Product

The holiday season is upon us, which means shoppers will be out in droves looking for gifts for their nearest and dearest. If you are fortunate enough to have little ones in the house, giving toys for your child to enjoy can be one of the best parts of the holidays; however, all toys are not created equal, and some may cause unintended injury to your child. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group has issued its 26 [...]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regularly publishes information about product recalls and safety alerts to help American citizens keep themselves safe from defective products and unsafe foods, medications, cosmetics, and medical devices. Recent recalls include several food products, several brands of oral contraceptives, and a dangerous medical device. Food Products In September, the FDA released recall [...]

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of metal futon bunk beds on June 16. The bunk beds were sold exclusively by Big Lots stores across the U.S. from January 2009 through April 2010. The recalled beds will have model number BFB1008 on a label on the support rail on the upper bunk. The futon bunk beds are being recalled because of an entrapment hazard. The space between the last r [...]

The Enfamil infant formula has unofficially been linked to cases of four infant infections but there is not enough evidence to issue a recall, according to federal and state health officials. The Cronobacter infection was found in the infants who all had consumed Enfamil. The formula was removed from store shelves by some major retailers after infants died in Missouri and Florida. Those states, along with Illinois [...]

The federal U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada issued a press release Wednesday, December 28, announcing the recall of a defective Pottery Barn Bed for Kids with a canopy that has collapsed and injured children. The defective canopy belongs to the Madeline Bedroom Collection made by Pottery Barn, a division of Williams-Sonoma. The recall extends to 7,700 beds sold in the U.S. and about [...]

The injuries to patients from defective all-metal artificial hips are beginning to be understood in terms of dollars and cents. The New York Times reports the most widespread medical device failure in decades involves metal hips that have a high failure rate and leave patients thousands of dollars in debt and will cost Medicare, taxpayers, and insurers billions in the coming years. The Times reports on one patient [...]

A defective product recall has been issued for about 3,150 new General Motors Chevrolet Captiva automobiles. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), there is a problem with the power assist/power steering fluid. Vehicles made from October 2, 2009 to April 21, 2011 are affected by the problem, described by the recall notice as a high running pump speed in first gear which generates additional and e [...]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a recall for some herbal supplements that may be contaminated with Salmonella. The supplements are made by the Eclectic Institute of Sandy, Oregon. The FDA news release issued Tuesday, December 20, has the lot numbers of the supplements which contain the herbs Gotu Kola and Bladderwrack in freeze-dried capsules. Salmonella is a serious contamination known to c [...]

A New Jersey company has been fined $1,100,000 by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for failing to report a defective toy dart gun set. Manufacturers are required to report product failures to the federal agency immediately after they hear of a defective product and/or an injury that results from the product. The CPSC says that manufacturer, Henry Gordy International Inc., misrepresented to the CPSC wha [...]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Monday, January 31 that they did not find a link between 11 deaths of people and the homes they lived in with Chinese drywall that corroded metals and emitted an unpleasant odor, according to a report in Consumer Affairs. The CDC had been looking into the deaths in Louisiana, Florida, and Virginia after hundreds of homeowners complained about he [...]