Family Voices Support KID

It’s a parent’s nightmare: a toy or product they bought for their child ends up causing injury or even death.

I recently read about KID (Kids in Danger) a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children by improving children’s product safety.  KID was founded in 1998 by the parents of sixteen-month-old Danny Keysar who died in his childcare home when a portable crib collapsed around his neck.  Although the portable crib had been recalled five years earlier, word of its danger had not reached Danny’s parents, caregiver, or a state inspector who visited the home just days before Danny’s death.

Just because an item is a popular brand name product or has already been “kid-tested” does not mean that it will be safe. To date, 19 children have died in cribs of similar faulty design. And portable cribs are just one of the long lists of children’s products that may prove to be dangerous.  At KID, the goal is to have every parent aware of how to protect their children from unsafe products before they leave the hospital with their new baby and to have every manufacturer committed to strong safety standards and independent testing before any product reaches store shelves.  Parents, too, can take action to protect your children from dangerous products by continuously checking with The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other organizations that maintain and update lists of products recalled and searching your home for dangerous products, as well as asking your childcare center, family, and friends to search for recalled items.

Recalls are only the beginning.  The public needs to be notified; recalled product needs to get out of homes and child care facilities.  KID founders believe that social media is a lost opportunity to reach consumers.  While some manufacturers have a dedicated recall page, overall the results were alarming.  Companies should be promoting their recalls the same way they promote their products.  With social media so important in our mobile society, it stands to reason that companies should be using Facebook and Twitter to announce product recalls.

Lawsuit Financial supports any effort to prevent senseless injuries or deaths to children. Most trial lawyers are pleased to become involved in safety efforts that help prevent such tragedies, rather than becoming involved, afterwards, to pursue justice for someone who has experienced it. Trial lawyer involvement in KidsAndCars.org is one good example. The Keenan Kids Foundation, the brain child of Atlanta Georgia trial lawyer Don Keenan, is another. This foundation provides training and financial resources to prevent playground injuries.  To receive additional information or to lend your support to any of these wonderful organizations, please visit their websites at KidsAndCars.org,  Keenan Kids Foundation, or Kids in Danger.  You can also follow KID on Facebook and Twitter.

Your voice DOES make a difference!

Mark Bello has thirty-seven years experience as a trial lawyer and fifteen years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the lawsuit funding industry. He is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation which helps provide cash flow solutions and consulting when necessities of life litigation funding is needed by a plaintiff involved in pending, personal injury, litigation. Bello is a Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Association for Justice, Member of Public Justice, Public Citizen, the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan and the Injury Board.