A second infant death has prompted a re-announcement of a recall by Delta Enterprise of “Safety Peg” cribs. This recall involves 985,000 Delta Enterprise cribs, sold at Kmart, Target, and Walmart stores between January 1995 and December 2005 for approximately $100.

This recall was first announced in 2008 when forty-nine models with a “crib trigger lock with safety peg” were shown to be harmful after the reported death of an infant. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stated in the original recall that the cribs where safety pegs were missing could cause entrapment and suffocation. The pegs could come loose, and create a dangerous gap in the drop-side, with the potential for entrapment of a baby.

The CPSC reports that the death of a 7-month-old girl from Colorado Springs, Colorado has been attributed to the cribs that have the flaw with the “crib trigger lock with safety peg”. This baby girl suffocated when she was entrapped between a detached drop-side of the crib and the mattress. Before this reported incident, another 8-month-old girl died as a result of being trapped between the drop-side and mattress of a crib.

Consumers are advised to stop using the cribs that are missing safety pegs on either leg. New crib safetystandards are expected to go into effect on June 28, 2011.

While proper labeling, recalls and regulations are important for safety of children’s products, manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure only safe products reach the marketplace, avoiding the potential to cause catastrophic injury. The millions of dangerous cribs flooding retail store shelves before their hazards are identified highlight the inadequacy of current safety protocols. There is simply no excuse for companies to sell dangerous cribs to consumers. The burden must be on manufacturers and retailers, not consumers, to identify hazards before their products enter the channels of commerce.

About the Author: James Swartz
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Mr. Swartz, our Managing and Principal Attorney at Swartz & Swartz P.C., is a nationally recognized and respected trial attorney as well as consumer advocate. His practice focuses on cases involving negligence, torts, products liability, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and other claims involving catastrophic injuries.

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