Los Angeles toy importer OKK Trading Inc. has recalled 22,000 toy dart-gun sets following the tragic choking death of an 8-year-old boy in Texas. The young boy died in November 2007 when one of the darts became lodged in his throat. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently warned parents that children can choke on the soft plastic darts included with the Action Team toy dart gun. Philadelphia parents who may have purchased the Action Team toy dart gun as a holiday gift for their child should remove it from the child's reach immediately and consult the Consumer Product Safety Commission website.
Death and personal injury caused by defective toys make for tragic Philadelphia news headlines every year. The sheer volume of toys given and opened during the December holidays makes it more likely that defects in toy products will be discovered by playing children this month. It is particularly tragic that despite American consumer product laws specifically directed at protecting our children from dangerous toys, every year poorly constructed toys endanger Philadelphia children.
Part of the problem is the length of time it takes to identify and remove dangerous toys from Philadelphia store shelves. For example, the 8-year-old Texas boy choked to death on an Action Team toy dart in November 2007, but it took two more years for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a warning and for the import firm to recall the toy. How many more children were placed at risk in those two years? Too often the injury or death of a child is the impetus that removes an unsafe product from store shelves or keeps dangerous toys out of the innocent hands of Philadelphia children. It is when parents of an injured child hire Philadelphia personal injury lawyers to bring a defective product suit that manufacturers and importers are forced to remove defective products from the market.
