Golden Grove and Young USA children’s hooded jacket
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that CVS Pharmacy, Inc., of Woonsocket, R.I., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $45,000. The settlement agreement has been provisionally accepted by the Commission unanimously (5-0).
The penalty resolves CPSC staff’s allegations that CVS knowingly failed to report to CPSC immediately, as required by federal law, that it had sold children’s hooded jackets with drawstrings at the neck from August 2008 to January 2009. Children’s upper outerwear with drawstrings, including sweatshirts, sweaters, and jackets, poses strangulation and entanglement hazards to children that can result in serious injury or death. In March 2009, CPSC and the importer of the jackets announced a recall of the products, which were sold under the brand names Golden Grove and Young USA.
In 1996, CPSC issued drawstring guidelines (pdf) to help prevent children from strangling on or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings of upper outerwear, such as jackets and sweatshirts. In 2006, CPSC’s Office of Compliance announced that children’s upper outerwear with drawstrings at the hood or neck would be regarded as defective and presenting a substantial risk of injury to young children.
Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or fails to comply with any consumer product safety rule or any other rule, regulation, standard, or ban enforced by CPSC.
In agreeing to the settlement, CVS denies CPSC staff’s allegations that it knowingly violated the law.
Note: On June 29, 2011, the Commission approved a final rule that designates children’s upper outerwear in sizes 2T through 12 with neck or hood drawstrings, and children’s upper outerwear in sizes 2T through 16 with certain waist or bottom drawstrings, as substantial product hazards.
1 comment:
Personally, to me it sounds like another way for a government agency to get money, like probation payments, parking tickets and so on. Anyone with 1/2 a brain should know that ANY kind of string around a baby or small child is dangerous. Why pick on CVS. If they want to go after someone go after the manufacturer, but I think having to spell out every little thing is ridiculous. It's common sense! If people don't have enough common sense to take care of their children and keep dangerous things away from them, they don't need kids. Forgive me for sounding so harsh. I have never been able to have children, so it gripes me that so many people out there have them and don't know how, or don't want to take care of them or at least do their best to keep them safe. I understand things happen, and sometime horrible things are out of our control, but please! I you don't have enough sense to keep dangerous things away from your little ones, such as plastic bags, scissors, small things that they can put in their mouths and so forth let someone who cares enough to know about these things raise your children. I'm probably going to get hate mail now, but remember, I'm someone who for many, many years tried and cried to have children, but was physically unable to, so I'm a bit resentful toward people who can have them and do have them but don't take precautions to keep them safe. My other comment is "quit blaming everything on the manufacturers. I know there are legitimate defects but then again there are also those that parents should know better than to get, such as toys with "bite-size parts. That's plain common sense even someone who has never had kids knows that the first place things go is in their mouths.
OK, I've said my $1.00 worth and more. I don't mean to offend anyone out there, it's just a sore spot when adults have to have things spelled out that should be common sense, then blame it on the company because it wasn't written on the item that these tiny little parts could choke their baby if he swallows them! DUH!
God bless!
PJ
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