Fisher-Price Issues Massive Recall Of 7 Million Tricycles And Millions Of Other Products

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Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 30 Sep 2010 - 12:00 PDT


Tricycles causing genital injuries to young girls, other toys with parts that pose a choking hazard, high-chairs with pegs on rear legs that have injured children, are some of the reasons for Fisher-Price's recall of over 11 million products, 7 million of them tricycles. Of ten reported injuries from tricycles, six 2-3 year-old girls fell on a protrusion that required medical attention, some of the injuries resulted in bleeding from the genital area.

Tricycles - the 7-million tricycle recall involved the USA and Canada (150,000). There is a "pretend key" which sticks out of the front seat, just over half-an-inch above the cycle's body. Recently made tricycles are safer, says Fisher-Price - the key is flattened and protrudes much less.

Toy with inflatable ball - there is a toy which has inflatable balls with a valve; the valve may be faulty, resulting in a serious choking hazard for young children. So far, 54 incidents (46 USA, 8 Canada) have been reported, in three cases the children had started to choke. Fisher-Price says none of the children was injured. Fisher-Price asks parents/caregivers to remove the inflatable ball and make sure children cannot get to it. The company will gladly provide a free replacement kit. 165,090 products with inflatable balls have also been recalled in the UK.

High-chairs - the recall of high chairs includes the USA and several other countries. The BBC says there is a recall in the UK of 72,763 high chairs. There have been 14 reports in the USA of injuries, in seven cases the children required stitches. Apparently, a child might fall on the peg on the back of the high chair and risk being cut or injured - the peg is designed to store the tray.

A spokesperson for Fisher-Price, UK told the BBC:

We want to reassure parents that our products are overwhelmingly safe. We operate in a highly regulated industry and we test our products at many stages during development and production. Our product engineers have many years of experience in designing safe toys. In addition, we monitor parents' safety-related reports over time. If we see an issue with a product at any point, even after many have been sold and used safely, we take appropriate action. Our actions reflect our continuing commitment to the safety of our products. Hundreds of millions of our products are used safely every day and we believe these simple fixes will continue that excellent record.

Toy car wheels - Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand 'n' Play Rampay toy cars' wheels can come off, posing a choking hazard for small children.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in a communiqué, wrote:

Fisher-Price did the right thing in agreeing to provide consumers with free remedies for these products. But all companies must do better. They must give more attention to building safety into their products. They must work to ensure that they are adhering to safety standards. And if any company finds itself with a defective product or one that is causing injuries, it must report the problem to CPSC immediately.

The CPSC asks parents/cargivers to inform the CPSC if a toy breaks in a child's hands or if they suffer an injury from a product. They are also asked if they own any of the recalled products, to stop using it and contact Fisher-Price for free repair kits and replacement products.

The following products are affected by the recall:

Trikes (tricycles)

• 72633 Hot Wheels Trike
• 72639 Barbie™ Butterfly Trike
• 72642 Lil' Kawasaki® Trike
• 72643 Tough Trike
• 72644 Tough Trike
• 72792 Kawasaki Trike
• B8775 Kawasaki® Ninja® Tough Trike
• B8776 Barbie™ Tough Trike
• K6672 Nick Jr./Dora the Explorer Tough Trike
• K6673 Go, Diego, Go! Tough Trike
• M5727 Barbie™ Tough Trike Princess Ride-On
• N6021 Kawasaki Tough Trike
• T6209 Thomas & Friends™ Tough Trike
• V4270 Go, Diego, Go!™ Kid-Tough™ Trike

Rampway

• T4261 Little People® Wheelies™ Stand 'n Play™ Rampway
• V6378 Little People® Wheelies™ Stand 'n Play™ Rampway Gift Set

Infant toys with inflatable balls

• 73408 Baby Playzone™ Crawl & Cruise Playground™
• B2408 Baby Playzone™ Crawl & Slide Arcade™
• C3068 Ocean Wonders™ Kick & Crawl™ Aquarium
• H5704 Baby Gymtastics™ Play Wall
• H8094 Ocean Wonders™ Kick & Crawl™ Aquarium
• J0327 1-2-3 Tetherball
• K0476 Bat & Score Goal™

High Chairs

• 79638 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• 79639 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• 79640 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• 79641 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• B0326 Deluxe Healthy Care™ High Chair
• B2105 Deluxe Healthy Care™ High Chair
• B2875 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• C4630 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• C4632 Link-a-doos™ Deluxe Plus Healthy Care™ High Chair
• C5936 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• G4406 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• G8659 Aquarium Healthy Care High Chair™
• H0796 Deluxe Healthy Care™ High Chair
• H1152 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• H4864 Aquarium Healthy Care™ High Chair
• H7241 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• H8906 Close to Me™ High Chair
• H9178 Easy Clean™ High Chair
• J4011 Easy Clean™ High Chair
• J6292 Easy Clean™ High Chair
• J8229 Easy Clean™ High Chair
• K2927 Rainforest™ Healthy Care™ High Chair
• L1912 Healthy Care™ High Chair

Click here for more information about this recall.

Source: Fisher-Price, Consumer Product Safety Commission, BBC.

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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