The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

Last week, Maclaren announced a recall of over one million of its umbrella style strollers because the strollers create a dangerous scissoring effect during folding or unfolding that can cut off the fingertips of children. The recall includes every folding umbrella stroller sold by Maclaren from 1999 through November 2009. Consumers are urged to immediately stop using the dangerous defective products and contact Maclaren USA to receive a repair kit that will cover the strollers and protect children from injury. The strollers have resulted in at least 12 children's fingers being severed.

Maclaren has known about the defect since at least 2004, when it was informed about a 23-month old child who lost his finger while his mother was testing the unfolding mechanism in the store. The child's finger could not be reattached. Maclaren alleged that the mother's negligence was to blame for the amputation and did report the problem to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC). But it did settle the mother's lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, with the condition that the mother not discuss the lawsuit or the settlement.

An engineer who worked at the CPSC said of the Maclaren umbrella strollers,"this stroller contains a substantial design defect when compared to other . . . strollers." At this point, the CPSC is not stating a position on the criminality of Maclaren's actions because its investigation is ongoing.

Defective product lawsuits, otherwise known as product liability lawsuits, are partly intended to protect the public by bringing to light dangerous defects such as this one. Often manufacturers will attempt to use confidential settlements to keep defects hidden. If you work with The Cochran Firm for your product liability lawsuit, you will be in charge of the lawsuit, and we will never accept a confidential settlement if you want to push for a public trial to let people know about the defect.

If you or someone you love has been injured by a dangerous product, please contact The Cochran Firm today for a free case evaluation.