cavity, including the gills. A failure to eviscerate or properly eviscerate can result in potentially deadly botulism poisoning.

The products were sold in stores in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Iowa.

Symptoms of botulism include blurred or double vision, general weakness, poor reflexes, difficulty swallowing and respiratory paralysis which may lead to death. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention.

If you’ve been seriously affected by this recall, please contact our firm immediately. You can read about our firm’s experience with personal injury claims here.

KID, in its 2011 Measure of Safety report states “[i]t is hoped that the reduction in the number of recalls is a positive sign as manufacturers start to test their products as required by CPSIA. But with the secrecy surrounding the process, that is difficult to ascertain. There are many products on SaferProducts.gov with serious injuries that have not been recalled.”

KID indicates it believes the decline in recalls is likely due to companies’ adherence to a new children’s product safety law. However, with a 7% increase in injuries associated with these recalls, one must wonder whether the product safety law does more than just get stores to follow rules, by actually preventing injuries from occurring.

One problem may be that while companies recall products when they realize they are dangerous, consumers who have the products do not receive notice of the recall and/or fail to send the product back to be repaired. Only 15% to 30% of products are sent back or repaired, but some high-profile recalls get higher response rates, the CSPC says. The percentage of products fixed or replaced remains largely unchanged the past few years.

Difficulty contacting consumers is one reason for this low response rate, says Kevin Sterneckert, retail research chief at technology advisory firm Gartner Group. Stores track shoppers’ purchases closely, but they sometimes have difficulty linking a person with a purchase. A solution to this problem is the requirement that consumers complete registration cards upon purchase. The registration helps the store track the consumer in the event of a recall.

CPSC has required makers of 22 children’s products to include registration cards since June 2010.  However, the success of such requirements are yet unknown.

Regardless, if your child has been injured by a recalled product, you may be entitled to compensation. Please contact our firm if you or a loved one has been injured by a recalled product.

DJG has received 200 reports of locks that did not adequately secure the cabinet, including reports of damaged locks. Of the reported incidents, the firm is aware of 140 children between the ages of 9 months and 5 years who were able to disengage the locks and gain access to the cabinet’s contents. In three of the reported incidents, the children who gained access swallowed or handled dishwashing detergent, window cleaner or oven cleaner, and were treated, observed and released from emergency treatment centers.

Compared with the daytime caplets, the nighttime caplets also contain enough diphenhydramine hydrochloride to be used as a sleep aid. Taking a nighttime caplet during the day may result in drowsiness and have safety consequences when engaging in activities requiring alertness, such as driving.

Health Canada is not aware of any reports of injury or adverse reaction due to this labelling error. However, consumers mistaking the nighttime caplets for daytime caplets may be more prone to serious accidents due to the sedation or sleepiness associated with the use of diphenhydramine.

The product was available in retail stores across Canada. The company is advising wholesalers, pharmacies and other retail locations to return unused tablets from the affected lot to their distributor or Vita Health for destruction. While there is no information that indicates these products were sold directly in the United States, Rexal products generally are available in the U.S., although sales are mainly limited to herbal supplements.

For more information concerning the recall consumers should contact Vita Health Products directly at 1-800-665-8820.

Health Canada is monitoring the recall by Vita Health Products and will continue to provide updates to Canadians if new safety information is identified.

If you’ve been seriously affected by this recall, please contact our firm immediately. You can read about our firm’s experience with personal injury claims here.

But, that is exactly what occurred recently. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), certain recalled products, originally sold at Meijer, Inc., were resold after the recall date due to an error. These recalled products were improperly disposed of by offering them for sale at discount retailers, dollar stores, liquidation firms, flea markets and thrift stores nationwide at various prices. 

The resale of recalled products is illegal. Its unclear at this point if criminal charges will be assessed upon the resellers. Many law firms argue that more obligations must be placed on the stores acquiring the recalled goods for resale.

A particular issue with the resale of recalled products exists within second hand and discount stores, where store owners purchase somewhat defective goods, in order to obtain a lower price. The majority of consumers to discount stores – people of lower income – are thus in more danger than those individuals of higher income, who are less likely to shop at such stores. The store owners operate with lower priced – higher risk goods, and with a less powerful clientele. For those reasons, discount stores must be required to pay closer attention to the safety of the products on their shelves.

Some attorneys allege that the store owner must be pressured to check the CPSC to ensure its products have not been recalled. As of yet however, other than the general law against the resale of recalled products, there are no regulations in place requiring second hand or discount stores to take extra precautions.

One thing is clear, there is absolutely no justification for the resale of a recalled product. If the law is not adequate to prevent this injustice from occurring, the law must be changed.

The CPSC warns that consumers should stop using these recalled products immediately and contact the recalling firms listed below to participate in their individual recall programs.

Please visit the CPSC website for a complete list of the affected products.

If you’ve been seriously affected by this recall, please contact our firm immediately. You can read about our firm’s experience with personal injury claims here.

The automaker on Wednesday recalled 45,800 of its Odyssey minivans because the gas-filled struts that hold up the rear hatch could fail unexpectedly leading to potentially serious injuries. It’s the third safety-related service action since just the beginning of February and the fourth since the beginning of 2012.  This less than two months after the December recall of 273,000 Honda and Acura products due to potentially defective airbag inflators. In 2011, Honda recalled more vehicles than any other manufacturer operating in the U.S. market.

While the automaker is still ranked one of the most high-quality and reliable manufacturers in the industry, that could be changing.  According to George Peterson, chief analyst with AutoPacific, Inc. ,  surveys are already showing a decline in consideration for Honda – a term referring to the number of buyers who put a particular brand on their shopping list.

While the 2012 recalls have been modest compared to previous years, the trend certainly cannot be helpful to the company. Owning any vehicle should not mean constantly worrying whether it contains some dangerous defect, that might materialize at any moment.

If you’ve been seriously affected by this recall or any Honda recalls, please contact our firm immediately. You can read about our firm’s experience with personal injury claims here.