Transparency push in dangerous product recalls making little progress

(SOA) — For more than a year-and-a-half, Spotlight on America has been investigating why it takes so long for dangerous products to be recalled, even after the government knows about serious injuries and deaths. National Investigative Correspondent Angie Moreschi continues to press for answers and learned a push for more transparency is making little progress, despite more injuries and deaths.

Delayed recalls lead to tragic consequences

Families across America have repeatedly suffered the painful, tragic consequences when product recalls were delayed.

“Instead of planning his party, I was planning a funeral,” Minnesota mother Janet McGee told Spotlight on America in March of 2023, remembering the death of her little boy Teddy, killed when a now re-called Ikea Malm dresser fell on top of him.

In June of 2023, the Vobr family of South Dakota shared the unimaginable pain of losing their baby boy Cameron, who died after falling asleep in a Fisher Price Rock 'n Play, now recalled and connected to more than 100 infant deaths.

“Every moment was special with him. I just didn’t know how much,” Cameron’s father Ethan Vobr told us.

In May of 2024, Spotlight on America continued its reporting on recall delays; this time on water beads, yet another children’s product where serious injuries piled up for years, before any recall was issued.

We shared the stories of little Henry Gent of Florida and Kipley Haugen of Texas, both nearly died after accidentally ingesting water beads and required emergency surgery to have them removed from their intestines.

“It was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying,” Kipley’s mom Ashley Haugen recalled.

But despite Consumer Product Safety Commission data showing nearly 8000 children being treated for water bead injuries in emergency rooms between 2016 and 2022, it was not until the death of 10-month old Esther Bethard in Wisconsin in July of 2023 that a limited recall of water beads was finally issued.

“They should have been protected. This shouldn’t have happened,” Henry’s mother Sara Gent, said angrily.

Baby Esther’s mother also talked with Spotlight on America.

“Why are we waiting for the worst, the unimaginable to happen, before action is taken? Why?” Taylor Bethard said, choking back tears.

Transparency efforts stalled

Consumer Product Safety Committee (CPSC) commissioner Rich Trumka has been a prominent voice at the agency tasked with protecting the public from dangerous products.

“I am a big proponent of warning the public when I know about a hazard, because if there's a risk that our government knows about, it needs to share that with us,” Trumka said.

But too often that doesn't happen.

The CPSC cites a provision of the Consumer Product Safety Act– Rule 6b, often called the “gag rule”– which limits the agency’s ability to warn the public without first getting the consent of the product manufacturer.

“If I knew a product was killing people right now, I couldn't tell you,” CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric made that startling statement to Spotlight on America more than a year ago. At the time, he proposed changes to the agency’s internal rules to beef up its ability to warn the public.

But those efforts have stalled.

The CPSC told Spotlight on America “staff continues its work” rewriting the proposed changes, and there is "no update." The CPSC’s Operating Plan for 2024 does show on page 15 that a final rule is expected for this fiscal year, which ends September 30th.

Trumka did not support the original proposed changes, saying they did not go far enough and that the commission was handcuffing itself.

“What it needs to do is strip away every, every restriction that this agency has put on itself that goes beyond what's required by the law,” Trumka said.

Spotlight on America Investigator Angie Moreschi pressed further:

MORESCHI: Isn't getting some wiggle room better than getting nothing?

TRUMKA: Some wiggle room would be good. I’m concerned maybe we only have one bite at the apple.

CPSC facing lawsuit

The CPSC is now facing the threat of a lawsuit over Rule 6b. Dreamland Baby, a company that makes weighted infant sleep products sent a letter to the agency in May indicating its intent to sue, alleging the CPSC violated Rule 6b and is hurting its business.

Multiple safety agencies and organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and American Academy of Pediatrics, have come out with warnings about potential risks involving weighted sleep products for babies.

Following those warnings, a stark warning was posted on the CPSC website by Commissioner Trumka, saying “Beware” and calling the product category of weighted products for infants “unsafe for sleep.”

The commission also added weighted sleep products to its Safe Sleep Guideline DON’Ts for babies, warning: “Don’t use weighted blankets or weighted swaddles.” And the agency told Spotlight on America they are “aware of multiple fatalities associated with infant weighted products." However, a CPSC spokesperson says the agency has “not made a determination that this product is unsafe" and "investigations are ongoing."

Specifically, the CPSC has not named Dreamland Baby in any warnings, and the company has not been publicly identified as the cause of death in any incidents.

Trumka says the agency is exempt from rule 6b when it issues a warning about an entire product category considered dangerous and does not name a specific company.

MORESCHI: Basically, you have a company threatening to sue the CPSC for warning the public. Isn't that exactly what you're concerned about?

TRUMKA: Oh, I’m not concerned about frivolous lawsuits. I mean, anybody can file anything they want.

Push to change the law

United States Senator Richard Blumenthal says the threat of lawsuits can have a chilling effect on a small agency like the CPSC. He believes rule 6b should be repealed.

“Consumers want safety,” Blumenthal said.

Last year, he introduced legislation to do that: the Sunshine in Product Safety Act.

“The need for that kind of reform is made absolutely obvious and compelling by these kinds of really unfounded threats,” Blumenthal said, referring to the threat of suit by Dreamland Baby.

But, just like the CPSC proposed rule changes, the Sunshine in Product Safety Act also is stalled, lacking bi-partisan support in both the Democrat controlled Senate and Republican controlled House.

Battling budget cuts

With efforts in limbo to fix what safety advocates call a “broken recall system,” the CPSC has become more aggressive in trying to warn the public.

As of the end of June, the agency issued more than double the number of warnings that it did last fiscal year (FY2024 YTD=233 safety warnings); and is on track to issue slightly more recalls (FY2024 YTD=47 recalls).

But the CPSC’s budget was cut by $1.5 million dollars last year, and sources tell us more proposed cuts are coming for 2025, which is raising concerns that losing more funding could further impact the agency's ability to protect the public.

“Instead of taking away critical funding, we must work to expand the agency and empower them to further improve product safety. We can absolutely do more to protect consumers, especially our children,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who sponsored the Sunshine in Product Safety Act in the House.

Meantime, the government agency tasked with protecting consumers continues to know about product hazards it says it can't tell us about.

“Every day you don't warn somebody about a known danger, that could be a day that somebody loses their life because of it,” said Commissioner Trumka, expressing his frustration.