Federal safety regulators are warning parents about some toy dart gun sets that have killed two children. About 1.8 million of the dart gun sets, which were sold at Family Dollar Stores, are being recalled today.

According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), these toys have already killed a 9-year-old boy in Chicago and a 10-year-old boy in Milwaukee. Both were chewing on the one-inch, soft-plastic darts, which slipped into their throats. The small suction cup part of the dart cut off their breathing. (more…)

A congressional panel is opening an investigation into McNeil Consumer Healthcare’s recent recall of children’s over-the-counter medicines.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating conflicting accounts of what prompted the recall, as well as McNeil’s handling of consumer complaints. It wants to look at a chronology of events leading up to the recall, as well investigation reports from both McNeil and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). It also plans to ask the FDA for its procedures governing routine inspections of over-the-counter drug makers and recalls. (more…)

Serious deficiencies at a McNeil Consumer Healthcare manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania could have caused bacterial contamination of raw materials in dozens of children’s over-the-counter medicines that were recalled last week, according to a report from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

McNeil said it is making all efforts to correct the problems its Fort Washington, PA plant and has shut down production of 50 over-the-counter medications made at the facility. The FDA will follow up on the corrections and will make a decision then as to whether it should take further action against McNeil. (more…)

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is making Baxter International recall its Colleague infusion pumps. According to the agency, the Colleague Infusion Pump recall order is based on Baxter’s longstanding failure to correct many serious problems with the devices, including battery failures and software errors.

The FDA believes there may be as many as 200,000 Colleague infusion pumps currently in use. Baxter Colleague infusion pumps have been associated with 56,000 complaints of injuries, deaths and malfunctions from 2005 to 2009, the agency said. (more…)

Lajobi Inc is recalling more than 200,000 Graco brand Another large recall of drop side cribs. The cribs pose both a strangulation and entrapment hazard.

This recall involves LaJobi-manufactured Graco® wood cribs. The full-size cribs were sold in cherry, espresso, natural, and white finishes. The production date, item number, purchase order number, and finish name is printed on a label affixed to the footboard or headboard. “LaJobi” and the crib model name are printed on a product sticker located on the stabilizer bar or bottom rail of the crib. (more…)

The Department of Transportation is seeking the maximum penalty allowed by law from Toyota for failing to promptly notify the government about defective gas pedals.

The $16.375 million fine would be the largest civil penalty ever issued to an automaker by the government. Toyota has two weeks to contest the penalty. (more…)

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced a recall of about 2,600 Ardica Heated Jackets and Vests with Moshi Power Systems. Electrical connections in the warming components in the jackets and vest can overheat, posing a burn hazard to consumers.

To date, the firm has received five reports of overheating. No injuries have been reported. (more…)

Apparently, figuring out if Toyota’s unintended acceleration problems are related to electronics is rocket science. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administratio has tapped NASA scientists to help determine if Toyota electronic throttles are causing the problems.

According to a Reuters report, the (NHTSA) has worked with NASA in the past on studies of electronic stability control and airbags. Officials with the NHTSA said nine NASA scientists would bring expertise in electronics, eletromagnetic interference, software integrity and complex problem solving to the Toyota review. The agency expects the review to be completed by late summer, Reuters said. After that, the agency would then determine whether a formal investigation of Toyota throttles is warranted. If that happens, a recall could ultimately be issued.

The NHTSA has also tapped the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council to lead a study of unintended acceleration across the auto industry. That review is expected to take 18 months.

Since last fall, Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide for problems involving sudden acceleration. Toyota and the NHTSA have blamed the speed control issues on defective floor mats and faulty accelerator pedals, but some experts suspect that problems with the vehicles’ electronic throttle control system could really be behind the problems. Such suspicions have increased recently, as dozens of Toyota owners whose vehicles underwent recall repairs have recently complained that their vehicles are still experiencing problems with unintended acceleration.

Was Toyota using “technical service bulletins” to avoid issuing recalls? Some critics think so.

Two years before Toyota issued a recall of defective floor mats implicated in incidents of sudden, unintended acceleration, the automaker warned its dealers of the dangers. Unfortunately, no one in the American driving public ever got this information. (more…)

Criminal charges could be on the horizon for Toyota if it is found that it withheld information about the sudden acceleration problems that led to the automaker’s recent recalls.

According to a report in USA Today, a federal law adopted in 2000 known as Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act. It makes individuals who intentionally mislead federal regulators about safety defects subject to possible criminal fines and even prison. (more…)