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Despite being recalled in 2019, more child deaths are still being linked to the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n’ Play Sleep Harness.
According to Consumer Reports, the reason is that Mattel, the parent company of Fisher-Price, and another recalled sleep harness brand, Kids2, haven’t done enough to warn parents who still have the products in their homes.
The devices were recalled in April 2019 after they were linked to at least 36 deaths, Consumer Reports said at the time.
The agency now says that since then, at least 12 more children have died as a result of the harnesses and that the total death toll from Fisher-Price Rock ‘n’ Play and Kids2 recliners is closer to 100.
All deaths occurred while babies were inside the sleeper and died from suffocation caused by tilting the product 30 degrees.
All other sleepers on the market are flat.
Fisher-Price infant recliner shown left and Kids2 harness shown right
Lauren Kirchner of Consumer Reports said NBCMiami: “These sleepers place babies on an inclined sleeping surface, and that increases the risk of suffocation if it causes their heads to fall forward onto your chest while they sleep.”
He added: “Sadly, the news that more babies have died means that although inclined sleepers cannot be legally sold, they are still used in people’s homes.”
Kirchner said that when a recall occurs, the manufacturer has a responsibility to notify members of the public who have already purchased the product of the dangers.
One parent who went public after her son died in a Fisher-Price harness was Erika Richter of Oregon. Her daughter, Emma, died on August 15, 2018, when she was just a few weeks old.
‘Life on Earth is tragically short. I choose to explore it all and live a life that makes her proud. That little angel changed my life forever. I will always be Emma’s mom. Now and forever,” Richter said in a Facebook post.
Erika Richter, from Oregon, holds her newborn daughter Emma in 2018, who also died
Erika Richter died on August 15, 2008, born less than two weeks earlier
Erika Richter’s daughter Emma also died at the Rock ‘n Play
Another group of parents, Keenan and Evan Overton, said their son Ezra died at five months of age after he was strapped into the harness while exercising in December 2017.
They received the product from their neighbors as a second-hand gift.
“I stayed in the living room and lay down on the sofa by the rocking chair, telling my wife that she could get some rest in the bedroom,” her father told the outlet. children in danger website.
‘When I woke up in the middle of the night, I looked up and saw Ezra, turned into the padded face of the jumpsuit and standing on the seat of the chair. He was stiff as a doll, face twisted to the side/back of the seat. His nose was crushed. He wasn’t responding. He didn’t feel real. When I picked him up, he felt like a doll.
Keenan and Evan Overton’s five-month-old baby died in December 2017 in his sleep in the Fisher-Price Rock ‘N Play product
Baby Ezra died in December 2017 after his parents, Keenan and Evan Overton, put him to bed on the daybed while exercising. They received the product from their neighbors as a second-hand gift.
Consumer Reports said less than 10 percent of Fisher-Price Rock ‘n’ Play harnesses are accounted for, leaving about four million potentially in people’s homes.
Mattel is quoted by the agency as saying that it has “worked diligently to recall all recalled products” since the original recall.
The Fisher-Price product was first launched in 2009.
A total of 4.7 million units were affected by the recall, according to the CPSC, which republished its item recall once again in early January.
“We are issuing this announcement because, despite their removal from the market and the ban on their sale, babies continue to die in these products,” said the Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, in a statement. release.
The original recall only happened after the CPSC informed Consumer Reports in early 2019 about the deaths associated with the product.
He warned families who still have the sleepers to stop using them immediately.
“We now know of approximately 100 child deaths at Rock n’ Play, including eight that occurred after the recall was announced,” Hoehn-Saric said.
The original recall only happened after the CPSC informed Consumer Reports in early 2019 about the deaths associated with the product.
He published data supporting his findings. Only then was the product withdrawn from the market.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies sleep on their backs on a flat surface.
Two federal class action lawsuits have been filed against Fisher-Price and its parent company, Mattel, alleging negligence and defective and dangerous design.
A lawsuit, filed by Cassandra Mulvey against Fisher Price and Mattel, claims that the product’s marketing was “dangerously false and misleading, as the product is not safe for babies to sleep through the night or for long periods of time.”
The lawsuit suggests that Rock ‘n Play “significantly increased the risk of an infant’s head slipping into a dangerous position, tipping to pinch the trachea, and/or causing the infant’s face to be pressed against the padded fabric of the seat.” bed and block airflow. thus increasing the risk of death by suffocation.’
The lawsuit also claims that the angle at which children would be resting on the sleeper “increases the baby’s risk of developing flat head syndromes (plagiocephaly) and wry neck syndromes (torticollis), conditions that often require babies to wear expensive helmets.” head molding and undergo physical examinations.
therapy.’
Samantha Drover-Mundy and Zachary Mundy, a couple in Delaware, filed another lawsuit after their 12-week-old daughter allegedly died after just minutes in a Rock ‘n Play sleeper in September 2018.
In addition to causing her daughter’s death, the lawsuit claims that “the Rock ‘n Play’s flawed design also causes injuries… that require costly medical treatment and can cause lifelong damage, including permanent deformities and developmental delays.” “.
The lawsuits also claim that both Fisher-Price and Mattel ignored AAP recommendations for appropriate sleeping environments for infants.
In addition, they alleged that the defendants pressured the CPSC to allow them to avoid regulations that would have kept the product off the market.
In 2021, a two-year investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform found that Fisher Price executives ignored safety warnings about the company’s popular inclined bunk for a decade, while continuing to raise $200 million. in sales.
The committee’s report found that Fisher Price failed to properly test the product before launching it in 2009 and then ignored repeated warnings that it was dangerous in subsequent years.