CPSC Says Database Decision Changes Little

Publication of a court decision affirming a company’s request to keep its name out of the CPSIA database related to a particular report will not change CPSC’s mandate for to the system, the agency asserted October 24. The statement followed articles in The New York Times, Consumer Reports and The Consumerist blog (now owned by Consumer Reports publisher Consumers Union) of stories about the July decision in Maryland U.S. district court and only recently made public.

The decision called the agency’s actions “arbitrary and capricious” CPSC had sought to publish the report after getting, and agreeing with, medical information submitted by the company to support an assertion that the report was “materially misleading.” The decision is under appeal.

The case was sealed to protect the company pending the outcome (PSL, 10/12/11, p. 1). Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and Public Citizen filed a motion to unseal the documents (PSL, 11/7/11, p. 1). Those groups now are among the appellants and are quoted as highly critical of the decision in the media reports. The highly-redacted decision is on The Consumerist’s website: consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/ 10/2012-10-22-decision-redacted.pdf.

CPSC’s statement, in full, is:

“With more than 11,000 reports of harm or potential harm publicly posted to date, the SaferProducts.gov consumer database continues to serve as a vital safety tool for use by parents, doctors, emergency responders, and consumers across the country to alert the public to potentially hazardous products.

 

The decision published yesterday concerning one incident reported to the…database does nothing to change the agency’s statutory mandate and enduring commitment to provide the public with a timely and searchable database containing reports of harm relating to the use of consumer products. Consistent with the decision, the Commission did not post the individual report.

 

The creation and operation of SaferProducts.gov since March of 2011 fulfills CPSC’s congressional mandate to establish and maintain a publicly available database on the safety of consumer products. We encourage consumers to continue to use the website to file reports of harm or potential harm with consumer products and to search for product incident reports and recall information.”