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Bassettbaby Crib Recall Issued Due to Entrapment, Strangulation Hazard
Nov 9, 2007 | Parker Waichman Alonso LLP
Bassettbaby is recalling some of its cribs because bolts on the top of the cribs’ guardrails can loosen, creating a gap and posing a strangulation and entrapment hazard. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), the Bassettbaby crib recall was prompted by 85 reports of bolts loosening on the recalled Bassettbaby cribs, including one report of a 13-month-old child’s hand becoming trapped between the railings of the defective product.The Bassettbaby crib recall encompasses about 8,900 defective cribs sold at Babies ‘R Us stores through out the country. The recall involves Wendy Bellissimo Collection convertible cribs, model numbers 5945-052 and 5545-052 sold in honey and cherry finishes. The full size cribs have a sleigh design and one of the following purchase order numbers at the bottom rail of the headboard: 272903, 272904, 273904, 276728, 276729, 291081, 323975, 324472, 320318, 323976, 332883 365620, 368466 in honey, and 338535, 338537 and 332884 in cherry. The recalled Bassettbaby cribs were sold for about $500 between July 2005 and October 2007.
This is the second major crib recall issued by the CPSC in the past several months. In September, Simplicity recalled about 1 million Graco and Simplicity cribs because a flaw in the design of the beds allowed them to be assembled with the drop rail upside down. When this happened, the rail could separate from the side, creating a gap where a child could become entrapped and suffocate. The deaths of three children have been blamed on the recalled Simplicity and Graco cribs. Simplicity’s reputation was further sullied after it took the company just over a month to provide repair kits for the dangerous cribs.
Following the Simplicity crib recall, the CPSC was roundly criticized for the way it handled its investigation into the defective cribs. According to the Chicago Tribune, when the agency investigated the death of a 9-month-old boy in a Simplicity crib in 2005, its inspector did not even bother to identify the type of crib involved in his death. The child’s distraught parents said that the CPSC did not even inspect the Simplicity crib that killed him. And according to a report in the Chicago Tribune, the CPSC only decided to issue the Simplicity and Graco crib recall after it learned that the newspaper was about to publish an expose detailing the agency’s shoddy 2005 investigation.
Fortunately, in the case of the Bassettbaby crib recall, it appears that the CPSC has acted in time to prevent a tragedy. The CPSC is warning consumers who purchased a crib involved in the Bassettbaby crib recall to stop using these cribs immediately. Bassettbaby is offering consumers a free repair kit for the defective crib. The repair kits and additional Bassettbaby crib recall information can be obtained by calling the company at 888-897-4689 or by visiting www.bassettbaby.com. In a press release announcing the Bassettbaby crib recall, the company said that it had changed its production methods to eliminate the hazard posed by the defective cribs.
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