Sixteen-month-old Daniel Keysar had just woken up from a nap at daycare when he stood up in his crib and rocked on the rail. The crib, a Playskool Travel-Lite portable crib, suddenly collapsed.
“And then his head went into the rail and he strangled and he died. Died silently,” Keysar’s mother, Linda Ginzel, told ABC News. “We thought it was a random, freak accident. We really believed that, you know, it’s just, how does a crib collapse and kill a baby?”
But it wasn’t a freak accident, and it wasn’t the first. The day after Ginzel said she buried her son, she found out that the crib in which he had been sleeping had been recalled five years before and that her son was the fifth child to die that way.
Ginzel said the crib belonged to the owner of the daycare, whose own daughter stayed there as well.
“So if she had known that the product had been recalled, then she would’ve notified the provider,” Ginzel said. “It’s just that we didn’t know. So the government knew [and] the manufacturer knew... We couldn’t believe that our son died in this way… That people knew that this product was dangerous and defective.”
Daniel Keysar died in the Spring of 1998, but a decade and a half later, a new undercover ABC News “20/20” investigation, with affiliates across the country, found that the U.S. government agency charged with protecting consumers is struggling to keep a flood of potentially dangerous products out of American homes, and officials say some major manufacturers and online resellers -- particularly Craigslist -- aren’t doing enough to help.
The newly installed head of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Elliot Kaye, told ABC News in his first major broadcast interview that the government estimates a “good” recall only actually takes about 20 percent of the potentially dangerous products off the market – from appliances that could catch fire, to childcare products that have contributed to terrible injuries and deaths. On the lower end, some recalls only see five percent of products returned or fixed.
“I live every day in fear of that happening to my children,” Kaye said of stories like Ginzel’s. “We need to solve this problem and we need as much energy and as much participation from all different aspects we can… We see companies putting tremendous resources, time, energy, money, creativity into selling their products, but we don’t necessarily see the same thing on the recall side.”
Under federal law, there is no specific requirement for how much effort manufacturers have to make or how much they have to spend to get the word out when their products are under safety recall. It’s all voluntary.
The newly installed head of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Elliot Kaye, told ABC News in his first major broadcast interview that the government estimates a “good” recall only actually takes about 20 percent of the potentially dangerous products off the market – from appliances that could catch fire, to childcare products that have contributed to terrible injuries and deaths. On the lower end, some recalls only see five percent of products returned or fixed.
“I live every day in fear of that happening to my children,” Kaye said of stories like Ginzel’s. “We need to solve this problem and we need as much energy and as much participation from all different aspects we can… We see companies putting tremendous resources, time, energy, money, creativity into selling their products, but we don’t necessarily see the same thing on the recall side.”
Under federal law, there is no specific requirement for how much effort manufacturers have to make or how much they have to spend to get the word out when their products are under safety recall. It’s all voluntary.
Kaye said that one particular new focus for the CPSC is the market for online resellers, where lax standards could allow individuals or organized resellers to hawk products that have already been recalled to unsuspecting buyers. Some major online purchasing websites, like eBay and Amazon, have made significant effort to put barriers in place for recalled products, but another huge ad site, Craigslist, refuses, Kaye says.
“They do not and will not do it to date,” Kaye said. “I think it’s morally irresponsible.”
In a written statement, the Washington government relations executive for Craigslist, William C. Powell, said the site has an automated system to help prevent posting of recalled items and also “provides a system where users can flag postings advertising recalled items for removal.”
CLICK HERE to read Powell's statement in full.
The spokesperson also said Craigslist prohibits the sale of recalled items and the company says it notifies users that recalled products can't be sold.
That notice is on the posting page, and elsewhere the prohibition of recalled items is on line 15 of a 22 line-long list of a wide range of prohibited categories.
“They do not and will not do it to date,” Kaye said. “I think it’s morally irresponsible.”
