Death of Illinois Boy Sparks Federal Toy Recall
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May 21, 2010
CHICAGO - The deaths of a 9-year-old Chicago boy and 10-year-old from Milwaukee prompted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to announce a recall on 1.8 million toy dart gun sets sold nationwide at Family Dollar. The boys choked on the darts. The CPSC took action after the toy's importer, Henry Gordy International, refused to do a recall.
Pete Flowers, president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, says there is an issue with the timing of the CPSC's recall.
"It would be better if those recalls happened sooner, especially when we're dealing with the majority of toys now being manufactured outside of the United States. The controls on those toys are clearly lacking. So, what they did was right, but it would have been better if they had done it sooner."
Flowers says there needs to be a way to protect consumers from companies that fail to take proper action when a product is found to be hazardous.
"The only way to deal with the situation where someone is not interested in protecting the children and the public is to have some punishment in the form of a lawsuit. There should be some sort of sanctions that are put on the company in terms of what they can bring into the United States, because they have no interest in safety. Their interest all lies in dollar bills."
The Auto Fire toy dart set was sold for $1.50 exclusively at Family Dollar stores from September 2005 through January 2009. The CPSC is urging parents to throw the toy away or return it to a Family Dollar store for a refund.