http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/yo_yo_ball_injuries Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:22:34 -0800 pixel-app en http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12254 Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12254
The yo-yo water ball, which is marketed under various names, has caused many cases of near-strangulations, eye injuries and other problems with children around the country. It has been banned for sale in Illinois since last year, and bans have been proposed in Wisconsin, New Jersey and New York.

Skokie mother Lisa Lipin has been pushing for a nationwide ban of the toy since July 2003, when her son Andrew, then 5, was nearly strangled by a yo-yo water ball that wrapped around his neck. Since then, Lipin has compiled a list of 409 cases, including children who were knocked unconscious by the toy and suffered hospitalizations for skull or eye injuries.

The toys, which sell for as little as a dollar, are dangerous because the long, stretchy rubber cord can wrap tightly around the neck of a child who swings it like a lasso, Lipin said. In other cases, the toy has snapped back and punched a child in the face or eye. Other cases involved the balls leaking and, in one case, batteries being ingested by a 1-year-old.

Parents have described finding their children frantically trying to pull the thick rubber cord off their necks, unable to call out for help.

Advice: Cut the cord off
The CPSC issued an advisory about the toy in September 2003, telling parents to cut the cord off, but stopped short of a ban.

The CPSC's latest move was prompted by an Oct. 27 incident in Bellevue, Wash., in which a 5-year-old boy nearly strangled after the toy's cord wrapped three times around his neck. The CPSC plans to interview the family Monday.

CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said Friday the agency "is opening a formal investigation" into what happened in the Washington boy's case. Wolfson stopped short of saying whether that would lead to stronger action.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12255 Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12255
The toy, imported from China and Taiwan, is called a Yo-Yo Waterball. These colorful, fluid-filled balls are a big hit with the kids. They're attached to a bungee cord made from a rubbery material that is very stretchy.

As kids swing them around, the cord can get wrapped around their neck. Carolyn Daher said when her son Brayden rushed into the room, the cord was wrapped around his neck three times.

"He was grabbing at his neck and he was purple, almost blue," she says. "And his eyes were bloodshot and watering. I could barely get my fingers underneath the cord to pull it. And when you do that it pulls tighter and tighter and it was cutting his neck."

Somehow she was able to cut the cord - which her husband says isn't easy to do. "I think we are very lucky," Ghassan Daher tells me.

Brayden Daher is one of more than 400 kids across the country who have been hurt by Yo-Yo Balls. Thankfully, all were near misses.

For years, parents across the country have called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to recall or ban this toy.

In 2003, the CPSC concluded water-filled Yo-Yo Balls were "not a substantial product hazard." While it did not recall the toys, the Commission did advise parents to cut the cord.

Now, CPSC has launched a formal in-depth investigation into the Daher case.

"We are willing to explore all issues with Yo-Yo water balls," spokesman Scott Wolfson tells me. "This incident has really come to the forefront of our attention. We have taken your news report very seriously, and we want to get on this case as quickly as possible."

A CPSC investigator is scheduled to meet with the Daher family on Monday. I asked Carolyn Daher what she plans to tell him.

"It shouldn't have gone this far that we have this many children getting hurt," she replied. "I hope that they do their job and find out that this is a very dangerous toy that children can actually die from this product."

For my original report, I showed some Yo-Yo Balls to Dr. Brian Johnston, who heads the Department of Pediatrics at Harborview Medical Center. "It's clear that these are inherently dangerous," he told me.

Dr. Johnston says the Yo-Yo Ball presents a strangulation hazard because the cord is much longer than 6-inches, which means it can wrap around someone's neck.

"One of the scary things about this," he said, "is the material is sticky." So once it is wrapped around on top of itself, it's hard to unwind.

Various consumer groups have called for the toy to be removed from the marketplace, including Consumer Reports, The Consumer Federation of America, and Underwriters Laboratories.

Yo-Yo Balls are already banned in Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia. They are also banned in Illinois, where Lisa Lipin, a mom who almost lost her son to a Yo-Yo Ball, got the legislature to act.

Lipin has also convinced several big retailers, including Toys R Us, Walgreen's, Wal-Mart and eBay to stop selling them.
]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/yo_yo_ball_injuries Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/yo_yo_ball_injuries Yo-Yo Balls Injuries On November 9, 2006, The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) decided to initiate an in-depth investigation into the safety of Yo-Yo Water Balls, a popular toy blamed for injuring more than 400 children across the country. A column on Msnbc.com detailing the injuries a 5-year old boy in Washington State encountered brought the investigation into high gear. “We are willing to explore all issues with Yo-Yo Water Balls,” Wolfson, a spokesperson for CPSC Said.

The colorful, fluid-filled Yo-yo balls have been on the market for numerous years, are connected to an elasticized cord that easily can get wrapped around the neck of children playing with the toy. For three years, Lisa Lipin, a mother in Skokie, Ill., has been leading the effort to get Yo-Yo Balls banned. In 2003, her 5-year-old son was injured when he had a Yo-Yo Ball cord wrap around his neck. CPSC investigated and refused to recall the toy, saying the risk of strangulation was not great enough.

The latest incident involves a Bellevue, Washington boy who also was nearly strangled playing with the toy. A CPSC investigator is scheduled to meet with his parents, on November 13, 2006. “I hope that they do their job,” the boy’s mother said, “and find out that this is a very dangerous toy; that children can actually die from this product.”

Few yo-yo balls, which sell for $1 or $2, are identifiable by brand, but all we’ve seen say “Made in China.” Several retailers, including Walgreens and Toys “R” Us, have stopped selling the balls. They’ve been banned in some foreign countries, and several states’ consumer-protection officials have asked for a recall.

If your child suffered a minor or serious injury while playing with a Yo-yo ball, please fill out the form at the right for a free case evaluation by a qualified attorney.]]>