Federal Government Launches New Consumer Complaint Database

March 11, 2011— -- Nicki Johns' son was 8 months old when he died in a drop side crib accident.

Nearly five years later, his death continues to haunt Johns, 30, who spent months researching cribs for her premature newborn.

"If I had seen anywhere there had been a problem, I would have crossed the name off the list," the Roseville, Calif., resident told ABC News. "It only takes a second for something tragic to happen, and you spend forever thinking, what could I have done differently?"

All drop side cribs were recalled last year, but not after a series of tragic accidents.

"Word couldn't get out there because we couldn't let people know, there was no way for us to tell them what happened," Johns said.

Now the federal government is hoping to lessen accidents like that of the Johns by providing a database with safety information on a range of consumer products, including cribs, toys and strollers.

Saferproducts.gov, the brainchild of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, launches today, and it's designed to help consumers get more information about products large and small.

The CPSC already collects reports of defective products from a wide range of sources, including consumers, health care providers, death certificates and media accounts, but most of that information is private.

The database was created as part of a consumer product safety law passed by Congress in 2008, and marks the first time the federal government will make public thousands of complaints it receives each year about the safety of various products.

The database will include only information about defects that result in injury or death, not complaints about reliability or quality, nor about food items, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, tobacco, automobiles and tires.

When a consumer files a complaint, the CPSC has five days to notify the manufacturer, which in turn has 10 days to respond to the complaint. The manufacturer can challenge the complaint as false, argue that it will give away a trade secret or submit a response.

Complaints about a product will be posted to the database within 15 days. If a manufacturer provides a response, it will be published alongside the complaint. If a manufacturer says that a complaint is false or that to answer it would disclose confidential business information, the CPSC will decide whether to withhold or publish the complaint.

Those filing a complaint must identify themselves, but that information won't be published and will be disclosed to the manufacturer only with the consumer's permission.

In 2009, the CPSC received 16,000 complaints.