CPSC Rule Change to Hurt Families
Proposed Rule Change by CPSC Puts Consumers in Danger
Weakened Standards Let Manufacturers Off Hook For Defective Products
"[The proposal] is a sop to the industry and a weakening of the current hazard-reporting system."
- Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Thomas Moore, one of the three members of the commission, and the only member to oppose the proposed rule.
Federal agencies are using arcane regulations and legal opinions to shield automakers and others from challenges by consumers and states. 19-month old Logan Fidurski was killed by a defective bed; New rule would have made it more difficult for his parents to hold manufacturer accountable
When parents Glenda and Alec Fidurski put their 19-month old son Logan to bed one night in December 2001 they had no idea that there was a fundamental design flaw in his bunk bed that allowed the mattress to slide back and forth and trap an infant between the mattress and the ladder.
Because of the defect, Logan was caught in between the bunk bed ladder and mattress and died of asphyxiation. The Fidurski family filed a lawsuit and held the manufacturer of the dangerous bunk bed accountable in the civil justice system.
But under a proposed rule from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Logan's family would not have had sufficient evidence to bring a successful court case and may not have been able to hold the parties responsible for the hazardous product accountable.
On May 26, 2006, the Consumer Product Safety Commission proposed revisions to its rules advising manufacturers, distributors and retailers of consumer products when to report product hazards. The proposed revisions would increase the likelihood that defects in products would not be disclosed to the CPSC or the public. Furthermore, consumers would have increased difficulty bringing lawsuits regarding defective products because they would be unable to augment their cases with strong evidence based on the CPSC's product hazard reports.
"If the proposed rule change would have been in effect, we would not have been able to produce cause and would have been unable to use our arguments that won the case," said Brad Parker, the Fidurski family's attorney.
In the Agency
The CPSC's proposed rule will severely affect the safety of all Americans and the rights of families like the Fidurskis. The rule making process normally allows for a comment period from the public so that a rule is subjected to outside scrutiny before it is promulgated -- but not in this case. CPSC is seeking to make this major change in the way product hazards are reported through an "interpretive rule," a bureaucratic procedure that does not allow for the normal public comment period. Without allowing for the normal level of public scrutiny, this interpretative rule proposed by the CPSC will likely create an avenue for businesses and manufacturers to evade requirements for reporting dangerous and unsafe products to the CPSC and the public, as well as minimize the requirements for dangerous product recalls.
By the Numbers
1,100: Number of children who have died from crib related injuries in the last 20 years.
20 million: Units of children's toys recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2005.
[Sources: Kids in Danger, Consumer Safety Product Comission, as Reported by the Washington Post]
http://www.baronbudd.com/carolin-shining.html
Weakened Standards Let Manufacturers Off Hook For Defective Products
"[The proposal] is a sop to the industry and a weakening of the current hazard-reporting system."
- Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Thomas Moore, one of the three members of the commission, and the only member to oppose the proposed rule.
Federal agencies are using arcane regulations and legal opinions to shield automakers and others from challenges by consumers and states. 19-month old Logan Fidurski was killed by a defective bed; New rule would have made it more difficult for his parents to hold manufacturer accountable
When parents Glenda and Alec Fidurski put their 19-month old son Logan to bed one night in December 2001 they had no idea that there was a fundamental design flaw in his bunk bed that allowed the mattress to slide back and forth and trap an infant between the mattress and the ladder.
Because of the defect, Logan was caught in between the bunk bed ladder and mattress and died of asphyxiation. The Fidurski family filed a lawsuit and held the manufacturer of the dangerous bunk bed accountable in the civil justice system.
But under a proposed rule from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Logan's family would not have had sufficient evidence to bring a successful court case and may not have been able to hold the parties responsible for the hazardous product accountable.
On May 26, 2006, the Consumer Product Safety Commission proposed revisions to its rules advising manufacturers, distributors and retailers of consumer products when to report product hazards. The proposed revisions would increase the likelihood that defects in products would not be disclosed to the CPSC or the public. Furthermore, consumers would have increased difficulty bringing lawsuits regarding defective products because they would be unable to augment their cases with strong evidence based on the CPSC's product hazard reports.
"If the proposed rule change would have been in effect, we would not have been able to produce cause and would have been unable to use our arguments that won the case," said Brad Parker, the Fidurski family's attorney.
In the Agency
The CPSC's proposed rule will severely affect the safety of all Americans and the rights of families like the Fidurskis. The rule making process normally allows for a comment period from the public so that a rule is subjected to outside scrutiny before it is promulgated -- but not in this case. CPSC is seeking to make this major change in the way product hazards are reported through an "interpretive rule," a bureaucratic procedure that does not allow for the normal public comment period. Without allowing for the normal level of public scrutiny, this interpretative rule proposed by the CPSC will likely create an avenue for businesses and manufacturers to evade requirements for reporting dangerous and unsafe products to the CPSC and the public, as well as minimize the requirements for dangerous product recalls.
By the Numbers
1,100: Number of children who have died from crib related injuries in the last 20 years.
20 million: Units of children's toys recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2005.
[Sources: Kids in Danger, Consumer Safety Product Comission, as Reported by the Washington Post]
http://www.baronbudd.com/carolin-shining.html
posted by Carolin Shining at 4:19 PM
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