Blind Xpress and CPSC recall window blinds after Michigan toddler was strangled to death
(CBS News) The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and window blind manufacturer Blind Xpress issued a recall of their custom-made window blinds after a 2-year-old girl was strangled to death by the hanging adjustment cord.
The recall will affect about 39,000 vertical and 315,000 horizontal blinds made by the Michigan-based company. They were sold in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana from January 1995 through December 2011 and retailed for $16 to $380 each.
Blind Xpress's custom vertical blinds have an adjustment cord in the shape of a loop that hangs from the top part of the frame and is not attached to the wall or floor. Their horizontal blinds lack a inner cord stop device that prevents the strings that hold the blinds together from being pulled out. In both cases, a child may accidentally get caught in the loop and strangle himself.
In 2009, a toddler from Commerce Township, Mich., was reportedly strangled by a vertical blind adjustment cord and died, according to CBS station WWJ in Detroit.
The CPSC said that consumers who own a recalled Blind Xpress product should stop using it and contact the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) to receive a free repair kit. The WCSC can be reached at (800) 506-4636 or online at www.windowcoverings.org
