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Dresser Dangers – Still Reason for Concern

You’ve no doubt heard about children getting seriously injured or killed because of a dresser falling on them.   The most well-known of these instances involved dressers from Ikea.  The company has recalled millions of dressers within the past few years after several toddlers were killed by Ikea furniture.

Just last November, IKEA recalled more of its dressers after an 8th child was killed.  These were the “Malm” three-drawer, four-drawer, five-drawer and six-drawer models, as well as some non-Malm dressers.

As part of the Ikea recall, the company began promoting wall-mounting kits to ensure dresser safety.   Fastening the dresser to the wall is meant to prevent the dresser falling forward when children pull out dresser drawers or climb on them.

Now we’re finding out it’s not just Ikea that is plagued with this problem.  In late March, a report out from the Consumer Product Safety Commission says “Every year

thousands of children are (still being) injured by furniture tipping over — and every two weeks a child is killed by a tip-over.”

Consumer Reports tested 24 dressers against the furniture industry’s two voluntary testing standards: standing with all drawers open and empty, and standing with 50 pounds attached to the top drawer. The group also applied a more stringent test, with 60 pounds applied to the top drawer.

Just over half the dressers passed all the tests. Six passed the voluntary standards but failed the tougher 60-pound test. And five others failed even the 50-pound test.

For instance, one dresser made by South Shore — less than 30 inches tall, weighing more than 100 pounds while empty, and priced at $200 — fell forward when 50 pounds was applied to the top shelf.

Ameriwood, which makes one of the dressers that failed the voluntary test, told National Public Radio (NPR) that the dresser was less than 30 inches tall and therefore is not required to meet the industry’s voluntary standard. The company urged consumers to use anchors to attach dressers to the wall.

DaVinci, which makes another dresser that failed that test, told Consumer Reports it discontinued that model after changing its own internal tests.

South Shore, which made three dressers that tipped and has several dressers that are short enough to be exempt from the voluntary standard, wrote in an email to NPR that it “has decided to re-engineer its entire product line of clothing storage units and add significant weight to the back of the units.”

Contact Our North Indiana Medical Malpractice Lawyers

The lawyers at Theodoros & Rooth are confident that most manufacturers of dressers for children are good and responsible companies that will do all they can to prevent these tragedies.  However, some ignore certain safety precautions in putting a product on the market.

Product safety concerns are a large part of our practice at Theodoros & Rooth.  Contact us if you believe a product has caused you or a loved one serious injury or even death. We will fight aggressively for the justice you deserve.

Sources include:  Consumer Reports, National Public Radio