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WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) issued “The Bush Administration
Misstatement of the Day” on consumer protection.
Referring
to Yo-Yo balls, a popular toy that poses a strangulation risk to children,
a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) spokesman said:
“We
recognize that this is a very scary experience for the child and the parent.”
But the bottom line is, we just don't see it as a sufficiently big enough
risk to take regulatory action.”
However,
the Chicago Daily Herald reported that the CSPC has received “300
injury reports related to cords wrapping around children's necks.”
The story also states that “Toys "R" Us and Walgreens have stopped selling
the toys, and consumer agencies in New York and Massachusetts have issued
warnings about them. Several countries, including Australia and Great Britain,
have issued bans.”
Schakowsky,
who is the ranking Democrat on the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection
Subcommittee, continues to fight to ban the sale of this dangerous toy
in the United States and is working with mothers, like Lisa Lipin, whose
son was nearly strangled by the toy.
Why
some parents want to ban yo-yo water ball toys
By
Leslie Hague Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
SPRINGFIELD
- For the past nine months, Skokie resident Lisa Lipin has made it her
"mission in life" to ban yo-yo water balls, a popular children's toy, in
the United States.
Yo-yo
water balls are squishy balls attached to a stretchy cord with a loop on
the end. Last summer, Lipin was in her kitchen when her son, Andrew, 5,
ran to her with the cord of his water yo-yo wrapped tightly around his
neck several times.
"My
son nearly strangled himself," she said.
Lipin's
consumer advocacy started the next morning, when she called the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission and found it was already aware of the toy's dangers
and was preparing a report on the topic.
"That
just set me off," she said. Since then, Lipin has been in contact with
legislators, toy distributors, toy stores and media pushing her message
to ban the toy balls.
Today,
she brings her message to Springfield, where she is expected to testify
before a Senate committee. State lawmakers are being asked to lend their
support for a national ban.
Last
September, the product safety commission issued a statement, but not a
ban or recall, about the toy. It stated the toy had a "low but potential
risk for strangulation" if swung above a child's head like a lasso. It
recommended concerned parents either cut the cord off the toy or throw
it away.
The
commission has received more than 300 injury reports related to cords wrapping
around children's necks, said Ken Giles, a commission spokesman. There
have been no deaths. In all of the cases, the child or someone else was
able to unwrap the cord, he said.
The
commission bases its decisions on patterns of incidents, the number of
incidents, the likelihood of severe injury and its staff's assessment of
the risk, he said. Banning the yo-yo water ball wouldn't meet the legal
standard the commission must meet, he said.
"We
recognize that this is a very scary experience for the child and the parent,"
he said. "But the bottom line is, we just don't see it as a sufficiently
big enough risk to take regulatory action."
U.S.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat, wants Congress to change the
commission's standards, a move that would ban yo-yo water balls and other
potentially dangerous toys.
Lipin
estimates she works 20 hours a week trying to convince people to ban yo-yo
balls, stop distributing them or stop selling them. She has requested injury
reports from the commission and contacted more than 50 parents across the
country.
Toys
"R" Us and Walgreens have stopped selling the toys, and consumer agencies
in New York and Massachusetts have issued warnings about them. Several
countries, including Australia and Great Britain, have issued bans. Lipin
said she will consider nothing short of a U.S. ban a success.
"The
government has a responsibility to ban it," she said. "The bottom line
is, somebody's got to do something."
Yo-yo:
Walgreens, Toys 'R' Us have stopped selling the toy |
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