Illinois Injury and Mass Tort Lawyer BlogFDA Warns About Baby Neck Floats
Sometimes baby neck floats are used on babies with spina bifida, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued warnings not to use neck floats with babies with special needs or developmental delays, even when interventions such as water therapy are being provided. If your baby was injured or killed by a baby neck float, you should call the seasoned Chicago-based lawyers of Moll Law Group.
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Some neck floats, inflatable plastic rings worn around a baby’s neck, permit babies to float in the water freely. They can be marketed for premature infants or even as young as two weeks old. Parents and caregivers use the products during babies’ baths or when their baby is swimming as a physical therapy intervention because they have developmental disabilities or delays. Some manufacturers claim that using these neck floats allows for increased lung capacity, muscle tone, flexibility and motion range, and stimulation of the brain and nervous system. They claim they can build strength or promote development, but these claims are not fully supported.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned parents and others not to use neck floats with babies, even for therapy, especially when babies have developmental delays or special needs, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Downs syndrome or spinal muscular atrophy type 1. Using floats can lead to death or severe neck strain and injuries.