Plaintiffs' Personal Injury Law Firm

2.1 Million Cribs Recalled due to Infant Entrapment and Suffocation, Two NY Children Dead

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. announced a recall of more than 2.1 million Stork Craft drop-side cribs due to incidents of the drop-side detaching, causing injuries, entrapments and the death of four infants.

There have been 110 incidents of drop-side detachment reported. The incidents include 15 entrapments, four of the entrapments resulted in suffocation death of a 7-month-old in Gouverneur, N.Y.; a 7-month-old in New Iberia, La.; a 6-month-old in Summersville, W.Va.; and a 9-month-old in Bronx, N.Y. There have also been 20 falls from cribs reported, causing injuries ranging from concussions to bumps and bruises.

The cribs involved in these incidents had plastic drop-side hardware that had broken, missing, or deformed claws, connectors, tracks, or flexible tab stops; loose or missing metal spring clips; stripped screws; and/or drop-sides installed upside-down. All of these problems can cause the drop-side to detach in one or more corners. When the drop-side detaches, it creates space between the drop-side and the crib mattress. The bodies of infants and toddlers can become entrapped in the space, which can lead to suffocation. Complete detachment of drop-sides can lead to falls from the crib.

Stork Craft drop-side cribs under this recall have manufacturing and distribution dates between January 1993 and October 2009 and Stork Craft cribs with the Fisher-Price logo have manufacturing dates between October 1997 and December 2004. The manufacture date, model number, crib name, country of origin, and the firm's name, address and contact information are located on the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board. The firm's insignia "storkcraft baby" or "storkling" is inscribed on the drop-side teething rail of some cribs. In Stork Craft cribs that contain the "Fisher-Price" logo, this logo can be found on the crib's teething rail, in the manufacturer's instructions, on the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board, and on the end panels of the Twinkle-Twinkle and Crystal crib models.

This recall involves approximately 1,213,000 units distributed in the United States and 968,000 units distributed in Canada. They were sold at major retailers such as BJ's Wholesale Club, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Meijer, Sears, USA Baby and Wal-Mart stores and online at Amazon.com, Babiesrus.com, Costco.com, Target.com, and Walmart.com from January 1993 through October 2009 for between $100 and $400.

This recall does not involve any cribs that do not have a drop-side. This recall does not involve any cribs with metal rod drop-side hardware. It involves only those cribs with plastic trigger and one-hand-system drop-side hardware.

The CPSC warns parents and caregivers are to stop using the recalled cribs immediately. They should find an alternative, safe sleeping environment for their baby. Consumers should contact Stork Craft at (877) 274-0277 or log on to www.storkcraft.com to order a free repair kit that converts the drop-side on these cribs to a fixed side. They should wait for the free repair kit and do not attempt to fix the cribs without the kit.

CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please visit https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx.

Products liability is the branch of law that deals with the liability of parties involved in the manufacturing of a product for any damages caused by the product. Defective products can cause a great deal of property damage or physical injury, even death. If your child was injured or killed as the result of a defective Stork Craft drop-side crib or other product, you need the services of an experienced attorney who has successfully handled product liability cases. At Napoli Bern Ripka LLP, our attorneys will work with you to begin the process of filing a claim for payment of medical expenses incurred and compensation for the injury. Call 888-529-4669 today.