Critics: 'Ticking Land Mines' for Kids Due to Poor Ikea Recall

An 8th toddler died in May after a dresser fell on him; his parents say they didn't know about recall
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 20, 2017 12:11 PM CDT
After Huge Recall, 8th Child Killed by Ikea Dresser
Another child death linked to an Ikea dresser, this time in California.   (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

A massive recall, followed by a $50 million wrongful-death settlement payment last year, seemed to mark the beginning of the end for an Ikea disaster that left several toddlers dead after they were crushed by dressers that fell on them. But NPR reports yet another toddler—said to be the eighth child who's died due to an Ikea-linked tip-over—has been killed. A press release notes that while 2-year-old Jozef Dudek was in his bedroom in Buena Park, Calif., on May 24, put down for a nap by his dad, a Malm dresser fell on top of him; his father found Jozef underneath the dresser when he went to check on him. One of the Dudeks' attorneys says Jozef's parents had no idea their dresser was part of the recall, while another, Alan Feldman, says the recall was "poorly publicized by IKEA and ineffective in getting these defective and unstable dressers out of children's bedrooms."

Ikea has been offering either refunds for the returned furniture, or a wall-mounting kit to secure the dressers and chests. In what seems apparent, a statement from an Ikea rep cited in the Philadelphia Inquirer says the dresser in Jozef's room was not attached to the wall. The Inquirer goes on to note that, per a Consumer Product Safety Commission report filed for the period ending Jan. 1, about 882,500 dressers had been recalled—around 3% of the total affected by the recall. The director of the Kids in Danger nonprofit says Ikea should be doing more to promote the recall, telling ABC News: "We have to do better, because these are just ticking land mines in a child's bedroom." Feldman, the Dudeks' attorney, says in his statement that "Jozef's death was completely avoidable, had IKEA adhered to safe design standards." (More Ikea stories.)

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