An Overview of Major Product Recalls in 2016
Written by Cooper & Friedman PLLC on March 8, 2017
While 2016 brought a lot of change to the country, one thing that is consistent year after year: product recalls. In 2015, food products and pharmaceuticals topped the list of recalls, but this past year furniture, baby products, and car parts were the front runners of major product recalls.
As product liability attorneys serving people throughout Kentucky and Southern, Indiana, we understand the risks of defective and dangerous products. And we also know the rights consumers like you have that protect you from flawed or malfunctioning products.
Follow along to learn about 10 major product recalls that occurred in 2016. Learn more about certain recalled products and what you should do if you are ever injured by a faulty product.
A Product Liability Attorney Outlines 10 Product Recalls from 2016
1. Fisher Price® Cradles
On April 15th, 2016 Fisher Price® announced a product recall on a model of cradle that had recently been released. Fisher Price® cited that the stability of the Soothing Savanna Cradle N’ Swing and Sweet Surroundings line of cradles were not up to code. After two accidents where the swings fell apart because of a loose peg falling from the seat Fisher Price® issued a recall. The company recalled over 34,000 cradles in America. The public did not report any injuries which saved Fisher Price® millions in product liability cases despite their loss in market sales.
2. Suzuki Motorcycle Batteries
Less than a month into 2016, on the 29th of January, Suzuki recalled over 68,000 motorcycles and scooters. The product recall affected 11 models built between the years of 2007 and 2012. Suzuki cited the reason of the recall was because of batteries not properly charging because of a circuit board issue. After hearing about issues with the batteries not holding charge in 2010, Suzuki was able to recreate the battery charging issue in 2011. Suzuki changed their manufacturing processes in response, but still continued to have issues with the batteries holding charge. 4 years later, Suzuki finally established what the true issue was and started a recall to avoid product liability lawsuits after over 200 incidents were reported including 1 in the United States.
3. Ford Fuel Pumps
Ford, one of North America’s largest car dealers, issued a recall on August 14, 2016 on more than 91,000 vehicles in the United States of America. The issue was cited as a faulty fuel pump that “could potentially cause some vehicles to stall.” The faulty fuel pumps affected several models built between 2013 and 2015 and the recall applied to a certain subset of cars including: the Ford Taurus, Ford Police Interceptor sedans, and a couple of Lincoln models. No injuries or accidents were reported to Ford that were connected to the faulty fuel pumps, but to avoid future product liability cases, Ford notified customers and offered free fuel pump replacements to vehicles that could potentially be affected.
4. Alex Toys Toy Sets
Alex Toys, a manufacturer of children’s toys, issued product recalls in August of 2016 that concerned their building block play sets marketed towards infants. According to the recall, there was a choking hazard that posed a great risk to children after learning that small pieces of the plastic toys had the possibility of detaching. The company recalled 91,000 toy sets and offered a full refund as the remedy to the recall. No injuries have been reported which means Alex Toys has avoided product liability cases in court, but 22 reports were made that plastic pieces did indeed detach from larger building blocks.
5. Rival Electric Water Kettle
Big brand Wal-Mart issued an emergency recall on the Rival brand electric water kettles they offered in stores on May 6th, 2016. Wal-Mart found that the heating element within the kettle had the possibility of rupturing and causing burns. However, unlike the previous examples, Wal-Mart was not able to avoid product liability lawsuits after seven reports of burns from the water kettle were filed among over 80 incident reports. Wal-Mart recalled 1.2 million units from their stores across the country and issued a notice that all consumers who had purchased this product should stop use immediately and return the product for a refund.
6. Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Perhaps one of the most talked about recalls of the past year, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 made national headlines after catching fire on an airplane. One of the highest profile recalls in history, Samsung issued a recall on 2.5 million phones. Additionally, the company offered an exchange of the Galaxy Note 7 for any other Samsung branded smart phone or a full monetary refund. Even more interestingly, Samsung released a software update the prevented the Note 7 devices from charging, so they eventually lost all charge and forced users to return them. At least 13 people reported injuries from the faulty phones, so Samsung is most likely dealing with product liability lawsuits left and right while they still try to shake the shadow cast by the issues initially.
7. General Mills Flour
E. coli has been a catalyst of many food recalls over the last 5, 10 years and the public is fully aware of an outbreak of E. coli when one hits the shelves at supermarkets or the counters at restaurants. 2016 saw a large E. coli outbreak among Chipotle restaurants that forced them to have a nationwide meeting to discuss food cleanliness and the year also saw General Mills recall 10 million pounds of flour on May 31st for the same reason. General Mills linked all E. coli illnesses related to the flour to the consumption of raw dough or batter made with the raw flour.
The company reminded consumers it is unsafe to eat raw dough and that flour is a wheat by-product which grows outside where bacteria strains exist. Over 63 people in 24 states were infected with the strains of E. coli related to the flour recall and consumers were instructed to throw out all flour with certain serial numbers related to the recall.
8. Ikea MALM Dresser
Another highly publicized recall of 2016 focused on the Ikea MALM Dressers and Chests. Ikea recalled over 29 million pieces of furniture after reports of stability issues and incidents of tipping. Ikea announced the recall on June 28th and updated it on November 4th to include more serial numbers. Four children died from dressers or chests tipping over on them. This gave parents grounds to product liability lawsuits as well as loss of life suits. After the recall, Ikea offered two remedies: refund or repair. The refund was offered in full to customers who purchased between certain dates. The repair offered was a free kit that would anchor the dresser or chest to the wall to prevent further tipping.
9. CRF Frozen Foods
In May of 2016, one of the largest product recalls of 2016 occurred when CRF Frozen Foods recalled 47 million units of frozen fruit and vegetable products. A listeria outbreak prompted this recall. Listeria is a health risk that is especially harmful to pregnant women. CRF also shut down operations at the facility in Washington State that was the site of the outbreak. All 50 states in the country, plus 4 Canadian provinces, received infected products from CRF before they issued a recall. Seven people ended up in the hospital and with conditions linked to consumption of CRF Foods. Two of the seven hospitalized consumers died, but not from complications related to Listeria. It is unknown if consumers filed product liability cases. However, the recall affected over 350 different consumer products that may still be in homes today.
10. Takata Air Bags
Rounding out our list of major product recalls in 2016 is the Takata Air Bag recall. This recall continued to grow from its original recall in 2013. Takata announced the fault in April of 2013, and Toyota – a main Takata partnera – started product recalls that June. The New York Times reported 139 injuries related to faulty air bag inflation that September. Unfortunately, the recall issue continued to grow. By 2016, Mazda, Daimler, Audi, BMW, and Volkswagen joined the recall movement and pulled back almost 2 million vehicles.
As of the end of 2016, 200 people reported injury from Takata airbags. Takata repaired 12.5 million inflators out of almost 65 million. The beginning of 2017 saw more vehicles added to the recall. The U.S. government issued a fine to Takata for $1 billion to cover product liability compensation and fraud charges.
Major product liability lawsuits stem from recalls each and every year. Consumers trust companies to serve products and services that are safe and reliable. When that trust breaks, compensation must be provided.
If you have been the victim of a faulty product, you may have grounds for a product liability case. Contact the product liability attorneys at the Cooper & Friedman law offices for more information including a free case consultation. With over 45 combined years of experience serving accident victims across Kentucky and Southern Indiana, we’ll be able to handle your case and get you the compensation you deserve. Call our offices at 502-459-7555 and schedule a free consultation today.