Defective Nursery Product Attorneys

When Goods for Infants and Babies Endanger Children, We Want to Help Families Find Justice.

According to a seventeen-year study conducted by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, 14,000 children end up in the emergency room each year after tip-over accidents involving household furniture. Though most accidents thankfully are not fatal, children can suffer serious, even catastrophic, injuries in these accidents. The vast majority of children affected are below 4 years old, meaning their entire future could be jeopardized.

If your child was injured in a tip-over accident, The Gilbert Law Group® wants to hear your story. You may be able to file for compensation against the designer, manufacturer, or seller of a dangerous children’s product. Given that 51% of these accidents happen in nurseries and bedrooms, it’s clear furniture for children does not meet safety standards. We want to help you hold companies that sell dangerous children’s furniture and other nursery products accountable.

Call us at (888) 711-5947 to schedule a free consultation about your nursery product defect case. From our Denver office, we serve families across America.

Main Causes of Children's Injuries

The Children’s Hospital study looked at injuries that involved 12 furniture types, including dressers, desks, and television sets. The most common type of tip-over accident involved a television, but other heavy furniture including bookshelves, dressers, and TV stands are also a risk.

Tip-over accidents are most likely to injure the head and neck, meaning they can lead to serious brain or spinal cord damage. The next most common body parts affected are the legs, feet, and toes. Primarily, such injuries are caused by furniture, electronics, and appliances that are not balanced and can thus easily fall onto a child. Often, children will attempt to climb shelving or other furniture, causing it to tip.

Safety Regulations for Furniture

Given this hazard, it seems clear something should be done to reduce the risk. However, there are simply no official safety standards in America that pertain to ordinary, everyday furniture. Manufacturers may choose to abide by the voluntary standards published by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), but most do not. According to the Consumers Union, it is easy to find “furniture on the market that doesn’t comply with the standard.” Moreover, the Consumer’s Union found “furniture from major manufacturers that is still dangerously tippy notwithstanding its compliance with the standard.”

Worrisome as this is, the existence of these standards is telling. It shows furniture makers are aware of the danger of tip-over accidents yet are choosing not to address it. Their negligence leads to tragedies in multiple American households each year.

Other Furniture-Related Hazards: Suffocation and Strangulation

Cribs, bassinets, and other sleeping spaces can also be the setting for serious accidents involving small children. Since 2007, manufacturers have recalled more than 11 million drop-side cribs and numerous bassinets and play yards due to suffocation, strangulation, and other injury threats posed by faulty manufacturing and design of the products, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The CPSC has determined that drop-side cribs are less structurally sound than cribs with four fixed sides, and their hardware is prone to break, deform, or experience other problems during normal use. Drop-side cribs are so dangerous, in fact, that in June of 2011, the CPSC banned the manufacture, sale, and resale of all drop-side cribs entirely. Also in 2011, the CPSC enhanced safety standards for the design and manufacture of cribs. However, millions of cribs dangerous to babies and toddlers are still in use in American homes.

Get started with a free consultation with one of our skilled attorneys: Call (888) 711-5947 to schedule yours. We are here for families whose children have been injured by defective nursery or bedroom furniture.