Reports indicate that doctors across the nation are witnessing an increase in children being treated for injuries suffered at home

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) sent a letter urging the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to take action to better protect children from injuries and deaths caused by consumer products at home during the pandemic. Reports indicate that doctors across the nation are witnessing a marked increase in children being treated for injuries suffered at home. These injuries include broken bones—often caused by injuries on bikes and trampolines—burns, and accidental poisonings. In addition, calls to poison control centers made on behalf of children who have swallowed cleaning products and disinfectants have increased over 20 percent during the pandemic, with children 5 and younger accounting for the largest number of cases.

“Even before the pandemic began, unintentional injuries were the leading cause of death for children in the United States. These injuries lead to approximately 12,000 child deaths and 9.2 million emergency department visits each year. The incidence of at-home injuries suffered by children has only increased since the pandemic began,” the senators wrote.

“For this reason, we introduced the bipartisan COVID–19 Home Safety Act of 2020, which directs the CPSC to provide Congress with information regarding the incidence of injuries and deaths from consumer products suffered by vulnerable populations—including children—and work with the media to distribute information to help educate families and increase child safety in the home. While we understand that the CPSC is taking action to educate consumers about home safety, more must be done to protect children during the pandemic.”

“We urge the CPSC to take action to better educate and inform families about how to protect their children at home and collaborate with the media to share this critical information with parents.”

As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, Klobuchar has been a leader in the fight to protect consumers, especially children and seniors, during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Earlier this month, Klobuchar and Moran introduced legislation to protect consumers from injuries and deaths during the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 Home Safety Act requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to launch a comprehensive study on injuries and deaths caused by consumer products during the coronavirus pandemic, which passed the Senate Commerce Committee this week.

In July, Klobuchar and Moran led a letter urging the FTC to protect seniors from contact tracing scams following reports that scammers were posing as contact tracers in an attempt to financially exploit consumers and steal their personal identifying information, such as Social Security numbers and credit card numbers. The letter also urged the FTC to commit to taking action to better educate and assist seniors in recognizing legitimate contact tracing and understanding their recourse options should they fall victim to these scams.

In May, Klobuchar and Jerry Moran introduced legislation to protect seniors from scams during the coronavirus pandemic, which passed the Senate Commerce Committee this week. The Protecting Seniors from Emergency Scams Act directs the Federal Trade Commission to report to Congress on scams targeting seniors during the coronavirus pandemic and make recommendations on how to prevent future scams during emergencies. In March, Klobuchar and Moran led a bipartisan letter with 32 colleagues urging FTC Chairman Joseph Simons to protect seniors from coronavirus-related scams, better inform consumers about scams, and assist victims in understanding their recourse options to ensure that seniors are protected from those attempting to financially exploit them during the pandemic.

In December 2019, Klobuchar sent a letter to the CPSC expressing her serious concerns about the significant increase in injuries to children who have ingested small rare-earth magnets and requesting that the agency investigate this matter and take steps to ensure that children are kept safe from these dangerous products.

Also in December, Klobuchar led a letter to the CPSC urging the agency to open an investigation into contaminated toys following reports that a child from Minnesota was found to have toxic blood levels of lead after playing with an off-brand spin toy that was purchased online. In January 2019, Klobuchar led a letter to the CPSC expressing concern that unsafe products may have entered the U.S. during the government shutdown and requesting information regarding what steps the CPSC would take to protect consumers. In 2016, Klobuchar led the push to implement stronger warnings against the dangers of ingesting laundry detergents like Tide Pods. After efforts by Klobuchar, including support of the Detergent Poisoning and Child Safety Act, manufacturers, the CPSC, and consumer advocates worked together to create the new voluntary safety standard to reduce the risk of accidental exposure.

Also in 2016, after urging from Klobuchar following reports of IKEA Malm dressers falling and killing children, the CPSC and IKEA announced a recall of all Malm dressers and a stop to their sale until safety precautions had been put in place. Klobuchar also introduced legislation to protect children from tipping furniture. Additionally, Klobuchar has advocated for consumer safety through supporting the installation of smartphone ‘kill switches.’ In 2008, Klobuchar was also a cosponsor of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which gave CPSC the additional authority, resources, and staff to enforce consumer protection laws, which included a Klobuchar provision to ban the use of lead in children’s products.

Klobuchar has worked to ensure children are protected from unsafe swimming pools.  Klobuchar was a cosponsor of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act to require public pools and spas to incorporate anti-entrapment drain covers and establish a voluntary grant program for states to promote pool and spa safety--which was signed into law in 2007. She also won passage of two amendments that improved the bill, including one that made the new safety standards retroactive to existing pools that were intended for public use and one that required public pools with single drains to install the latest drain safety technology.

Full text of the letter can be found HERE and below:

Dear Acting Chairman Adler:

We write to express our concerns regarding the increase in home injuries and accidental poisonings suffered by children during the pandemic and to request that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) take steps to ensure that children are kept safe from injuries while at home.

As families continue to work and learn from home during the pandemic, reports indicate that doctors across the nation are witnessing a marked increase in children being treated for injuries suffered at home. These injuries include broken bones—often caused by injuries on bikes and trampolines—burns, and accidental poisonings. Calls to poison control centers made on behalf of children who have swallowed cleaning products and disinfectants have increased over 20 percent during the pandemic, with children 5 and younger accounting for the largest number of cases. Poison control centers have also reported thousands of cases of hand sanitizer poisoning in children 12 and younger.

Even before the pandemic began, unintentional injuries were the leading cause of death for children in the United States. These injuries lead to approximately 12,000 child deaths and 9.2 million emergency department visits each year. The incidence of at-home injuries suffered by children has only increased since the pandemic began.

For this reason, we introduced the bipartisan COVID–19 Home Safety Act of 2020, which directs the CPSC to provide Congress with information regarding the incidence of injuries and deaths from consumer products suffered by vulnerable populations—including children—and work with the media to distribute information to help educate families and increase child safety in the home. While we understand that the CPSC is taking action to educate consumers about home safety, more must be done to protect children during the pandemic.

We urge the CPSC to take action to better educate and inform families about how to protect their children at home and collaborate with the media to share this critical information with parents. We also respectfully request that you respond to the following questions:

  1. What steps is the CPSC taking to help prevent incidents of child injury at home during the pandemic?
  2. What data has the CPSC collected on the number of children involved in at-home accidents since the pandemic began?
  3. What actions has the CPSC taken to collaborate with the media and other federal and state agencies to help educate parents about the risk of child injuries at-home during the pandemic and ways that parents can mitigate this risk?
  4. Does the CPSC need additional resources to investigate the increase in child injuries during the pandemic and take appropriate measures to help educate parents about how to better protect their children at home?

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

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