Bumbo seat in trouble# NextGeneration - 我爱宝宝
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Just saw it at yahoo
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/did-bumbo-ignore-child-safety-in-
Like millions of other parents over the past several years, Kevin and Lucy
Ferrell used a new baby product called the Bumbo Baby Sitter that they
bought at Toys R Us to prop up their son, Colby. The simple molded plastic
seat is more upright than a bouncy chair, and less rigid than a high chair,
making it a hit with parents looking for new infant gear.
But when 9-month-old Colby fell out of the seat and fractured his skull, his
parents learned very quickly that the seat wasn't ideal for a small, moving
child.
"He arched his back up and he kind of flipped out of it sideways and
backwards and rolled right off (the table)," Kevin Ferrell says. "It just
happened in a split second."
Bumbo, which is used to help babies sit up before they're able to do so on
their own, has been an unquestioned success in sales - with nearly 4 million
sold in the U.S. since 2003. But its safety record is uncertain.
The South African company recalled Bumbo in 2007 after a spate of 28
injuries reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission - including
numerous skull fractures - and placed warning labels on the seats that said
they shouldn't be used on elevated surfaces. Bumbo company records obtained
as part of a lawsuit the Ferrells filed in June against the company and Toys
R Us, where the product was purchased off their baby registry, show some
300 reported incidents, including some in other countries, mainly Great
Britain. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, where
the case is still in a pretrial phase.
Then in late November, the CPSC issued an unusual warning that there had
been another 45 incidents since the recall, and that it had learned of
another 18 older cases. It also noted that children were hurt both when the
product was elevated and when it was on the ground.
Ross Cunningham of the Rose Walker firm in Austin, who represents the
Ferrells and says he has settled a dozen lawsuits over Bumbo's safety,
alleges in the lawsuit that Bumbo "has taken no effort" to reconfigure the
product to prevent children from getting out of it, "despite having actual
knowledge of the dangers associated with the Bumbo Baby Sitter...and the
potential of the Bumbo Baby Sitter to cause serious injury to children."
Bumbo's U.S. attorney, Tarush R. Anand, says he cannot comment on the
litigation, but did provide a statement from Bumbo, in which the company
says the product is safe. "The Bumbo baby seat is a safe product for infants
when it is used as intended: on the floor and never on an elevated surface,
" the statement says. "Children should always been closely supervised when
they are in the Bumbo seat." The company also says it is working with the
Consumer Product Safety Commission to educate parents on the correct use of
the seat.
Toys R Us is accused in the most recent lawsuit of knowingly stocking a baby
product that has caused injuries. One of the company's buyers is quoted in
the litigation as saying under oath that she had never seen an infant
product like that without a safety restraint, and that after learning about
the severity of the injuries, she didn't think it was safe.
Nancy Cowles, executive director of the advocacy group Kids in Danger, notes
the product - unlike cribs, car seats and high chairs - is not governed by
any government or industry standard. The Ferrell lawsuit says Toys R Us has
a huge profit margin on the seats and has ignored even voices from within
the company about their safety.
Toys R Us spokeswoman Katie Reczek said in a statement in response to
questions that the retailer followed the terms of the recall and stands by
the decision to keep selling it.
"The safety of the products we sell is, and always has been, our highest
priority," Reczek said. "At the time of the recall of the Bumbo Baby Sitter,
we immediately removed the product from our store shelves, and worked with
Bumbo to update the warning labels on the packaging, as was required. This
warning label cautions parents not to use the Bumbo on elevated surfaces.
Due to the recall and labeling process, the product was off the sales floor
and was not available for purchase for several months. We continue to offer
Bumbo products in our stores, and as always, we closely monitor all product
safety issues."
Its only competitor, bØbØPOD, added a seatbelt after the Bumbo
recall.
Attorney Cunningham alleges in the Bumbo lawsuit that safer alternative
design existed. "Specifically, Bumbo could have incorporated any combination
of the following design changes: made the Bumbo Baby Sitter wider at the
base, raised the side and back walls of the seat, installed a bulbous pommel
on top of the post in between the child's legs, and incorporated a safety
harness, seatbelt or other securing device...that would sit low and tight
across the child's hips. These, and possibly other design improvements,
would have prevented a child like (Colby) Ferrell from falling out of the
Bumbo Baby Sitter."