In a written statement, the Washington government relations executive for Craigslist, William C. Powell, said the site has an automated system to help prevent posting of recalled items and also “provides a system where users can flag postings advertising recalled items for removal.”
CLICK HERE to read Powell's statement in full.
The spokesperson also said Craigslist prohibits the sale of recalled items and the company says it notifies users that recalled products can't be sold.
That notice is on the posting page, and elsewhere the prohibition of recalled items is on line 15 of a 22 line-long list of a wide range of prohibited categories.
As part of the “20/20” investigation, ABC News obtained a recalled model of the Bumbo baby booster seat and attempted to post it online on eBay, Amazon and Craigslist.
On eBay, ABC News received a notification that the Bumbo seat was under safety recall and could not be sold. On Amazon, the attempt to list the booster seat was automatically blocked. But on Craigslist, no problem. The potentially dangerous item was posted and left up for a week before ABC News took it down.
Craigslist said in a statement that it’s up to the site’s users to spot recalled items and that it doesn’t control what is posted on its site.
ABC News attempted to speak with Craigslist founder, Craig Newmark, outside his San Francisco home, but he repeatedly deflected all inquiries when asked if the company’s policy is, as Kaye put it, “irresponsible.”
“You’ve already spoken with my people,” said Newmark, who’s no longer on the Craigslist management team. “I appreciate your time. I know you guys have to do this.”
On eBay, ABC News received a notification that the Bumbo seat was under safety recall and could not be sold. On Amazon, the attempt to list the booster seat was automatically blocked. But on Craigslist, no problem. The potentially dangerous item was posted and left up for a week before ABC News took it down.
Craigslist said in a statement that it’s up to the site’s users to spot recalled items and that it doesn’t control what is posted on its site.
ABC News attempted to speak with Craigslist founder, Craig Newmark, outside his San Francisco home, but he repeatedly deflected all inquiries when asked if the company’s policy is, as Kaye put it, “irresponsible.”
“You’ve already spoken with my people,” said Newmark, who’s no longer on the Craigslist management team. “I appreciate your time. I know you guys have to do this.”
In order to assess the breadth of the recall problem, ABC News turned to 17 local affiliates from coast to coast, who did their own digging.
In Chicago, ABC affiliate WLS found a woman who learned a dehumidifier she was trying to sell was under recall.
“The thought of passing it on to somebody else, and it could have possibly caused a fire, is devastating to even think of,” she said.
In Charlotte, WSOC-TV found a Craigslist seller listing a recalled baby monitor and another recalled Bumbo baby seat.
In Indianapolis, WRTV used Craigslist to find a recalled Lane wooden chest with a type of lock that has trapped children inside, killing them.
In all, the ABC News “20/20” investigation found that Americans stand little chance in the game of what could be called recall Roulette.
Click the links in the map below to see if a local report was done in your area. And for more information on recalled products, including how to see if something you own has been subject to recall, visit the CPSC’s website at SaferProducts.gov.
ABC News’ Stephanie Zimmermann, Randy Kreider and Lee Ferran contributed to this report.
In Chicago, ABC affiliate WLS found a woman who learned a dehumidifier she was trying to sell was under recall.
“The thought of passing it on to somebody else, and it could have possibly caused a fire, is devastating to even think of,” she said.
In Charlotte, WSOC-TV found a Craigslist seller listing a recalled baby monitor and another recalled Bumbo baby seat.
In Indianapolis, WRTV used Craigslist to find a recalled Lane wooden chest with a type of lock that has trapped children inside, killing them.
In all, the ABC News “20/20” investigation found that Americans stand little chance in the game of what could be called recall Roulette.
Click the links in the map below to see if a local report was done in your area. And for more information on recalled products, including how to see if something you own has been subject to recall, visit the CPSC’s website at SaferProducts.gov.
ABC News’ Stephanie Zimmermann, Randy Kreider and Lee Ferran contributed to this report.
