When Recalled Items are Sold on Facebook (and other sites)
You can still buy Boppy baby pillows on Facebook Marketplace, despite the product being recalled two years ago for causing infant deaths, reported the Press of Atlantic City. Thousands of these pillows and other risky recalled products are readily available online even though they are technically illegal to sell.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has made repeated requests to Meta, parent company of Facebook, to remove the Boppy pillows. In fact, the CPSC has made an average of 1,000 takedown requests monthly over the last year. Meta has taken down the posts as they are identified but more keep surfacing.
The Boppy Co. recalled its infant pillows in September 2021 due to suffocation risk and reports of 8 deaths. Two additional deaths occurred shortly after the recall. The CPSC urges consumers to check recall notices before making purchases on Facebook Marketplace and other reseller sites.
Facebook Marketplace’s policy clearly states that sellers cannot list recalled products. The policy even includes a link to the CPSC website where consumers may check recalled products. However, reporting a recalled item for sale isn’t an option for buyers, noted Kids in Danger (KID), nonprofit organization dedicated to product safety for children. KID encouraged consumers to report all incidents with unsafe products to SaferProducts.gov and to reach out to Facebook via their feedback portal to ask to be able to report recalled products for sale.
Life-changing injuries can happen when products malfunction. If you were injured by a defective product and would like to meet with an attorney in Philadelphia who is experienced in product liability litigation, contact us.