The Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleepers, which were first recalled in April 2019, have reportedly been connected to more than 100 newborn fatalities, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Following the recall, eight more incidents took place.
When it was discovered that at least 30 newborns had unrestrainedly moved from their back onto their stomach or side in the sleeper or in other situations, the original recall was made nearly four years ago.
After parents who may have owned the sleeper in the ten years between the product’s 2009 debut and the 2019 recall came forward to report their babies died in the sleepers, the number of fatalities has subsequently increased by an additional 70.
According to the CPSC, which updated its recall of the product on Monday, 4.7 million units were included in the recall.
The first recall only took place after the CPSC informed Consumer Reports about the fatalities linked to the device in early 2019.
It published statistics in support of its conclusions. The goods was only then removed from sale.
All of the infant fatalities happened while the newborns were in the sleepers, and they all passed away from asphyxiation brought on by the product’s 30-degree slant. The market has no other flat sleepers.
In fact, on a level surface, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that infants sleep on their backs.
Fisher-Price and its parent firm Mattel are defendants in two federal class-action lawsuits claiming negligence and negligent design.
In one lawsuit, Cassandra Mulvey accuses Fisher Price and Mattel of promoting a device that was “dangerously false and deceptive” since it wasn’t safe for babies to sleep through the night or for extended periods of time.
According to the lawsuit, the Rock ‘n Play “significantly increased the risk that an infant’s head would slip into a dangerous position, tilt to constrict the windpipe, and/or cause the infant’s face to become pressed against the padded fabric in the sleeper and block airflow, increasing the risk of death by asphyxiation.”
The complaint claims that children would be sleeping at an angle that “increases the infant’s chance of developing flat head (plagiocephaly) and twisted neck (torticollis) syndromes, disorders that often necessitate that infants wear pricey head-molding helmets and undergo physical therapy.”
Samantha Drover-Mundy and Zachary Mundy, a couple from Delaware, filed a second lawsuit after their 12-week-old daughter reportedly passed away in a Rock ‘n Play sleeper after just a few minutes in September 2018.
The lawsuit claims that the Rock ‘n Play’s flawed design not only led to their daughter’s death but also “injuries…which need expensive medical care and may inflict life-long harm, including severe abnormalities and developmental disabilities.”
The lawsuits also allege that Fisher-Price and Mattel ignored the AAP’s advice on ideal baby sleeping conditions.
They further claimed that the defendants pushed the CPSC to allow them to circumvent laws that would have prevented the device from being sold.
Fisher-Price said in its defense that it had been unable to authenticate some reports’ descriptions of the occurrences or the fact that the in question product was a Rock ‘n Play Sleeper.
Although doctors usually recommend that newborns sleep in cribs, bassinets, or other baby beds on their backs, by the time they are three months old, babies can turn over on their own and may do so while they are asleep.
Fisher Price officials were found to have disregarded safety recommendations about the company’s well-known incline sleeper for ten years as it continued to generate $200 million in revenue, according to a two-year inquiry by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in 2021.
After the fatalities started to mount, the product was eventually recalled.
According to the committee’s findings, Fisher Price released the product in 2009 without doing enough testing, and in the years that followed, it disregarded many warnings that it was unsafe.
In the Rock ‘n Play, the baby is supported on its back at a 30-degree inclination, with the feet sloping away from the head.
According to a study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, no independent research nor even internal corporate research has ever shown that it is safe for newborns to sleep at an angle.
In contrast, study indicated that sleeping at an angle was dangerous.
Fisher Price was alerted to real-world safety problems in 2012, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning in February 2018—but it wasn’t until April 2019 that the Rock ‘n Play was recalled.
Maloney stated in a statement after the hearing, “It is reprehensible that Fisher-Price jeopardized lives solely to boost its bottom line.”
Since then, in May 2022, President Biden has signed a measure known as the Safe Sleep For Babies Act of 2021 into law.
The Rock ‘n Play and crib bumpers will no longer be sold in the United States under the new regulation.
If a baby regurgitates milk while lying on their stomach, they might choke considerably more readily.
Babies should always be buckled into the seat, according to the instructions that come with elevated rockers and bassinets.
Baby over three months old who were not fastened into the sleeper had turned over and fell out of it to their deaths, according to an earlier Fisher-Price warning.
According to the complaint against Fisher Price, the firm promoted the device as a secure solution to let newborns sleep for extended periods of time while being aware of its risks.
In 2011, when Alexander was three months old, Sarah recalled putting him in his Rock ‘n Play, helping her elder daughter with a toy, and then going to the restroom. She said she returned 15 minutes later to find Alexander motionless and not breathing.
“For over ten years, I’ve been wondering why he passed away. Thompson asked, adding that she had faith in Fisher Price and its parent firm Mattel. “How did he die?” she said.
“Alex would still be with us today if they had merely followed the rules,” the man said.
Sadly, our family has undergone permanent transformation. Every day, we miss him. Our two younger kids continue to inquire about their elder brother in paradise.
Alexander was unresponsive and had his head slouched at an odd angle when I returned after a brief absence of no more than 15 minutes. Alexander passed away despite my attempts and those of the rescuers and medical professionals, she claimed. I dragged him out of the sleeper and attempted to recall CPR.
If Fisher-Price had issued a recall as soon as they became aware that the product was dangerous, Alexander’s death may have been avoided. Alexander may still be with us today if we had understood about the hazards linked with inclined sleepers sooner.
