Just one year after the largest crib recall in United States history, the baby item at issue — the drop-side crib — has now been banned. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a government agency tasked with ensuring the safety of consumer products, announced late last week that it would institute a nationwide ban on the manufacture of drop-side cribs. The decision comes after several infants were injured, and others were killed by cribs of this design. In addition, the CPSC voted to update crib safety standards after more than 30 years without change.

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Every year, hundreds of products are recalled. It seems to have been happening a lot more in recent months. Pet food, tires, character glasses from a fast food restaurant, and now dishwashers. Maytag issued a recall of approximately 1.7 million dishwashers due to a fire hazard presented by an electrical failure in the unit’s heating element. When a brand as well known as Maytag issues a recall for an everyday item like a dishwasher, it makes news, and it’s easy to find out if you’re affected. But there are many smaller appliances you have in your home, made by smaller companies whose recalls might not make the media.

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It’s summertime, a kid’s favorite time of year. They have all day for fun and outdoor activities. And how many times have we, as parents said, “it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt?” But, what if the toys, we as well-meaning adults are giving our children are unsafe.

Some of their favorite toys, like the Marshmallow Blaster, Aqua Bomb, Toypedo and the HydraPak all made World Against Toys Causing Harm’s (W.A.T.C.H.) 2009 list of unsafe summertime toys.

W.A.T.C.H. held its annual “Safe Fun in the Sun” conference recently to increase awareness about the every day dangers that our children face in their every day outdoor activities. W.A.T.C.H. is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about life-threatening toys and other children’s products, including children’s furniture, clothing and playground equipment.

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Let’s imagine your doctor has diagnosed a serious heart condition that requires a defibrillator to prevent a fatal arrhythmia.

Imagine then, the horror when this life-saving device malfunctions and instead of helping save your life, sends multiple dangerous, life-threatening shocks to your heart and throughout your body. Now your health has been seriously compromised and you face more medical bills due to hospital stays and medications to monitor and repair the damage caused by this malfunctioning medical device.

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Federal preemption is the loophole Corporate America uses to defend themselves against defective and dangerous product lawsuits by allowing these corporations to “preempt” or trump state or local regulations which are typically stricter than standards set at the federal level. By relaxing the authority of these regulations, the Bush Administration is putting profit over safety, granting these large corporations “complete immunity”.

According to AAJ President Les Weisbrod, the Bush Administration has a long history of diluting regulations that protect American consumers.

“The Bush administration has weakened consumer safety protections and put corporate profits ahead of consumer safety. We have seen it in everything from medical device rules, seatbelt and school bus safety requirements, railroad security, and prescription drug labels,” says Weisbrod.

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Just in time for Santa’s visit this Christmas, World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) has just released it’s 10 Worst Toys” for 2008. This list exposes toy hazards that are seen year after year and although these particular toys are only indicative of the type of hazards that exist, there are many other toys on the market that encompass the same hazards as the top ten list.

WATCH nominates toys for the worst list based on the potential to cause injuries or even death in children.

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Once considered a luxury item, electric heated cars are commonplace now. Did you know heated cars seats have been known to malfunction and become dangerously hot?

What luxury! It’s a freezing cold day, you get in your car, flip on the heated seat switch and before you know it you’re toasty warm. I’ve accidentally turned on the heater during the summer while wearing shorts and a tee shirt and I can tell you that seat got uncomfortably warm pretty quickly. Fortunately, I was able to turn the seat off before it got too hot. My seat wasn’t malfunctioning, but if it did it would be an easy fix. Just turn it off. Certain things that we take for granted and seem so obvious—the seat gets too hot; you turn it off, are not so obvious to others. What if you suffer from paralysis or have a condition that includes a sensory deficit?

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Six-year old Abigail Taylor died last week from injuries she sustained in June 2007 when she sat on a wading pool drain at the Minneapolis Golf Club. The powerful suction caused a tear in her rectum and she was disemboweled. They later found Abigail’s intestine in the pool’s filter. Abigail’s family and attorney maintain she was seriously wounded because the cover of the drain had been removed.

From 1985 to 2004, at least 33 children ages 14 and under died as a result of pool and spa entrapment, and nearly 100 children were seriously injured. But according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Safe Kids Worldwide, the number of entrapment deaths could be much higher than reported. Because entrapment is generally a little-known risk for drowning, it is possible that many drowning deaths have not been classified as entrapment.

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