January 11, 2016 — Another wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against IKEA by the family of a 2 year-old boy who died when a dresser tipped over on top of him, according to ABC News.
The lawsuit was filed by the family of Camden Ellis, a boy from Snohomish, Washington who was found pinned under a 3-drawer (30-inch) MALM chest. He spent four days hospitalized on life support before his death in June 2014.
IKEA is also facing a lawsuit from the family of another child who died in a similar accident. The family of Curren Collas said he was found lifeless under a 6-drawer MALM dresser in February 2014. Philly.com talked to an attorney representing the families of both boys, who said:
“When you are familiar with how a product is used, when you have intimate and actual knowledge that tip-overs of your furniture can easily occur and have occurred dozens of times, you can only stick your head in the sand for so long.”
Despite reports of more than a dozen tip-over incidents involving MALM dressers, IKEA did not issue a recall until July 2014. By that time, 14 incidents and four injuries had been reported. Since 1989, three additional deaths had also been linked to other IKEA dressers and chests.
IKEA offered the owners of 27 million MALM dressers a free repair kit to anchor the furniture to the wall, including hardware, instructions, and warning labels to be affixed to the furniture.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warns that one child dies every two weeks after being injured by a falling TV, furniture, or appliance. The CDC estimates that tipping furniture seriously injures more than 22,000 children every year.
Do I have an IKEA Dresser Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting IKEA dresser and chest induced injury cases in all 50 states. If your child or somebody you know has been injured, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Product Liability Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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