One of Thompson’s two parents talked. Emma Richter, whose daughter tragically perished in the Rock ‘n Play, was the other.
“Life is brutally brief on Earth.” I make the decision to experience it all and live a life for her. My life was altered forever by that tiny angel. I’ll always be Emma’s mother. Richter declared this in a Facebook post.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a former representative from the United States and the chairwoman of the committee, said after the hearing that “what we uncovered is extremely alarming.” A national scandal has occurred.
Maloney said that despite research showing that sleeping at an inclination might put newborns at danger of severe injury or death, the sleeper was the first device on the market and marketed for nighttime sleep at the time of its debut.
Six-month-old James R. Weigand III from Kenmore, New York, passed away in January 2018 as a result of being put inside the sleeper for a nap but never emerging from it.
According to the father’s attorney, Jed Dietrich, who spoke to Buffalo News, “They laid their kid down for a sleep and soon afterwards, they came back and saw that the infant was not breathing.”
The family has experienced an awful calamity. They won’t ever fully recover.
According to Dietrich, “The advertising was pitching it as an overnight sleeper, which would indicate that a newborn could be in it without being looked over all night.” Fisher-Price was aware of the risk, but chose to overlook it in order to maximize profits.
In December 2017, after being placed in the sleeper while his parents, Keenan and Evan Overton, worked out, baby Ezra passed away. They were given the item as a hand-me-down gift by their neighbors.
In December 2017, after being placed in the sleeper while his parents, Keenan and Evan Overton, worked out, baby Ezra passed away.
They were given the item as a hand-me-down gift by their neighbors.
His father told the Kids In Danger website, “I remained out in the family room and laid down on the sofa next to the rocker, assuring my wife that she could get some rest in the bedroom.”
When I awoke in the middle of the night, I glanced up and noticed Ezra standing up on the chair’s seat while transformed into the padded face of a monkey. His face was turned toward the back or side of the bench, and he was as motionless as a doll. He had a flattened nose. He was not moving. He didn’t seem to be genuine. He felt like a doll when I lifted him up.
Ezra, who was five months old, died as his father was nearby on a couch.
In January 2019, Savannah Lynn Savage, who was just four months old, was discovered dead in one of the sleepers.
Her grandma Cathy Greninger told WABI that the coroner, the doctors, and everyone else had a suspicion that the rocker she had been in had anything to do with her demise.
Less than a month after her death, Greninger alerted the American Consumer Product Safety Commission as well as Fisher-Price to the tragedy.
I wanted to give them a heads-up by letting them know as soon as possible that there is an issue with this rocker so they can look into it and see if there are any technical or engineering faults.
The fact that there were so many fatalities was startling, according to Greninger.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission engaged a medical expert between February 2018 and the product’s final recall to assess the danger of babies rolling over and choking in induced sleep devices, and the expert determined the Rock ‘n Play was harmful.
The CPSC was forced to keep silent during its inquiry “because to rules prohibiting CPSC from revealing information given by manufacturers.”
According to the study, “without engaging in expensive and protracted legal or regulatory actions, CPSC could not publicly divulge any information concerning the fatalities or injuries linked with Rock ‘n Play or conduct a recall.”
Consumer Reports was informed by the CPSC about the fatalities linked to the device in early 2019, but neither the CPSC nor Fisher Price planned to recall the Rock ‘n Play until Consumer Reports announced they would be publishing the data.
The item was removed off the market in a matter of days.
‘Fisher Price disregarded product complaints that claimed the item was responsible for infant fatalities. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, chairman of the Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee, said that Fisher Price only removed its products from the market after media organizations like Consumer Reports made public the risks associated with them.
Krishnamoorthi said at the 2021 hearing that Fisher Price and Mattel, the business’s parent company, have shown their inability to police itself.
The CEO of Mattel, Ynon Kreiz, who joined the business in 2018, has expressed regret for all that transpired.
“I want to extend my deepest and most heartfelt sympathies to the parents and anybody impacted by the tragic tragedy on behalf of myself and everyone at Mattel,” the spokesperson said.
Since I am a father of four, I can only speculate that the death of a kid cannot be much worse.
DailyMail.com received a comment via email from a Fisher Price spokesman.
Nothing is more important to Fisher-Price than the security of our goods and the confidence our customers have in us. Every family that has experienced a loss has our deepest sympathies.
After thorough investigation, expert medical counsel, safety evaluation, and more than a year of testing and assessment, “The Rock ‘n Play Sleeper” was created. It complied with or beyond all relevant regulatory requirements.
The ASTM voluntary standard for a 30-degree angled inclined sleeper was recently suggested to be adopted as federal legislation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
“Various independent medical and other expert evaluations confirmed that the product was safe when used in line with its directions and cautions after it was introduced to the market. One of the research indicated that the product had considerably less incidences than the SUID rates in cribs, bassinets, and playpens. Two studies established that the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper was as safe as or safer than other sleep settings such as cribs and bassinets. In addition, we went above and above what was required by the Consumer Product Safety Act to report important events to the CPSC.
The Rock ‘n Play Sleeper was safe when used in accordance with its directions and warnings, according to the facts, but we voluntarily recalled it in 2019 and have since carefully worked to remove all recalled products from the market. We repeat our promise to parents that we will always prioritize the protection of their children.
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