Recalled IKEA Dresser Tip-Over Accident Kills 3rd Child

April 22, 2016 — IKEA has issued yet another warning about the dangers of its recalled dressers after a third child was crushed and killed when it tipped over, according to USA Today.

Theodore “Ted” McGee, a 22 month-old boy from Minnesota, died in February. He tipped an unsecured IKEA Malm dresser on top of himself in his room when his parents thought he was napping.

Two other children have died this way in the last three years. In February 2014, a 2 year-old boy from West Chester, Pennsylvania died after a Malm 6-drawer chest tipped over and pinned him against his bed. In June 2014, a 23 month-old boy from Snohomish, Washington died after he became trapped under a 3-drawer Malm chest that tipped over.

Parents of both of those children filed lawsuits against Ikea, claiming the company knew the dressers were unstable and sold them anyway. The lawsuit accuses Ikea of designing the dressers in a way that does not meet the furniture industry’s standards for stability.

Last July, Ikea and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled about 27 million chests and dressers because they can fall over and crush children if they are not anchored to the wall.

Unlike most safety recalls, Ikea did not ask customers to return the products. Instead, Ikea asked customers to install anti-tip devices included in the packaging for the dresser. They provided free wall anchoring kits for customers who did not keep the devices.

However, the reality is that most people do not nail their furniture to the wall. A growing number of people are expressing outrage that the products are still on the market with the same design. One columnist wrote in Pop Sugar:

“This shouldn’t be enough. When an Ikea bat cape can be recalled because a fabric fastener could potentially cause the risk of strangulation, why isn’t a sizable piece of furniture that can and has caused three separate child deaths still being manufactured and sold as is?”

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