With IKEA Opening In Jacksonville, Be Mindful Of Dresser Recall

The furniture store IKEA recently opened to great fanfare in Jacksonville. However, before shopping for new furniture, customers need to be aware of a potentially deadly danger lurking in their current home furniture.

The death of an 8th child has prompted Ikea to relaunch a recall effort of its "Malm" and other dressers. The dresser is prone to fall and tip over if it is not secured to the wall. Ikea first announced the recall in June of 2016, but since then, a 3-year-old was killed when a dresser fell on top of him. That tragic death prompted this second recall push.

At least eight children have died when the Malm dresser fell on them. The first death was 28 years ago. Ikea has had close to 200 reports of tip-over incidents from the Malm dresser, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Additionally, there have been more than 100 other Ikea dressers that have also reportedly tipped over. Besides the eight known deaths, nearly 150 children have been injured by Ikea dressers falling on top of them. These incidents have often occurred when children are reaching for toys or remote controls on top of the dressers.

Ikea issued a statement assuring consumers it has done "extensive outreach to consumers" regarding notification of the recall. This includes television ads, 13 million emails to consumers and social and digital advertising. Ikea does admit, "There is still more work to be done."

According to news reports, Ikea has settled some lawsuits with the families of children who were crushed when the dressers fell on them, including 3 cases settled for $50 million dollars.

Customers who own the Malm and other chests and dressers will be given a kit to secure them to the wall or they can return the furniture to the store.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission demonstrated how quickly and easily these dressers can tip over and cause critical injuries or deaths.

Pajcic & Pajcic has successfully handled numerous product liability cases, including that of a child crushed by a dangerous item on a falling dresser. Consumers were not given the proper warning that could have prevented the tragedy. We urge consumers to take these warning seriously and take appropriate steps to protect their families.