‘IT IS INFURIATING’

At Least 26 Babies Died in Cushioned Loungers Since 2015, Report Says

At least five babies died after Republican members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission scrapped safety regulations in late 2015, according to NBC.

At least 26 babies have died in incidents linked to padded baby loungers since 2015, more than federal officials previously announced, according to a new investigation by NBC News. Five of those deaths reportedly came after Republican members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission shot down a plan to impose safety regulations on infant pillows in late 2015. A 3-month-old Texas boy died less than four days after their vote on the matter and less than a week after the CPSC announced a recall of the popular Boppy Newborn Lounger, which at that time had been linked to eight deaths. While the commission sought to create wide-ranging regulations at that time for all padded infant loungers, a less comprehensive plan ultimately passed that lacked such regulations. “It is infuriating, and it’s senseless,” Megan Parker, the mother of a 2-month-old who died in a Boppy lounger in 2019, told NBC. “I don’t understand why they wouldn’t push that information out there, knowing that there are more deaths that are not reported. It could save lives.” CPSC Commissioner Peter Feldman told the news outlet the comprehensive safety regulations didn’t pass in 2015 because commissioners “simply had not yet laid the required groundwork” to impose new requirements.