Defective Child Products

When we purchase products we do so with the expectation that those goods will work as we expect them to and that they are safe for consumers. Those expectations are especially important when the products we have purchased are designed for use by our children.

More than 9 million children are treated by emergency rooms in the U.S. every year for unintentional injuries. Each year, emergency rooms treat an estimated 250,000 children for injuries related to toys – just one group of products for children that may cause injuries because of poor design, improper manufacturing standards, or other issues.

Naples and Fort Myers child injury attorneys at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, see the appalling results of product defects. When products are made for children to use, we expect that the products will be free from manufacturing flaws, design problems and other defects. We know that every parent does everything in their power to protect their children – no responsible parent wants to expose a child to products that might unexpectedly cause harm. Yet our defective children’s products attorneys in Cape Coral, Naples, Fort Myers and other communities across Southwest Florida know that children are hurt by defective or poorly designed products every day. When that happens, families can rely on our firm to pursue claims for the damage defective products have done.

Our experience in recovering damages for children hurt by defective products has taught us that an incredibly wide range of goods can cause injury. Fort Myers personal injury and wrongful death attorneys at our firm know that toys receive a lot of attention for the injuries and deaths they cause. Consumer Product Safety Commission research notes that deaths associated with toys numbered one per month for children under 15. Tricycles and other riding toys were blamed for more than half of those lost lives.

The CPSC warns that there is an “increasing trend” in toy-related injuries nationwide. The greatest number of the more than half-million toy-related injuries treated by emergency rooms involve abrasions, lacerations or contusions. Naples child injury lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner know that injuries associated with toys most commonly affect the head and face. These areas can be particularly vulnerable to serious scarring that can cause emotional, as well as physical, issues for children.

Toys the CPC reported to be associated with deaths of children under 15 include tricycles, balloons, scooters, powered and non-powered riding toys, stuffed toys, and a toy boxes. At Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, our firm – founded four decades ago by Mr. Scheiner and his wife – has grown tremendously, but remains resolutely family-focused. That’s why we take so seriously every case involving defective products and children.

When your child has been hurt or your family is faced with the unthinkable loss of a child due to a defective product, our firm has the experience and the compassion to serve you capably and with sensitivity. Our Fort Myers and Naples child injury attorneys won’t be intimidated by large manufacturers or their lawyers. We are adamant that defective, poorly designed, or poorly manufactured products that cause serious injuries to children, or – even worse - loss of life, cannot be tolerated.

Call our offices in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Port Charlotte, Naples or Sebring and ask for a free evaluation by the defective products lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured. If we take your case, we’ll put our full array of resources into it. You pay us nothing unless we win.

800-646-1210 – Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner – Focused on Justice

Companies that manufacture and market products to children must be held to a higher safety standard.

And yet, a recent landmark study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics reveals a child is treated in a U.S. hospital emergency room every three minutes for a toy-related injury. Another study indicated some 206,000 playground equipment injuries annually require ER treatment. These figures don’t include the hundreds of recalls that are issued annually for products like strollers, car seats, furniture, sporting equipment, foods and clothing that are specifically designed for and distributed to children.

At Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, we have an unyielding dedication to the representation of children and families who have suffered harm as a result of unsafe products.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an estimated 9.2 million children suffer unintentional injuries every year. Another 12,175 die. When these tragedies are the result of a company’s negligence in failing to safely design or make a child product, civil litigation does more than grant compensation to the families. It helps to ensure companies are more careful in the future, and other children won’t suffer the same fate.

While not every child injury is the result of a product flaw, there are far too many dangerous and defective child products on the market today – with many of those products made and sold right here in the U.S.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is the federal regulatory agency in charge of protecting American children from dangerous or defective products. Officials with the CPSC are responsible for receiving and analyzing consumer complaints, issuing warnings and initiating product recalls. Some examples of defective child products include:

• Strollers
• Cribs and beds
• Foods
• Pajamas
• Pacifiers
• Bottles
• Baby monitors
• Bicycles
• Rings, necklaces and other jewelry
• High chairs
• Playpens
• Pool toys
• Bouncers
• Carriers
• Baby gates
• Swings
• Costumes
• Bath products
• Scooters
• Tricycles
• Helmets

Federal regulators take seriously the obligation of manufacturers and distributors to ensure products sold to children are safe. The Child Safety Protection Act of 1994 is one of the most prominent measures. It requires warning labels on the packaging of all children’s toys and games that contain small parts, balls, balloons or marbles. It outlines very specific guidelines for these warnings, and states those not in compliance are misbranded.

There is also the Children’s Bicycle Helmet Safety Act of 1994, which requires helmets to meet specific standards set by the CPSC. Failure to adhere to such standards is considered a violation of consumer product safety.

Further, all toys made for use by children under 14 must comply with federal toy safety standards enacted under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. These regulations outline limitations on lead and phthalates (chemicals used to make plastics more flexible). Such products must also undergo more rigorous third-party testing and certification, and must meet strict durability standards if used for infants or toddlers. Products must also include permanent tracking information, both on the product and packaging, where practical.

But even with all these regulations, there are numerous exceptions, not to mention companies that actively seek to sidestep the process in the interest of profits.

Similar to other types of Fort Myers product liability claims, plaintiffs in defective child product claims must prove:

• The child was injured or suffered pain or losses
• The product is defective
• The defect caused the injury
• The product was being used as intended

It will also be necessary to explore what type of warnings the company put forth about the product. Sometimes, even if a warning was issued, the company can still be held responsible for injury. When the warning language is confusing, overly broad, or too small to see on the item, it may be deemed inadequate.

There may also be an opportunity to pursue a claim on a theory of strict liability. This would be applicable in cases where manufacturers were producing an inherently dangerous product and injuries resulted from use of that product.

In order to prove an item was defective, our legal team will likely consult with experts to examine the product itself to determine what design or manufacturing defects may have caused the child’s injury. This means it will be critical for parents to retain the allegedly defective product and/or broken pieces if the product was destroyed in incident. Photographs can also serve as important evidence.

Our experienced product liability lawyers are committed to holding negligent companies accountable for child injuries inflicted by use of dangerous products.

If you or a loved one has been injured in Southwest Florida, contact Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights. There are no fees or costs unless we win. Offices in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples and Port Charlotte.

Call 800-646-1210 for a Free Consultation.