Articles Posted in Child Safety

This year, on October 9th, Moll Law Group is excited to celebrate Children’s Environmental Health Day (CEH Day)! CEH Day is an annual celebration of children’s environmental health successes and a day to raise the visibility of issues and challenges in the field. It’s also a day to drive collective action to address the big challenges facing our little ones.

According to Children’s Environmental Health Network, children face increasing rates of chronic diseases, mental health challenges, and developmental concerns linked to environmental hazards and climate change. Children from lower-income communities and communities of color are placed at disproportionately higher risk due to environmental injustices and racism. It is time to place children at the center of our decision-making to protect their health and well-being, and that of future generations. It is our obligation to protect and nurture our children’s physical, mental, and social well-being, and a large part of this is ensuring that all children have access to clean air, clean water, safe food and products, stable climates, and healthy places to live, learn, and play. CEH Day encourages individuals and organizations to raise awareness and understanding of children’s environmental health issues and to advocate for improvements in policy, regulations, and practices to best protect children from exposure to environmental hazards.

“Ten years ago, Children’s Environmental Health Network established Children’s Environmental Health Day with the focused purpose of energizing and leveraging collaboration around the protection of children from harmful chemical and environmental factors. The partnerships that make up CEH Day continue to expand around the United States and beyond, highlighting actions, case examples, and resources that are working to protect all children today and into the future. We applaud the work of our CEH Day partners and the important resources that they are for the families and communities,” says Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, Executive Director of the Children’s Environmental Health Network.

Recently, the Consumer Products and Safety Commission (CPSC) warned consumers, parents, and guardians not to use certain loungers made by Ningbo Tree Nest Children Products because they pose risks of suffocation, fall, and entrapment. The warning pertained to Mamibaby, Yoocaa, DHZJM, Cosy Nation & Hyhuudth loungers. There have been five infant deaths reported. If your baby was injured or killed because of getting entrapped or suffocated or suffering a fall from the lounger, you should discuss the viability from bringing a lawsuit with the experienced Chicago-based product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group. Billions have been recovered in cases with which we’ve been involved.

Call Moll Law Group for a Consultation About a Lounger Claim

It’s important to immediately stop using the loungers Mamibaby, Yoocaa, DHZJM, Cosy Nation & Hyhuudth that were made by Ningbo Tree Nest Children Products. Do not dispose of the product if your baby was injured or killed, as the product itself could be valuable evidence, but put it someplace safe and be sure not to use it. The CPSC has warned that even though these loungers have been advertised as sleep products, they create a dangerous sleep environment, presenting suffocation, entrapment, and falls for infants.

The Mamibaby baby lounger was sold at Walmart.com. There is a Mamibaby tag sewn on the cover for the baby lounger, which should help you identify it. “Sleeping set” tags have also been sewn the lounge covers for this lounger. Meanwhile, Yoocaa baby loungers have been sold on Amazon.com. You can identify these based on the manufacturer label on Yoocaa baby lounger packaging, as well as by the “Sleeping Set” tag that’s sewn on the lounger cover. Similarly, the DHZJM baby lounger, sold on Amazon.com, can be identified by a tag identifying the manufacturer on the lounger and cover. “Sleeping set” will also be sewn on the cover. Both the Hyhuudth and Cosy Nation Baby loungers, also found on Amazon.com, can also be identified according to tags on the lounger and cover.

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Public concern is growing that weighted infant sleepwear, including sleep sacks and swaddles, may be dangerous for babies, after warnings from medical experts, safe-sleep advocates and federal regulators. In response, Amazon, Target and Walmart pulled this sleepwear from their sites and shelves. A senator has called for investigation into Dreamland Baby and Nested Bean, two of the popular weighted infant sleepwear companies based on allegations that they’ve used deceptive marketing in connection with product safety. It’s terrifying to discover your baby has been injured by a product you believed was safe. If your baby was injured by weighted infant sleepwear, call trustworthy Chicago-based product liability lawyers Moll Law Group.

Consult Moll Law Group About Weighted Infant Sleepwear Claims

Experts and regulators concerned about the weighted sleepwear believe that it could prevent babies from breathing and pumping blood, and that the sleepwear could harm a baby as he or she is developing. Additionally, they think that the sleepwear is heavy enough that it could stop an infant from waking themselves up in case they aren’t able to breathe. This group thinks the product needs rigorous safety testing prior to being made available on the market.

However, the manufacturers’ CEOs have stated that their products are safe and that there’s no evidence to the contrary; investigators are concerned that there’s no evidence of safety either. The marketing for these products has focused on their comforting and soothing effects on newborns. Nested Bean has sold more than 2.5 million units of sleepwear products. The Dreamland Baby product has been out for more than 10 years, and more than 1 million weighted units have been sold.

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Thousands of parents have sued both Mead Johnson and Abbott for defects in their formula. In a recent landmark jury verdict, Mead Johnson, the baby formula manufacturer who makes Enfamil, including Enfamil Premature Nutrition Products, was recently found liable for placing premature infants at greater risk for deadly diseases. Along with Abbott, it had denied that the Enfamil products caused NEC or the risk of it in premature infants and denied that there is a link between NEC and cow’s milk formula.  The jury in this case awarded the plaintiff mother $60 million—$35 million more than what was requested. If your baby was harmed by Mead Johnson formula, call the seasoned Chicago-based product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group.

