The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Basset Furniture Industries Inc. are recalling about 90,000 Bassettbaby drop-side cribs because the baby beds can pose suffocation, entrapment, and fall hazards. There have been at least 18 incidents reported involving the drop-sides malfunctioning or detaching. While there haven't been any reports of injuries, one child got entrapped between the drop-side and mattress and three others fell out of their cribs. Also, there have been 156 reports of the drop-side hardware breaking during shipping.
The recalled cribs can potentially become a cause of injury to children should the drop-side rail detach, malfunction, or fail in another way. Partial detachment of a drop-side rail from the crib can create a space between the crib and the mattress where a child can become entrapped and die from strangulation or suffocation. Drop-side failure can lead to fall accidents, which can cause a child to suffer head injuries, bruises, broken bones, and other injuries.
Basset Furniture is offering consumers that own a recalled Bassettbaby crib a free repair kit that will immobilize the drop-side and hopefully take care of the product defect.
Our Anaheim products liability lawyers are aware of the dangers that a drop-side crib can pose to infants and toddlers. Drop-side cribs have been linked to at least 32 baby deaths in the last decade and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has taken steps to ban all drop-side cribs--not just from stores, but also from hotels, daycare centers, and thrift stores. The CPSC has recalled over 9 million drop-sides in the last five years--more than 2 million of the cribs were recalled this year.
There is no excuse for why a crib that you've purchased for your child should be defectively designed or manufactured using poor quality materials that can easily break or malfunction. You may be able to hold a crib manufacturer liable for your child's injuries. Suffocation and strangulation accidents can cause serious permanent injuries, including brain injury, and even death.
Bassettbaby Recalls to Repair Drop-Side Cribs Due to Entrapment, Suffocation and Fall Hazards, CPSC, November 22, 2010
Government nears new standards for cribs, ban on drop-side cribs, CNN, July 15, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (PDF)
What are the safety issues with drop side cribs?, Baby Products
Contact our Anaheim personal injury law firm today.
