After her 6-week-old son passed away while sleeping in a baby product that was later voluntarily recalled, a mother from New York has been fighting for justice for almost ten years.
Jameson and Dorothy, Kiersten Connolly’s healthy twins, were born in 2015. She claimed that she and her fiancé, James Hatch, were really getting some sleep thanks to Fisher-Price Rock n’ Play Sleepers.
Hatch put the babies to sleep in their Rock n’ Plays on May 16 of that year. Connolly’s world was forever altered a few hours later.
“I heard James scream out and, I don’t know …I think I just knew,” she stated.
Jameson, Connolly’s son, had stopped breathing while he was asleep.
“It took my life. It took everything from me,” she stated.
Connolly claimed that despite waiting more than a year for answers, they were never provided. The cause of death was listed as unknown on Jameson’s death certificate.
Years after the product was recalled
Only four years after Jameson’s passing, in 2019, did Connolly claim to have discovered shocking information. The Rock &’ Play inclined sleeper, which Connolly’s son died in, is being voluntarily recalled by Fisher-Price.
“The anger I felt was … it was my whole body. It was palpable,” Connolly stated.
Since 2012, the product has been linked to at least 100 newborn deaths, according to documents kept by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. According to a study it commissioned, the incline’s angle raised the possibility of suffocating and asphyxiation.
A congressional inquiry
A congressional investigation conducted shortly after the recall revealed that Fisher-Price “failed to ensure the Rock n’ Play was safe before bringing it to market” and that the company was “aware of injuries and deaths in the Rock n’ Play as early as 2012.”
Fisher-Price took more than a year to recall the device, despite the CPSC’s 2018 warning of safety hazards.
“They’re actually weaponizing the statute of limitations,” Calcaterra stated, alleging that “for years, they hid the fact that babies were dying.”
“What they were doing was pushing it down the line. So by the time the recall actually happened, the infants that died early on were not able to file a case,” Calcaterra stated.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut points the finger at a rule that requires the CPSC, the federal organization in charge of assessing the safety of products, to obtain consent from a manufacturer, such as Mattel in Connolly’s instance, before it can alert the public to potential risks.
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“There’s really no effective oversight of baby products before they’re used by your infant,” Blumenthal stated. “Often, safety issues arise, sometimes causing death, and years pass before there’s any effective action. This system is broken.”
Connolly claimed that although she has found strength for her two surviving children, the grief she has experienced is incalculable. She claimed that she was so distraught that her fiancé committed suicide two years after the death of her son.
Connolly said she won’t give up and hopes her tale saves lives even if she lost her appeal earlier this month.
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Before filing her appeal, she declared, “I will never stop this, this fight and the pursuit to bring justice to the both of them,” referring to her two surviving children.
Mattel replied to the congressional probe by stating in a prior report that company “disagrees with significant parts” of the conclusions. According to Mattel, the Rock n’ Play underwent a rigorous testing and research process and “met or exceeded all applicable regulatory standards.”