Consult Moll Law Group About Your Baby Formula Lawsuit

The litigation was pursued partly to alter the way preemies in the NICU are fed. The formula believed to cause NEC that was the subject of the trial was made using cow’s milk. In court filings responding to the lawsuits, Mead Johnson has written: “Mead Johnson denies that Enfamil products cause NEC or increase risks of NEC in infants.” The jury found that the manufacturer had not done enough to provide warnings to parents of increased odds of these infants suffering a deadly disease because they were given Mead Johnson’s formula Necrotizing Enterocolitis or NEC.

The case against Mead Johnson was brought by a mother who’d lost one of her twin preemies; it was made part of a multidistrict litigation. Over 330 lawsuits were filed around the country regarding the formula at issue. The trial started on February 20 and lasted four weeks. At closing arguments, the mother’s attorney called upon jurors to make the right decision after hearing from a dozen expert neonatologists, all of whom agreed that while the research about the formula was inclusive, using the formula increased the risk of NEC. It was also argued on closing that the company doesn’t warn pediatricians and parents about how serious the dangers are on its packaging or its marketing to doctors.

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Recently, lawsuits regarding baby food contaminated with toxic heavy metals were centralized in a single multidistrict litigation (MDL). The lawsuits were brought against several manufacturers and sellers of baby food products alleged to contain high levels of neurotoxins, including mercury, arsenic, and lead. These include Gerber Products Company, Walmart, Inc., Sprout Foods Inc., Plum Organics, Hain Celestial, Inc., and Beech-Nut Nutrition Company. Toxic heavy metal contamination can result in serious harm to the brain during a baby’s development. If your baby was injured by toxic baby food, you should call the seasoned product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group.

Consult Moll Law Group About Toxic Baby Food Claims

Exposure and consumption of contaminating metals can result in babies winding up with neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. The 11 lawsuits, filed in 7 different federal district courts, that were centralized involve the same toxins, the same harm, and the same defendants. The products overlap in flavors and categories; specifically they can be organized as jars or tubs pouches; puffs; snacks; cereals and yogurt-based foods. Accordingly, the United States Judicial Panel brought the cases together in a centralized proceeding. The Judicial Panel acknowledged that not all the baby foods were contaminated, and that certain ingredients increased contamination like rice and root vegetables.

However, the panel reasoned, all the actions had common questions of facts and law, and there were certain patterns in the plaintiffs’ claims based on the defendants’ coordinated behavior. For instance, from 2019 to 2021, most of the defendants were part of a consortium that was organized to handle the toxic contamination. Additionally, defendant manufacturers have co-manufacturing agreements between themselves and use common suppliers and laboratories.

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Three of the United States’s largest retailers, Amazon, Target, and Walmart, have announced they will no longer sell water beads, which are often marketed for children with development disorders. The beads are made of polymers, and in water, they can expand about 150-1500 times their original size. Public pressure has grown to remove water beads from stores after numerous reports of injuries and deaths of children who have either swallowed the beads of put them in their ears and noses. If your child was injured or died as a result of these water beads, you should call the experienced Chicago-based product liability attorneys of Moll Law Group to determine whether you have recourse against the manufacturer.

Call Moll Law Group About Your Child’s Water Bead Injuries

Water beads seem to be harmless, but they can grow to the size of a tennis ball when exposed to water. Amazon told “Good Morning America” that its policy for third party sellers of water beads has been updated. They will monitor store listings for these toys; Amazon won’t permit the sale of water beads marketed to children to use for sensory play, art supplies, or toys. Similarly, Target told “Good Morning America” it has stopped sale of water beads marketed to children ages 12 and under, both in its stores and online. Walmart likewise announced it would remove the beads in its physical storefronts and its online store.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has warned about water bead injuries in babies and children for years, as have some parents. Babies have died after ingestion of water beads. Around 52,000 of Buffalo Games’s Chuckle & Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits were recalled in September 2023. The company claimed that it had the product tested to Children’s Product Safety standards by a lab approved by the CPSC, and that the product passed those tests, including the ASTM standard for materials that expand, for ages four and up. It also emphasized its package warning about the beads expanding. Buffalo Games asked consumers to contact them to return the Ultimate Water Beads for a full refund. The CPSC has asked parents to report water bead injuries to the agency at SaferProducts.gov.

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As we’ve previously related on this blog, the United States Food and Drug Administration has recalled three applesauce products. These products include WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, Schunks cinnamon applesauce pouches, and Weis cinnamon applesauce pouches. The recall stems from the FDA’s investigation of dozens of acute lead poisonings in children that are associated with these brands of cinnamon applesauce pouches and the FDA continues to investigate. If your child suffered lead poisoning and you suspect it due to his or her consumption of these apple sauces, you should call the seasoned Chicago-based lawyers of Moll Law Group. Billions have been recovered in cases around the nation with which we’ve been involved.

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Over 60 children under the age of 6 have tested positive for lead poisoning after consuming the applesauce in the United States. Some of these children have been found to have over 500 times the acceptable threshold for lead. Standard blood screenings, which are recommended by the CDC to reduce lead exposure under age 6, helped identify those children who had elevated lead levels.

The FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, Jim Jones, believes it’s possible that the contaminated cinnamon applesauce pouches were intentionally tainted with lead. He’s explained that the evidence points to an intentional act by someone who is part of the supply chain for the pouches, which were sold under three different brands made in a manufacturing facility in Ecuador. The FDA is inspecting that facility. He has suggested that perhaps the perpetrator didn’t understand the pouches would end up in a country with strong, enforced regulations.

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