New parents, very understandably, tend to worry. They worry about whether their little one is eating enough, is happy enough, is developing at a healthy rate, and about whether they will ever sleep through the night. When shopping, new parents worry about whether a specific diaper brand will perform as advertised, whether a particular rocker will soothe their babies or amp them up, and whether buying a holiday outfit is worth the effort, given that their little one will probably only wear it once before outgrowing it. Most of the time, however, parents don’t worry too much about the safety of any baby products stocked on big store shelves. After all, if a product is unsafe, it would have already been recalled or taken off the shelves… right?

Unfortunately, as a recent recall effort has clearly illustrated, tragedy often has to strike again and again before unsafe baby products and equipment are either taken off store shelves or recalled altogether. Although Americans benefit from the oversight of agencies including the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration, defective and otherwise unsafe products are sold across the country every day.

To Recall or Not to Recall… That Is the Question

Businesses that sell products usually resist recalling or otherwise pulling their wares from store shelves and retail partners unless the public relations and/or bottom-line costs of NOT recalling/pulling an item outweigh the profits that will be made if the items continue to sell. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently opened a formal inquiry into the safety of the 2013-2015 “Accord” models after more than 100 people had reported that these models experience significant loss of steering control with no warning. Despite their awareness of this problem, Honda has not voluntarily recalled the more than 1.1 million affected vehicles in the U.S. (presumably due to high costs) and the NHTSA has not yet initiated a recall as its safety review isn’t complete. Due to the absence of an outright recall, many Accord owners are likely unaware that they are driving machines that could lose steering control at any time, in any place, and at any speed.

A similar challenging situation has been evolving over the past few years in regards to various models of infant sleep equipment. Back in 2019, specific brands of inclined sleepers were pulled from shelves after dozens of infants perished while resting in them. Eventually, all inclined infant sleepers were pulled from shelves as a result of this risk. However, it took months for manufacturers and retailers to get to the point whereby they were willing to act. If the deaths of dozens of exceptionally young innocents wasn’t enough to inspire immediate action, what would be?

Product Safety Change Occurs Slowly

Over the years, many products have been deemed unreasonably dangerous and/or defective in response to public outcry and the injuries sustained by far too many victims. From defective, deadly pool drains to magnetic toys that acted like slow motion bullets when swallowed, products that kill, seriously injure, or significantly sicken Americans are (usually) recalled or pulled from shelves eventually. However, as the evolution of infant sleeper equipment illustrates, this shift tends to happen slowly. And tragically, every day that passes wherein dangerous products aren’t pulled from shelves is a day in which someone else could get hurt.

It took months for inclined infant sleepers to be pulled from U.S. shelves after both regulators and manufacturers became aware that a number of babies had died while resting in them. This shift in the market eventually occurred in 2019. Yet, it was only in the Spring of 2021 that the Consumer Product Safety Commission voted three to one to pass a rule that would require dozens of infant sleep products that are currently unregulated to be newly classified so that they will be regulated moving forward. Additionally, this rule will not take formal effect for one year, so these products will remain unregulated in the meantime, which could endanger untold numbers of infants. Critics are concerned that the new rule still leaves infants in an unreasonably vulnerable position because it fails to clearly define “what is safe or a threshold for an unreasonable risk of injury.”

Criticism aside, closing this regulatory loophole will hopefully serve as an important step forward regarding infant safety in the U.S. However, the lengthy road that had to be traveled to reach this point illustrates just how unsafe it still is to be an American consumer. The fact that years passed and so much effort had to be undertaken in order to regulate potentially deadly sleep equipment is nothing short of astonishing. The Washington Post reports that both “The American Academy of Pediatrics and advocacy groups such as Consumer Reports pushed for the measure.” Although it is imperfect, it is a concrete step taken to address a gaping loophole in infant product safety regulations. In this case, advocates are crossing their fingers that “something” will serve better than “nothing.”

Legal Aid Is Available

If you or your child has been harmed as a result of a dangerous or defective consumer product, know that you have rights as an injury victim as codified in both state and federal law. Speaking with an experienced attorney will help you to clarify how these rights apply to your unique situation and how to exercise them effectively.

Our firm has extensive experience representing the interests of product injury victims. When you schedule a free, no-risk, confidential consultation with our team, we will provide you with an objective assessment of your legal options and clarify our approach to providing high-quality representation. Please connect with our firm today. By pursing legal action (should you choose to) you could end up inspiring those within government and/or the supply chain to protect other consumers like yourself. Additionally, you may be entitled to significant compensation from those who caused your harm. We look forward to speaking with you.