Lawsuits you should know about

Three children have died due to use of Generation 2 Worldwide/ChildESIGNS cribs. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has asked consumers who have purchased these cribs to stop using them immediately.

It is believed that half a million Generation 2 Worldwide/ChildESIGNS cribs were sold by the company, which is no longer in business. The cribs were sold at retailers such as Buy Buy Baby, Kmart, and Wal-Mart for between $60 and $160.

The CPSP said that children are at risk of strangulation or suffocation from the cribs due to plastic hardware breaking, which causes the side to detach and leaves a gap which could trap a child. There have also been reports of the mattress detaching.

So far, three deaths – that of an 8 month old child in Newark, Ohio, a 8 month old child in Richmond, Ind., and a 6 month old child in Stauton, Va. – have been reported between September 2002 and July 2007. There have also been 20 other reports of accidents from children becoming trapped to falling out of the crib.

Consumers who own these cribs may or may not receive a refund or replacement by returning to the retailers where the crib was purchased. Those who are not offered a refund or replacement should contact the CPSC at (301) 504-7923 Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm ET.

It’s another recall for Disney children’s jewelry as the Playmates Toys has said that the metal charm connector of certain jewelry sets contains lead.

The company, whose jewelry is made in China, issued a voluntary recall of 180,000 sets of Tiny Tink and Friends Children’s Toy Jewelry Sets. This recall includes Tinker Bell’s Lil’ Tinker Bracelet, Rosetta’s Rosebud Key Chain, and Silvermist’s Water Lily Necklace. A metal connector that links the charm to a necklace, bracelet or keychain is the part that contains lead. The company said that once it became aware of the excessive levels of lead in the connectors, it contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission to stop sales of the items.

The jewelry sets were sold nationwide from November 2008 until November 2009 for between $6 and $8. Similar sets with plastic rather than metal charm connectors are not included in the recall.

Consumers who purchased these recalled sets should contact Playmates Toys at (888) 810-1133 between 12 pm and 8 pm EST Monday through Friday or see the company’s web site to fill out a replacement form.

FAF Inc. has made a voluntary recall of approximately 55,000 pendants with “The Princess and the Frog” theme due to toxic metal.

The pendants, a crown pendant (model # 4616-4187 and UPC number 72783367144) and a frog pendant (model # 4616-4190 and UPC number 72783367147), have been sold exclusively at Wal-Mart since November for $5. Wal-Mart said it pulled all the pendants on January 11th as soon as it was notified by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that the pendants contained cadmium.

After the Associated Press published an article about cadmium being found in children’s jewelry, the CPSC has been testing children’s jewelry for the potentially harmful metal. Cadmium, when ingested, can lead to kidney and bone damage as well as possible damage to brain development.

Although the CPSC has not received any reports from consumers of cadmium poisoning, it stated it will continue to investigate children’s jewelry. The Walt Disney Co. has issued a statement saying that all jewelry which bears its images will be tested for cadmium, which is not a federal requirement, and if any products are found to contain the metal, production of the product will be stopped.

Customers who bought the pendants can return them to their local Wal-Mart for a refund or replacement. For photos of the items, please visit the FAF Inc. web page.

Starbucks has issued a voluntary recall of 12,200 clear glass water bottles sold in the U.S. and Canada after 10 people reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that the glass stopper or bottle shattered and eight consumers received lacerations due to the glass.

The bottles, which held 20 ounces of liquid, were sold at Target, Safeway, and Starbucks for approximately $9. The recalled bottles have the SKU number 11003503 and the words “Glass Water Bottle” printed on the blue label stuck to the bottle. They were made in Taiwan and have been available for purchase since January 2010.

Starbucks is asking consumers to quit using the bottles and return them to the store from which they were purchased. If returned to a local Starbucks, the consumer will also receive a free drink. For more information, contact Starbucks at (877) 492-6333 between the hours of 8 am and 11 pm Monday through Friday.

After a recall of 4.2 million vehicles in November, Toyota has added to that number another 1.1 million. The problem is that the gas pedals on the recalled vehicles can get caught in the floor mat, causing the vehicles to accelerate at an uncontrollable rate. Last week, Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles that also had a problem with the gas pedals sticking on their own.

The initial recall included the certain 2009-2010 RAV4, certain 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, certain 2007-2010 Camry, certain 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra, and the 2008-2010 Sequoia. Any RAV4s, Corollas, Camrys, and Highlanders with VINs that begin with “J” ARE NOT included in the recall.

The latest recall affects the 2008-2010 Highlander, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010, Venza 2009-2010 Matrix, and the 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe (because it is made as a partnership between Toyota and Pontiac) were added to the list.

Not affected by the recall are any Lexus Division or Scion vehicles, Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser and Highlander hybrids and Camry hybrids.

Customers who have questions or problems with their accelerator should visit Toyota.com for more info, call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at (800) 331-4331, or visit their local Toyota dealership.

Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has recalled many over-the-counter drugs due to a moldy smell that was making consumers ill.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received over 70 complaints from consumers who because ill with nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea after noticing the odor. The smell was due to chemicals used to treat the wooden pallets leaking into the bottles.

The number of bottles of recalled medications is unknown, but the recall includes the following caplet and geltab medications: regular and extra-strength Tylenol, Children’s Tylenol, 8-Hour Tylenol, Tylenol Arthritis Pain, Tylenol PM, Children’s Motrin, Motrin IB, Benadryl Rolaids, Simply Sleep, and St. Joseph’s aspirin.

