Ikea Recall Comes Amid Growing Concerns Over Furniture Tip-Overs
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The simulation, a dresser toppling on to a dummy, is disturbing. The reality, even more so for at least three families who say their children were killed when an Ikea dresser fell and trapped the toddlers underneath.
Alan Feldman represents the family of a local victim, Curren Collas.
"They decided that they would not meet standards. They had a profitable item in the Malm dresser. They were selling millions of them and this is one of those instances where they appear to have prioritized profit over safety," Feldman said.
The recall impacts Malm and other Ikea brand chests and drawers, some 29 million units.
The most recent death happened in February when a 22-month-old Minneapolis boy died when a drawer fell on him. Two years before that death is when Curren, from West Chester, died of a similar incident.
Experts say furniture tip-over, and not just Ikea brand, is a major problem and parents may not realize it.
"Furniture tip-over kills about one child every two weeks. Many more are injured and I have to believe there are many more near misses that don't get reported to anybody," Nancy Cowles, of Kids In Danger, said.
Last year, instead of recalling, Ikea rolled out a repair program where it offered free kits to anchor dressers to walls. Ikea Presidents Lars Petersson said Tuesday on CBS News, "The death of a child is an incomprehensible tragedy and it should never happen to any family and our hearts go out to the families that has to go through this."
The hope now, presumably from the company and industry wide, is just that no other families have to go through such a loss.
