Massive Recall of Bean Bag Chairs after Deaths of Two Children
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced a recall of over 2 million bean bag chairs after reports that two children have died in separate incidents.
According to the recall announcement, the zippers on the chairs are able to be easily opened by children, allowing them to crawl inside the chair. Once inside, a child can become trapped, choke or suffocate on the small foam beads that are in the bean bag chair.
Both of the children who died had reportedly opened the zippers of the bags and crawled inside. Each of the children suffocated inside the chair from lack of air and inhaling the beads. One victim from McKinney, Texas was a 13-year-old boy and the other victim was a 3-year-old girl from Lexington, Kentucky. Both of the victims’ bodies were discovered inside the zippered chairs.
There is no mandatory standard for bean bag chairs, only a voluntary one, which requires non-refillable bean bag chairs to have closed and permanently disabled zippers. The defective chairs, which are manufactured by Ace Bayou Corp., of New Orleans, Louisiana, did not meet the voluntary standard. These chairs have two zippers, one on the exterior of the chair, and another zipper directly underneath that one. Both zippers can be easily unzipped and opened, creating the hazard for young children.
The chairs being recalled were sold prior to July 2013 at the following retailers: Amazon, Bergner’s, Big Lots, Bon-Ton, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s, Meijer, Pamida, School Specialty, Wayfair, Walmart and Younkers. The price of the chairs ranged from $30 to $100 and came in a range of colors, shapes and sizes.
If you or someone in your family has been injured due to a defective product, contact an experienced New Braunfels personal injury attorney to find out what legal recourse you may have for pain and loss.
