What's more, as outlined in a damning expose in today's edition of the New York Times and summarized today here at www.lawyersandsettlements.com the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has once again shown that it is not up to the task when faced with a litany of consumer recalls, and - in this case - a manufacturer that tried everything in its power to play down the recall, and keep its product on the market.
The product in question is Stand 'n Seal, a do-it-yourself spray sealer that was the answer for consumers looking for a quick and easy alternative to the onerous task of using tile grout, or other labour-intensive sealing jobs that stem from the need to waterproof surfaces, such as tile.Sold only at Home Depot, Stand 'n Seal claimed that all you had to do was spray it on. Publicity photos showed individuals using the product without a mask, and with nearby window closed, hence the suggestion that no ventilation was needed. The product itself claimed that any excess spray would evaporate harmlessly into the air.
However, as a House panel investigating the incidents heard last month, a large number of people experienced serious reactions to Stand 'n Seal, and two people died.
What's worse is that the product was still on store shelves months after the recall.
A man by the name of Walter E. Friedel, a physician, served as the poster boy for the case against the CPSC and the manufacturer, BRTT (then Roanoke Companies).
Dr. Friedel, then 61, decided to affect a quick spray of some tile in his bathroom just prior to a televised football game one Sunday afternoon in 2005.
Instead of settling in to watch the game on TV, Friedel was rushed to hospital gasping for air, and spent four days in Intensive Care. He spent months on oxygen as his lungs struggled to heal, and today still requires pulmonary function testing.
His, is not the only case. Dozens of others experienced similar reactions, including an 11-year old boy who inadvertently breathed in the fumes from the Stand 'n Seal his father was using. He too was hospitalized, and doctors say the surface area of his lungs was 80 per cent damaged.
The damning thing about this situation is that 80 people had already been sickened, and two people had already died, when Dr. Friedel went to his local Home Depot and bought a can of the Stand 'n Seal.
Stand 'n Seal was introduced to the market in 2003, and sold exclusively through Home Depot.
The trouble started in 2005 when the active ingredient was switched from one supplied by Dupont, to a chemical made by a small company in the state of Georgia.
It was this switch, to a chemical known as Flexipel S-22WS from Innovative Chemical Technologies, that started generating calls to poison control centers and even the CPSC itself, mere weeks after the new cans appeared on store shelves.
It is here that things began to unravel, and it started with the Roanoke Companies, the distributor for Stand 'n Seal.
According to court documents that have been filed in tandem with various lawsuits, and the House panel in September, Roanoke waited weeks until it finally contacted the CPSC, and only did so after a physician with the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug centre in Denver threatened to contact the CPSC himself.
Federal law requires that a manufacturer notify the CPSC within 24 hours of determining a potential health hazard.
As it happens, it should have been no surprise to the manufacturer that adverse respiratory reactions could happen from using Stand 'n Seal, as information supplied by Innovated Chemical Technologies stipulated that the Flexipel S-22WS chemical should never be used in an aerosol form, as it could cause respiratory injury.
While a recall was ordered in 2005, there is little evidence to suggest that any real effort was made to remove the product from store shelves. CPSC's own testing, due to inadequate equipment and facilities, was inconclusive.
A Roanoke executive conducted her own test and reported dizziness, a headache and sinus irritation. Her findings went unheeded, while the manufacturer not only convinced the CPSC that the problem had been addressed, but later re-stocked Home Depot with 50,000 additional cans of the product.
While this was happening, two individuals died from using Stand 'n Seal: Phillip Willis III, 73, a retired Navy officer, from Pasco County, Fla., and Thomas Kayser, 64, of Independence, Iowa, a retired John Deere machinist. Meanwhile, reports continued to come in to both the manufacturer, and the CPSC, about adverse incidents.
Stand 'n Seal was finally removed from store shelves in March of this year. Home Depot listed refund information to consumers on its web site.
The eradication of the product came 18 months after the initial recall: a combination of a manufacturer bent on keeping its product, in spite of safety concerns, on store shelves - and a watchdog agency with insufficient teeth and too many bones to be effective. It is alleged that the CPSC is under-funded, under-equipped and overwhelmed.
Were it not, Tyler Himmelman, 11, from Colorado, might not have found himself struggling for breath and vomiting.
Terri Keenan of Kyle, Texas may not have been left foaming at the mouth an hour after using Stand 'n Seal. She couldn't get up off the ground and was rushed to Emergency, spending five days in hospital.
A contractor from Zeeland Michigan might have avoided Intensive Care after using a can of Stand 'n Seal, four months after the recall. Andrew Lamer is 24.
Amy Paddock, 45, of Fridley Minnesota, had to pull over to the side of the road while driving shortly after using the product. She passed out in her car, and was later hospitalized.
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The can used by Eileen Moreno, 50, from Fullerton California, was. She was hospitalized on Thanksgiving Day last year unable to breathe, after using a recalled can of Stand 'n Seal that was still on the store shelves more than a year after the recall.
In the end, it appeared that the manufacturer finally buckled to pressure after so many reports surfaced, and lawsuits initiated, that it could no longer ignore the situation.