Parents are still irate even as The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled 2.1 million Stork Craft cribs that caused the recent deaths of four children in the U.S. as a result of 110 incidents.
When the drop-down sides of the cribs got detached, the babies were consequently trapped between the side and the crib frame, or fell out of the crib altogether.
Some parents want the Stork Craft drop-side cribs banned for their insufficient safety verification that may yet spread out to include their high chairs and strollers.
“Most parents are not aware that there was no requirement that the products be tested for safety before they were sold,” said Nancy Cowles, who runs a child-advocacy group called Kids in Danger.
Although it appears that there is already a law requiring manufacturers to have their products inspected for safety by an independent third party, the CPSC neither has monitored this provision or implemented tougher inspection requirements.
The recall of the Stork Craft cribs, which has been in circulation since 1993, is the largest in U.S. history.
[via abcnews.go.com]
Baby products kill hundreds of babies every year and injure over 50,000 seriously enough to require emergency room treatment. Manufacturers of unsafe products have long been shielded by the government and shrouded from public scrutiny. For example: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which demonstrates the huge number of injuries to babies and children reported by U.S. emergency rooms, purposely doesn’t reveal to the public the names of manufacturers and the injuring product models. So parents are purposely kept in the dark, and manufacturers are allowed to keep on making dangerous products. Most parents believe that because a product has been MADE for babies that it is SAFE for them, which is far from the truth. (Author of “Great Expectations: Best Baby Gear”)