Whether we realize it or not, we rely on a wide variety of products every day with little or no knowledge of who made them, where they came from and whether they are safe or not. We take a pill when we get sick. We turn on the oven to make dinner. We hope in the car to go to work. We open a bag of snack food when we’re craving a bite to eat. We do all this without thinking because we trust that the things we use on a daily basis have gone through tests to ensure that they are safe to use.
But defective products are out there. Sometimes it’s a problem of logistics. There are just too many products out there for the government or any governing body to examine everything thoroughly. Manufacturers, then, have a responsibility to the consumers to use common sense and run their products through an of host safety test to catch any potential dangers. If they don’t, lives could be at stake.
In the case of toy manufacturers, those lives lost could be children. After a long flight, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling a popular toy made up of magnetic balls. The balls are made from rare-earth elements and can be dangerous when swallowed. As a result, the estimates indicate that, from 2009 to 2011, 1,700 children had to be taken to an emergency room because of the toy.
Cases like these go to show that just because a product is sold in a well-known store doesn’t mean it is safe. It’s a good policy to do your research before allowing your child to play with anything. If your child has been negatively affected by a dangerous children’s toy, you may want to consider speaking with a product liability lawyer.
Source: nytimes.com, “After Two-Year Fight, Consumer Agency Orders Recall of Buckyballs,” Rachel Abrams, July 17, 2014
