The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) along with several other companies issued a defective product recall of nearly 5.5 million hazardous window shades and blinds for potential strangulation hazards. This product recall comes in the wake of three child deaths and the near strangulation of seven other children. The recalled window coverings include Roman shades, roll-up blinds, cellular shades and traditional blinds. The companies participating in the recall are Pottery Barn Kids, IKEA, Vertical Land Inc., Lewis Hyman Inc., Lutron Electronics Co. Inc. and Victoria Classics. Victoria Classics’ Roman shades and many of Lewis Hyman’s window shades were sold exclusively at Target stores.

Defective Products Cause Tragedies

A 1-year-old boy reportedly died after becoming entangled in the cords of a Lewis Hyman roll-up blinds and Roman shades. Another boy in Maine was strangled in the lift-cord loop of a roll-up blind that fell into his portable crib in 2007. The third child death involved a 4-year-old girl from Florida who was strangled in the loop of a Vertical Land blind cord in 2006. Six incidents of near strangulation involved Pottery Barn Kids’ Roman Shades.

My heart goes out to the parents and families of these young children who died tragically and unnecessarily or suffered serious personal injuries as a result of these defective products. Please keep them in your prayers.

CPSC is urging people to examine the blinds and shades in their homes and replace them if they have looped pull cord, exposed inner cords or exposed lifting loops. Between 1991 and 2004 alone, CPSC has received reports of about 200 strangulation deaths involving cords and chains on window coverings. This product recall sheds the light on this important issue, which is sometimes ignored. If you have young children at home or if you are a grandparent with young children visiting your home often and you have one of the blinds that use exposed cords, please consider replacing them immediately with cordless blinds.

Products Liability Issues

If your child has been seriously injured or killed as a result of these defective blinds, please contact a reputed California personal injury lawyer, who has significant experience and a winning track record handling product liability cases. In cases where a product manufacturer knowingly sold a defective product, the injured victims or families of deceased victims may be able to seek compensation to cover medical expenses and other related costs. Victims may also seek punitive damages. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish a defendant and to deter a defendant from committing similar acts in the future.

Nearly 700,000 Roman shades and roll-up blinds sold at Cost Plus and World Market stores are being recalled because they pose a strangulation hazard to young children. according to this news report, these Roman shades have a looped pull cord and exposed inner cords on the back of the shade. So far no injuries or deaths have been reported with these recalled Roman shades and roll-up blinds. But the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received reports of three deaths with one incident involving the death of a child who became entangled in the lifting cord of a roll-up style blind whose manufacturer and retailer have not yet been identified. Two other deaths have been attributed to exposed inner cords on various styles of roman-style shades.

IKEA Home Furnishings issued a similar product defect recall of 670,000 Roman blinds after a 1-year-old girl in Greenwich, Connecticut, died. The girl had become entangled in the inner cord of a Roman blind and was strangled. That incident occurred on April 4, 2008, when the little girl was playing in a portable playpen that was placed under a fully lowered blind.

The blinds involved in the most recent recall include those that were sold at Cost Plus and World Market stores nationwide from February 2006 through August 2008 for between $25 and $60. They were manufactured in India and China. Consumers are asked to stop using the recalled window blinds and shades and return the product to any Cost Plus/World Market store to get a full refund. Consumers looking for more information are asked to call Cost Plus at 1-877-967-5362.

CPSC is also asking consumers to carefully examine all roman-style blinds and roll-up shades in their homes for looped pull cords, exposed inner cords or exposed lifting loops. If you find any of these features on your blinds or shades and you have young children at home or visiting your home, please replace them with products that do not have such exposed pull cords or inner cords. Although these incidents seem like “freak” accidents, they are not. These are dangerous and defective products. If not replaced, they are accidents and tragedies waiting to happen.

Consider this statistic from the CPSC. Between 1991 and 2004 alone, the federal agency has received reports of about 200 strangulation deaths involving cords and chains on window coverings. Please don’t become a statistic. If your child has suffered severe injury or death as a result of these defective blinds and shades, please contact a skilled product liability law firm to find out about your rights and legal options.