Child Strangulation Risk from Clothing Drawstrings.
Drawstrings for hoods kill and injure children when they get caught on playground equipment, bus doors, or cribs. When the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission tracked the problem between 1985 through 1999, it found 22 deaths plus dozens of nonfatal incidents. Since 1996, the CPSC has warned against the risk of strangulation from hood drawstrings.
Obviously this is not a new problem. Several years ago, I went with an undercover cameraman from a local television news station to thrift shops around Portland, and we found many items that had been recalled by the CPSC, including sweatshirts, jackets and other clothes with drawstrings.
Today, the problem is not clothing made before 1996. Instead, the current problem arises from international commerce. The sweatshops in Egypt, Pakistan, Korea, China, and elsewhere "never got the memo" from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Year after year, month after month, the CPSC notifies us of recalls. Less than two weeks ago, on December 17, 2009, CPSC notified the world of a voluntary recall of zip up hooded sweatshirt with the dangerous strings sold at Burlington Coat Factory.
The good news is that if Grandpa bought your child a rain poncho, sweatshirt, or other item with drawstrings, the fix is easy: cut and remove the string.
If, on the other hand, your child was a sad victim of this continuous flow of dangerous products into Oregon
Jeff Merrick, Oregon Trial Attorney
503-665-4234
The above is not legal advice. I cannot give you reliable advice without knowing more information. It is intended to raise some issues for you to discuss with your own lawyer.
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