Only certain batches were recalled. To see a complete list of recalled medications with images, bar codes, NDC codes, UPC codes, and lot numbers, please see the McNeil Consumer Healthcare page.

If you have one of these medications, stop using it and contact the company at (888) 222-6036 for a refund.

Chrysler Group LLC has recalled 24,177 vehicles due to a defective part that could cause the failure of the brakes. The recall affects the 2010 Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Nitro, Jeep Liberty, Jeep Commander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and 2009-2010 Dodge Ram trucks. The Dodge Ram Heavy Duty truck was named 2010 Truck of the Year by Motor Trend magazine. The 2010 Chrysler Sebring and Avenger were named by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as Top Safety Picks for 2010.

It is believed the problem is that the brake booster rod retaining clips in the cars and SUVs are improperly formed and that they may not have been installed at all in Ram trucks. Lack of properly working brake booster rod retaining clips could result in brake failure without any warning.

So far, there have been on injuries reported due to the faulty clips, but the problem was noticed during testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Chrysler has scheduled the recalls, which are expected to cost more than $250 million dollars, for this month. Notices will be mailed to the owners of the recalled vehicles.

Graco Children’s Products, Inc. has recalled 1.5 million strollers due to reports of children having their fingertips lacerated and amputated as a result of stroller use. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) received reports of five children suffering amputations and two suffering lacerations after getting their fingers caught in the canopy hinge of the strollers.

The models being recalled by Graco are the Passage, Alano, and Spree Strollers and Travel Systems. All the recalled strollers were made in China and sold between October 2004 and December 2009 at AAFES, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us, Kmart, Fred Meyer, Meijers, Navy Exchange, Sears, Target, Walmart and other retailers throughout the United States for between $80 and $200.

This recall only affects Graco strollers with “a plastic, joined hinge mechanism that has indented canopy positioning notches.” The following are the model numbers for the recalled strollers. Model numbers can be found above the back wheels:

6303MYC, 6303MYC3, 7240DNB, 7240DNB2, 7240MKL2, 7240MKL3, 7F02GLM3, 6320IVY, 6320LAU, 7241DDH2, 7241DHO3, 7F04TAY3, 6330CAP, 6330THR, 6330THR3, 7255CLP, 7255CLP2, 7255CRA2, 7255CRA3, 7255CSA3, 7255GPK3, 7255GRN, 7255GRN2, 7255JJB3, 7255ORC2, 7255WLO2, 7255WLO3, 7F07EMA3, 6F00QIN3, 6F00RRY3, 7256CLO2, 7256SPM2, 7256SPM3, 7F08DSW3, 7F08LAN3, 6F03GLN3, 7260BAN, 7260BAN2, 7260BAN3, 7260MRA2, 7260MRA3, 7260PKR, 7260PKR2, 7G00DLS3, 7G00DLS4, 6G10CSE3, 7270BIA, 7270BIA2, 7G01CRL3, 7235GGA, 7235GGA2, 7E01JON2, 7E01JON3, 7G04KRA3, 7236CDR2, 7F00LPE3, 7F00RSH3, 7G05GPR3, 7G06WSR3, 7237HOL2, 7237HOL3, 7F01FOR3, 7G07ABB3, 7G07BAT3

If you have one of these strollers, please stop using it and contact Graco for a free protective cover repair kit by calling (800) 345-4109 or by visiting their web page.

A recall has been issued that affects approximately 50 million shades. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said the Roman-style shades and roll-up blinds being recalled have been involved in the strangulation death of five children. In addition, 16 children have been nearly strangled. The problem with the Roman-style shades is caused by the space between the inner cord and the shade fabric while the roll-up blinds have cords with large loops that can become caught around the children’s necks.

The blinds have been sold at such retailers as Ace Hardware, Big Lots, JCPenney, Pottery Barn, Ross, The Land of Nod, Wal-Mart, and West Elm. JCPenney is recalling over 2 million shade and blinds sold in the store, through the catalog, and online between 1999 and October 2009, for between $10 and $500. Wal-Mart is recalling over a million of the Roman-style shades and roll-up blinds sold in the store between January 1999 and September 2009 for between $6 and $30. Pottery Barn is recalling over 300,000 Roman-style shades sold in the store and online between January 1998 and October 2009 for between $25 and $180.

The CPSC is working with the Window Covering Safety Council to repair the Roman-style blinds by replacing the cord with rings, which will require the consumer to manually lift the rings to raise the shade. The repair kit will provide a device for the roll-up blinds that will cause the cord to separate into two pieces if a child’s head gets caught in it.

Those needing a repair kit should contact the Window Covering Safety Council on their web page or by calling (800) 506-4636. Wal-Mart consumers with roll-up blinds made of bamboo should return the blinds to Wal-Mart for a full refund.

Unilever, the maker of Slim-Fast, has voluntarily recalled 10 million cans of the popular weight-loss drink due to possible bacterial contamination. It is believed the some cans may be tainted with Bacillus cereus, which causes diarrhea, vomiting, cramping, and nausea. According to officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), this recall may affect as many as 10 million cans of Slim-Fast distributed in the U.S.

The recall affects all flavors of Slim-Fast ready-to-drink cans, regardless of best-by date or UPC number. Other Slim-Fast products, including powdered shakes and snack bars, are not involved in the recall.

Unilever notified the FDA of a possible contamination on Dec. 2 and has shut down production until the problem can be identified and corrected. The tainted cans were produced at a facility in Covington, Tenn. and the FDA is investigating that location.

All unused cans of Slim-Fast should be discarded. For a full refund, contact Unilever at (800) 896-9479.