Child Deaths Spur Window Blinds Recall

Millions of window blinds are being recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after reports of strangulation deaths in children. The blinds do not have inner-cord-stop devices to prevent the accessible inner cords from being pulled out. The recall includes about 15,400 horizontal blinds, 16,500 vertical blinds, and 800 cellular shades manufactured by Vertical Land Inc. of Panama City Beach, Fla.

The horizontal blinds pose a risk of strangulation if the inner cord is pulled out, a child can become entangled in the loop and become strangled. Vertical blinds create a risk of strangulation if a child’s neck becomes entangled on the free-standing loop formed by the bead chain or by the cord with a weighted device. And cellular shades can be a strangulation risk if a child’s neck becomes entangled on the shade’s free-standing looped cord.

Fatalities include a one-year-old killed after a blind fell into his portable crib, a 13-month-old boy whose head became trapped between the inner cords and cloth on the backside of a roman shade, and a four-year-old girl who was strangled in the loop of a vertical bind that was not attached to the wall or the floor.

The recall involves all Vertical Land custom-made vertical and cellular window coverings that do not have a cord tensioning device and horizontal blinds that do not have inner cord stop devices. A sticker identification label can be found on the head rail of some of the window coverings which lists the company’s name, address and telephone number. These blinds were sold at Vertical Land stores in Panama City and Pensacola, Fla. from January 1992 through December 2006 for between $60 and $200 (depending on the size of the blind).

Other recalls prompted by reports of child injuries and near-strangulations from window blinds include:

• 85,000 roman shades with exposed cords from Pottery Barn Kids/William-Sonoma, Inc. of San Francisco.
• 120,000 MELINA roman blinds sold at IKEA Home Furnishings of Conshohocken, PA. between 2006 and 2008.
• 163,000 Thermal Sailcloth and Matchstick Bamboo roman shades sold at Target stores between 2008 and 2009.
• 245,000 roller shades distributed by Lutron Electronics Co. Inc. of Coopersburg, Pa., and sold at specialty dealers and Expo Design Centers from 2000 through 2009.

Consumers are urged to stop using the products and return them to the store where the blinds were purchased for a full refund or replacement product.

Photos, CPSC