Articles Posted in Injuries to Children

Keeping children safe is a number one priority for parents and our personal injury lawyers in West Palm Beach take the matter so seriously and continue to stay updated on child product recalls.

Manufacturers have a responsibility to test and put their product through certain safety measures before being sold to the public. Still, far too many products are found to be dangerous or defective each year — usually after someone is injured or killed. We want to remind you to seek qualified legal help if your child has suffered serious injury from a child product defect in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or elsewhere in the state. Medical costs and personal suffering can be insurmountable in situations like these so it is important that you know your rights.

Lately, it seems child product recalls have been announced fast and furiously. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission continually reports on product defects so that consumers can be informed and prevent suffering injury. The CPSC has reported the following important child defective products recently:

-Infant bed-side sleepers manufactured by Arm’s Reach Concepts are being recalled for hazards with entrapment, suffocation, and falls. There have been 10 reported cases to date where an infant has fallen from the raised mattress and became entrapped between the mattress and side of the sleeper.

-Troy activity trucks manufactured by Infantino are being recalled for a potential choking hazard. Plastic beads on the truck have been found detachable, which can cause children to choke if placed in their mouth. To date, there have been 28 incidents reported, two of which children were found gagging on the plastic beads.

-Pogo Sticks manufactured by Bravo Sports are being recalled due to the high risk of injury while using the stick. The frame tube found on the bottom of the pogo stick can break or come apart which exposes the pin holding the spring in place. Breakage of the pin or spring causes serious fall threats or lacerations while playing with the stick. There have been 123 incidents reported including several incidents involving a tooth being chipped or knocked out completely.

-Water walking balls manufactured by several brand or ride names are being recalled for a high risk of suffocation and drowning. The water-related recreational activity involves climbing inside a big rubber ball while walking on water, ice or grass. There is no emergency exit and the ball can only be opened by someone on the outside. There are only two reported incidents but both were seriously injured inside the plastic ball.

The CPSC encourages any victim who has been injured or has experienced a dangerous product to call the Hotline at 1-800-638-2772 to report the defective product. For more information on consumer product recalls visit the CPSC website. Consumers are reminded that it is illegal to sell or attempt to sell recalled products but if you have experienced an injury from a defective product contact legal counsel immediately.
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The unresponsive body of a four-year-old boy was pulled from a murky residential pool late last Friday, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. The child was reported missing after he slipped out of his father’s sight.

Deputies responding to the missing child report used a helicopter and K-9 units to search for the child. He was discovered at the bottom of the pool and pulled from the water by a deputy who began CPR. The child was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Our Palm Beach accident attorneys and premises liability lawyers know for Florida residents submersion accidents are a concern, particularly given our geography and climate and the number of pools, spas and access to water sources spanning the state.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission between 2005 and 2007 there were, on average, 385 spa- or pool-related fatalities involving children aged 14 and younger. Between 2007 and 2009, approximately 4,200 submersion injuries required emergency care for this age group. Almost 8-out-of-10 submersion-related fatalities involved children younger than age 5.

More than half of the injuries and nearly three-quarters of all pool-related fatalities involving children 14 and younger happened in residential pools. For victims aged 5 and younger, percentages jump to 61 percent for injuries, and 84 percent for fatalities. Regarding victims aged 5 to 14, 48 percent of injuries and 43 percent of fatalities happened in a public venue.

KidsHealth reports that a young child can drown in less than two inches of water, making everything from the kitchen sink to a ditch filled with rainwater a potential safety hazard. (On that note, hot water can also be hazardous. It takes less than three seconds for hot tap water to cause a third-degree burn on a child’s skin.)

If you have a pool (hot tub, pond or spa included) at home, KidsHealth recommends having a fence that completely encircles the water source is “the best safety investment you can make”. In most cases, Florida law requires such a fence, as well as other safety features. Pool covers and pool alarms can act as a deterrent, but have proven ineffective in preventing drowning involving young children. With that said, perhaps the most important life-saving tip for a parent or caregiver working with children on or near property with water access is constant supervision. When water is involved, never assume someone else is looking after a child.

Other suggestions include:

~ Invest in swimming lessons. Whether you have a pool or not, teaching a child to swim can be a potentially life-saving skill.

~ Teach your kids proper pool behavior: no diving in the shallow end, don’t run on the pool deck. If you see a storm approaching or hear thunder, get out of the water.

~ Because seconds matter when it comes to submersion injuries, keep a cell phone with you at all times when supervising children playing in a pool.

~ Learn CPR.

~ If children are swimming or playing in a natural water system – the beach, the lake – make sure kids are wearing foot protection. Teach them to be alert to above and below water level hazards, such as boats or jagged rocks, tangled weeds and large waves or undertows.

~ Before letting your kids swim, be sure to check with the lifeguard station about water conditions and safety concerns.
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South Florida personal injury attorneys have been following the developments in the South Miami Hospital case where the accidental circumcision of an eight-day-old infant has both created controversy and led to the filing of a million-dollar lawsuit. The Miami Herald reports that the child was circumcised without the mother’s consent and despite the fact she repeatedly rejected the procedure when asked by hospital staff.

The 30-year-old mother said that circumcision is not a common in her family and it is a medical procedure she culturally opposes. The hospital has since apologized to the family and has promised to put in place procedures to prevent such an error from occurring in the future. Aside from seeking compensation for physical damages caused by what her attorney has called an irreversible “amputation” of healthy tissue, the infant’s mother has also filed a criminal battery report with local law enforcement.

Clearly a sensitive topic for the family, the case is also causing a stir within the community. According to ABC News, the anti-circumcision group SICSociety plans to demonstrate outside the hospital to show support for the family while raising awareness that circumcision is not a medically-necessary procedure.

About 55 to 65 percent of U.S. babies are circumcised each year, a drop of about 10 percent from when the practice reached its peak in the 1960s, Kids Health reports. Circumcision is a much more common practice in Canada, the Middle East and the United States than in Asia, South and Central America and portions of Europe.

Regarding the premise of medical necessity, the American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees. The AAP defines circumcision as “non-essential to the child’s well-being” and recommends deferring the decision to circumcise to the parents, whose cultural, social, ethnic or religious beliefs may or may not align with common American medical practices.

A decision taken away from one set of parents in a Miami hospital on Aug. 2. In other cases, medical mistakes during circumcision may lead to scarring or the formation of scar tissue or lumps around the end of the penis. This malformation can range from moderate to severe and may ultimately require surgical correction.
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