Recalls of the Week

The past week has been a little crazy with my son in college home for “fall break” (not sure why he needed the break since he has only been in school for about a month) and then a quick trip to South Florida for a family celebration. Back this week to keep fighting the good fight. There have been several significant recalls of products this past week and so here we go…
1. Delta Enterprise Drop Side Cribs: Over 1.5 million cribs manufactured by Delta Enterprise are being recalled because they are missing safety pegs which can cause entrapment and suffocation. If you have been following my Recalls of the Week for the last several weeks, there have been a significant number of cribs/bassinets recalled over the past month or two. This is one of the largest so far. The recalled cribs have date codes between 1995 through December 2005 and one model was made in 2007. The cribs were sold at Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target.com. Parents are being told to stop using the cribs that are missing a safety peg on any leg of the crib and contact Delta to receive a free repair kit. For more information on this recall see here and here. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal wrote a news report addressing this recall and Consumer Reports has also issued a report. Consumer Reports also recommends that if you are in the market presently to by a crib, it is safest to choose one with sides that don’t go down. It also requests that the Consumer Product Safety Commission work on issuing stronger standards regarding crib durability.
2. Rage Wireless Guitars for Wii Video Gaming System: This recall was just issued today and given the significant interest in Guitar Hero and similar video games, I felt this was important to pass along. The Rage Wireless Guitar is designed to be used on the Nintendo Wii gaming system. The guitar is blue or white and contains battery operated LED- lighted fret buttons on the guitar neck. It is reported there is a circuit board defect which can cause the AA batteries used in the guitar to leak if the batteries are installed incorrectly which can cause chemical burns. Consumers are instructed to stop using the guitars immediately and return them to where it was purchased for a full refund. Sorry kids, maybe you should try playing a real guitar.
3. General Power Products Portable Generators: With winter just around the corner, thought this recall of portable generators would be important to publicize. This recall involves the General Power Products 6000 Watt portable generator and the Poulan Pro 6000 Watt portable generator with serial number 060400483 through 060600725. These generators were sold in hardware and home improvement stores in Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas between June 2008 and September 2008. The problem is the generator’s fuel valve can be damaged by the cover plate during shipment and cause a fuel leak during use. This creates the potential for fire. If you have one of these generators, you should stop using it immediately and call General Power Products to find out if the generator’s fuel valve is damaged and if so, obtain a free repair kit. For more information, see here.
4. Gen Netcom’s GN9120 Wireless Headset: Approximately 525,000 of these wireless headsets typically used in office settings, are being recalled because there is an internal short circuit which can cause the batteries to overheat, leading to a risk of fire. Imagine talking on the phone through the head set and all of a sudden your hair is on fire…OUCH. There have been 10 reports of overheating, including 3 reports of open flames. These headsets were sold nationwide between January 2005 and September 2008 for between $150 and $350. You are instructed to stop using and unplug this head set immediately and call the manufacturer to obtain a replacement battery. For more information, see here.
5. Dextroamphetamine Sulfate 5mg Tablets: ETHEX Corporation is recalling 3 lots (77946, 81141 and 81142) of Dextroamphetamine Sulfate 5mg tablets due to the potential that some of the tablets may be oversized and contain as much as twice the amount of medication you should be receiving. These lots were distributed between January 2007 and May 2008 and the pill is an orange round tablet with “ETHEX” on one side and “311″ on the other side. If you take more than the expected dose, it can lead to rapid heart beat, high blood pressure, tremors, decreased appetite, headache, dizziness, blurred vision and stomach upset. There are several manufacturers of this product so check to see that, if you are taking this medication, it is the one manufactured by ETHEX. You should not use any of these tablets which appear oversized. For more information, you can contact ETHEX at 1-800-321-1705. You might want to consider contacting your pharmacist and try and determine if the medication you have is part of the lots that are included in this recall. For more information, see here.
Well that’s it for this week of recalls. Remember to be careful out there and have a safe and happy rest of your week.