In sunny states such as California, you learn to appreciate the value of window shades. When the sun becomes so much you can’t bear it, relaxing in your home with shades on your windows can be a welcome alternative to the heat and sunlight outside.
What you don’t want are window shades that could potentially cause the wrongful death of your child from a products liability accident.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commision, six companies have recalled millions of window shades after wrongful deaths were caused by young children who accidentally strangled themselves on cords.
Roman shades like these sometimes have cords that have been linked to the wrongful death of children who accidentally strangle themselves.
Not only window shade cords, but bed sheets have been known to cause strangulation and other children’s injures as well as wrongful death in some cases. Parents should take precautions to make sure their children are not at risk. There are some vertical blinds on the market that do not use a cord but a small rod that moves the curtains.
Our San Diego personal injury attorneys try to warn consumers often about potential hazards that create a threat to buyers of all ages. Children are at a higher risk because of their smaller bodies and sometimes may not be aware of a product’s dangers.
Consumers should be aware of the six companies that issued recalls of their curtains:
- Lewis Hyman Inc. (Carson, CA) – recalled 4.2 million roll-up blinds with plastic slats (sold from 1999-2003) as well as 600,000 Woolrich Roman Shades (sold from 2006-2008 at Target stores)
- Vertical Land Inc. (Panama City Beach, FL) – recalled blinds and shades from Florida stores from 1992-2006
- Pottery Barn Kids/Williams-Sonoma Inc. (San Francisco, CA) – recalled 85,000 Roman shades sold at Pottery Barn Kids from 2003-2007
- IKEA – recalled 120,000 Melina Roman blinds sold from 2006-2008
- Lutron Shading Solutions – recalled about 245,000 fabric roller shades sold at specialty dealers from 2000 until this past April
- Victoria Classics (Edison, NJ) – recalled about 163,000 Roman shades sold at Target from September 2008-June 2009
If you have purchased shades from any of these manufacturers or own window shades similar, be aware of their potential risk for strangulation. Kids are naive and sometimes they just don’t know what they’re doing.
Our products liability lawyers do what they can to help prevent injury and wrongful death from a particular product. Government agencies help identify potential hazards that make companies aware of dangers and issue recalls. The next step after that is getting the information out to the public – which our products liability attorneys are happy to do if it saves a life or two.
Call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced products liability attorney and find out how we can help you. We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case. No fee if no recovery.
About Michael PinesMichael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.
Thank you for all your help