Easy Bake Oven Recall
As parents of aspiring young bakers may already know, Hasbro, Inc. is recalling its Easy-Bake Oven -- for the second time in six months -- because kids are getting their fingers caught in the door and suffering serious burns as a result. One five-year-old had to have her finger partially amputated because her burn was so serious. The first recall, announced Feb. 6, came after 29 reports of injuries from children getting their fingers caught in the toy. In that recall, parents could ask for a repair kit that was supposed to fix the problem.
But it didn’t, as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found out. The Commission, which is the federal agency that handles recalls of unsafe products, received 249 more reports of injuries, including 77 burns and the finger amputation. This time, parents are being asked to return about a million Easy-Bake Ovens -- any ovens sold during or after May of 2006, including the ones that had been “fixed” -- in exchange for a voucher from the manufacturer. Concerned parents should read the CPSC press release hosted on Hasbro’s Web site, which gives information identifying the recalled toy and a link to the recall form. CNN reports that Hasbro has already been sued over the defective Easy-Bake Ovens; we believe that’s a righteous lawsuit. The recalled ovens are the result of a change in the design of a toy that worked well for more than 40 years. That is, the new ovens are defective by design, and the manufacturer’s first “solution” not only didn’t fix the problem, it actually resulted in eight times more reports of injuries!
Product defects are a lot more common than many Americans think; tainted food recalls alone have become a disturbing trend in the last year. Federal and state laws require manufacturers to ensure that their products are safe before they bring them to market, but thousands fail in that duty each year, and a few unlucky people pay for it with their health. Often, as in this case, the victims are kids -- vulnerable people who should be extra well-protected. The little girl who lost part of her finger will live her entire life partially disabled, and undoubtedly ensure teasing from her peers. That’s too steep a price to pay for buying the wrong toy. If you or someone you know was hurt by a defective Easy-Bake Oven, we urge you to speak to us confidentially about a products liability lawsuit.
