As busy Americans choose convenient, premeasured single-serve products like single brew coffee cups and premade, crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, it is no wonder that laundry detergent pods have grown in popularity.
But authorities are quickly realizing that the brightly colored and highly concentrated drop-in laundry detergent pods are a serious poisoning risk to children. The law limits how long you have to file a lawsuit; do not wait to call a laundry pod poisoning lawyer if your child has been a victim.
Study on laundry detergent pod threat
Last year a 7-month-old boy from Florida died after eating a laundry detergent pod. He had been sleeping in a laundry basket with the pod and when his mother returned she found that he had eaten the pod. The boy was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved. Unfortunately, he was not the only child hurt by laundry detergent pods.
According to Pediatrics medical journal, more than 17,000 children under the age of 6 were poisoned in the course of one year by the packets. The data came from U.S. poison control centers between 2012 and 2013.
Children under 3 made up a clear majority of laundry pod injuries, accounting for 75% of the poison center laundry pod poisoning calls. More than 4% of those children were hospitalized and 7.5% experienced what the journal termed a “moderate or major medical outcome.” Some of the immediate threats to children who ate the pods includes respiratory distress and violent vomiting. Some kids were injured when the laundry pod contents made contact with the eyes, which can lead to severe irritation and temporary loss of vision.
Authorities look to prevent laundry pod poisoning
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), accidental poisonings from children eating household products has declined overall. But laundry detergent pod poisonings, however, have seen a major surge. Doctors have argued that there needs to be a greater effort to prevent children for getting access to these colorful packets that can look like candy.
Some recent efforts include:
- Senator Chuck Schumer urged the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to require that manufacturers only sell the pods in child proof packaging; Proctor and Gamble and Tide have both since changed their packaging on laundry pods
- The CPSC released a warning to parents about the dangers that laundry pods pose to kids
- The American Cleaning Institute undertook a campaign to warn parents about laundry pod dangers and the importance of storing them out of children’s reach
How a laundry pod poisoning lawyer can help
Ingesting a laundry pod can lead to a range of injuries, from minor emergencies to death. If your child has been injured by this household product, a laundry detergent pod lawsuit may be an option. Contact Hardy Wolf & Downing for a free case review.
Laundry pod manufacturers are or should be aware of the dangers that their products pose. The families hurt by this product are left with the medical bills and, in the worst cases, grief. The Maine product liability lawyers at Hardy Wolf &Downing have been representing personal injury clients for nearly 40 years. Let us fight for your rights so healing can begin.