And You Mean To Tell Me They Don't Inspect Safety Issues For Baby Products?  

hi pye its just plain greed, and carelessness on the part of the companies and to think a large company like fisher price would not have tested all these products for any flaws before selling them boggles the mind. why did they not take the products off the market? I think greed came before caring about the babies affected. just like the diabetes drug avandia, it was shown to have caused heart problems and had side effects causing brittle bones, anemia and swelling of arms and legs. okay they posted warnings but never took it off the market, and I swelled up forty five pounds worth then had a bad fall, which smashed the bones in my shoulder and caused me to have surgery for an artificial shoulder joint. all this plus the anemia was side effects from avandia. while in the hospital I told them I would not take avandia again. so was put on metformin which is an older drug and p;roved safe. so now I have little use of my left arm due to the artificial shoulder joint due to brittle bones when I fell and all due to Avandia.

If I were a new parent, my head would be spinning. Cribs, toys, food, recalls and tampering, is there anything that involves children that won't harm them? Maybe parents who have more than one child have developed a kind of 'wisdom' that allows them to think ahead and see the problems with these items, but who in the world can imagine ALL the things that could go wrong. I have a dog, and I worry enough about recalls for his things. If I had a child I would be a mess.

Why they weren't inspected to begin with is mind boggling. It should have started there to begin with. Next, when there is a recall, all companies that carry that product are sent faxes, letters, warnings, websites to check and books sent out,etc., so, the companies who are carrying these products are at fault. Someone isn't doing their job (what else is new), and taking the products off the shelfs and sent back. There are usually people assigned to this position and they are suppose to check frequently for this type of problem.

When I worked for a re-sale shop for children, we were constantly checking for updates on re-calls before we even took in a crib or stroller. It was a priority.

I think there should be a thorough inspection done totally. Babies and kids are very prone to all kinds of hazards, and there shouldn't be any chances left to commit error.

I think that all of the products should be put through a rigorous safety test before they are even allowed on the market. Then, I think that they should be randomly retested to make sure that the original safety and quality of the product is being maintained, especially if there are additions or "improvements" to the product. If there is a recall on any product, then I think that all of those models affected should be pulled from the shelves, and either fixed or their parts recycled for new items if possible. I do not think that any products that have been recalled should be allowed back on the shelves until the defect or safety issue is not only resolved but also tested and proven safe a set number of times for each product, such as taking a dozen strollers and putting all twelve through rigorous testing and if even one is questionable, then the product should not be allowed back on the shelves until all issues are resolved.

When they had the recall for the lead-based paint, I went through all my little one's toys and checked to see whether or not they were on the list. If there was even a little doubt in my mind, for example it was a toy with the same manufacturer on the recall list and sounded similar to the toy being recalled but the picture (if there was one) did not look exactly like the one my little one had, then I threw the toy away anyways. I would rather be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to the health and safety of my children.

I don't think there is a way to stop this. Humans makes mistakes. We can try to correct them by lots of inspections but there is really no way to end this absolutely. I bet no matter who it is....if they have to inspect 300 products perday, they're going to get tired and miss something. Plus most inspections are by random choice...they just pick one out of a batch. However, if there's a problem with one, they will recall all. This efficiency is what allow us to buy things at the prices that they are. Or else things will be so much more expensive. To compete with the market, some companies might even skip inspections to maintain their survival on the market. I think its important that parents check what they buy, because changing the companies is next to impossible.
I mean years back there was hardly any law about this sort of things. To call their merchandise back is already an improvement.

When we used to manufacture our products right here in our country, the inspection process was quite strict. When our companies (with the familiar names that we used to be able to trust) decided that it was a better idea to manufacture in a country that did not require the inspections, no OSHA, no FDA, no Health & Safety, it all boils down to greed. I wouldn't deny anyone a profit, but when it is at the expense of our citizens, especially babies and children, it is time for the American people to say WAIT A MINUTE.

Our economy has suffered because of this greed. I feel that we all should refuse to buy this new "junk" and look for the items that were actually manufactured with safety in mind. It is time to start our own factories again, even if we have to pay a little more for the product because we will have jobs back.

We have been conditioned to accept lesser quality, but when the products become dangerous to the welfare of our little ones, we don't have to just take it. There is a manufacturer of hand made toy trains that can hardly keep up with orders because parents aren't going to buy that poisonous plastic junk made overseas. Time for people to start buying from the local manufacturers that are still here.

Just don't buy the "crappy stuff" and if the business goes out of business, maybe they will learn. Stand strong and don't support the greed.

I saw this on the news and thought the same things as you, Pye! Any parent who has ever lost a child knows that there should be absolutely no room for error in these products. One death should be enough to pull them all and keep them off the market until they can prove safe beyond a doubt. To have it happen over and over with the same company is bull! I have a daughter that is pregnant now and this sort of news worries her to no end. It is her first child and along with that are enough worries as any parent knows. We worry about every little thing. New parents should not have to worry about things like this. Us grandparents should not have to worry either. No one should.

I don’t get why when the products are tested and the faults are found the item is not been taken off the market immediately. Why does it take a child getting hurt before the faults are picked up? How can anyone with a conscience allow the effected products to continue to be sold? It is very confusing to me how there is knowledge of a concern with a product for years and although recalled the item is still on the shelves...Weird...And dangerous!

Let's face it, these inspectors are just sliding along in their jobs. It's the attitude of "They don't pay me enough money to do a good job of inspecting". It's that kind of indifference that cost lives, fingers and other body parts of innocent children. Besides the fact that they are part of the government (enough said? Look at the FDA and other "protective" agencies!). Rather than shut the company down, they allow the production of the products and then hope that they won't harm people.

It's like the production of drugs. They aren't tested enough before they are allowed for human consumption. I have to be on antibiotics before dental procedures, and I can't take penicillin. I was prescribed "Levaquin" which I now find out should have had a black box warning. Now my right shoulder is destroyed because of a drug that wasn't tested enough and didn't have adequate warnings.

When are we going to get people in the governmental overseer positions that give a crap about the public and do their jobs properly? It also makes you wonder if they are getting something under the table to allow items that are obviously dangerous to pass inspection.