The Ferrells are now evangelists for seatbelts. Says Kevin Ferrell: "For me,
it was important, if nothing else, to try to prevent (this) from happening
to future parents and kids."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/did-bumbo-ignore-child-safety-in-
Like millions of other parents over the past several years, Kevin and Lucy
Ferrell used a new baby product called the Bumbo Baby Sitter that they
bought at Toys R Us to prop up their son, Colby. The simple molded plastic
seat is more upright than a bouncy chair, and less rigid than a high chair,
making it a hit with parents looking for new infant gear.
But when 9-month-old Colby fell out of the seat and fractured his skull, his
parents learned very quickly that the seat wasn't ideal for a small, moving
child.
"He arched his back up and he kind of flipped out of it sideways and
backwards and rolled right off (the table)," Kevin Ferrell says. "It just
happened in a split second."
Bumbo, which is used to help babies sit up before they're able to do so on
their own, has been an unquestioned success in sales - with nearly 4 million
sold in the U.S. since 2003. But its safety record is uncertain.
The South African company recalled Bumbo in 2007 after a spate of 28
injuries reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission - including
numerous skull fractures - and placed warning labels on the seats that said
they shouldn't be used on elevated surfaces. Bumbo company records obtained
as part of a lawsuit the Ferrells filed in June against the company and Toys
R Us, where the product was purchased off their baby registry, show some
300 reported incidents, including some in other countries, mainly Great
Britain. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, where
the case is still in a pretrial phase.
Then in late November, the CPSC issued an unusual warning that there had
been another 45 incidents since the recall, and that it had learned of
another 18 older cases. It also noted that children were hurt both when the
product was elevated and when it was on the ground.
Ross Cunningham of the Rose Walker firm in Austin, who represents the
Ferrells and says he has settled a dozen lawsuits over Bumbo's safety,
alleges in the lawsuit that Bumbo "has taken no effort" to reconfigure the
product to prevent children from getting out of it, "despite having actual
knowledge of the dangers associated with the Bumbo Baby Sitter...and the
potential of the Bumbo Baby Sitter to cause serious injury to children."
Bumbo's U.S. attorney, Tarush R. Anand, says he cannot comment on the
litigation, but did provide a statement from Bumbo, in which the company
says the product is safe. "The Bumbo baby seat is a safe product for infants
when it is used as intended: on the floor and never on an elevated surface,
" the statement says. "Children should always been closely supervised when
they are in the Bumbo seat." The company also says it is working with the
Consumer Product Safety Commission to educate parents on the correct use of
the seat.
Toys R Us is accused in the most recent lawsuit of knowingly stocking a baby
product that has caused injuries. One of the company's buyers is quoted in
the litigation as saying under oath that she had never seen an infant
product like that without a safety restraint, and that after learning about
the severity of the injuries, she didn't think it was safe.
Nancy Cowles, executive director of the advocacy group Kids in Danger, notes
the product - unlike cribs, car seats and high chairs - is not governed by
any government or industry standard. The Ferrell lawsuit says Toys R Us has
a huge profit margin on the seats and has ignored even voices from within
the company about their safety.
Toys R Us spokeswoman Katie Reczek said in a statement in response to
questions that the retailer followed the terms of the recall and stands by
the decision to keep selling it.
"The safety of the products we sell is, and always has been, our highest
priority," Reczek said. "At the time of the recall of the Bumbo Baby Sitter,
we immediately removed the product from our store shelves, and worked with
Bumbo to update the warning labels on the packaging, as was required. This
warning label cautions parents not to use the Bumbo on elevated surfaces.
Due to the recall and labeling process, the product was off the sales floor
and was not available for purchase for several months. We continue to offer
Bumbo products in our stores, and as always, we closely monitor all product
safety issues."
Its only competitor, bØbØPOD, added a seatbelt after the Bumbo
recall.
Attorney Cunningham alleges in the Bumbo lawsuit that safer alternative
design existed. "Specifically, Bumbo could have incorporated any combination
of the following design changes: made the Bumbo Baby Sitter wider at the
base, raised the side and back walls of the seat, installed a bulbous pommel
on top of the post in between the child's legs, and incorporated a safety
harness, seatbelt or other securing device...that would sit low and tight
across the child's hips. These, and possibly other design improvements,
would have prevented a child like (Colby) Ferrell from falling out of the
Bumbo Baby Sitter."
The Ferrells are now evangelists for seatbelts. Says Kevin Ferrell: "For me,
it was important, if nothing else, to try to prevent (this) from happening
to future parents and kids."